Autumn Equinox celebration

As we say goodbye to summer and long days we welcome the dark back in to our lives and also celebrate the harvest. It has certainly been an amazing harvest this first summer at PEACE farm.

One of the many crates off to the shed. We have had the biggest harvest of tomatoes ever!

We decided to mark the occasion of the Autumn Equinox when the day and night are of equal length with a simple ritual and cake.  We walked around our mandala gardens and each collected something to recognise what we would like to let go of and something we wish to grow and nurture in our lives.

An autumn equinox cake, see recipe below

I baked a delicious chocolate hazelnut banana cake and we had one side with candles and the other with pine cones.  My symbol of letting go was a dying sunflower, I let go of the summer with gratitude for all it has given me. And my symbol of what I wish to create was some white sage, to bring rest, healing and the sacred into my life, and a strawberry to bring pleasure and succulence, and these combined are to bring more balance between full rest and full energy.

The children enjoyed the ritual and especially blowing out the candles and eating the cake.

Matt explains the Oxheart tomato symbolises his intention to live and communicate more from the heart.

Cat's chocolate hazelnut & banana cake

I used my thermomix to make this and so the thermomix instructions are in brackets but you can try just with a food processor if you don't have a thermomix.

Ingredients:

150g dark chocolate

100g almonds

150g hazelnuts

80g brown sugar

150g butter or oil

4 eggs

1 ripe banana

2ts baking powder

1ts cinnamon

2 tbs cocoa

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grate or mill chocolate and set aside (6 secs, speed 8). Process almonds and hazelnuts to a course meal (6 secs, speed 6). Add to chocolate.  Place remaining ingredients in TM bowl or food processor and mix (20 secs, speed 7). Add choc and nut mix and continue to mix (30 secs, speed 6). Pour mixture into greased pan lined with baking paper.  Bake in preheated oven for approximately 45min-1 hour.

ENJOY!!!