Symbolic Winter Solstice Foods
What food can I make for solstice this year?
Winter Solstice is in many ways the celebration of the return of the sun. While this is the day with the shortest amount of sunlight, and the lowest angle of the sun in the sky, from here forward the days will get longer and the sun higher in the sky. Because of this, any food that suggests or invokes the sun is a perfect fit for Winter Solstice.
How about a big orange pumpkin pie with pastry edges cut to many tiny points to turn it into a big delicious sun? Or star shaped sugar cookies – the sun is, after all our local star. Food with preserved summer fruit in it is also both delicious and tasting the stored energy of the sun in the midst of winter.
Sun-Soaked Midwinter Pumpkin Pie
Wash your pumpkin and cut in half. Remove the seeds and skins and place cut side down on a baking sheet.
Bake in a 325ｰ F oven for about an hour or till soft.
Don't have a pumpkin? Try deeply orange sweet potatoes instead. Or you can buy a can of pumpkin at the store.
Pastry Shaping
Make your pie pastry according to your favourite recipe. Pumpkin pies are normally uncovered, so you might need only a half recipe. Grease your pie plate with a little butter or other fat to help brown the bottom of the pastry. Roll out your pastry and then fold it in half. Place on top of the pie plate and unfold, then press loosely into the plate. Make sure the pastry comes right up onto the rim of the pie plate and over it.
Trim off the excess pastry, that goes over the edge of the plate. Then cut many small notches into the circle of pastry on the rim of the plate, so it looks like a many notched sun shape. Use the trimmed dough to make more triangles, which we will later lay in a circle, points out for another layer of 'rays' on top of the filling itself.
Sun Filling
Prepare your pumpkin pie filling according to your favourite recipe, or just mix in 2 slightly beaten eggs in with about 2 cups mashed pumpkin (or other squash or sweet potato), sweeten to taste (1/4-3/4 cup sugar or similar sweetener) and add a 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg or allspice and 1/8 tsp cloves. Pour the mixture into your pie shell and lay the extra pastry points in a pleasing sun-shape on top.
Then bake in a 425ｰ F oven for 15 min, then reduce heat to 325ｰ and bake 45 minutes more, or until a knife point inserted into the pie comes out clean.
Serve with gratitude for the returning sun.
Some other recipes to try are for fruitcake or sun or star shaped sugar cookies.
