#thoughtco

Andrew Wyeth (American, 1917-2009)

Christina's World, 1948.

Museum of Modern Art, New York

So I found a lovely shortbread recipe from a Samhain masterpost not long ago, which was included in a small batch of recipes for what are called Soul Cakes.

You can find the recipes here.

“Soul cakes were traditionally baked as a gift for the spirits of the dead. In many European countries, the idea of "Souling" became an acceptable alternative for Christians. The cakes took many different names and shapes -- in some areas, they were simple shortbread, and in others they were baked as fruit-filled tarts. Still other regions made them of rice flour. Generally, a soul cake was made with whatever grain the community had available.“ (ThoughtCo.com)

This recipe is the Quickie Shortbread Soul Cakes. I wanted to try it out to see if I could, in fact, bake shortbread. 

You'll need:

1 stick of butter, softened

4 Tbs sugar

1 1/2 C flour

Cream together the butter and sugar. Use a flour sifter to add the flour to the bowl, and mix until it's smooth. Divide the dough into two parts, and shape each half into a flat circle about half an inch thick. Put them on an ungreased baking sheet (baking stones are really nice for this) and poke lines with the tines of a fork, making eight separate wedges in each cake.

Bake for 25 minutes or until light brown at 350 degrees. (recipe copied from site here)

I added a little less than a tablespoon of rosewater to the mix, and I don’t have a sifter, so I didn’t sift the flour, either. On top of the shortbread, I had heated up a mixture of rose water and sugar in the microwave. I’m not good at syrups/glazes and the like, so next time I might ask my husband how to do it properly! (LMAO)

They came out sooooo tasty! How on earth could just four little ingredients come out so yummy? I think I might make a batch of these for our SCA get together next Tuesday, and then make a batch on Samhain, leaving a couple pieces out in memory of the dead. 

What is the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare?

Much like other United Nations resolutions, the UDAW is a nonbinding, generically-worded set of values that signatories can adopt. Nations that sign the Paris Agreement to do what they can to protect the environment, and nations that sign the Conventions on the Rights of the Child agree to try to protect children.

In the same way, signatories of UDAW agree to do what they can to protect animal welfare in their respective countries.