More Mabon recipies

Cinnamon Apple Butter


9 to 10 apples, peeled and cored

1 cup apple cider

2 tsp. apple pie spice

(or 1/2 tsp. each nutmeg and allspice and 1tsp. cinnamon)

Cut the apples into 1-inch chunks. (Don't worry about making them perfectly sized.) Place in a large, nonreactive saucepan and pour cider over them. Cover the pot and cook for about 30 minutes over low heat, until the apples are soft. Cool the mixture, divide it into two batches and puree each in a food processor or blender. (At this point, you have an unsweetened applesauce, which makes excellent baby food). Pour the pureed fruit into a large baking dish, sprinkle with the apple pie spice, and stir. Spread mixture evenly in a 13-by-9-by-2-inch pan. Bake in a 300-degree oven for 2 to 3 hours, until thick and deep brown. Stir every 20 minutes. Cool the apple butter and then scoop it into a clean jar with a sealable lid. It will keep for up to two months in your refrigerator.
Makes 1 1/2 cups.


BLACKBERRY WINE

3 pounds of blackberries
3 pounds of sugar
1 gallon of boiling water

Wash berries, put in large bowl and pour over them the boiling water. Stir well, then cover the bowl and leave for ten days. Strain liquid through muslin, add the three pounds of sugar and stir well. Cover the bowl and leave for three days, but stir daily. Put into bottles and cork, loosely at first. The wine will be ready to drink in six months.


DANDELION WINE

2 quarts dandelion flowers
3 pounds sugar
1 ounce yeast
1 lemon
1 orange
1 gallon boiling water

Pick the dandelions on a sunny day. Pick just the heads until you have two quart jugs full. Wash flowers and put into a large bowl. Slice orange, lemon thinly and add to the flowerheads. Pour boiling water on top of them, stir well. Cover bowl, leave for ten days, no more. Strain liquid into another bowl, stir in the 3 pounds sugar. Spread the yeast on a piece of toast, and float on top. Cover the bowl and leave for another 3 days. Remove the toast, strain again, and bottle. Cork loosely at first. The wine will be ready to drink in 3 months.




OLD-FASHIONED GINGER BEER


For The Starter:
1/2 Ounce Yeast
2 Teaspoons Sugar

To Feed The "Plant":
7 Teaspoons Ground Ginger
7 Teaspoons Sugar

To Flavour:
1 1/2 Pounds Sugar
Juice Of 2 Lemons

Mix starter ingredients with 3/4 pint of warm water in a glass jar. Stir, cover and leave in a warm place for 24 hours. This is your starter "plant". Feed the "plant" with 1 teaspoon each of ground ginger and sugar each day. After 7 days strain through a fine sieve. Dissolve the sugar in 2 pints of water. Add the lemon juice and the liquid from the "plant". Dilute with 5 pints of water, mix well and store in corked bottles for at least 7 days.

Use strong bottles as pressure may build up which will cause thin bottles to explode. For the same reason use corked bottles rather than those with a more secure closure that will not 'give' under pressure.

The amount of sugar in the final stage can be varied according to taste.