Lambing Season

 It's easter and you know what that means - thousands of home bakers will be baking a variety of lamb, egg and bunny shaped cakes again. Is it time to go through another round of intense holiday baking? You bet it is!

Three years I was following my Mom's tradition of baking lamb cakes for everyone. The pandemic hit and for two years Easter was a small affair with a lovely small cake from my local Acme. Now that life is back to normal, I'll be back at the Acme in search of cake mixes, Dream Whip for body, confectioner's sugar and flour.This mold will see active duty again this week and next for Orthodox Easter,It also means a thorough oven cleaning as well.

Of course there are questions and planning. For one friend, maybe a vanilla cake with a strawberry icing. For my house - the ever popular chocolate cake with a coffee frosting for a little brown lamb. Greek Orthodox friends always want the traditional  vanilla cake and vanilla frosting - there can be no other.I've been checking out my go to and best website for frosting recipes Two Sisters to see if there's a different type of coating to try. Then there's the question of full vegan for friends. Do I add almond milk and Just Egg to their cakes as well or can I use real eggs and milk for a fuller bodied cake? The decorations also count.Luckily food coloring has an indefinite shelf life so I can use the ones from the last lamb cake frenzy. As for the chocolate lamb, chocolate decorations work best, so it's buying a new tin of cocoa (and plan making and baking everything from mole to chocolate meringues this Spring). I know I'm not doing a tester cake like I did the last time. There was so much cake by Easter time. I will also need cupcake papers because there will be extra batter  and icing. The overage will yield two or three little cakes which are fun to decorate.

Yes, lambing season is here. That means my oven will be busy once more creating the cake everyone loves.It is a lot of work, but to seeing smiles of gratitude are worth all the baking and frosting.

Lessons From Lent

With today being Ash Wednesday  it's time to think of what most Christians can give up.Most Catholics have a long list of foods that they'll give up. This is the start of a good healthy diet. Another idea is to give up ones' time to cook or  serve others.It's a great way of teaching kids how to behave towards those less fortunate.

Yes, you can give up meats and sweets for Lent. Doing such will help you lose weight and possibly go off your favorite foods. The Greek Orthodox have a much stricter rule. Not only do they have to give up meat, dairy, eggs and cheese are also off the table. Wine and olive oil are also nixed. What is left is fruits and veggies.A diet like this may seem severe but it is the healthiest..The Orthodox are allowed rice and pasta which is a plus. No matter what faith you follow, this is a great fast. Unhealthy fats and sugars are eliminated replaced with a boost of  nutrients and fiber. The Orthodox are allowed to have olive oil and wine on weekends.Veggies could easily be made into a ratatouille but veggies such as tomatoes and peppers can be roasted and served over any kind of pasta or rice. They can also be turned into a salsa crudo or raw sauce for spaghetti or angel hair. Finishing with fruit slices is always a better idea. Get yourself and the kids hooked on fruit slices as a great dessert.

Another idea for Lent is giving up your time. Many churches have food drives during the Lenten season. You can easily go around to friends and neighbors and collect cans and boxes from them for an Easter food drive. Have your local supermarket donate small hams along with canned or fresh asparagus along with other Spring veggies to make a filling  holiday meal. If the stores don't want to donate, then have fund raisers or make a plea when the donation plate is passed around. Late winter and early Spring is a time for planning gardens. If you belong to any church group or teach Sunday school, bring up the idea of a  church garden to supplement the food pantry. Think rows of tomatoes, peppers  and carrots to start off with and then get adventurous with potatoes and even watermelon. The last can be started indoors and planted outside when the temperatures rise past seventy degrees. Just remember too that a church garden can supply some of the food for carnivals and picnics. It can also be used in the parish's soup kitchen as well

It's Lent. If you don't want to give up food , then think about giving up your time to help your local church. Both will be  a learning experience that you'll benefit from.

Food And Ritual

With Lent coming up, it's interesting to see how food plays a part in our religious rituals. They are entwined together , much like religion and ourselves. Both affect our lives - and how we choose to live.

One of the most traditional religions is Greek Orthodoxy.This is one of the purist of Christianity , being unchanged for over one thousand years. Their rites and beliefs are tightly tied to food and what to eat. Their Lent which starts March 11th, has a strict dietary list. Products from red blooded animals are taboo. The Greek Orthodox live mostly on vegetables, having eschewed all kinds of meat, poultry and even fish with spines. Dairy and eggs are also forbidden along with olive  oil and wine. Their Christmas fasts are somewhat similar wit no fish being allowed between December 20th and December 24th - Christmas Eve.Memorial services are also important and so is the food with them.There is usually the deceased's favorite foods , such as certain kinds of cookies as well as favorite fruits. An ancient mix of wheat berries pomegranate seeds nuts and dried fruit is also given out. It's a kind of granola called koliva, and it's sweetened with cinnamon and sugar Mint is added as well, but some families sub in parsley.

The Catholics and some Protestants like the Episcopalians celebrate Fat Tuesday also called Mardi Gras and Shrove Tuesday.It's a wild time, especially in New Orleans and Rio. This is the time to truly enjoy Cajun and Creole dishes.A Fat Tuesday meal can start with a rich gumbo, full of shrimp or  chicken along with onion, celery and peppers, the Cajun trinity. The meals end with a festive King Cake, a sweet bread decorated with purple, green, and gold icing.The colors have meaning too - purple  justice, green faith and gold power. To even make it more fun and festive a baby figurine is put into the cake and  means good luck to the person finding it.The Brazilians celebrate the day with a lush, creamy shrimp stew called moqueca and Caipirinha, the country's national cocktail. Shrove Tuesday is the version celebrated in the United Kingdom where pancakes are made to rid the house of butter and dairy before Lent. Fasting only takes place during this time. Meat is given up on Ash Wednesday and Fridays  Some of the more religious people eschew sweets and alcohol for Lent. Many  southern Italians fast on Christmas Eve Day, breaking it at a late dinner of thirteen kinds of seafood. This symbolizes  Jesus.Christ and His apostles.

Food and ritual have been entwined for more than two thousand years. Both symbolize individual religions and their importance Will it ever change? No, they will be here for the next millienna

Ash Wednesday Giving And Giving Up

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of the Western Christian holy period leading up to Easter Sunday. It's a time of giving up but can also be a time of giving. One of the pluses of this austere time is that our sacrifices can turn into habits that we can take with us through the year.

Volunteering is never really a Lenten idea yet is is a sacrifice of one's time. Many soup kitchens are understaffed at this time because volunteers usually drift away.  Our local media never  emphasizes this as they do around the Thanksgiving and Christmas when more people feel compelled to help out. To get rid of the mid  winter doldrums join your local kitchen and  hang out if you have the time. Get to know the regulars and listen to their stories.Buy them a coffee if you see them on the street, help them in whatever journey they're on. Another idea is baking for these kitchens . Have the offspring help so they can get an idea of what public service is.They can make brownies or cookies and bring them over to the kids (and there are many) that also frequent the kitchens.Smaller soup kitchen sometimes have parties so donate either food or drinks or even bake a cake or cupcakes to bring over as well as assisting setting up and cleaning up afterwards. Also donating seeds and gardening tools to community gardens are a huge help as well along with offering gardening advice. Right now many grocery stores are starting to sell seeds. Pick up a few packets, such as lettuce, peas and squash  to help them start.

Of course Lent means giving up the foods and drinks we love Many give up sweets such as cake or candy for these forty days. The good thing about giving up foods is that you lose your taste for them. These sweets can be replaced with healthier fruits for a burst of sweetness. After a while it's easier to reach for a handful of dark , flavorful grapes than cookies. It's also better for the body as well as for the soul, as we all know. You'll feel springier  after nixing the gluten and refined flours and replacing it with vitamins and fiber too. Many , especially the Greek Orthodox give up meats for Lenten fasting. There are so many bonuses win doing this. You'll lose weight  as well as not ingesting all those harmful antibiotics and hormones that are still being injected into farm animals. It's also a good deed , with saving animal's lives. Fasters will also enjoy broadening their diets by include all sorts of pastas and vegetable dishes. They'll  discover the variety of different faux meats from Morningstar Farms and Gardien brands. Remember though , that if you give up meat you need to supplant it with protein. This is where peanut butter or any nut along with green peas and edamame give you that punch of it. Even unsweetened cocoa powder which can be made into the Mexican mole sauce has huge quantities of it.

Ash Wednesday is a time to start  giving up whether time or favorite foods. It's a time of soul searching and wondering what you can do to make life better for yourself and your community. It's fasting but also also pondering too.

Nutrition Lessons From Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday in the Christian calendar, This solemn day of reflection and prayer beings the forty day period of Lent. For most , such as the Catholics and Greek Orthodox , it means days of fasting and giving up certain foods. To be honest it 's a great way of paring down one's daily diet to a healthy one.

Usually Catholics abstain from meat  today and some abstain from eating meat on Lenten Fridays as they once did before the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s. It's a good way of weaning away from being a full on carnivore. Doing it cold turkey is not always the best. That usually results in meat eating frenzy similar to a great white going through a school of tuna. Having a day away from chicken , beef or pork is a chance to discover different vegetable dishes., The observant are allowed to have seafood and this is a good time to explore tilapia and salmon as substitutes. Some Catholics also give up a favorite food such as cake or ice cream for the forty days,Again this is a good way to wean off all the unhealthy stuff and look into healthier snacks such as fruit and yogurt.

The Greek Orthodox are the strictest with two hundred fast days  in the year. The fasts are varied but it's basically giving up all meat, sugar, dairy and even olive oil. It is truly a cleansing diet with the body being purged of all fats , sugars and even chemicals,Breads are allowed as are tofu and beans..Seafood is allowed but it has limitations too. Only shellfish, octopus and squid can be eaten. There is a week long period where dairy is allowed so there can be milk, ice cream and cheeses as well as yogurts.Any fast is a good one because it introduces you to different vegetables and ways in which to prepare them. It 's a time to try steamed veggies or various t bean dishes like chili. The more you avoid addictive sugars and fats the less likely you'll be craving them later on.

The Lenten period is a time for prayer and reflection along with fasting. This may be the beginning of healthy eating. Abstain from all those sinful foods and not only will your faith be stronger but your body will be too.

Lenten Diets All Year Round

Lent will be starting with this Wednesday.It 's a time when Christians give up certain foods, especially meat and dairy.It's an idea that's worth looking into as a year round diet.It means more fruit and veggies along with a step towards healthier living. Most Catholics and some Protestants give up meat on Wednesdays and Fridays.Starting with a day or two without meat is a good and easy way towards veganism.After a few months you can increase meatless days to four or five and then eventually have meat days one or twice a month.Since some religions allow fish this is a good time to explore the different types put there.Try a steamed salmon(easy to do in the microwave) or tuna which can be served hot or cold.This is also a convenient time to check into the many types of soy "meats"out there.You can easily make spaghetti and meatballs using mushroom based already prepared meatballs.There's also veggie burgers and veggie dogs to try on a Friday night.The Greek Orthodox also give up dairy during the forty days leading up to Easter.This paves the way to try both soy and rice milk,along with the soy and coconut based ice creams. Many people give up a favorite food for this time of fasting.It's usually cake, ice cream and cookies.If these can be given up for just a little over a month, then they can also be given up for good.Again,Lent is an excellent time to explore healthier desserts such as fruits.These are extremely versatile too.You can end a meal with apple sauce, sprinkled with cinnamon.Another treat is grilled pineapple kabobs.Make fruit salads using all sorts of fruits in your market,along with trying new ones such as kiwis and mangoes.Snacks too are usually given up.This is good way of switching over to simple snacks like crackers and rice cakes..Also think a bout having raw veggies with a lemon or lime vinaigrette as a daytime nibble.It's filling but also light. Lent is a time of giving up favorite and lush foods.It's also a chance for a healthier diet and to change unhealthy eating habits.Following one's beliefs is not only good for the soul but for the body as well.