Happy Imbolc!

The pagan celebration of Imbolc was Friday. It's the cross-quarter day between the winter solstice and spring equinox, so it means we're now more than halfway done with winter. Yay! On Friday, I lit some candles around the house and made the Spinach-Artichoke Dip from the Llewellyn's Sabbats Almanac. It wasn't a vegan recipe, but it was easy to veganize with Vegenaise, Tofutti cream cheese, soy yogurt, and Daiya mozzarella. 

This dip, served on freshly baked sourdough bread, was my whole dinner Friday night. I didn't want to eat anything heavy because our hash group had a moonlight trail run at 7 p.m. So this made a nice pre-run snack. I've been enjoying the leftovers with tortilla chips, and it's hard to stay out of!

But later in the weekend — on Sunday — I made a proper Imbolc feast using more recipes from the Sabbats Almanac. I made the Hearty Stout Chicken using Morningstar Farms strips, msuhrooms, carrots, parsnips, herbs, and stout beer.

And I also made the Irish Boxty Pancakes, which are potato pancakes made with both grated and mashed potatoes. I served the pancakes on the side Sunday night, but for Monday's lunch, I served the stew over the pancakes. And that was excellent!