02Nov 2023 by catbird 9 Comments
Winter Solstice Cookies

Winter Solstice Cookies

Recipes, Winter Solstice
When I first found out I was a celiac (as an adult) I lost my joy for baking for a few years. I had to basically relearn how to bake before I could experiment and be creative again. I am finally back and excited to experiment with colors and flavors again. Last year I focused on natural colors and herbal flavors and these are some of my favorites. Longest Night Cookies Raspberry Rose Moons Orange, Rosemary, Tahini & Honey Cookies Winter Walk Gingerbread Nettle Rosehip Thumbprints
Read More
02Nov 2023 by catbird 3 Comments
Longest Night Cookies

Longest Night Cookies

Recipes, Winter, Winter Solstice
Celebrate the longest night of the year with these naturally colored shortbread cookies. You can skip the spruce needle powder if you don't want to deal with it and they will still be delicious, but it is a nice touch. These are gluten free cookies, if you prefer a gluten full version, use your favorite shortbread recipe and add the blue butterfly pea powder and the spruce powder with the dry ingredients. Ingredients: Cookies: 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature ¾ cup powdered sugar 2 tsp vanilla 2 large egg yolks 105 g oat flour 105 g sorghum flour 80 g sweet white rice flour (mochiko)  80 g tapioca starch 1-2 TBS blue butterfly pea powder 1 tsp powdered dry spruce needles (optional, powder in a coffee grinder)  1 tsp…
Read More
01Nov 2023 by catbird 1 Comment
Hot Chocolate Hike

Hot Chocolate Hike

Hibernation Celebration, Hike Ideas, Recipes, Winter, Winter Solstice
There is nothing more exciting them packing up a thermos of hot chocolate and going on a winter hike. I like to choose routes that I know will have a place to sit down partway through, because while we usually have no problems sitting on the ground, in winter that can be too cold. We always bring these handy collapsible cups to make serving easier. (And they are infinitely entertaining on their own.) You can find some of our favorite cocoa recipes here: regular hot chocolate, Yule hot cocoa, and crockpot hot chocolate for a crowd!
Read More
29Oct 2023 by catbird 3 Comments
Winter Walk Gingerbread Cookies

Winter Walk Gingerbread Cookies

Foraging, Recipes, Winter, Winter Solstice
Replace the spices in your favorite gingerbread recipe with the following herbal blend for a spicy and woodsy take on a traditional winter sweet. Decorate the cookies with royal icing, rose petals, juniper berries*, poppy seeds, rosemary sugar and rose sugar. Ingredients: 2 tsp cinnamon 1 ½ tsp ginger 1 ½ tsp cardamom 1 tsp ground rosemary ¾ tsp ground juniper berry To decorate:  Rose sugar Rosemary sugar Whole juniper berries* Whole poppy seeds Small dried rosebuds Dried rose petals To make the sugars: Mix ground rose and sugar until you reach desired color and flavor.   Mix ground rosemary and sugar until you reach desired color and flavor.  To make royal icing: Method: Mix and bake your cookies according to the recipe instructions.  Allow them to cool and then…
Read More
29Oct 2023 by catbird 5 Comments
Winter Solstice Craftbrunch

Winter Solstice Craftbrunch

Craft Project, Nature Art, Nature Collection, Play, Recipes, Winter, Winter Solstice
The winter holidays often feel like a blur, one minute it’s Halloween and then suddenly it’s January and while every moment has felt busy, you aren’t quite sure what you even accomplished. I started hosting “craftbrunches” years ago to slow down and connect with friends and family. The premise is simple,  everyone brings a simple dish and works on a seasonal craft together while laughing and gossiping. It’s a daytime event which feels easier to schedule when every evening is packed with holiday parties and pageants. Including a simple kids craft keeps the littles occupied while the moms catch up. A Winter Solstice craftbrunch is a perfect respite from the chaos of the season, connecting us with nature and with friends.  The Winter Solstice is the day that the earth…
Read More
25Sep 2023 by catbird 1 Comment
Mexican Hot Chocolate for the Harvest Moon

Mexican Hot Chocolate for the Harvest Moon

Autumn, Campfire, Harvest Moon, Recipes
As far I know this is not traditional anywhere except in my family, but Mexican hot chocolate on the Harvest Moon is a longstanding tradition for us. It started because my kids were always asking for hot cocoa in the summer and I was always telling them that it was the wrong season for cocoa. (Spring and summer are obviously tea season!) While winter is proper cocoa season fall is cocoa adjacent. Mexican hot chocolate has cinnamon which gives it a decidedly fall feeling for me. Because of that we decided that the Harvest moon was the official start of hot chocolate season. First things first, only Americans call it Mexican hot chocolate- in Mexico its just chocolate or champurrado. As early as 500 BC, the Mayans were drinking a chocolate…
Read More
25Sep 2023 by catbird 2 Comments
Gluten Free Mooncakes for the Harvest Moon

Gluten Free Mooncakes for the Harvest Moon

Autumn, Full Moon, Harvest Moon, Recipes
A mooncake is an East Asian pastry traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The festival celebrates the harvest and the moon. Most mooncakes consist of a thick, tender pastry skin enveloping a sweet, dense filling, and may contain one or more whole salted egg yolks in their center that symbolizes the full moon. Traditional fillings include lotus seed paste, sweet bean paste and mixed nuts in syrup. Mooncakes have a lovely design imprinted the on top. There are tons of different designs, but some traditional ones include: Chinese characters for "longevity" or "harmony", the moon, the Chinese goddess of the Moon (Chang'e), flowers, vines, and rabbits. I came across a fascinating snippet that Chinese revolutionaries used mooncakes to send coded messages in the olden days-- you had to cut the mooncake into quarters and rearrange it to decipher the words.…
Read More
24Sep 2023 by catbird 2 Comments
Bunny Mochi

Bunny Mochi

Autumn, Full Moon, Harvest Moon, Play, Recipes
These mochi are so adorable and so simple they hardly need a recipe. I was inspired to make rabbit shaped mochi because of the East Asian myth that there is a rabbit in the moon making mochi. Rabbits have ended up playing a somewhat key role in our Harvest Moon celebrations over the year due to their associations with the moon. (Read more here) This is also simple enough to do after work when you don't have the energy for much else. (Speaking from experience...) Ingredients: pre packaged mochi. You can get these in a large variety of flavors. You want round ones. scissors black and pink food safe markers Method: Gently squish the round mochi into more of an oval shape. With the scissors snip two ears from one…
Read More
04Sep 2023 by catbird No Comments
Elderberry Syrup Playdoh

Elderberry Syrup Playdoh

Autumn, Back to School, Craft Project, Nature Art, Play, Recipes
I hate wasting things. It stresses me out to throw out the herbs after making a salve or syrup. (Although I don’t usually even do that— I compost them…) Every time I make elderberry syrup, which is pretty frequently in the cooler months, I have anxiety about all the cooked mushy berries left over at the end. I’ve tried reusing them but the resulting syrup was too weak. I’ve reduced the amount of berries I use with no ill effects, but I still feel like I’m wasting a huge amount of plant matter that I worked so hard to grow. And then I had a sudden brainstorm… I would make playdough with the leftover berry mush!! This stuff smelled so good that I wanted to play with it!! The color…
Read More