Saffron -The Worlds Most Expensive Spice

Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. 

Derived from the dried stigmas of the purple saffron crocus, it takes anything from 70,000 to 250,000 flowers to make one pound of saffron, that's around $1400.00 and up.

The flowers have to be individually hand-picked in the autumn when fully open. 

Fortunately, only a little needs to be added to a dish to give it color and flavor.

Records about the use of saffron go back to ancient Egypt and Rome where it was used as a dye, in perfumes, and as a drug, as well as for culinary purposes. 

It reached China in the 7th century and spread through Europe in the Middle Ages. 

If you are looking for Saffron be careful while shopping because there are merchants selling fake saffron.

It's as bad as selling dyed paper scraps as saffron.

So, always check the quality before buying. 

The best way is to take little thread of saffron and put it into water. 

The real, good quality one will not dissolve, after all it's a flower stamen.

Saffron threads when placed in cold water for a few minutes will color the water and come out still looking like the 

original saffron thread. 

If the color washes out and the thread when taken out has faded or completely lost its color, then it's fake.

Also, saffron has an aroma and flavor that cannot be duplicated if it's fake.

The only thing that fake saffron makers can do is to make it look like saffron, so they can fool customers into buying it. 

Cooking with Saffron is delightful, even though there are those who don't like the way it tastes.

We use it a lot in our dishes especially when we make curry.

In India saffron is an important ingredient in many recipes of rice, sweets, and ice-creams.


In Saudi Arabia, a real Arabic coffee should have saffron and cardamom.

In the North of Italy, saffron is essential in the preparation of its famous Risotto.


 In Sweden it is a traditional to bake saffron bread on the day of St. Lucile.


In Spain saffron is an indispensable ingredient in such famous dishes as Paella.


The Witches Broom

Socrates - Think for Yourself

 

In 399 BC the philosopher Socrates stood before a jury of his fellow Athenians accused of "refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state" and of "corrupting the youth." 

If found guilty; his penalty could be death. 

The charges against Socrates were:

"Socrates is an evil-doer, and a curious person, who searches into things under the earth and in heaven, and he makes the worse appear the better cause; and he teaches the aforesaid doctrines to others." 

Formal charges:

"Socrates in guilty of corrupting the young and of not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other new divinities." 

After hearing the arguments of both Socrates and his accusers, the jury was asked to vote on his guilt. 

He was found guilty.

The jurors were next asked to determine Socrates' penalty. 

His accusers argued for the death penalty. 

Socrates was given the opportunity to suggest his own punishment and could probably have avoided death by recommending exile.

The jury decided death for Socrates.

The philosopher was taken to the near-by jail where his sentence would be carried out. 

Athenian law prescribed death by drinking a cup of poison hemlock. 

Socrates would be his own executioner.

Socrates willingly drank the poison after being sentenced to death for his speeches and for his belief in humanistic and democratic principles. 

When he was ordered to publicly deny his ideas or die, he chose death. 

However, as a respected gentleman, the court gave him the right to pick the manner in which he wished to have his death sentence carried out. 

Hemlock tea was his first choice.

 

 

 

 

Twelve Days Of Yule

We’ve all heard about the Twelve Days of Christmas, but as you probably know, there’s also the Pagan celebration of Yule, it’s twelve days long as well,  starting with the winter solstice on December 21 and ending on January 1.

When people followed a lunar calendar there were twelve days “leftover” at the end of the year.  

These twelve nights became a special time where the veil between the worlds was thin and there were celebrations.

Yuletide dates have changed somewhat over the years, but were almost always twelve days.

Some say the pre-modern celebration often started on December 23 and went through January 3. 

In ancient Rome, the festival of Saturnalia (honoring Saturn—the god of agricultural bounty) lasted about a week at this time of year.  (Christmastide is also twelve days long from December 25 through January 6th —Epiphany.)

What Does Yule actually Celebrate?

Beginning with the Winter Solstice celebration, Yuletide kicks off with a celebration of the lengthening amount of sunlight that we welcome as we move away from the day with the least “daytime” during the year. 

Almost every celebration has origins welcoming the rebirth of the sun or the sun god in some way. 

This is also referred to as Mother’s Night, honoring the Mother Goddess (& the coming of spring) along with the protective female ancestors who watch over us.

There are many winter solstice celebrations across the globe. 

The most well-known are likely at Stonehenge in England and Newgrange in Ireland, structures built thousands of years ago directly oriented to the sun.

Yuletide concludes with the celebration on the Twelfth Night, which often coincides with the modern New Year celebrations of revelry, food, and drink. 

The Twelfth Night is also associated with the burning of the greens for good luck. 

Modern pagans often have a Yule tree as part of their celebration, although early pagans would likely not have done so. 

Instead, they would have only cut boughs of evergreens for decoration within their homes. 

These may have been left up until Imbolc at the beginning of February when they would have been removed and possibly burnt.

Other traditions that were initially part of the pagan or pre-Christian festival of Yule have come to be part of the Christmas tradition, including the use of holly and ivy and mistletoe as decorations, the burning of the Yule log, and gift giving, which was an important part of the Roman Saturnalia festival. 

And, of course, songs were sung in celebration at the time of the winter solstice and throughout Yuletide.