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:
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| Taken before I cut them into bars! |
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:
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:
