Yule 2019

Last Sunday it was Yule/the Winter Solstice. As I mentioned in the Yule Inspiration post, this year I had a go at making my own Yule log. I've done it once before but mostly I buy them because that's easier, lol. That was in 2014. I also baked red velvet Buche de Noel for Christmas 2014. And I made a Christmas vanilla roll cake for Christmas last year (and previously in 2013). But it took me 5 years to make another Yule log!

This year I made a spiced Christmas Yule log using a recipe from the Co-op magazine. It has a white chocolate buttercream frosting. You can find the recipe here: https://www.coop.co.uk/recipes/spiced-christmas-yule-log

It's vegan but mine wasn't because I used butter for the icing instead of dairy free spread. You use chickpea water and it's the first time I've used that in a recipe. It didn't come out flat so I had trouble rolling it up, but I managed to roll it up a bit! I don't think it was the best Yule log I've done and could have come out better, but it tasted quite nice. Here's a picture:

Yule Inspiration

 

I normally post on Sunday or Monday but been a bit behind recently, so I'm posting today instead. :)

It's almost time for Yule aka the Winter Solstice/Midwinter. This year it's on Sunday 22nd December. The date varies each year but it's always around 21st December

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere it will soon be Litha aka Midsummer/the Summer Solstice. Here are my Litha celebration ideas posts:

Litha/Midsummer Celebration Ideas (also a post about no-yeast dinner rolls): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/06/baking-no-yeast-dinner-rolls-and.html

Celebrating Litha/Summer: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/06/celebrating-litha-summer.html

Litha Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/06/litha-inspiration_17.html


In the past two years I've done posts with ideas for celebrating Yule. You can see them below:

Yule Celebration Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/12/yule-celebration-ideas.html

Celebrating Yule/Christmas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/12/celebrating-yulechristmas.html

 

During 2019 I've done a series of Inspiration posts for the sabbats, so here is the  post for Yule! :)

As I said in last year's post, Yule is either the first sabbat of the new cycle on the Wheel of the Year, or the second,  depending on your point of view. (I think of Samhain as the beginning and end, so count it as the second). It's definitely the final sabbat of the calendar year.

More Winter Inspiration + Winter Tag

 

Winter is starting now, so it's time from some winter inspiration! In past years I've done a post on getting ready for winter, and a round-up and inspiration one. You can read them below:

Getting Ready for Winter: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/12/getting-ready-for-winter.html

Winter Round-up + Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/12/winter-round-up-inspiration.html

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere you might like this post about celebrating summer and Litha/the Summer Solstice:

Summer Round-up + Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/07/summer-round-up-inspiration.html

 

So here's some more inspiration for this winter! Plus a Winter tag. (Scroll down for the tag). :)

As I mentioned in the Getting Ready for Winter post, there are two "official" starts to winter- the meteorological one (1st Dec) and the astronomical (around 21st December), which is the shortest day of the year, aka Yule/the Winter Solstice. This year Yule will be 22nd December.