Third Infinity

SUMMER SOLSTICE (C. JUN 21) A. HISTORY At Midsummer, the Sun-god is at apogee (closest to the Earth), and therefore the longest day of the year. The pagans worshipped and celebrated the abundance of life, even as they recognized that this Solstice also marked the time when the Sun began to wane once more toward Winter's darkness. The legends are full of the Sun God dying by whatever method, be it burning alive, blinded with mistletoe, or crucified on a T-shaped cross. In ancient times, this often demanded a human enactor actually dying, followed by a seven-day wake. Some pagan cultures have an Oak King, (symbolizing the light half of the year) being killed by his brother the Holly King (symbolizing the darkening half of the year). "The Goddess, as we have pointed out, is unlike the God in that she never undergoes death and rebirth. In fact, she never changes- she merely presents different faces. At the Winter Solstice she shows her Life-in-Death aspect; though her...

Sugarplums Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2009 Prep Time: 45 min Inactive Prep Time: 13 hr 0 min Cook Time: -- Level: Easy Serves: approximately 80 (1/4 ounce) balls Ingredients 6 ounces slivered almonds, toasted 4 ounces dried plums 4 ounces dried apricots 4 ounces dried figs 1/4 cup powdered sugar 1/4 teaspoon anise seeds, toasted 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted 1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds, toasted 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom Pinch kosher salt 1/4 cup honey 1 cup coarse sugar Directions Put the almonds, plums, apricots, and figs into the bowl of a food processor and pulse 20 to 25 times or until the fruit and nuts are chopped into small pieces, but before the mixture becomes a ball. Combine the powdered sugar, anise seeds, fennel seeds, caraway seeds, cardamom, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Add the nut and fruit mixture and the honey and mix using gloved hands until well combined. Scoop the mixture into 1/4-ounce por...

I think I'll treat them with some cheese biscuits to go with their Spicy Cheese Soup Spicy Cheese Soup 1 lb processed cheese, cubed (like Velveeta) 1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained 1 can (8-3/4 oz) whole kernel corn, undrained 1 can (4-oz) green chiles, chopped 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles 1 can (14 oz) stewed tomatoes 1 envelope taco seasoning Corn chips for garnish, optional Combine all ingredients in slow cooker, and cook on Low 4-5 hours. Serve with corn chips if desired. Original recipe in Rival Crock Pot 3-in-1 Cookbook. ISBN: 978-1-4127-2584-2 Coming Soon! A Haunted Halloween Blog Tour Lena Austin http://www.LenaAustin.com http://depravedduchess.blogspot.com

Apple Carmel Pie Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook Revised and Updated , p. 248 Sue Hamilton, Minooka, IL Makes 8-10 servings Prep. Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 3 hours Ideal slow-cooker size: 4- to 5-qt. 2-crust refrigerated pie dough pkg. 2 22-oz. cans apple pie filling 1 tsp. cinnamon 12 caramel candies 1. Press one crust into half the bottom of a cold slow cooker, and an inch or so up half its interior side. Overlap by ¼ inch the second crust with the first crust in center of slow cooker bottom. Press remainder of second crust an inch or so up the remaining side of the cooker. Press seams flat where two crusts meet. 2. Cover. Cook on High 1½ hours. 3. In a bowl, mix together pie filling, cinnamon, and caramels. 4. Pour mixture into hot crust. 5. Cover. Cook on High an additional 1½ hours.   Coming Soon! A Haunted Halloween Blog Tour Lena Austin http://www.LenaAustin.com http://depravedduchess.blogspot.com

It's too hot to cook, not even for ice cream. Here's some treats that don't need it.

This sauce is so perfect over ice cream, you just won't believe it. Rhubarb is the chameleon of the sauce world. Add it to frozen strawberries and it tastes like strawberries. Add it to a frozen berry mix and it tastes like the mix! Amazing stuff. Keep this on hand. Rhubarb is cheap because so many people don't know what to do with it. Best of all, you can grow your own. I grew it even in the dry, cold climate of Denver. Use an orange you buy at the same time as the rhubarb. Pull out the Y-shaped vegetable peeler and shave off the peel. You can dry the extra peel, or put it in a jar packed in plain old sugar. It stores well. Best of all, the peels flavor the sugar! I keep lemon peels packed in sugar and orange peels packed in sugar. They flavor plain old sugar cookies to sublime levels. Think how much money you just saved over buying the dried peels from the spice aisle!

If you've never had a corn fritter and you're a carb hound, prepare for orgasmic sensations.This is the kind of warm, lovely dish that just makes a Cakes and Ale special.

Sunshine Muffins for Litha 1 8.5 oz can crushed pineapple, drained and reserving the syrup milk 1.5 cups packaged biscuit mix (like Bisquick) 3 T sugar 1 beaten egg 1 T sugar 1 T finely shredded orange peel Add enough milk to the reserved syrup to measure ¾ cup liquid. Combine the biscuit mix and 3 T sugar. Add in the egg, ¼ c pineapple, and syrup-milk mix. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once. Stir until just moist. Grease or line muffin tins. Fill 2/3 full. Stir together remaining pineapple, 1 T sugar, and orange peel. Spoon about 1 T pineapple mixture atop each muffin cup. Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Makes 8-10 muffins. Calories 161 28 carbs Lena Austin "Stop fighting the Wild," said the coyote. Just Released: Man vs. Wild Book 3 in the Coyotes of Yellowstone http://www.LenaAustin.com

Sunshine Muffins for Litha 1 8.5 oz can crushed pineapple, drained and resereving the syrup milk 1.5 cups packaged biscuit mix (like Bisquick) 3 T sugar 1 beaten egg 1 T sugar 1 T finely shredded orange peel Add enough milk to the reserved syrup to measure ¾ cup liquid. Combine the biscuit mix and 3 T sugar. Add in the egg, ¼ c pineapple, and syrup-milk mix. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once. Stir until just moist. Grease or line muffin tins. Fill 2/3 full. Stir together remaining pineapple, 1 T sugar, and orange peel. Spoon about 1 T pineapple mixture atop each muffin cup. Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Makes 8-10 muffins. Calories 161 28 carbs * * *

Carving a pumpkin this fall? Don't throw any of it away! By Jeff Yeager Posted Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:44am PDT Related topics: Food and Drink , Holidays , Veggies More from The Green Cheapskate blog "Jeff, can't we at least celebrate the holiday before you eat the decorations?" I've heard that more than once from my long-suffering wife during our 26-year marriage. You see, cheapskates like to celebrate Halloween and other holidays just like everyone else. But we grimace at wasteful rituals like throwing away a perfectly good pumpkin after using it for only a few days as a decoration. Americans buy more than one billion pounds of pumpkins at Halloween, and the vast majority of those end up in the trash. But at the Green Cheapskate's house, we eat our jack-o-lantern, every last bit of it. While some particularly meaty varieties of pumpkins are specifically grown to be eaten (including Sweet Jack-be-Littles, Cheese Pumpkins, Sugar Pumpkins, and some delicious heirl...

This is one of those versatile "serve for several occasions" recipes. Zuchinni for Lammas, Apple for Mabon, and Carrot-n-Pineapple for Samhain. I substitute a full cup of Spenda for Baking for the sugar in the recipe. I like my quick breads sweet, but you're welcome to use the correct substitution amounts on the package first to see how you like it.

While too "expensive" for me on a low carb diet, I try to be fair to those who don't have to watch every crumb they put in their mouth. Save this little treat for Sunday mornings or Sabbats. To me, this is a great "cake" for Cakes and Ale. Served with a hot mulled apple cider, it's perfect for a fall treat.

Make sure you take a peek at the variation at the bottom. Apple Raisin Bran Muffins! At 182 calories and 26 carbs, these are an indulgence for those on a low-carb diet.

This bread transitions nicely from Mabon to Samhain very well. It's just too good!

Lammas Recipe—Slushy Punch Hint: Keep the slush in the freezer at all times in the summer for spur of the moment guests. For each serving, combine equal amounts of slush and carbonated water or lemon-lime carbonated beverage like Sprite or 7-Up. 1 cup sugar 2-3/4 cups water 2 ripe medium bananas, cut up 3 cups unsweetened pineapple juice 1 6 oz can frozen orange juice concentrate 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 1-liter bottle of carbonated water or lemon-lime carbonated beverage Stir sugar and water together until sugar dissolves. Combine the bananas, half the pineapple juice, and orange juice concentrate in the food processor and whirl until combined. Add to sugar mix, and then stir in the lemon juice and the rest of the pineapple juice. Make sure it’s thoroughly blended. Transfer this to a 13x9 baking pan or a similarly shaped freezer container for long-term storage. Freeze for several hours until firm. To serve, let mixture stand at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. To form a slush, s...

This coffee cake should be in everyone's BOS as one of the most versatile things you can serve all year 'round. There's rarely a time when a fruit of some kind isn't in season, but there's always canned or frozen. I've even used canned pie filling, skipping the first paragraph, since essentially that's what you're making. A hint from me: instead of using two tablespoons to scoop out small bits, get a 2 tablespoon disher and use it. You'll be a whole lot less frustrated. I use the dishers anytime I need to scoop out small amounts, like when baking cookies.

Note that y0u can use this recipe twice! While it's wonderful for Lammas to have a Corn Fritter, it's great to have Apple Fritters at Mabon! Don't you just love recipes you can use more than once a year?

I know, I'm a little late on these Lammas Recipes. Save them for next year. Have you ever made God Bread? This is too fun, and you can skip the anatomically correct part if you have kids. My teen daughters insisted I start including the missing parts as soon as they realized it was supposed to be there. LOL! We used raisins for the side parts, and a small tube of dough for the...well, you know. (Not sure I can say that bit.) Prepare your baking sheet while the bread machine prepares the dough. I use the lovely silicon baking sheets on top of a cookie sheet, but you do what works best for you. I'm just lazy, that's all. I put the bread machine to "Manual" or "Dough" setting, and place the bread on the baking sheet. Then I form it into a Gingerbread man shape by making one very large ball to be the body, one medium ball for the head, four smaller balls for the limbs, and as I mentioned before, one small tube for the anatomically correct part. (wink, wink, ...

Picnic Hot Dog Platter Prep: 10 min. Grill: 20 min. Ingredients 12 frankfurters , uncooked bratwurst, smoked pork sausages , veal sausages, turkey sausages, vegetarian frankfurters, or other favorites 1 dozen frankfurther or bratwurst buns or French-style rolls , split 1 recipe Tart Apple Mustard , Bacon Brown-Sugar Mustard, and/or Early Girl Tomato Mustard (recipes follows) Other condiments , such as chopped pickled peppers , sliced tomatoes, pickle relish , and crumbled cooked bacon (optional) Directions 1. Pierce uncooked sausages all over with a fork or cut several shallow crosswise slits in each uncooked sausage. 2. In a grill with a cover arrange preheated coals around a drip pan. Test for medium heat above the pan. Grill uncooked sausages on grill rack above the drip pan turning once for 20 to 25 minutes or until brown and a thermometer registers 170 degrees F. Grill frankfurters and cooked sausages on grill rack above the drip pan for 10 minutes or until brown and ...