#winterharvest

Make a lovely winter harvest cheese board that's great for holiday parties or cozy nights by the fire. This charcuterie spread has different kinds of cheeses, cured meats, fruits, nuts, and sauces, so it's a tasty and sweet treat for the season.

Ingredients: 200g prosciutto. 150g salami. 150g brie cheese. 150g cheddar cheese. 150g blue cheese. 100g grapes. 100g dried figs. 100g mixed nuts walnuts, almonds, cashews. 100g olives green and black. 100g cranberry chutney. 100g whole grain mustard. 1 baguette, sliced. Fresh rosemary sprigs for garnish.

Instructions: Put the sliced baguette on a platter to serve. Leave space between the brie, cheddar, and blue cheese on the platter. Spread the prosciutto and salami slices out on a platter with the cheeses. Then fold and roll them up. Spread the olives, grapes, dried figs, and mixed nuts out evenly on the platter. Put whole grain mustard and cranberry chutney in small dishes to serve. Add some fresh rosemary sprigs to the platter to make it look more festive. Give your guests the winter harvest cheese board and tell them to make their own tasty combinations.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

A delightful salad featuring the flavors of winter with roasted butternut squash, sweet pomegranate seeds, crunchy pecans, and creamy goat cheese, all drizzled with tangy balsamic vinaigrette.

Ingredients: 4 cups mixed winter greens. 1 cup roasted butternut squash, diced. 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds. 1/4 cup chopped pecans. 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese. 2 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Salt and pepper to taste.

Instructions: Start by heating the oven to 400F 200C. Add some olive oil, salt, and pepper to the diced butternut squash and toss it around. Put it in the oven and roast it for 20 to 25 minutes, or until it's soft and slightly caramelized. Mixed winter greens, roasted butternut squash, pomegranate seeds, chopped pecans, and crumbled goat cheese should all be put in a large salad bowl. Spread the balsamic vinaigrette dressing on top of the salad. Add pepper and salt to taste. Toss everything together gently until it's all well mixed. Serve your tasty Winter Harvest Salad right away and enjoy it!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

The time of the winter harvest, aligned with the last solstice of the year is nigh. The days are the shortest they will be and soon this will change, the cycle shall be reset: in no more than two weeks Sol Invictus shall return bit by bit, growing and budding with life and vitality. That is what the ancient festival of Saturnalia signifies. Around the second week of December would the festivities start and culminate in the night of the solstice where ceremonial offerings would be made and a ritual would be performed to seek the blessings of bounty and fertility with harvest one last time before the year ended. Later on, a simple ancient festival of this solstice would become the chiefest and most spectacular of all festivals during old Roman Republic.

Dedicated to Saturn the Titan, the festival of Saturnalia while embracing newer ideologies like absolute equality; (during the festival all social, economic and racial hierarchy would be dissolved, slaves would be free to do say and travel as they pleased, senators and urchins would drink and celebrate on the same table) the old customs would still resonate through : signifying a celebration for the turning of the year, the Sun renewed with vitality would start another cycle, Sol Invictus would ride out again to run another year - rebirth of the year that ushered in a rebirth of the fertility of the soil, renewal of life and energy in the air and all life in nature.

A thousand or so years later newly formed Abrahamic religious organisations would come to take charge of much of the lands where this festival and it's concurrent culture prevailed. And those practices would be demonized, as would the Gods involved, and yet countless traditions and customs pertaining to the festival of Saturnalia would be adopted : It's much easier to convince common folk that a new religion is "superior" if you can imbibe aspects of their old customs and traditions into the path of faith you're trying to force upon them.

So as everywhere on earth, people celebrate the festivities of Christmas - I observe and celebrate the winter solstice, the harvest of the last seed, the turning of the wheel of night and day, the great keeper, breeder and reaper of life Sol Invictus and the lord who believed in destroying all social hierarchy: Saturn the Titan.