or OOOOHHH we’re half way there…OOOOHHHH!!!! The goddess has red hair (Yes..this blog is going to be like this. Probably all the time. You’ve been warned)*
Imbolc or Imbolg, Candlemas or St. Brigit’s day marks the halfway point between Yule/Midwinter and the Spring Equinox. We have made it through the darkest six weeks of winter, and our now on our way to Spring. The days are getting longer, (It’s no longer dark at 5pm WOOHOOO!), the birds are singing their Hey baby come here often? song at the bird feeder, and even the squirrels are in a better humor. It’s a time when, in more temperate climates (aka Ireland and Scotland and not Maine) the first lambs and calves drop, and with it the first milk of the year.
Traditionally celebrated on 01 February..let’s stop here for a moment. Just like Samhain and Beltaine, the date was probably flexible, as it relies on two dates that are not fixed points in time- Mid Winter and the Spring Equinox. Both happen around the 20th/21st/22nd ish of the month that are are in in the Gregorian Calendar. Therefore the date of Imbolc also likely changed based on those two dates.
Moving right along, most folks these days celebrate it on 01 February +/- a day or two. This year I’m celebrating it on the 3rd, as I got whatever plague is currently going around. I’m absolutely fine with this; this holiday celebrates Brigit, who amongst other things was a healer. I figured she would be ok with me taking a couple of days to get on the mend before celebrating.
Brigit is a multi fascinated goddess- poetry, healing, black smithing, and wise woman. So important to the people of Ireland was she that she more than likely either tranformed from a pagan deity to a Christian Saint, or combined with an existing Abbess and their attributes were combined, either way there is still a huge number of folks her venerate her still today , from both sides of aisle. There are a number of holy wells and spring attributed to her in Ireland, many of which still have very active shrines that people make pilgrimages to in search of healing.
My celebration this year, as it has for the last three years, looks very different from what it used to. As a solitary practitioner, my celebrations have been pared down, and have gone back to the basics. I have a statue of Brigit that sits on my kitchen windowsill that I light a candle at every morning as part of my daily ritual.
I like to think of her as watching out and blessing my heart and home from the window above the kitchen sink, while I work my kitchen magic at the stove and counter.
And today, while I make Potato and Onion Soup with Soda Bread to go along side it ( you knew there’d be recipes here.) I will sit and contemplate what Brigit means to me, what my path means to me, and what transformations I hope to achieve in the coming Spring. It’s a time to write out some goals for the year, both SCA and personal, and see where these new seeds can take me.
Potato and Onion/Leek Soup
Ingredients:
- 2 medium yellow onions, sliced
- 2 to 2.5 lbs potatoes, peeled and chunked (russet suggested as they give soup a creamier texture)
- 2 TBLSP (ish) of butter or ghee
- 3 cups milk
- 5.5 cups chicken stock
- ½ t Celery Seeds
- ¼ t Thyme
- ¼ cup chives
- salt and pepper, to taste
- ½ cup (or more to taste) heavy cream
- Roux
- 2TBLSP Butter
- 2TBLSP Flour (may substitute a gluten free flour mix)
- For Serving
- 6 Lardons / bacon strips (Or more..you do you.)
- Chopped chives
Instructions
Sauté onions in butter over low heat until translucent. Once onions are translucent, add potatoes, milk, chicken stock, herbs, and chives.
Simmer on low for 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Using either an immersion blender or regular blender, puree soup until creamy. Look out for the potatoes, because they are shifty and hide at the bottom.
To make the roux, melt butter in a small saucepan. Once melted, add flour, stirring while it cooks for 1-2 minutes.
Slowly stir roux into soup. Bring soup to a slow simmer for 1-2 minutes, then turn off heat.
Add in cream and serve with garnishes and soda bread.
Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 6 cups all-purpose flour*
- 2 Tsp baking soda
- 2 Tsp baking powder
- 3 TBLSP cornstarch
- 2 Tsp sugar
- l Tsp salt
- 2 ½ cups buttermilk
Instruction
Preheat oven to 375°.
Add all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well. Pour buttermilk into bowl and stir, using a wooden spoon, until a soft dough is formed.
Pour contents of bowl onto counter and knead for a minute or so until everything comes together.
Divide dough into two portions. Shape each into a round loaf, pressing top down a bit to barely flatten.
Place loaves on large ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle each loaf with some additional flour. Using a sharp paring knife, cut an X on top of each.
Allow loaves to rest for 10 minutes, then bake on middle rack for 40 minutes or until loaves are golden brown.
*Can substitute gluten free flour, but will need to add additional buttermilk.
A couple of notes:
I have made both of these as dairy free/gluten free recipes and they work really well. This time I added fresh chives and dairy free cheddar cheese to the soda bread, and it was amazing.
I use an immersion blender for this soup. No mater how many times I make it (And it’s been going on 20 years now), I always find a potato that I missed and didn’t blend. It will happen, go with it.
The bacon in the soup this time was jowl bacon from a local farm. The form of bacon isn’t really important- turkey bacon works just as well. It’s just a nice texture contrast.
This soup is way more filling then you think it’s going to be. Way more. It works well in half batch sizes. If you think you need to serve it with anything else, I would suggest a salad.
Additional Resources:
The amazing folks over at the Irish Pagan School have some wonderful resources not only on Imbolc and Brigit, but a number of other topics related to Native Irish spirituality. The founders are both natives of Ireland, and put an extraordinary amount of time and research into their teachings. They have a number of free classes available for those that would like to dip their toes in, as well as a number of deeper dives. They can be found on the web here https://irishpaganschool.com
St. Brigid http://saintsresource.com/brigid-of-ireland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigid_of_Kildare
Today’s Spotify playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1E367HVEwusisE?si=a26337ae2b3f4edf
*Really? You thought this was going to be different from how I am in real life? Please. ^.^
Meara's Making Mischief 