Countdown to Hallowe'en // Pumpkin and Peanut Curry

Last year I shared with you one of my favourite recipes, for Thai Pumpkin and Prawn curry. This year I have a similarly coconutty-pumpkiny spicy treat, but it is totally veggie and surprisingly yummy. 

Image courtesy of www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk

You will need: 

* 2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

* 1 tsp tomato puree

* Zest and juice of one lime

* 1 tbsp Thai fish sauce (thanks to Miss Claire who suggested using Soy sauce instead, if you are a non-fish-eating veggie)

* 1 tsp sugar

* Small handful fresh coriander

* 2 red chillis, halved and de-seeded

* 4 garlic cloves

* 1 cm piece fresh ginger

* 2 tbsp vegetable oil

* 2 red onions, chopped into fine pieces

* 800 g pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cut into cubes

* 400 ml coconut milk

1. Stir the peanut butter into a jug containing 200ml hot water until it dissolves. Stir in the puree, lime zest and juice, fish sauce and sugar. Set this to one side. 

2. Remove the leaves from the coriander and chop the stalks as finely as possible. Also chop the chilli, garlic and ginger. 

3. Heat the oil in a good sized pan and fry the onions until soft. Add the pumpkin and stir-fry for a few minutes. Stir in the chilli, garlic, ginger and coriander stalks and heat for 1 minute before adding the coconut milk and peanut butter mix. Stir well.

4. Cook at a brisk simmer for about 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the pumpkin is tender. Season to taste by adding more fish sauce (if it needs extra salty flavour) or sugar (if it needs sweetening). 

5. Garnish with coriander and serve with sticky rice or on its own, more like a hearty bowl of soup. 

Countdown to Hallowe'en // Pumpkins

Pumpkins have historically been associated with Hallowe'en and for centuries, pumpkin carving has been a ritual aspect of the holiday in many countries.  

There are many varieties of pumpkin - from tiny to giant - some orange, some striped, some green and many edible. The pumpkin is a member of the cucurbitaceae family, which includes cucumbers, melons and other gourds and squashes. This year we have grown two types of pumpkin, as well as butternut squash. 

The tradition of carving pumpkins is believed to originate from the Irish legend of Jack O'Lantern. Jack was an Irish villain so wicked that neither God nor the devil wanted him. Rejected by both, after his death, Jack wandered the world endlessly, looking for a place to rest, accompanied only by the warmth and light of a single candle in a rotten turnip. The 'Jack O'Lantern' became the symbol of a damned and restless soul.

Irish children used to carve their Jack O'Lanterns from turnips or potatoes but when hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants made their way to North America in the mid-1800s, they found the prolific pumpkins which grew there to be a suitable replacement for their traditional vegetable lanterns. Since then, the popularity of pumpkin carving to celebrate Hallowe'en has spread to many other parts of the world. 

Countdown to Hallowe'en // Mulled Cider

One of my absolute favourite autumnal traditions, is making mulled cider - and later on as it gets even colder, mulled wine. 

Served warm, with a stick of cinnamon, mulled cider is a seasonal treat which makes the most of the abundant apple harvests here in the UK at this time of year. 

The recipe is really simple - for every 500 ml of cider (I use dry, rather than sweet), add about 100 ml of apple juice to sweeten it up, a teaspoon of ground mixed spice, a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, four or five cloves and a stick of cinnamon. 

Heat the whole mixture through but don't allow to boil.

Enjoy steaming in a big mug and cuddle up under a blanket.

Blessings!

Countdown to Hallowe'en // Autumnal walks

It's hard to believe we are in October. I mean, considering it is 23 degrees and sunny outside here in the UK, really hard to believe. 

I don't think we had weather this good in the whole of August.

Incredulity at our balmy 'Indian Summer' aside, it is October, which means we are less than a month away from my favourite sabbat: Samhain - or 'Hallowe'en'. 

This month I hope to post more about autumnal traditions, recipes and rituals as we count down to Hallowe'en. Please drop by for a cup of steaming mulled cider and maybe even a slice of pumpkin pie - I look forward to hearing your thoughts and musings, as we tread through this magickal season together.

To begin with, then, an autumnal walk around my local fields. 

Although there is a sadness to see everything dying back and losing its lush green colour, there is also joy as the harvest season draws to a close - a sense of achievement and the knowledge that we will have plenty to keep us going through the winter. 

Within myself I also feel a sense of hurry to make the most of our beautiful surroundings, while it is still warm and light enough to do so. Today it was so warm, in fact, that we even indulged in a little paddle in the river. 

Blissful.