The harvest has been put away and the days of darkness have arrived. We light our handmade lanterns and slowly walk around the garden. Although it is dark outside our lanterns remind us to bring the light and warmth inside during the darkest time of the year.
The sunlight fast is dwindling,
My little lamp needs kindling.
Its beam shines far in darkest night,
Dear Lantern, guard me with your light
~ from Autumn, Wynstones Press
Martin Goose is celebrated in Sweden. Though all of Sweden remembers this celebration, it is truly a celebration in Southern Sweden in the province of Skåne. Who is this Martin we are feasting ourselves over?
The Martin we are celebrating is the Bishop Martin of Tour,who before he became bishop was a heathen in the year 300 A.D. Many countries in Europe as well as the Waldorf School tradition celebrate this holiday as Martimas.
The reason we associate geese with Martin is that when the church was trying to elect him as a Bishop he ran away and hid in a goose pen. The startled geese started honking and gave away his where abouts. Martin was so angry that he had all of the geese slaughtered. He couldn't let all of these good geese go to waste, so he held a feast and they ate them. Martin did become Bishop and the patron saint of Tours.
In southern Sweden they celebrate by cooking a goose and eating the very famous black soup.
Because I was raised by a Swedish family living in the United States, Martin Goose was celebrated with a favorite dessert. It didn't make sense to have two large fowl meals within two weeks, Martin Goose and Thanksgiving, so we were treated with stuffed apples after our lantern tour.
Stuffed Apples
- 6 firm apples
- 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 2 tbsp butter
- lemon juice
- Preheat the oven to 350 degree F
- Peel and scoop out the core of the apples. Be sure to soak the apples in cold water with a tbsp or so of lemon juice. This prevents them from turning brown.
- Mix together the chopped nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Melt the butter and add to the nut mixture, stirring well.
- Drain the apples of water and stuff with the nut mixture.
- Place in a well greased or pam oven dish.
- Place in the oven for 1 hour. At the half hour mark, cover the dish with tin foil and bake for a half hour more.
This taste so great with whipped cream on top as well. Enjoy!!
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