Simple Mabon Food Ideas
for both Adulds and Kids

Mabon is the second of the three Wiccan harvest festivals (Lammas, Mabon, and Samhain). It is sometimes called the "Wiccan Thanksgiving," and many folks eat a lot of dishes using fresh produce, especially fresh local produce.

Several Autumn harvest recipies are good for Mabon, but I would suggest making something with your kids using apples. Whatever it is, make it from scratch. Applesauce is easy to make from scratch.

Applesauce

sweet apples - peeled and sliced
about 1/2 or 3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon honey (optional)
spices (optional), any of the following: ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, etc.

In a saucepan, combine apples and water. Have just enough water to cover the apples. Put on a lid, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft. Allow to cool, then mash with a fork or potato masher.

No, you don't need sugar for apple sauce. You don't actually need the honey. Tell them as you add the honey that a drop of honey is like magic. Tell them about honeybees and apple bossoms, about "leaf and flower and fruit."

Let your children help moosh the cooked apples. You can let your children experiment with adding spices after the apples are soft. Do monitor how much they dump in.

For something more challenging, try apple dumplings or apple pie from scratch--yes you can cheat with store bought pie dough. Letting the kids learn about cooking with this fruit is important. If you have an apple orchard nearby, take the kids to buy apples. Consider getting some fresh cider too.

Tell them about the tree spirit known as the Apple Tree Man in English folklore. He lives in the apple tree and at least one apple should be left on the tree for him after harvesting all the other apples. Alternatively, tell then about the American folk hero Johnny Appleseed.

You could even teach your kids the modern children's folk chant:

Criss cross, applesauce,
Tell the monsters to get lost.
Cornucopia

Another food activity is to buy a cornucopia basket and then let your kids help you put real fruit into it. Leave the cornucopia out so the kids can nibble the fruit. It's fun to make a decoration that one can nibble parts of. Pick fresh friut and vegies that your kids like and will eat uncooked

Be sure to show them historical pictures of Goddesses with cornucopias.

copyright September 4, 2013, Myth Woodling

Apple Pie
Practical Celebration Recipies and Preps
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