December 20, 2021, Winter Solstice, Christmas plants and Tourtiere

Happy New Year’s eve

The savory smell of my traditional meat pies is filling the air as I write this.  I am making them for our New Year’s breakfast tomorrow. (Recipe at the end of this blog.) Flowers are blooming inside, and my plants are enjoying the sun filtering through the window. It’s cold but above freezing and there’s just a bit of snow on the ground.

We are lucky to get more sun and warmer weather than normal here this year. For all of you who have had terrible weather, and even horrible damage from weather, I hope for you better weather and better times in the new year.

Whether you go by the Gregorian calendar or not, tomorrow is the beginning of a new year by the natural cycle of the sun.  Winter Solstice occurs in the morning and the sun will begin to climb again in the sky. This cycle does take 365 days+/- a few minutes but the suns year started on December 21, 2020, not January 1, 2021, on the human calendar. I don’t know why people shifted the beginning and end of the natural year to a different start and end. Maybe to prolong those solstice celebrations?

December 20^th is the last day of the natural year based on the suns annual cycle.  December 21^st is the calendar date of the first day of meteorological winter and the natural first day of the new year. For EST the exact time of winter solstice is 10:59 am, December 21^st.  However most traditional celebrations begin at midnight on the 20^th.

And although winter solstice is the shortest day technically, the days just before and after winter solstice are only seconds shorter or longer. We will have 4 minutes more daylight by December 31^st. By the end of January 52 more minutes have been added

Winter solstice always makes me very happy because the dregs of the year, the darkest times are over and slowly the days begin to lengthen and the sun, the source of life, grows stronger and climbs higher each day. It’s getting closer to gardening time with each passing day now. Oh, yes there will still be some dark, cold times ahead, but there is the knowledge that we are moving forward to better times.

It must have been a little disconcerting for early migrators from equatorial zones to see the sun getting lower in the sky and the days growing colder and shorter in their new homelands.  Naturally they would monitor the skies, hoping for the sun to return to normal. The farther north (or south) you move the more drastic the difference in winter and summer would become.

It amazes me that early man, long before our powerful and precise instruments were developed, was able to so accurately follow the suns cycle and predict the date of solstice.  Knowing what to expect, is of course, a great relief to most humans.

Celebrating winter solstice

Our distant ancestors knew that the sun was the key to life. Long before Hanukkah, long before Christmas, long before all other holidays, people celebrated the winter solstice, the turning point of the sun. At winter solstice the sun has been resurrected or reborn. When the sun “turned and began to come back” it was a signal that life would continue. This has always been a time for great celebration. 

Our ancestors believed that man was closest to the spiritual realm in the days around winter solstice.  It was a solemn time of meditation and reflection, a time to relinquish fears and cares in the old year and look forward to better times in the new. Fires were lit to symbolically burn fears, cares and transgressions. 

The proper way to celebrate solstice eve is to build a fire, small or large. Oak wood for the fire had spiritual significance in earlier times. Then you transfer your cares, problems, and sins from the old year to something you can burn, pinecones, written notes, sprigs of herbs and so on, and burn them.  After burning the past, say what you want in the new year. For three days you should reflect on the old year and plan for the new.

At the end of about 3 days of solemn retrospection, there should be feasting and visiting with the community (not this year though, unless virtually) to celebrate life and the promise of the new year. Small gifts were given in past times, mostly for luck in the new year, which is the probable origin of gift giving at this time of year. 

If you wish to gift people Winter Solstice gifts should be small and symbolic, herbal and dried flower bougets, handmade items, special foods, plants, cards with special notes for friends and family, books and so on.

Our ancestors also brought greenery into the house, pine boughs and other evergreens which symbolize eternal life. Mistletoe warded off evil. This is where the custom of decorating the home with evergreen trees and wreaths began. So feel free to decorate with live greenery.

Christmas, not coincidently, falls about three days after winter solstice. Several hundred years after Christ was supposedly born Christian religious leaders were struggling to keep people from celebrating the pagan celebrations of winter solstice. They decided to embrace it, giving Christians a holiday they could celebrate without guilt. Still many Christian groups would not allow either celebration for hundreds of years.

You can celebrate both holidays if you like. Certainly, there is a great need for burning away the cares and problems of the past year. And we need the hope of a better year.

 

Christmas Plants

 

Even though it’s cold in many areas many plants are sold around Christmas for decoration and as gifts. I’ll give some links to articles on the care of individual species but there are some generalities to consider when bringing Christmas plants home.

First protect plants from the cold when taking them from the store to your car. For some plants even a short blast of cold air can cause problems. If temperatures are below 40 degrees F make sure to cover the plant before it goes outside and move it to a warm car quickly. It belongs in the passenger compartment, not the trunk.

And don’t leave the plant in the car while you shop at other stores or worse overnight. This will kill most plants sold at Christmas if temps fall below freezing. Poinsettias and other indoor plants cannot be used as porch decorations if you live in the north.

It’s also not the time of year to buy plants that need to be shipped. Plants left in unheated warehouses and delivery vans are going to arrive damaged or dead. Reputable and experienced nurseries won’t ship plants to you if they believe they may get too cold. But there are many inexperienced and not so reputable people out there selling plants that will ship them to you- and hope you won’t bother them for a refund.

If you are buying or are gifted plants you want to keep living after the holidays follow these tips. Remove the colorful foil from the plant as soon as possible and make sure the pot can drain.  Keep the plant away from heat sources and drafts. Check to see if the soil feels dry before you water the plant but do water it before it wilts. 

Plants can survive low light for a few days while you use them for centerpieces and décor, but you need to get them into the light conditions they prefer as soon as possible.  In the northern half of the US and in Canada winter sun is not strong and if you do not have a south or west window plants can sit in directly, consider using a grow light over them.

Make sure people don’t dump drinks in plants. And many Christmas plants can be harmful to children and pets, so keep them away. Poinsettias get a bad rap for being poisonous, but they are only mildly toxic, causing vomiting if enough is eaten. Mistletoe, Jerusalem cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum) and yews are very toxic and probably shouldn’t be brought into homes with children and pets. Make sure to identify and look up the toxicity of any plant you bring inside if you have children and pets.

Live evergreen trees that are hardy outside should only be kept inside for a week or so and kept away from heat sources.  Then move them outside, even in cold areas.  Rosemary sheared into a tree shape should be moved to a cool (temps 40-60 degrees F), but bright place if you want it to stay healthy until spring.

Here are some links to articles on Christmas plant long term care.

 Amaryllis

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/houseplants-amaryliss4-amaryllis-did.html

Christmas and Thanksgiving cacti

http://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/christmas-thanksgiving-and-easter-cacti.html

 

Frosty Fern

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/frosty-fern-selaginiela-krausianna.html

 

Mistletoe- note, this won’t grow in the house

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/mistletoe-strangler-and-kiss-mistletoe.html

Norfolk Island Pine

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/httpsgardeninggrannysgardenpages.html

 

Poinsettias

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/if-you-got-poinsettia-for-christmas-you.html

 

Rosemary- scroll down this page on herbs until you find rosemary

 http://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/herbs-growing-and-using.html

 

Tourtiere – French Canadian Meat pies

 

Meat pies are one of those items that have popularity in many parts of the world and each family who enjoys meat pies and makes their own may have a slightly different recipe.  My family is of French-Canadian ancestry and meat pies have always been part of our Christmas breakfast.  First my paternal grandmother made them, then my father and now I make them, along with some of my sisters, to carry on the tradition.

 

Typically, French Canadian Catholics ate meat pie after midnight mass.  In our family that was moved to later, on Christmas morning.  Our meat pies were spicy with black pepper and liberally doused with ketchup- which is also a common topping in Canada.

 

You can vary the spices in your meat pie, I have seen old recipes use thyme, rosemary, bay, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, as well as pepper and garlic.  Onions are a part of most meat pies.  Our meat pies always had potato in them- my grandfather also liked turnip in them when he had some.  But in earlier times it was said that only those poor enough not to have much meat added potatoes.  

 

I use ground beef and some spicy sausage in my meat pies, but others add venison, ground pork, veal or lamb.  About 3 pounds of meat will make two standard pies.  Feel free to experiment with meats and spices to make your own family recipe.

 

Ingredients

 

2 pounds of lean ground beef

1 pound of spicy (hot) ground sausage

6 cups of frozen Potatoes O’Brian (potatoes with onions and peppers)

  Or 4 cups of finely diced potatoes and 2 cups of finely diced onion

½ teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon seasoned salt (or to taste)

 

pie dough for 2 double crust pies

1 tablespoon butter, melted

 

Put bottom crust in each pie pan.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 

In a large pot, cook the beef and sausage with spices until lightly browned.  Drain off any grease. You should not need to add water.

 

Add potatoes O’Brian. (No need to thaw)

 

Cook, stirring often to keep meat and potatoes from scorching or sticking until the potatoes are soft.  Drain off any remaining grease.

 

Mash the meat and potato mixture with a potato masher or spoon so that the mixture is uniform, with no large pieces of meat or potatoes remaining.  (Taste the mixture to see if more spices are needed and adjust to your taste.)

UPDATE: You can put the meat and potatoes in a crock pot and cook until the meat is cooked and potatoes soft.

Fill pie crusts with hot meat mixture and top with the upper crust.  Put a few slits in the top crust and brush with melted butter.

 

Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

 

Serve warm with ketchup.  (Some people like a beef gravy instead.)

 

Note: pies can be made ahead, cooled, wrapped tightly and frozen.  Defrost and heat thoroughly in oven before serving.

 

Have a spiritual solstice and a Merry Christmas or a great Holiday of your choosing.

 

Kim