Journey into Spring: February

Emma and Sue are back, journeying into the new season. Bringing back some of their favourite segments from their Journey through Winter podcast, the new season is packed with brand new and original content - and if you listen to the end, there’s a competition with a bundle of fabulous prizes up for grabs, all for the price of a podcast review!

Journey through Winter: Late January: Savour

We find ourselves approaching the festival of Imbolc, which for Emma and Sue signals the beginings of the end of winter. In wistful mood, we’re savouring each winter’s day and continuing to embrace the magic the season has to offer us all, if we choose to look for it

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Show Notes:

Edited by Dan Lange

Music Credit Purple Planet (Reiki Healing)

Opening Poem: Sue reads Joy Chose You by Donna Ashworth from her Wild Hope collection

Sue is making candles using this kit:https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0D8J6CTP2?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Emma talks about Wassailing - you can find our more about the tradition here: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/whats-on/join-in-with-the-annual-wassail Emma and Sue have loved listening to Kate's Rusby's Cornish Wassailling this January: https://open.spotify.com/track/0nCKoUiUAveyAJOy1t1ecB

Lunar Living: Sue's moon wisdom is taken from Enchantment by Katherine May and Moonology by Yasmin Boland

Recipes: Spiced apple (Wassail punch) - warm 1.5 litres of apple juice in a heavy based pan with a selection of warming spices (cinnamon sticks, cloves, peppercorns, cardamom pods, star anise...) and orange slices. Add a dash of liqueur if you like, and some sugar if needed.  Serve in mugs and be sure to share some of your punch with the trees.

Recipes: Twelfth Night Cake (serves 8, recipe taken from Lucy Brazier's A River Cottage Christmas) - Ingredients - 150g unsalted butter, softened/ 150g caster sugar/ 1 orange zested and juiced/ 3 medium eggs/ 50g plain flour/ 200g ground almonds/ 150ml plain yoghurt  Method - 1) Grease and line a 20cm round baking tin and put the oven on to warm at 160 degrees fan (180 degrees for non-fan oven) 2) Cream the butter and sugar (use electric mixer/ food processor) 3) add the orange zest, one egg and tablespoon of flour, mix.  Then repeat with the other two eggs 4) add any remaining flour and the ground almonds and mix, gently 5) finally, fold in the orange juice and yoghurt 6) add the mix to the prepared tin and put in the oven for 25 mins or so until baked through 7) leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack 8) dust with icing sugar to serve, if you like

Wintery Words: Sue reads extracts from Incandescence by Ted Walter, Night by John Haines and Dawn by Andrea Hollander Budy, all taken from the Earth Songs anthology Peter Abbs, and Dusk by Peter Meighan.  Sue learnt about the three phases of dawn and dusk from the book The Outrun by Amy Liptrot.

Poetry Task: Try Sue's poetry task by starting the day with a poem from A Poem for Every Winter's Day by Allie Esiri or later in the day try the Poems for A Winter Afternoon collection, edited by Peter Meighan

Bulb task: Here's a link for those seeking snowdrops: https://www.greatbritishgardens.co.uk/seasonal/snowdrops.html

Intention setting task: Emma downloaded her intention setting template from Beth Kempton's website: https://bethkempton.com/calmchristmas/templates/

Imbolc: you can read more about Imbolc here: https://glastonburyinformationcentre.co.uk/2024/01/29/what-is-imbolc/

Sue draws a card from Louise Hay's Wisdom Cards pack

Podcast Timings:  Lunar living 12.15/ Recipes 15.55/ Wintery Words 23.58/ Breathwork 28.45/ Tasks 36.15 / Wisdom Card 45.28

Journey through Winter: December ~ Immerse

It’s December, and Emma and Sue are immersing themselves in winter. Listen to hear more about that, along with plenty of seasonal inspiration and this month’s tasks to help you to connect more deeply with the world as we approach the winter solstice

Show Notes:

Editing by Dan Lange

Music Credits: Purple Planet (Reiki Healing)

Opening Poem: Sue reads the poem Good Hours by Robert Frost

Sue is immersing herself in a Wintry Writing Retreat with Beth Kempton.  You can sign up at https://dowhatyouloveforlife.com and she mentions reading The Almanac by Lia Leendertz 

Lunar Living - Sue quotes from Yasmin Boland's Moonology (https://www.yasminboland.com)

Emma's Solstice Cacao Recipe - Per person, add: 1 cup of milk of your choice, 1 desert spoon of cacao powder and a pinch of your spices of choice (ginger/ cinnamon/ nutmeg for eg), plus a couple of cardamon pods and a star anise (you could add peppercorns and chilli flakes too if you like!) to a heavy bottomed pan.  Heat to high temperature just short of boiling and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally for 15 mins or so by which stage you should have a beautifully blended festive cacao.

Emma's Vegan Sausage roll recipe: Ingredients - 1 sheet pre-rolled jus-roll vegan puff pastry /1/3 pack Merchant Gourmet Glorious Grains/ ½ pack Merchant Gourmet vacuum packed chestnuts/ a large onion/ 2 cloves garlic/ Celeriac – about 1.5 * the quantity of onion/ 100g of mushrooms/ 30g pine nuts/ Thyme, rosemary and sage/ A tablespoon (or more) of quince/ redcurrant jelly/ Hoi-sin sauce/ Oil for frying/ A beaten egg (if eggs ok for consumer), or plant milk, to glaze.  Method: 1. Begin by toasting the pine nuts in a dry frying pan for 2-3 minutes.  Set them aside for later/ 2. Chop the onion, garlic, celeriac and mushrooms into very small pieces/ 3. Blitz the chestnuts very briefly in a food processor (or crumble very finely)/ 4. Chop the herbs finely/ 5. Heat your oil and add the onions and celeriac to the pan, fry gently for at least 15 minutes until both have softened./ 6. Add garlic, mushrooms and chopped herbs and continue to fry gently for a further 5 minutes or so, then add the crumbled chestnuts for 1 minute or so/ 7. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the grains, along with the pine nuts and jelly. Mix well to combine and season to taste/ 8. Divide your pastry sheet in two, lengthways/ 9. Spread the long edge of each rectangle with hoi-sin sauce / 10. About 1 cm in from the edge of the longside each rectangle, make a long “sausage” with your filling/ 11. Brush the 1cm edge with plant milk and fold over the pastry so the two long sides meet.  Press the seam well/ 12. Cut the long rectangles into 12 (or so) pieces)/13. With a sharp knife, slash the tops of the rolls a couple of times, then brush the tops with egg/ plant milk/ 14. Pop on a lined baking sheet and cook in a pre-heated hot (220c) oven for about 20 minutes (keep an eye on them) until golden.

Sue's Poetry Meditation is based on the poem Slip into Sleep by Mandy Coe

Wintry Words are taken from Mary Oliver's essay Winter Hours from her book of the same name

Festive Baking - Emma recommends frangipane and mincemeat squares: baking http://www.daffodilkitchen.com/christmas-frangipane-mincemeat-squares/recipes, festive tiffin: https://www.toa.st/blogs/magazine/christmas-at-river-cottage-with-lucy-brazier and recipes from Nigel Slater's Christmas Chronicles 

Candle meditation - Sue recommends https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OlrWyI0iSUo

Winter Solstice yoga Nidra meditation - Sue recommends https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MrGQUwHeFR0

Sue picks a card from Louise Hay's Wisdom Cards

Timings:

7.58 - Lunar Living/ 12.50 - Recipes/ 20.56 - Poetry Meditation/ 25.42 - Wintry Words/ 28.50 - This month's tasks/ 37.12 - Wisdom Card

Journey through Winter: November ~ Embrace

In November’s podcast episode, Emma and Sue share some of the ways that they are embracing the arrival of winter, and offer seasonal inspiration and some gentle tasks to help you to connect more deeply with November

Show Notes:

Editing by Dan Lange

Music Credits: Purple Planet (Reiki Healing)

Opening Poem: Something Told the Wild Geese by Rachel Field

Wintry Words: Wild Geese, by Mary Oliver

Lunar Living: Sue quotes from Moonology by Yasmin Boland (who has a website and podcast of her own:

https://www.yasminboland.com/podcast/ )

Emma's Apple Steeper Recipe

2 litres of water/ 5 peppercorns/ 1/2 cinnamon stick/ Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled/ 5 cardamon pods/ 3 dessert apples cored and chopped into chunks or fat slices

Put all ingredients except for the apples in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil vigorously for 3 -5 minutes before reducing the heat to simmer. At this stage, add the apples and continue to simmer for at least 5 minutes before serving into mugs.

Emma's Black Bean Soup Recipe

1 large onion/ 2-3 carrots/ 2 sticks celery/ 2 red peppers/ 4 cloves of garlic/ Small bunk coriander/ 1l veg stock/ 400g tin of black beans/ 1 tbsp cumin/ 2 tsps cinnamon/ 1/2 tsp oregano

Chop onions, add to pan with 3 tbps oil (Emma uses organic rapeseed oil), fry over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the carrots, celery and peppers, all chopped into small chunks, along with the garlic, grated or chopped finely. Fry for a further 5 minutes. Add the spices and the finely chopped stems of the coriander, fry for a minute to two. Then add the stock and black beans and simmer for 20 minutes or so. Blend the soup and serve topped with a generous desert spoon of greek yogurt, avocado slices, the chopped leaves of the coriander and some crunched up tortilla chips.

Learn more about the 4-7-8 Breathing practice Emma led: https://www.drweil.com/videos-features/videos/the-4-7-8-breath-health-benefits-demonstration/

For further info on Sue’s earthing task, look at Clint Ober The Earthing movie: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EcHEWH8Eh0Q

or earthing through your pet Dr Laura Koniver: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k-y9gmVHP48

In her task on embracing the cold Sue mentions Dr Michael Mosley’s Just One Thing episode on cold showers:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002409p/michael-mosley-just-one-thing

Sue picks a card from Louise Hay’s Wisdom Cards

Sections: Lunar living - 13.45/ Recipes - 18.31 / Wintry Words - 24.17/ Breathwork - 25.50/ November Tasks - 33.15 / Wisdom Card - 46.18

Journey through Winter: October ~ Prepare

In their first full length podcast episode, Emma and Sue share some of the ways that they are preparing for the winter months, along with plenty of seasonal inspiration, and tasks to help you to begin your own journey through winter

Show Notes:

Music: Credit to Purple Plant Music (Reiki Healing)

Book quoted: Wintering, by Katherine May

Emma’s Soup Recipe: Ingredients - 6 medium ripe tomatoes, 2-3 sweet potatoes, an onion, 2 garlic cloves, pack puy lentils, 100g cooked rice, a few kale leaves, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 750ml quality vegan stock, chopped or dried herbs (mix of rosemary, thyme and oregano), a teaspoon of fennel seeds, organic oil, seasoning Method: Slice tomatoes, season, drizzle with oil, fennel seeds, seasoning, roast at 200 for about 30mins – you want them nicely coloured and very yielding. Chop and fry and onion in a heavy based pan, add chopped garlic, sweet potato (2 large), chopped herbs – oregano/ thyme/ rosemary, fry until coated, add tomatoes, stock (750ml to start), dash of vinegar and cook until potatoes very soft, adding 100g cooked rice towards the end.  Blitz, then add finely shredded kale and cooked puy lentils, simmer for 5 minutes and serve – big dollop of yoghurt on the top

Wintery Words - Emily Bronte Fall, Leaves, Fall - Quoted from A Poem for Every Autumn Day - edited by Ali Esiri

Books recommended by Emma: Some have become must reads annually – The Christmas Chronicles - Nigel Slater / Wintering Katherine May/ Christmas at River Cottage – Lucy Brazier/ Making Winter - Emma Mitchell . Short story collections – Rachel Joyce – A Snow Garden/ Jeanette Winterson – Christmas Days/ Claire Keegan - Antarctica. Others: Death at the Sign of the Rook - Kate Atkinson/ There are Rivers in the Sky - Elif Shafak/ Trespasses by Louise Kennedy. Poetry – A Poem for Every Night of the Year - edited by Aki Esiri

Music tracks recommended by Sue: And Winter Came - Enya/ Be More Kind - Frank Turner/ Until I Found You - Stephen Sanchez

Sections: Lunar living - 10.05/ Recipe 12.26/ Wintry Words - 18.3/ Breathwork - 20.05/ October Tasks - 28.01 / Wisdom Cards 37.01

Journey through Winter: the Podcast Trailer

A short trailer, all about what Sue and Emma have planned for the months ahead as we embark on a Journey through Winter in podcast form …