A CELEBRATION EVERY DAY: “The Moon of Long Nights” (& My Mom’s Chicken Soup)

By Megan Snowe

When I began thinking about this first post for my N.O.T. monthly-ish series on the chapters of Full Moon Feast by Jessica Prentice, the first thing I thought was, “Jeez, ernski, way to pick an off time to start celebrating nature. Everything is cold and basically dormant. It gets dark at 4:30, and the freshest foods are knobby, dirt-encrusted potatoes.”

I thought that all I’d have to look at was darkness, and frankly, I’m not a night person. As we head toward the winter solstice, I just keep thinking, this is not my favorite time of year.

Well, lucky me, it turns out that Ms. Prentice has a different take.

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A CELEBRATION EVERY DAY

Time always passed... 13th or 14th century Runic Calendar found in Lapland.

It’s easy to think of the holidays as being few and far between. This perception, however, as we have seen here at These New Old Traditions, is basically false. Holidays are certainly special, but they are also plentiful. Days to mark and honor the passing year are constantly popping up—at least once a month—no matter what New Old Tradition a Reveler feels most aligned with.

Despite this abundance, These New Old Traditions is also aware that specific holidays are not the only opportunity we have to honor this special planet, and our special relationship to it. The question is: How in our crowded calendars and concrete landscapes can Revelers such as us remember to stay connected to our ordinary days?

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Looking ahead to the season of Yule…

Another upcoming event for the season of Yule!

The Brooklyn Kitchen and chef Katherine Randazzo celebrate the Southern Italian tradition, the Feast of the Seven Fishes, by offering a class (with eating) on December 17th.

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a Roman Catholic Christmas eve tradition involving… well, seven fish. Or, I guess, fishes. It’s a nice biblical way of honoring the birth of Jesus. As with all good traditions, the exact origins and reason for seven fish is unclear.

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NEW OLD HALLOWEEN 2009 RECAP: Eats

 

From greater effort comes greater rewards.

Central to New Old Traditions is The Feast. We come together to sing, reflect, and celebrate while along the way we awaken our senses through the food we make for each other. Indeed, the eating of foods made by ourselves and shared with each other brings necessity, importance, and giving together in an instant. And so, ALL of our senses… those that we use to understand the world (taste, smell, touch, etc.) and those we use to place ourselves in it (connection, expressions, thanks) are nourished from the moment we arrive to the warm home, bearing our covered dishes, equally excited for the taste and smells of what others brought as we are to reveal our own contributions.

At New Old Halloween 2009, the meal came together as a well coursed production of warming fall dishes. Details, after the jump.

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