Happy Pagan New Year

October is a big months for me. My birthday, Halloween, the month it actually starts to feel like fall...and Samhain, Pyanepsion, and Maimakterion.

Samhain is the holiday on which Wiccans and Celtic polytheists celebrate the last harvest, the beginning of the winter, and the end of the year.

Pyanepsion and Maimakterion are a series of Hellenic holidays surrounding purification, libations to like 20 different entities, and the new year. In Ancient Greece, this was the transition to the new Olympiad, or one of the four-year cycles (marked by the Olympic games) which Hellenics used to measure time. This year is #669.

I don't really have time to do much but I'm trying to veil more often and wear devotional jewelry, as well as cooking.

So I'm collecting some recipes based on traditional Greek cuisine and Samhain festival foods to share. I'll probably drop some off at my work too, like I did with the apple-pumpkin muffins I made for Mabon...I just won't tell them that it's a religious thing. After all, free food is a much nicer way to share your religion than, say, throwing a fit when your child who is turning twenty in three weeks, has attention issues, and isn't even Christian, mother doesn't want to go to church with you.

Anyway.

Samhain:

potato artichoke soup

Mini meatloaves, green beans, and potatoes

Shepherd's pie

Chicken bowtie pasta with sage and nutmeg

Veggie tostadas with cauliflower mash

Ham and sweet potatoes mini flatbreads

Triple veggie pasta

Fall vegetable fajitas
Grilled vegetable succotash salad
Mashed potato soup
Potato nests with sour cream and smoked salmon
Potato croquettes




Pyanepsion and Maimakterion

Greek salad

Chicken kebabs
Grilled chicken and two bean salad
Sauteed fish fillets with tomatoes and capers
Grilled clams with garlic
Spinach salad with figs and warm bacon vinaigrette
Chicken thighs with mustard-citrus sauce
Savory lamb stew
Falafel burger with hummus
Baked eggplant with couscous and feta
Pasta with broccoli and ricotta
Sauteed chickpeas with broccoli and parmesan
Pita bread and pea salad
Tomato-basil tart
Zucchini-potato frittata
Vidalia onion tarts
bruschetta with minted pee puree
Avocado and mango salsa crostini
White bean dip
Spicy crunchy chickpeas




I tried to keep everything under $3 a serving and to include vegetarian options. Enjoy.