Sweet & Spicy Glazed Nuts

By Cait Johnson, author of Witch in the Kitchen (Inner Traditions, 2001).
Simple Solution
If you’ve never tasted this heavenly combination of sweet, salty, and spicy, you are in for a rare treat. My sweetheart brought me a package of these amazing spicy-sweet glazed nuts from a special shop and they didn’t last long! Here is the recipe so you can make them yourself.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups walnut or pecan halves
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Cayenne pepper to taste
1. Put nuts in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, until they are lightly browned and fragrant.
2. Add butter, stirring until it is melted and the nuts are coated. Add maple syrup, sugar, salt, and cayenne, then turn down the heat and cook, stirring, until the liquid has evaporated and the nuts are well coated.
3. Allow to cool, then store in a covered container. These keep for three weeks (hah! They'll be gone in no time.)
Makes 2 cups.

Savory Winter Solstice Pie

Inspired by Witch in the Kitchen, by Cait Johnson (Inner Traditions, 2001).
Simple Solution
This hearty supper pie can be made with just about anything you have on hand, but it bakes up into such a festive-looking dish. Topped with golden crust or creamy mashed potatoes, Savory Winter Solstice Pie is bursting with tender winter vegetables, a nourishing celebration of the return of longer days after the shortest night of the year.
INGREDIENTS
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
2 to 3 cups of any combination of the following diced vegetables: onion, garlic, carrot, bell pepper, celery, potato, mushroom, sweet potato, winter squash, turnip, parsnip, broccoli, or Brussels sprouts
6 cups coarsely chopped greens, such as kale, cabbage, mustard greens, turnip greens, broccoli rabe, or chard
1/2 cup frozen peas or corn
Seasonings to taste: chopped fresh parsley, dried thyme, rosemary, sage, basil, savory, marjoram, or a combination
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon unbleached or whole wheat flour
1/2 to 1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup shredded cheese (optional)
Your favorite homemade or store-bought crust or 3 cups cooked mashed potatoes
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and add the diced vegetables, sautéing, stirring occasionally, until tender.
3. Add chopped greens and cook briefly to wilt. Add frozen peas or corn and allow to cook through.
4. Add seasonings, then sprinkle vegetables with flour, stirring well and simmering for a few minutes. Add broth, stirring until thickened. Add cheese, if desired.
5. Place ingredients in an oiled deep-dish pie dish. You may use a bottom crust, if you like, and/or a top crust. If you go crustless, top vegetables with mashed potatoes, dotted with butter or drizzled with olive oil, if you like.
6. If using crust, cut a special symbol (a sun is a nice touch) in the top, or use a spoon to swirl a sun or spiral shape in the mashed potatoes.
7. Bake 45 minutes, or until golden, and serve on a platter surrounded with fresh evergreens, if you like.
Serves 4 to 6.

Kissed French Toast

Adapted from The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook, by Tanya Petrovna (Shambhala, 2003).
Simple Solution
This better-for-you vegan version of French toast is sure to be a winner at your house. Everybody loves the sweet flavor of French toast kissed with spices.
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups water
3 tablespoons unbleached pastry flour
2 tablespoons melted nondairy no-trans-fats margarine
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
Pinch sea salt
2 to 3 tablespoons organic shortening
Six 1-inch slices French bread or sourdough
Pure maple syrup, for serving
1. Blend all ingredients except last three in a blender. Place mixture in a saucepan and whisk while heating until mixture is thickened. Remove from heat and slightly cool.
2. Melt some shortening in a skillet (cast iron works well for this) while soaking bread in batter. Place bread in skillet and brown on each side. Let it get nice and brown before turning, as batter is sticky. Use a spatula and scrape the bottom of the pan well while turning.
3. Serve with pure maple syrup.
Serves 3 to 4.

The Aromas of Christmas: Four Incense Recipes

Adapted from Pagan Christmas, by Christian Ratsch and Claudia Muller-Ebeling (Inner Traditions, 2003).
Simple Solution
These easy-to-make yet evocative holiday incenses will rekindle vivid memories and sensations of the season, and inspire new ones for the future. Rich with the aromas of nutmeg, fir, juniper, and more, these scents will bring the holiday to life.

Angel’s Smoke Incense
50 g benzoin resin
60 g storax resin
30 g white sandalwood
8 g cloves
2 or 3 pieces of orris root
2 nutmegs
A small amount of fresh lemon rind
A splash of rose water
Grind the nutmegs, cloves, orris root, and sandalwood. Crush the benzoin and storax resins with a mortar and pestle. Thoroughly mix these ingredients together. Grate fresh lemon rind over the mixture, splash with rose water, and knead to blend. Place the incense on the smoking coal
in small portions.

Yule Smoke
Equal parts of:
Pine resin
Juniper
Cedar
This incense can be used for any winter rite. You can also smudge the house with it, but traditionally only during the period from November 1 to March 21st.

Holy Nights Incense
Equal parts of:
Ground fir resin
Whole juniper berries
Chopped mugwort herb or stripped flowers
Chopped sweetgrass
Mix all ingredients together. Place incense by teaspoonfuls on the glowing coal.

Christmas Incense
3 parts frankincense
2 parts myrrh
1 part cassia
1 part mace
1/2 part clove buds
Thoroughly grind all the ingredients together in a mortar into very small parts. Place by teaspoonfuls on the smoking coals. A Christmas scent will follow very quickly!

Classic Deep-Dish Blueberry Pie

Classic Deep-Dish Blueberry Pie
Inspired by Gourmet Magazine.
Simple Solution
Blueberries are super-rich in cancer-fighting, age-defying, healthful antioxidants and this classic pie is just bursting with blueberry goodness.
What do you get when you stuff a tender pie crust with lots of sweet fresh blueberries? A big blue smile with every bite. Here is the recipe for Classic Deep-Dish Blueberry Pie.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup packed organic brown sugar
5 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
6 cups fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
Dough for a double-crust pie
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 egg plus 1 tablespoon water
1. Preheat oven to 425F with baking sheet on the middle rack.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and tapioca. Add blueberries and lemon juice and toss to combine.
3. Roll out the larger round of dough on a lightly floured surface to a 13-inch round. Fit the dough into a 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie plate, trimming to leave a 1/2-inch overhang. Place on refrigerator to chill.
4. Roll out top crust into an 11-inch round. Cut out steam vents with small decorative cookie cutters.
5. Remove pie plate from fridge and spoon filling and juices into it. Dot with butter, then cover with top crust. Trim top crust to 1/2-inch overhang, then crimp top and bottom crust edges together. Brush top with egg-and-water wash.
6. Bake 30 minutes on hot baking sheet, then cover edges with foil to prevent over-browning. Reduce oven to 375F and continue baking 45 to 50 minutes, until filling is bubbly and crust is golden.
7. Cool pie completely on a rack, around 4 hours (otherwise, filling will be runny).
Serves 8 to 10.

Plum Shortcakes

Plum Shortcakes
Inspired by Summer, by Joanne Weir (Time-Life Books, 1997).
Simple Solution
For some of us, ripe orchard fruit is our favorite part of the season of bounty, and this classic recipe is a luscious way to use it. If you can’t find fresh plums, you can use peaches, nectarines, or apricots instead. Plums, though, give a beautiful purple-golden color to the dish, and a subtle sweet flavor.
Any way you serve these meltingly tender shortcakes stuffed with fruit, they taste like the essence of summer.
INGREDIENTS
Shortcakes
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup organic unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup buttermilk
Filling
2 3/4 pounds plums
2/3 cup water
1/4 cup organic granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons kirsch
Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon kirsch
1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together into a bowl. Add butter and rub into flour mixture with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir buttermilk in gradually, using a fork, until mixture just holds together. Form dough into a ball and roll out on a well-floured surface with a rolling pin into a 1/2 inch thick round. Fold in half and roll out to 1/2 thickness again. Do this once more.
2. Use a 3-inch round biscuit cutter to cut out 6 rounds, then gather the scraps, roll out again, and cut 2 more rounds. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake about 10 minutes, until tops are golden. Cool shortcakes on a rack.
3. Pit and halve 3/4 pound of the plums and place in a blender, processing on high until smooth. Strain into a bowl through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding skins that remain in the sieve.
4. Combine water and granulated sugar in a small saucepan over high heat and stir about 30 seconds, until slightly thickened. Add this sugar syrup, along with the kirsch, to the plum puree in the bowl.
5. Pit and halve the remaining 2 pounds of plums, cutting into 1/2-inch wedges. Add to puree and toss to combine.
6. In a medium bowl, whisk or beat the cream until just thickened. Add kirsch and confectioners’ sugar and continue to beat until mixture forms soft peaks.
7. To serve: Cut each shortcake in half horizontally. On individual serving plates, place the bottom half of a shortcake, cut side up, and spoon some of the plum mixture on top. Add a dollop of whipped cream and cover with a shortcake top.
Serves 6 to 8.

Five Favorite Finger Foods

Five Favorite Finger Foods
Collected by the editors of Eat Well Naturally.
Simple Solution
‘Tis the party season when fun, easy-to-eat finger foods are much in demand. Here are our favorites: fetching little potato turnovers with garlicky spinach filling, Cajun-style stuffed mushrooms, a beautiful scarlet red pepper spread, healthful vegetable mini-quiche cups, and peppers stuffed with spicy-sweet cheese.
Potato Turnovers with Garlicky Spinach Filling
Blue Bayou Stuffed Mushrooms
Roasted Red Pepper Spread
Vegetable Quiche Cups
Spicy-Sweet Pepper Boats