The arrival of the mindful season. The plum blossoms are the first to bloom. They bloom at the end of winter and remind everyone that spring is around the corner. They symbolize hope and perseverance, and the ability of beauty to thrive through adversity and darkness.
Spring is the time of new beginnings, rebirth, renewal, love, and growth. Spring is the season for ascent and becoming. We step from dreaming and contemplating into full awakening and manifestation. If you would like to read more about the Mindful Season and how to be mindfully creative, make sure to subscribe to the new issue of Creative by Nature by dear Eva Bronzini out on April 17th.
Spring air —
woven moon
and plum scent.
-Matsuo Basho
With Easter around the corner, it is good to remember, that it was originally a pagan festival. Pagans lived by following nature’s rhythms and the spring equinox was a sacred time, a day of balance between daylight and darkness. A time when winter is coming to an end, and life returns with rebirth and renewal. The spring festival praised the pagan goddess of fertility known as Ostara or Eastre, whose animal symbol was a rabbit. Eggs, on the other hand, represent rebirth and new life. Frankly, most of the Easter symbols likely stem from pagan roots.
Our family spent a lovely week together marveling at the beautiful blossoms, making flower arrangements, and planting new seeds, flowers, and ideas. With my wonderful sister we even worked on some pottery and, of course, cooked some delicious meals, like this daffodils pie, inspired by Aimee. We kept Aimee’s dough recipe and used what we had in the fridge or found in the garden for the filling.
Ingredients:
For the dough
220 g unsalted butter (cold)
440 g flour
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
cold water (if needed)
For the filling
2 tablespoon butter
2 onions (finely sliced)
2 large leeks (cleaned and finely sliced)
fresh thyme leaves
250 g ricotta
50 g grated parmesan
salt and pepper
Fresh wild garlic leaves for decoration
Preparation:
For the dough, keep all your ingredients cold. Cut up the butter and mix everything either with your hands or in a food processor. If you need more liquid add some ice-cold water until you get a nice soft dough. Cover with plastic and chill in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight.
For the filling, heat a large pan, add butter and finely sliced onions, and cook for 10 minutes until lightly browned. Add cleaned and finely sliced leek and let cook for about 30 minutes until tender. Add salt, pepper, and fresh thyme to taste. Let cool and add ricotta and grated parmesan, mix well.
Cut the dough in half and then in half again and use that piece of dough to form a few daffodils to decorate the pie. Grease the pie pan with a little bit of butter. Take the large half of the dough and roll it out to line the pie pan. Cover all the edges and pierce a few holes with a fork all over the dough. Add the filling. Roll out the last piece of dough for the top and add the formed daffodils with some fresh wild garlic leaves to decorate the top of the pie.
For best results put it in a fridge for 1 hour (or even overnight).
Preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 F). Brush the pie with beaten egg and bake for about 40 minutes until golden.