Cherry Gilchrist
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Books
  • About Cherry
  • Contact

Struan - Sublime Harvest Bread

27/8/2018

3 Comments

 
Picture
Struan Bread Recipe
Now that harvest time is here, I had an urge to bake Struan bread again. This is a bread whose history is rather vague, but the nicest description I’ve found is that it was traditionally made for the Feast of St Michael (Sep 29th) in Scotland and maybe Ireland too. The loaf should be made by the eldest daughter of the household, then carried into the church to be blessed, and set there in honour of relatives and friends who are no longer with us. Last year I made it with my eldest granddaughter.
 
I’ve adapted a recipe from http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/struanbread. Its return to popularity was apparently started by Brother Juniper, a lay monk and star baker in California, and I’m looking forward to getting his cookbook, Brother Juniper Bread Book: Slow Rise as Method and Metaphor – I’ve ordered the original version from 1991. Sounds good for mindful baking!
 
Struan bread is a mix of harvest grains and flours. Now since this recipe has polenta, ie cornmeal, I doubt that this was what they used in the Outer Hebrides! But it goes with the spirit of the dough, and using what you have to hand at harvest-time. I’ve added in millet simply because it’s my favourite added grain at the moment – nice and crunchy.
 
I’ve added in metric measurements. It’s one of those recipes where you really do need to check it out as you go along, and see whether you need more flour or less water. So hold back on the water, add it a little at a time until you get the right consistency. My first go this year ended up much too sloppy and sticky and was a nightmare to manage! Although it turned out well in the end. Today’s was better-controlled. I currently use a Kitchen Aid to do the kneading, but kneading by hand would indeed be more mindful.  If you do use a machine, check that it’s mixed properly early on in the process as there are a lot of different ingredients to blend.
 
Struan Bread Recipe
Makes 1 large loaf – double the quantity for 2, which means you’ll have one to freeze. Worthwhile, as it takes effort to assemble all the ingredients and time to prepare the dough.
Soaker
3 tablespoons polenta              30-40gm
3 tablespoons rolled oats         25 gm
2 tablespoons wheat bran        10gm
1/4 cup water                          60ml
Dough
3 cups unbleached bread flour  380-400gm
(You can substitute up to 25% wholemeal if you wish)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1.5 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast
3 tablespoons cooked brown rice 50gm
(Short grain is good but long grain is fine)
1.5 tablespoons honey
Half a cup buttermilk (130 ml, or use a little more and reduce water)
3/4 cup water 170ml – Add carefully; you probably won’t need it all
2 tbsp millet
Topping
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
(If you don’t have poppy seeds, use another seed like sunflower)
Mix together the ingredients for the soaker. Cover and allow to soak for at least half an hour or as long as overnight.
 
Method
In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients, then stir in wet ingredients and soaker. Add more flour or water until the dough can be formed into a ball that is neither too dry nor too loose in texture. Try to keep it so that you can still handle the dough, even if it is a little sticky. I recommend leaving the millet out of the dough until you approach the end of the kneading process, but overall, knead the ball of dough for 10 to 12 minutes, (8-10 in a food processor with dough mixer). Return it to the bowl and cover with a damp tea towel until doubled in size, approximately 60 minutes.
 
Remove the dough from the bowl, knock it down briefly to take out the air, and put it into a greased bread pan. Sprinkle a little water on top, followed by a dusting of poppy seeds. Cover the dough in the pan loosely again and allow the loaves to rise until doubled in size again, approximately 40-60 minutes.
 
Bake these loaves at 180 C. (350+F) degrees for about 40-45 minutes. (I used a fan oven; you might need to use 190 in a non-fan one.) It will achieve a high bake colour so don’t be tempted to take it out too early. Test in the usual way, by tapping the bottom of the loaf when you think it’s ready to see if it sounds hollow.
 
Enjoy! As the website says, the aroma from this bread as it cooks is fantastic, and it makes ‘killer toast’.

 
Picture
3 Comments

Baba Yaga - witch and Queen of the Night

21/8/2018

0 Comments

 
I've long been fascinated by the Russian witch Baba Yaga, and her connection to the Otherworld. If you go to my blog at www.circleofnine.org, you'll find much more about her there. She is a crone version of The Queen of the Night, who I write about in my new book 'The Circle of Nine'.

Russia and I have 'history' together - I visited Russia nearly 60 times, lived for periods in a little wooden house by a river, met artists and craftspeople, ran a business called Firebird, and immersed myself in the traditional legends and culture of the country. My book 'Russian Magic' (originally titled 'The Soul of Russia') was one of the outcomes from this surprising, 15 year adventure.

Baba Yaga is the second of the three female figures that I said I'd write about this week. Well, I need a little leeway - Kuan Yin is already up here, and by next week I hope to return with the Lady of the Hedgerow.

Picture
0 Comments

The Oracle of Kuan Yin

16/8/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Oracle of Kuan Yin
The goddess of compassion, Kuan Yin, has her own divination system. This comprises one hundred sticks, each inscribed with a number and each carrying a meaning. In Kuan Yin temples in Penang and Singapore I saw at first-hand how people consult this oracle, along with leaving gifts of fruit and flowers for the Lady of Mercy, or ‘she who hears the cries of the world’. She is much immortal spirit as deity, and is probably the most universal sacred feminine figure that we have, as she’s found not only in Buddhism and Chinese religions, but in branches of Christianity and Shintoism as well. Her main symbols are the moon, the sea, a dragon and a lotus flower.
 
The hundred sticks of the Kuan Yin oracle are shaken in a cylinder – mine is of wood, but those in the temples were of brass, and made an incredible noise as oracle-seekers sat on the floor and shook, shook, shook their tub of sticks up and down until at last one jumped out. Clack, clack clack - it really does work, and you might be surprised how clearly one stick does seem to detach itself from the rest and leap out.
 
In temples of Kuan Yin, seeking counsel through divination is one of the main purposes of a visit. Here in the West, divination is largely frowned on in sacred places, so we must make our own sacred space or simply use a domestic setting for readings, whether from horoscopes, Tarot cards, palms, or indeed Kuan Yin’s oracle.

Interpreting the Oracle
When you’ve got your significant stick, the number is checked against a book of interpretations. The advice comes first in the form of a poem, which is a symbolic utterance or parable, followed by further sections of more specific interpretation. Here’s a couple from the English translation oracle booklet that I was given in the temple at Singapore.
 
‘You long for words from heaven to fall from the moonlit sky:
Dim it is and darkened by the racing clouds.
Let not your heart be burdened with sorrow and care:
The clouds will pass and you will begin anew.’ (Lot 38)
 
‘To climb a mountain with a tiger as your companion,
You will shiver with fear every movement you make.
Good deeds in the past may bring you help,
With them you may survive both safe and sound.’ (Lot 75)

 
If you can’t get to a Kuan Yin Temple, then Stephen Karcher’s English version of the oracle is available, and straightforward to use. Some of the more traditional ‘forecasts’ are lost, such as those concerning your silkworms or ancestral tombs, but I think he does an excellent job of keeping the spirit of the original in an accessible form.
 
As with all good divination systems, there’s scope both for profound spiritual readings and some nitty gritty advice on how to conduct affairs of love, business and health. And, as I’ve written in Tarot Triumphs, the spirit in which you approach divination, and the care and attention you pay to the reading are paramount to ensure that it’s a meaningful experience. Divination can be playful or serious, but it needs to be sincere, and come from a genuine desire to know.
 
I value my own set of Kuan Yin divination sticks, and the two books of interpretation that I have. There’s a strong sense of femininity and compassion in this oracle. I find that it provides a helpful counterpart to the sterner, more masculine and Confucian pronouncements of the I-Ching. Perhaps it will not always ‘speak’ to you – but when it does, you may have the strong sense that this source of universal compassion has listened to your question, and is responding to your need.
 
See my earlier post on Kuan Yin 30/3/12 (use search box for easy location)
See too www.circleofnine.org for a post on Kuan Yin Moon Meditation. This is where you'll find all the info about my book 'The Circle of Nine' and the nine feminine archetypes it describes.
 
Books:
The Kuan Yin Oracle: The Voice of the Goddess of Compassion – Stephen Karcher
Bodhisattva of Compassion: the Mystical Tradition of Kuan Yin – John Blofeld
Kuan Yin: Myths and Revelations of the Chinese Goddess of Compassion – Martin Palmer, Jay Ramsay & Kwok Man-Ho


Outside the Kuan Yin Temple in Penang
Picture
0 Comments

Three Female Figures

13/8/2018

0 Comments

 
Yes, it's been a while since I posted here! Much of my energy has been going into the new book 'The Circle of Nine', and I've also uploaded to the book's designated website www.circleofnine.org. I'm sharing a post to both sites today, and I've got a week's work ahead of me writing about three different, significant-to-me female figures – a witch, a goddess, and a lady of mystery. These are Baba Yaga, the fearsome, wise and enigmatic Russian witch, the Goddess Kuan Yin, spirit of healing and compassion, and the Lady of the Hedgerow a figure of stone who I recently found in a hedge and who may be part White Lady, part mermaid.  I have a story to tell about each one of them, and then I’m also going to let them interact as they will, and see what dances, what images or dreams emerge.

I’ll be posting about them on my two blogs www.cherrygilchrist.co.uk and www.circleofnine.org, and maybe they will inspire posts for other sites too. I've written about Kuan Yin on this website before, and if you search you'll find an archive blog. My new write-up will be different though, and will probably include her moon meditation.

For now, here are some images of the three figures to initiate the process.

 

Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

    Cherry Gilchrist

    Author of books on family history, relationships, alchemy, myths & legends. Life writing tutor teaching for Universities of Oxford & Exeter. Keen on quirky, ancient and mysterious things.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    October 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    July 2014
    February 2014
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

    Categories

    All
    1960s
    Alchemy
    Ancestors
    Cambridge
    Celebrations
    Cotswolds
    Curiousities
    Divination
    Elements
    Family History
    Film
    Horses
    Legend
    Magic
    Music
    Nature
    Poetry
    Russia
    Silk Road
    Spring
    Story
    Summer
    Tarot
    Theatre
    Travel
    Vintage
    Writing
    Writing Courses

    RSS Feed