And we are almost ready (just a few rows left to knit if I can distract the recipiant for a half an hour!) The first time we had a Solstice Cake, we were living in Ireland where, no matter what you believe in terms of religion, the shortest day of the year was significant. That far north it's far more noticeable just how short the days get in December, and having that behind you, knowing that brighter (but still rainy) days are ahead, is a welcome relief. Our first cake was bought from our local bakery, a wonderful place that was totally responsible for the fact that I lost no weight while we lived there despite our almost two year stint without a car. EVERYTHING was good. EVERYTHING was tempting. You could pack on a few pounds just passing the purple painted door. So when they offered Carrot Yule Logs, of course we had to try one. Why carrot? I have no idea. Weirdly they sell carrot roll cakes in the freezer section of the grocery store here so it must be a thing. In any case, we were hooked and other than a few odd years when I've tried something else, carrot yule log is a must.
This year, with the help of my trusty assistants, I'm trying out
this recipe (oh please let there be a food processor under the tree, 3 cups of grated carrots were not going to happen and the dreaded mini chopper was not very efficient). Although, to be honest, Briton didn't assist much other than filling me in on a new theory involving a time when Dinosaurs and Dragon's coexisted on this earth. Sadly the Dragons felt the Dinosaurs were encroaching on their half of the planet and so sent a giant ball of dragon fire, i.e. a meteor, to kill off the Dinosaurs. Which is good to know, you know, in case I'm ever on Jeopardy.
Tonight we'll eat cake, light candles and pass around some of our homemade gifts and the rest of the week will be taken up in the swirl of Christmas so I'm planning on signing off until Monday. Have a wonderful, restful, joyful Holiday everyone.
Gillian
This year, with the help of my trusty assistants, I'm trying out this recipe (oh please let there be a food processor under the tree, 3 cups of grated carrots were not going to happen and the dreaded mini chopper was not very efficient). Although, to be honest, Briton didn't assist much other than filling me in on a new theory involving a time when Dinosaurs and Dragon's coexisted on this earth. Sadly the Dragons felt the Dinosaurs were encroaching on their half of the planet and so sent a giant ball of dragon fire, i.e. a meteor, to kill off the Dinosaurs. Which is good to know, you know, in case I'm ever on Jeopardy.
Tonight we'll eat cake, light candles and pass around some of our homemade gifts and the rest of the week will be taken up in the swirl of Christmas so I'm planning on signing off until Monday. Have a wonderful, restful, joyful Holiday everyone.
That is such a neat tradition!! Let me know how it turns out. I would absolutely love to try it next year! The husband and I are always excited about the solstice and would like to integrate celebrating it with our children....but don't really know where to start. I say I always need an excuse for a cake though! = )
ReplyDeleteWe light a fire in our chiminea (outdoor ceramic fire thing that looks like a chimney) or our fire pit and have hot chocolate. Last year it we had six inches of snow and it was about 5 degrees for the high, so it was a quick fire. This year, it feels more like Oregon in the spring....balmy and wet. But the fire will be more fun!
ReplyDeleteOh I like the fire idea! One of these days we'll get a fire pit and then we might have to add that in to our festivities.
ReplyDeleteCaroline, the cake was wonderful although HUGE!And you're right! Any excuse for a cake :) Next year I'll make a half recipe of it so that we have a smaller cake. I filled it with cream cheese that I had whipped with a little Splenda (my mother in law is here and she is Diabetic, so I was trying to keep the sugar down) and a little egg nog to thin it then drizzled some chocolate ganache over the top to help hold the rolled cake together.
Solstice with kids is fun because it's very understandable for them. At least that's how I've seen it. They can see the full moon, they can, from an early age, get the idea of shorter days (since they have less outdoor time:))So it's tangible for them where most holidays are just a story that they are to believe, nothing concrete, ya know?
We've always opened a little present but I really loved that we did only homemade things this year.It was so fun to help the kids come up with things to put under the tree that they made. It made it more special somehow. The other thing that we do which the kids love is that we send out Santa letters on Solstice, but instead of mailing them we put them on the fire and "send them up the chimney" The smoke magically sends their wishes to Santa's list. :)