Hello!
Welcome to this Solstice newsletter.
How are you?
How are you feeling in the lead up to Christmas?
I often feel pretty frenetic by this time of year, trying to wrap up work projects, and create magic for the family.
But, this year I feel fairly balanced and calm.
One of the things that really helped was the Solstice celebration that my daughter and I went to, held by Children’s Forest in the grounds of Emerson College.
We had such a wonderful day, seeing old, and making new friends, crafting, singing and listening to stories around the sacred fire. The fire was a work of art; I’m a real lover of fire and building them, and this one was exceptional. Built by 13 year old Luca, it had 4 gateways, one for each direction. As we called in the circle, he ignited some thistledown with flint and steel, and lit each gateway.
The day ended with a lantern procession to greet the trees. We sang to each tree, and Iris and I were delighted to add some new songs to our tree repertoire. There’s a link below to our new favourite – the holly tree!
It grounded me and filled me with so much joy that life has felt sweet and (mostly!) peaceful ever since.
The beautiful illustration for today’s newsletter is by Tijana Lukovic. You can buy a print here.
Here’s what else we’ve been up to
Planning Our Festive Feast
There'll be 12 of us around my Dad's kitchen table for Christmas lunch this year, a combination of meat eaters, veggies and vegans. My partner and I are excited about doing the food for everyone - of course we've got a spreadsheet! We’ve decided on a beetroot and rocket tarte tatin for the veggie main. I’m loving browsing through Gaz Oakley’s Plant Based Holidays for inspiration. He has a Sexy Sprouts recipe that’s definitely making it onto our Christmas table. He pan fries the sprouts with chestnuts, fennel seeds and lemon zest. Yotam Ottolenghi has a delicious roasties recipe with za’atar, which look like next level potatoes!
On the topic of food, I’ve also been salivating over Bryan Ford’s Pan Y Dulce – so many amazing bakes from Latin America. Most of the breads have a sourdough starter, which I really want to get back into next year, and there’s a whole chapter on Savoury and Gluten Free goodies. Yummm!
