Convocation 2011

It's that time of year again!!!  Convocation is almost upon us! 

This year I will be hosting three workshops!  Can you believe it?  THREE!

For the very first time I will be presenting a workshop based upon my book, "The Pregnant Priestess".  I am very excited to be doing this and hope the turnout is high in attendance.  Also being presented for the first time is "Child's Play"  where children (of all ages are welcome) to come and participate in the building of a Book of Shadows out of coloring pages.  I have been graciously accepted and given permission to use many of the original artwork from Pooka Pages by Lora Gaddis!  I am very excited!  I look forward to seeing my little pal Damon and his mom Julie (if you are reading this! HAHA).  In Child's play we will also be making Salt Dough Ornaments or whatever the children choose to make out of it.  Finally returning for a second year is the "Pampered Pagan's Pantry"!  The turn out was so wonderfully recieved last year, I will be presenting it again at many of last year's attendees requests!  Thank you for asking me back!

If you would like to learn more about Convocation, you can either click on this entry's title link, or go to http://www.convocation.org/. 

I look forward to seeing my friend and mentor Nora Cedarwind Young, who is an acclaimed "Death Midwife".    Above are photos of us from last year's KOTH Girl's Night Out at Convocation.   Pictured are myself, my sister Autumn, and Nora.  See you both soon sistahs!

If you would like to know more about Nora, please visit her website at http://www.thresholdsoflife.org/ and tell her that Crystal sent you!

Llewellyn's Calendar Controversy

It seems to be a bit of controversy with Llewellyn's datebook.  This year for Ostara there is a recipe for rabbit.  Eating rabbit that is.  I can only say, there are Pagans out there that eat MEAT too!  We are not all vegetarians.  I am very happy about this recipe being included. 

As a "daughter" of Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt, I am a daughter of the hunt.  Majority of the meat my family eats is provided by various members of our family's harvesting during the many hunting and fishing seasons. This ranges from deer, fowl, and fish.  I believe that the Goddess has provided us with the gifts of nourishment that come in both plant and animal form.  We are all apart of the circle of life.   I would so eat a rabbit before eating at a fast food chain!  Rabbits (in my case wild, not pets) would be so much better for you.  However, rabbit is also a very very lean meat  with minimal fat and oils so humans could not live on that one source of meat alone.

Both plant and animals have energy and life forces within them.  I don't understand how some people can think that being a vegetarian is so much better. Plants provide approximately 95% the oxygen that we breathe with each and every breath we take.   Plants have just as much life force with in them as animals do.  When a plant is harvested, its life force is taken away just like the life force of an animal is taken away from the hunt. 

The hunt is a ritul for those that perform it.  It is apart of the hunter and his or her lifestyle.  Also for those rare few, like myself, it is apart of their spirituality.

I applaud Llewellyn for including the recipes for meat dishes submitted by Ms. Barrette.  I would like to see for future issues an equal number of recipes for both meat and meatless dishes.  All food is nourishment, both in plant and animal form.  Thank you Llewellyn for not only nourishing us spiritually, but in this case, this meat eater's belly as well!  I can't wait to try this recipe!

Sincerely,
Crystal

Organizing the Pantry

BEFORE

AFTER

I wish I would have thought about taking pictures right from the beginning.  I did not until after I had cleaned out some items.  I also forgot to take a photo of the completely empty pantry.  Another good one would have been to take a photo of all the stuff out on the floor and my table once it was cleared.

There is still alot of stuff in my pantry, but at least now I can see all the food in it.  And the plus side was only two things were thrown away due to expiration dates.  One box of graham crackers (outdated by two years) and a container of mustard.   I was expecting alot more product to be tossed.  Glad I am using majority of my food before it reaches expiration.  

Now that my pantry is clean and organized, I look forward to participating in the Pantry Challenge 2011.  Its a challenge to use all the food in my pantry with minimal shopping at the grocery store until everything is used.
All I can see is that there will be a lot of tomato sauce foods in our near future.  Mushrooms was the second largest amount of canned goods we had as well.

Tonights dinner will most likely either be tacos or chili (either made from venison of course). 

It took me from 10am to 2pm to complete the cleaning and organization.  Before putting all the food back in, I washed the shelves with a Rosemary and Tea tree concoction for disinfecting and cleansing of the area.   It smells pretty good in there right now, but I will be putting the trash container and the bottle return can back in there as well. 

Blessed Be,
Crystal

Year of Cooking

Last year I seen a post about Naming the Year.  When I have a bit more time, I will repost the direct link to her site and what has inspired me.  (I have since found it and its Magical Mommy who provides me with continued inspiration.  Here you can find her 2010 update for this entry. ) http://magickalmommy.blogspot.com/2010/10/naming-your-year.html

This year I am dedicating myself to living frugally.    I have been so consuming in my life of materialistic things it needs to stop.  So everyday (hopefully) I will be writing about what is for dinner and how much it cost me to make it.  I want to focus on cooking for my family, providing them with nourishment as much as I possibly can.  I often think about trying to turn into a retro housewife.  I can remember growing up, my own mother cooked most of our meals and the house was spotless.  Always clean, always smelling wonderful. 

So my list of things to accomplish for 2011 are as follows:

Cook at least 5 dinners a week for my family, more so from scratch than convienence.
Have a patio garden containing at least one basil, tomato, and bell pepper plants.
Learn how to carve a chicken without tearing it to shreds.
Learn how to bake bread and make it from scratch at least once a week.
Eat more nourishing and organic foods whenever our pocketbook allows.
Research and possibly support a local CSA if our pocketbook allows.
Buy in bulk to save money in the long run.
Organize my pantry.
Let food not go too waste by it expiring.

Cheers to a new year and sucessful cooking adventures!

Blessed Be,
Crystal