A Modern Witch’s Samhain Feast

Photo by Kristina Paukshtite courtesy of Pexels.com.

The lure and enchantment of a traditional Samhain feast is an enticing one. It offers one a sense of nostalgia. Sometimes, though, these foods don’t work for a modern witch living a busy life. Let’s face it, some of these recipes don’t even appeal to the modern palate. That’s why I created a modern witch’s Samhain feast, one that has the correct intent and symbolism while appealing to my lifestyle and palate.

Samhain marks the end of the Celtic calendar and is the day the veil between the worlds is the thinnest. Many pagans, witches, and Wiccans use this time to scry, plan a new year, and commune with the deceased. It’s also the end of the harvest in most places.

Adding symbolism to your feast adds intent to your meal and activities for the holiday. Apples represent the goddess, pentacle, life, and regeneration. The Celts considered the head the location of the soul. Lighting candles in carved pumpkins represents the light shining from our spirit. The cauldron, a symbol of transformation, the cycle of life, and the witch’s tool is now the pots and pans on our stoves.

If you know which foods correlate with Samhain, making a modern feast tradition is easy. The most common modern Samhain foods are:

Spices:

• Thyme
• Sage
• Allspice

Fruits and Vegetables:

• Turnips
• Pumpkins
• Squash
• Apples
• Corn
• Nuts

Meats:

• Poultry
• Pork
• Beef

This is by no means an all-inclusive list. When the Celts celebrated Samhain, the only foods available were seasonal foods. There were no hot house vegetables or convenience foods. If you stick to seasonal fare for your feast, you will be fine.

As a new pescatarian, I no longer make homemade buffalo chicken fingers. Now, for a main dish, I make a New England-style corn fritter. The batter takes 10 minutes to make. You can use canned or frozen corn. The most difficult thing is ensuring the fritters cook through.

New England Corn Fritters

Corn fritters are the perfect for a Samhain meal. Photo by Francine Weagle.

Ingredients

2 Cups frozen corn, thawed or canned corn, drained

1/3 Cup diced red bell pepper, diced small, optional (I like it for the color and sweetness.)

1 TBSP. olive oil

1 1/2 Cup all purpose flour

3/4 tsp. salt

1.5 tsp. baking powder

2 each egg, beaten (use an equal egg replacement for a vegan version)

1 TBSP. vegan butter (regular butter or margarine is good too.)

1.5 Cup milk (cow, almond, cashew, or soy.)

Canola oil for frying

Maple Syrup for dipping.

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a pot to 375 degrees Fahrenheit while preparing the batter.
2. Sautee red bell pepper, in 1 TBSP., of oil, until soft, about 1 minute. Set aside to cool.
3. Mix all your dry ingredients in a large bowl and sift until combined.
   *** The easy way to sift together ingredients is to mix them with a whisk. This not only adds air to the dry blend but also blends the ingredients evenly.
4. Add eggs, milk, and butter, stir until combined.
5. Add corn and red bell peppers, stir until combined.
6. Using a medium or large ice cream scoop drop scoops of batter into the 375 degrees Fahrenheit oil. Cook in batches. Do not overcrowd the pot. Cook them 3 minutes per side or until each side is golden brown. Sacrifice one, by ripping it open to ensure it’s cooked through.
7. Let sit on a paper towel covered plate for a few minutes to drain the oil.

Serve warm with maple syrup.

What is Samhain without jack-o-lanterns? Are you tired of the pumpkin bread everyone makes? Here’s a new twist on the pumpkin. Instead of sweet, try savory. It’s surprising how delicious savory pumpkin and apples are.

Even better, you don’t have to make this soup on Samhain. You can make it a day or two before, refrigerate it, and heat it up on Samhain. When the soup is warm and your fritters cooked, dinner is ready.

Creamy Roasted Pumpkin Apple Soup

Believe it or not, this creamy pumpkin apple soup is a filling main dish or appetizer. Photo by Francine Weagle.

Ingredients

1 each 3–4 pound sugar pumpkin, save the seeds

1 TBSP. olive oil 3 TBSP. thyme, finely chopped, divided

To Taste salt and pepper

2 TBSP. olive oil

2 each large granny smith or macintosh apple, diced

1 15 oz. jar Roasted yellow peppers, drained, and chopped

*** This saves time, but you can roast your own colored bell peppers if you want.***

1 medium onion

½ tsp. nutmeg

To taste salt and pepper

3 Cups vegetable stock

1 Cup half and half (flax milk for vegans)

For Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Seeds from pumpkin used for soup

2 TBSP butter, unsalted

To taste salt

Sour cream or Tofutti sour cream and roasted pumpkin seeds for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cut your pumpkin in half, remove the inner “guts” and seeds. Set the seeds aside for roasting later.
3. Blend salt and pepper to taste, olive oil, and 1 TBSP. of the chopped thyme in a bowl. Rub oil blend onto the flesh side of the pumpkins, including inside the hole.
4. Put pumpkins cut side down on a parchment lined baking sheet.
5. Bake the pumpkin halves for 45 minutes or until a paring knife pushes through the pumpkin with ease.
6. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees.
7. Melt 2 TBSP of butter, add salt to taste and the cleaned pumpkin seeds.
8. Evenly spread the coated pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet.
9. Bake the seeds at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15–20 minutes or until golden brown,. Stir at least twice during baking.
10. Set the roasted seeds aside to cool when done roasting.
11. Heat a soup pot over medium heat and add 2 TBSP. of olive oil. Then sautee the apple, onion, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste until the apple is fork tender.
12. Add the yellow peppers and cook for one minutes more.
13. Add in pumpkin and vegetable broth, bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

***At step 13, while the soup is simmering, adjust for seasoning. I added an extra ½ tsp. each of ground thyme and salt. Taste is very personal so make sure you adjust the flavor to your liking.

14. In a blender or with an immersion blender puree soup. (If you used a blender return the soup to the soup pot.)

15. Add half and half (or flax milk) a ¼ cup at a time until the soup has reached your desired creaminess.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream, a light sprinkle of the remaining thyme, and some roasted pumpkin seeds.

Eating a light meal leaves plenty of room for a fabulous dessert, and what is better than apple crisp? The best part of apple crisp is how simple it is to make. The bonus is it’s not the pumpkin bread everyone else is bringing.

You can make this recipe in individual 6” ramekins or in an 8”x11” square pan. If you put it in individual ramekins dice the apples instead of slicing them.

Amazing Apple Walnut Crisp

Walnut apple crisp is the perfect dessert to finish off your Samhain feast. Photo by Francine Weagle.

Ingredients

For filling:

6 each granny smith or macintosh apples, sliced

1 TBSP. all purpose flour

½ tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

1 TBSP. Cinnamon

¾ Cup White Sugar (vegans can use coconut sugar)

For Walnut Topping

1 Cup brown sugar, (coconut sugar is acceptable)

1 Cup all purpose flour

¼ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

1 stick butter, melted

¾ Cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Combine all dry ingredients for the filling in a large bowl and mix with a whisk.
3. Toss in sliced apples and coat as evenly as possible.
4. Place apples in an 8”x11” pan. Don’t worry if the pan is almost completely full. As the juices cook out the apples will lose volume.
5. In another large bowl mix all the dry ingredients and stir with a whisk until combined.
6. 7 add walnuts and butter, stir until chunky coating all the dry ingredients in butter.
7. Place the topping on top of apple mixture. Make sure to add texture using different sized lumps and smooth topping.
8. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

Let cool and serve with whipped topping or vanilla ice cream.

When cooking your dishes, stir in your spells and intentions in a clockwise direction. Your intent is the most important part of the meal. Take your time deciding what to cast into your food.

No, that’s not all there is to kitchen witching, but infusing your intentions into the food is vital. We can delve into the intricacies of kitchen witching in a future article. For now, keep your celebrations fresh and simple.

Samhain doesn’t need to be the same old ritual food year after year, after decade upon decade. That’s the joy of traditions. Someone did something that people enjoyed, and it became a tradition. Don’t be afraid to make your own traditions. Keep in mind the reason and symbolism of the holiday so you can create a purposeful tradition.

In this world, slaving over a stove and using rarely used ingredients isn’t practical. Create practical magick by using Samhain’s symbolism to create a feast that suits you.