Merry meet all,
I am not happy that the weather became so miserable. I worried about losing power which never happened. I postponed the holiday baking. However, I did have some success with presents.
I assembled a fire starter kit and coffee for my brother and lip balm for my mother. I placed moss, a pinecone I painted white, a bit of birch bark and matches in a glass jar. I put the moss in first followed by the pinecone, then the matches secured with string and a white candle. If he ever loses power, he is prepared for any event or disaster. I also poured instant coffee into a jar with a cinnamon stick and 2 star anise. I had no gift box or packaging so I improvised.
I used a brown paper bag to store the gifts but first I painted it! I traced a tree from a cookie cutter onto the bag and outlined it in black and green. Then I painted the tree I traced on green. I painted the rest of the bag white. I had to be careful because brown paper bags are delicate when they are wet. I hole punched the bag and wound twine through the holes and tied them. I placed the fire starter kit and the coffee in the bag. I baked the pumpkin bread in a bundt pan.
I made a small tin of peppermint and sweet orange lip balm for my Mom. In fact it smelled so good I made a tiny pot of it for myself. I am sure she will enjoy it. I can’t wait to wrap it.
I baked a loaf of pumpkin bread and I added crushed walnut. I have to make the frosting for it. I want to use orange food colouring to frost the bread and add cinnamon and orange zest to the frosting. I plan to make peppermint bark, gingerbread, gingerbread cookies, and yuletide bread. My family will love me for such delicious treats. Or their bodies will hate me. It is the time for feasting though.
Gingerbread was a tradition of my grandparents. I want to make a loaf because they are gone now and I know it was what they would have baked this holiday season. I can remember being at the cottage during the holidays and they would bake it fresh. Tomorrow nothing will stop me. I want to use up a lot of ingredients and such festive baking is surely the answer to that. I have a lot of dried orange peel in my icebox which is perfect for this. I’m going to bake the yuletide bread in the bundt pan too. I have to candy the lemon peel and orange peel. I have the ‘cranberry and raisin’ raisins for that recipe too. I think it will be delicious.
I bought a beautiful festive bag from the dollar store which will hold the sweets and gifts. Penny is celebrating Christmas dinner with us of course. She will be part of all the fun. Of course. Penny is family! I tidied up her litter box tonight. Penny loves to lounge on the red tree skirt which definitely doesn’t look pagan but very christmasy but oh well- I do my best.
I’m celebrating the Solstice solo. Well I am not really alone. I have the company of cats and the spirits here. I have some organic locally sourced hamburger meat. I plan to cook an awesome meatloaf and have an amazing meal and perform a ritual. It is the Christmas dinner with my family I am really preparing for.
I also saved the best news for last (but not least): I am so happy to share that Wicked Shadow Press published my horror flash fiction story, Winter Solstice Spell in their upcoming anthology, Yule Cat Codex!
The Yule Cat Codex by Wicked Shadow Press featuring my flash fiction story and many others
Yesterday I foraged for wintry goodies from the nature trail. I foraged eastern white pine, common juniper and Sikta Spruce. I cleaned, trimmed and am now drying the herbs in brown paper bags. If the weather is better tomorrow, I will dry the herbs in my dehydrator. I did create a smudge stick with the juniper, pine and I have to add rosemary.
I still want to make some decorations out of salt dough. I was inspired by a video I watched. I never lost power today but I did no baking. I could have been so much more ahead. I am having dinner with my family on the 24th. Everything will be perfect.
The best part of baking and making gifts is wrapping them. I don’t have a lot of gifts to give but it feels good. I did already gift my mother the iron tonic syrup. I am sure she will love the minty sweet lip balm. Either way, I can’t wait to wrap it all and package the baked goods but tomorrow I plan to do some last minute shopping. Then it will be bake, bake, bake and create, create, create!
Of course though, I look forward to that. I am a diehard kitchen witch with a rep to maintain. I can’t wait to begin!
Don’t let the Yule lads get the best of you! I watched the version of A Christmas Carol with George C Scott the other night. I am so in the mood for the Solstice! I enjoyed the movie so much! It was the best version ever.
It is almost time for me to strain the Pear Liquor. I can’t wait to enjoy it on the Solstice. I need a pretty jar. I can’t wait to try it.
In other news, I created a herbal vision board.
I do believe I will enjoy baking and decorating!
Blessings, Spiderwitch
The Paranormal Quill 