Self-Discipline and Michaelmas Pie

I have a confession to make.  ('Oh no!' you think. "Not a confessional blog! I wanted baby pictures and recipes!')  I started this blog partially as a measure of self-discipline. I lack self-discipline in almost everything.  I procrastinate fixing holes in clothing until I have a mountain of skirts in my "mending pile."  Half of the time that I go to the library determined to read spiritually and intellectually enlightening books I end up coming home with young adult fantasy.  We won't even breach the subject of discipline in eating.  (I was a vegetarian for five years and ended up eating enough ice cream and french fries to negate any health benefits of eschewing meat.)  One thing at which I have always been particularly neglectful is my writing.  I love to write, but without some impetus like a deadline or a grade, I  end up with abandon journals, half-thought out stories, and scribbled lines of poems.  I am hoping that, unlike my high school livejournal attempt that died after five or so posts, this blog will bear some fruit in writing practice.  Maybe the self-discipline will even translate into other areas of life, like the dishes in the sink. 

Get on with it Mama!

But first, the story of the dishes and some pictures!





I decided earlier this week, in the interests of food, fun, and starting a tradition, that we should celebrate Michaelmas this year.  Not only is St. Michael the Archangel an awesome saint and one of Finn's namesakes,but also his feast has some really fun and delicious traditions.  I first heard of celebrating Michaelmas before I became a Catholic from my college roommate, herself not Catholic at the time, whose homeschooling family had celebrated it.  Monica kept her family's tradition with her friends at Hillsdale by baking a beautiful dragon cake, reading or acting the story of St. George and the Dragon, and eating the scrumptious pumpkin soup she painstakingly made for us. Unfortunately, Finn is too little to dress up like St. George (I cannot wait until he can play knights and dragons and all other sorts of  boy games), but I decided to do some internet research and find some traditional Michaelmas foods to make for the Twomey clan.

Lucy and Finn reading books with Grandma Sally.

Because Michaelmas coincides with the harvest, there are a host of wonderful harvest-time foods one can serve to celebrate. While I decided the most famous Michaelmas food, a roasted goose, would be a bit too difficult with the little one around.  I made the Scottish harvest bread associated with the feast, Straun Michel.  Historically, Struan involved using a little bit of each of the grains harvested that year.  Since I didn't personally harvest any grains, I used whole wheat flour, rice, corn meal, and oats.  It turned out hearty and particularly tasty with butter. You can find the recipe I used here.

My loaf of Straun Michel.

  Macaulay, in his History of St. Kilda, p. 82, says: "It was, till of late, an universal custom among the Islanders, on Michaelmas Day, to prepare in every family a loaf or cake of bread, enormously large, and compounded of different ingredients. This cake belonged to the Arch-Angel, and had its name from him. Every one in each family, whether strangers or domestics, had his portion of this kind of shew-bread, and had, of course, some title to the friendship and protection of Michael." [Vol. 2, pp.409-10] (quoted here)

 Speaking of self-discipline, making this bread required more than my usual share. I normally cannot stand making recipes that you need to start the day before.  If I want bread, I want it NOW or at least tonight.   Hopefully, this positive experience will encourage me to make time-consuming breads in the future, because it was well worth the wait. 

While we just used rotisserie chickens from Costco, I did whip up some homemade stuffing with potatoes and sausage. Carrots and ginger also came up as foods for Michaelmas so I made carrots with a ginger honey glaze.  It was a bit like early Thanksgiving!

And now for the part you've been waiting for the Michaelmas Pie with recipe!

Folklore says never to pick blackberries after Michaelmas, because the devil comes down and spits on them.  So, to avoid infernal phlegm I suppose, blackberries were often a part of Michaelmas festivities.  One way to work them in, besides crumbles or crisps, is in a delicious apple pie.  Here's the recipe I used, adapted from a website of Irish cooking. 

Megan Michelle's Michaelmas Pie

 For the All-Butter Crust:

2 sticks (1 cup) of butter

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

about 5 tbsp Very Cold Water

For the Filling:

7-9 Jonathan apples

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cloves (Jf thought not, you could omit them if you feel the same way about cloves)

2 6 oz containers of blackberries

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 egg beaten

Sugar for sprinkling

Instructions:

1)  For crust, cut butter up into small cubes and work into flour with a fork.  When worked in thoroughly (about pea-sized pieces), add water 1 tbsp at a time until the dough is the right consistency (holding together, but not too sticky).   Refrigerate 30 mins.

2) Cook the apples, sugar, and spices over medium heat for five minutes or until slightly soft.  Fold in blackberries.  After letting it sit, add cornstarch to thicken juices. Cool completely. 

3) Preheat oven to 350 F. Roll out a little over half the pie dough to make the bottom crust and lay over a 9" pie pan.  

4) Strain the apples and blackberries before adding over the pie crust.  Spoon about half (really to taste.  If you like it juicier, pour it on!) the thickened juice over the top.

5)Roll out remaining dough.  Place on top and crimp edges.  Brush some of the egg over the top and sprinkle with sugar.  Poke holes for steam with a fork.

6) Bake for 35 minutes at 350.

Enjoy!

I really hope celebrating Michaelmas will be a new traditional our little family will keep up.  The nice thing about starting your own family is the ability to carry on old traditions while starting new ones. Can you tell I just can't wait to be a homeschool mom?

An action shot of happy Finn kicking about in his cute tugboat overalls.  The back pocket says " a little ship at sea."

 

Today is: The feast of St. Hieronymus (Jerome)!

Finn is: 78 days old

Mama is reading: Old Thunder: A Biography of Hillaire Belloc by Joseph Pearce.

Off to do the dishes!