Litha 2025

The Saturday before last it was Litha aka Midsummer/the Summer Solstice (21st June). (Or Sunday 20th depending on your timezone). My usual celebration for this sabbat is making salad and lemonade.

This year I made tomato and onion salad again and "Hello Kitty lemonade" (the recipe is from a Hello Kitty book). I most often use a salad recipe from The Kitchen Witch book by Soraya, but I've lost the book at the moment! I basically remember the recipe anyway, but I also based it on this Italian tomato and onion salad one from This Italian Kitchen: https://thisitaliankitchen.com/italian-tomato-onion-salad/

I came across the recipe a couple of years ago and linked to it in past posts (including last year's Salads for Litha/Summer + Extra Ideas! post. It was the first time I'd made it though.

The salad was quite nice. It's pretty similar to The Kitchen Witch one, except for a couple of things. It uses red onion but I've sometimes made my Litha salad with red onion anyway, which makes it a bit like kachumbari which I like to make for Beltane. Also it requires balsamic vinegar but I didn't have that, so I used lemon juice instead (I think my normal recipe has lemon juice in). And if I don't have olive oil (which I didn't this time) I use vegetable oil instead.

I had it for lunch with a Fitzgeralds bake at home sourdough baguette, sea salt and vinegar crisps, gucamole, chicken fillets and roasted garlic and aioli potato salad. Also the lemonade. Here are a couple of pics:

 

Food

Beltane 2025

Last Thursday (1st May) it was Beltane. (Some people celebrate from sundown on 30th April to sundown on 1st May.) As I mentioned in my Spring Salads + Happy Beltane! post, I normally make salads for this sabbat. 

One of my favourites in recent years is kachumbari (Kenyan/East African tomato and onion salad) and I made that again this Beltane. The recipe is from Precious Core: https://www.preciouscore.com/kachumbari/ 

I had it for my lunch, with some chicken fillets, tortilla chips and guacamole. (Some years I make my own guacamole but lately I've been buying it, lol.) I also had some leftover smashed potato salad that I'd made for my tea (dinner) the night before.

Here's a pic:

Spring Salads + Happy Beltane!

Last spring and summer I wrote two posts featuring salads to make for the seasonal festivals of Beltane and Litha/the Summer Solstice (plus summer in general). You can see them here: 

Salads for Beltane + Extra Ideas!: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2024/04/salads-for-beltane-extra-ideas.html 

Salads for Litha + Extra Ideas!: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2024/06/salads-for-litha-extra-ideas.html

 

While I'm no longer writing more in-depth posts with ideas for celebrating the sabbats, I am occasionally doing new posts with ideas if I feel inspired to. I enjoyed writing the Beltane and Litha posts last year (which also included some ideas for celebrating), so I thought this year I would share some more salads to make during mid-late spring.

Also, Beltane is coming up this week, it's on Thursday 1st May, or Wednesday 30th April, depending on when you celebrate (it traditionally goes from sundown to sundown). So I've included a few links with some more info and inspiration. :)

 

Spring Salads 

 

First up, here are some salads for spring:  

Smokey deli style chicken salad: https://www.ahealthysliceoflife.com/smoky-deli-style-chicken-salad/ 

Grilled chicken chopped kale salad with honey dill vinaigrette: https://simplytaralynn.com/2022/07/12/grilled-chicken-chopped-kale-salad-honey-dill-vinaigrette/

Chicken salad: https://simplytaralynn.com/2025/03/04/the-easiest-chicken-salad-recipe-i-eat-every-day/ 

Mediterranean tuna salad: https://natalie-mason.com/mediterranean-tuna-salad/

Italian chopped salad: https://www.preciouscore.com/italian-chopped-salad/ 

Easy edamame salad: https://plantbasedonabudget.com/easy-edamame-salad/ 

Black bean and brown rice salad: https://www.pbfingers.com/black-bean-and-brown-rice-salad/

If you're vegetarian but still want something similar to chicken salad, Brittany from A Healthy Slice of Life (who has a recipe for smokey deli style chicken salad; linked above) also a classic chickpea "chicken" salad recipe, as an alternative: https://www.ahealthysliceoflife.com/classic-chickpea-chicken-salad/

Winter-Spring Update (2025) + Easter Baking

We've just passed the first quarter of the year, so it's time for my first update of 2025! Also, since Easter is coming up next weekend, I've added a section with some Easter recipes (scroll down for that). :)

Winter-Spring Update (2025)

For the past few years I've written quarterly updates (from "season to season"). I started out writing monthly updates in 2019 and then "two monthly" (two months at a time) ones in 2020, but found that quarterly was better for me. So I'm going to carry that on in 2025. :)

You can see my autumn-winter 2024 update here if you like: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2025/01/new-year-gingerbread-cookies-autumn.html

I didn't do much during January really. I had a bit of a stressful start to the year, due to personal circumstances. 

At the beginning of February I celebrated Imbolg. You can see my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2025/02/imbolg-2025.html

Also during February, I went to Popeyes and got some food. Similarly to Slim Chickens, I'd had milkshakes from there before but not a meal. I tried Slim Chickens' food for the first time in December. I like them both, but like Popeyes' chicken a bit more and  prefer Slim Chickens' milkshakes! 

At the beginning of March I celebrated my birthday. I got a few presents and had a red velvet cake from Marks & Spencer (a small one because they didn't have the bigger one I usually get) and some food at home. I also got takeaway from Nando's. 

In mid-late March it was Ostara/Ostara aka the Spring Equinox. You can read my post about my celebration here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2025/03/oestara-2025.html

Later in March I met up with my dance friends at a pub in Hangleton (Hove). It was nice to see them.

While I'm not currently going on regular park walks , I went to the park a few times during February and March. I had planned to go to Hove Park for Oestara but ended up going to a nearer one instead, because it was quite a busy day. However, I went to Hove a couple of weeks later, around sunset. I also went to Burger King and got a double bacon cheeseburger, a mocha latte and a Coke, then went and sat in the park for a bit.

Here are a couple of photos:

View from by Hove Park.

Oestara 2025

Last Thursday (20th March) it was Oestara, (more commonly known as Ostara), aka the Spring Equinox. My main celebration for this sabbat is baking and this year I made carrot cake bars with vanilla cream cheese frosting. The recipe is from Simply Taralynn: https://simplytaralynn.com/2025/02/12/carrot-cake-bars-with-vanilla-cream-cheese-frosting/

They were quite nice. Here's a pic:

Taken before I cut them into bars!

 

Imbolg 2025

Last Sunday (2nd February) it was Imbolg, more commonly known as Imbolc. I celebrate it on the 2nd, but some people celebrate on 1st Feb, or from sundown on the 1st to sundown on the 2nd. And others may do it on 31st January. I normally make pancakes, which as I've said before, are a good fit for this sabbat. This year I made oatmeal pancakes again, using this recipe from Don't Waste the Crumbs: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/oatmeal-pancakes/

Pancake Day is later this year (because Easter is later), it's not till 4th March. Last year it was 13th February. I normally make English pancakes (similar to crepes) for that, but the DWTC oatmeal pancakes recipe would be good too. (See the bottom of the post for a few links with inspiration for that day.)

I used little pots of instant oatmeal again and plain flour instead of oat flour. had a bit of trouble getting the mix to come together this time, but never mind! lol. They still tasted quite nice. I had them with butter and lemon. I just remembered that I normally eat them with golden syrup, but I forgot this year. Here's a pic: 

 

New Year Gingerbread Cookies + Autumn-Winter Update (2024)

As with previous years, I'm doing a double post about what I baked for Christmas/New Year and my last seasonal update (autumn-winter) of the year (2024). Scroll down if you just want to read the update. :)

New Year Gingerbread Cookies

I'd planned to bake something for Christmas but I was going through a bit of a stressful time and also had problems with my cooker. So, I ended up buying a Christmas fruitcake. However, I was able to bake for New Year. I made gingerbread cookies (or biscuits as we call them in the UK).  The recipe is from Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons: https://kitchenfunwithmy3sons.com/gingerbread-cookies/

They have a cream cheese frosting and sprinkles on top. I used rainbow sprinkles from Tesco. They were quite nice. Here's a pic: