Season of Reflection + Bread of Joy + Whipped Chocolate Butter

Dear friends,

The days are growing shorter and the trees are revealing their deepest colors.  The falling of the leaves are a bittersweet reminder of how graceful nature can let go.  The older I get, the more I look forward to cooler autumn days and cozy sweaters. Pawpaw season marks the last days of harvest and entering a slower pace on the farm. It’s a time to return to my tea practice, discover new poems and reread old favourites, rest in prayer, and spend more time creating new meals in the kitchen.

There can be a touch of melancholy in this season, too. It's a melancholy I love and relish in small doses. It feels comforting, restful and contemplative. A long, brisk walk in the woods with a thermos of tea, finding an eagle’s feather or a deer’s antler, or coming across a beautiful flush of chicken of the woods mushrooms, the little joys that remind us how blessed we are. To have healthy bodies, to have found our purpose, and to have the opportunity to be of service to others.

Autumn invites us to contemplate, reassess our way of living, and prepare for the colder months ahead. It’s a good time to ask ourselves: What will comfort me? What will nourish me? What does my soul need?

St. Hildegard of Bingen, the medieval Benedictine abbess, and herbalist, spoke about the well being of a person brought together by food, plants, the natural world and the spiritual life.  She wrote about the importance of nourishment and balance, and regarded the created world as rich with gifts for human flourishing.  For Hildegard, warming spices were not simply flavorings. She regarded some as powerful ingredients that could help restore balance, support digestion, and even lift the spirits. St. Hildegard described cinnamon as intensely warm and wrote that it could help diminish what she called “bad humors” and encourage good ones.  She praised nutmeg for its warmth and associated it with a cheerful disposition, clearer senses, and relief from bitterness of heart and mind. 

We’re taking inspiration from St. Hildegard's Cookies of Joy (the original pumpkin spice) and sharing a recipe of our own: Bread of Joy. We’ve used our Chaga Pumpkin Spice blend—a warming combination of cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, mace, and chaga mushroom to create a comforting autumn treat. And because a little extra joy never hurts, we’ve topped it with whipped chocolate butter.

May this autumn bring you warmth in your home, nourishment for your body, and peace within your heart. May you find beauty in the changing light, pleasure in the little things, and grace in the quieter days ahead.

With warmth from our home to yours,
Edane & Stephen
Immaculata Herb Farm

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                                     :. BREAD OF JOY .:

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup spelt flour
3 teaspoon of Immaculata's Chaga Pumpkin Spice
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 dark brown sugar
1 and 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup pineapple juice
2/3 cup  semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients in a bowl to form a batter. Pour batter in an oiled loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees f. Place loaf pan in the middle rack and cook for 60 minutes.

                      :. WHIPPED CHOCOLATE BUTTER .:

1 cup of room temperature butter
1/4 cup of Immaculata's Drinking Chocolate
1 teaspon of Immaculata's Chaga Pumpkin Spice
4 tablespoons of Immaculata's Vanilla Honey

Mix all ingredients in a bowl with an electric mixer until it reaches a fluffy texture. Use as icing or spread over Bread of Joy.