Celebrate the Spring Equinox with Ostara Recipe Ideas.
The Spring Equinox heralds the first day of Spring when day and night are equal, light and dark are perfectly balanced, it is this balance we strive for in our lives.
Spring is a time for new growth. It is traditional to plant seeds in celebration of the Spring Equinox.
In these modern times, the transitions of life can sometimes leave us feeling adrift, searching for meaning and connection.
Menopause, with its myriad physical and emotional changes, often marks a significant turning point for many women. Yet, amidst this period of transition, there exists a timeless wisdom embedded within ancient traditions.
Just as the spring equinox heralds the renewal of nature and Easter celebrates the resurrection of hope, menopause can be seen as a personal springtime, a chance to reconnect with age-old rituals and rediscover a sense of purpose and belonging.
Today I am going to share some rituals and recipes for you to explore and use to celebrate the turning of the wheel of the year.
The History of Ostara
Ostara is a pagan festival that celebrates the spring equinox.
It is named after the Germanic goddess Eostre or Ostara. Ostara is the Goddess of Fertility symbolising fertility, renewal, and the rising sun.
This festival marks the return of life to the earth after the cold winter months. Traditionally, it involves rituals such as egg decorating, planting seeds, and honouring nature’s rebirth.
When the Romans arrived in the UK they brought with them Christianity. To gain more followers they aligned their celebrations with pagan holiday celebrations.
Easter is a Christian holiday that commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, as described in the New Testament of the Bible. It is considered the most important event in Christianity and is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon following the spring equinox.
Easter incorporates various traditions, including church services, egg hunts, and the Easter Bunny, which symbolises fertility and new life.
A Time of New Growth
Just as the world is experiencing new beginnings, menopause can also be viewed as a new beginning and a time for spiritual growth.
There are many physical changes during menopause but also emotional ones and it is easy to feel like you have lost the person you once were. The good news is that you can use menopause to reflect on your life so far, what your have learned, what you want to take forward with you and what needs leaving in the past.
The seasonal energy of spring is a great time for a physical and mental spring clean.
Creating a favourite ritual at each if the sabbat celebrations in the wheel of the year (download your free guide here) can support you to find joy and reasons to celebrate in your life. It also connects you to the changing of the seasons and the natural world around you.
Ostara Recipe Ideas and Rituals
It is traditional to plant potatoes on Good Friday. There could be a few reasons for this. One, it is probably the first day off men had to work in the garden and two, people used to garden by the moon when they were connected to the natural world around them. As Good Friday follows the full moon it is a perfect time for root vegetables.
The arrival of Spring is a great time to update decorations around the house. This doesn’t need to be expensive. Do you have branches of shrubs in the garden with new buds bursting? Prune these branches and make an Ostara centrepiece. In craft stores, you can find inexpensive symbols of chicks and eggs to hang on the buds.
I like to make an edible centrepiece filled with chocolate Easter eggs for the family to enjoy.
Obviously, there are the traditional Easter Egg hunts to consider, this is especially fun if you have young children to take part. Include games such as an egg and spoon race or egg decorating (make sure you use hard-boiled eggs) and give prizes for the best decorated.
No Ostara celebration can be complete without food! Here are some of my favourite Ostara recipes:
Ostara Recipe for Hot Cross Buns
On my journey of giving up ultra-processed foods (UPFs), I have started to make my own bread.
I have always loved baking and cooking but have never seemed to be able to nail bread, my husband jokes he could use the results as ballast in his concrete bases at work – and he’s not wrong! However, with perseverance and practice, I have started to have success. My next challenge is sourdough.
Hot cross buns use bread flour and yeast so they are more similar to bread than cakes. These buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday. There is evidence that the ancient Egyptians offered similar round balls of yeast buns to the goddess of the moon while the Greeks and Romans made them for the goddess of light. The Saxons adopted this tradition and added the symbol of the cross. I love that so many traditions and rituals centre around food.
- 350g Strong White Bread Flour
- 100g Strong Wholemeal Bread Flour
- 50g Caster Sugar
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 2 tsp Ground Mixed Spice
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 x 7g sachet of easy blend/easy bake dried yeast
- 50 unsalted butter – diced
- 125g Golden raisins, orange zest, or any mixed dried fruit and peel
- 200ml Lukewarm Milk
- 2 Medium Free Range Eggs – lightly beaten
- For the Cross: 4 Tbsps Strong White Flour and 2 Tbsps Cold Water
- For the Glaze: 4 Tbsps of milk and 2 Tbsps of Caster Sugar.
- You will need a large baking tray greased with butter.
Put both flours, the sugar, salt, mixed spice, nutmeg and yeast into a large bowl and mix well. Add the diced butter and rub in using your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine bread crumbs. Stir in the dried fruit.
Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk and the eggs. Gradually draw the flour into the liquid to make a very soft dough. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead thoroughly for 10 minutes until silky smooth and very elastic. If the dough is very sticky add a little more flour but not too much you don’t want it dry to the touch. You can use a food processor for this process.
Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm spot until doubled in size, this could be an hour, maybe up to two if you leave the bowl at room temperature.
Punch the risen dough to deflate turn it onto a lightly floured surface and knead a little to disperse the trapped air. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and shape them into neat balls. Set well apart on the baking tray then slip the tray into a large plastic bag slightly inflated so the bag doesn’t touch the buns. Leave to rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes (or overnight in the fridge).
Towards the end of the rising time heat the oven to 200 degrees. To make the cross mix the flour with enough water to make a smooth thick paste that can be piped. Spoon the ingredients into a piping bag, uncover the buns and pipe a paste cross on each one.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes until golden brown. Meanwhile, make the sticky glaze by heating the milk with the sugar until dissolved. Boil for one minute then brush over the buns as soon as they emerge from the oven. Transfer to a rack to cool then enjoy!
I think hot cross buns make a great addition to any vernal equinox celebration.
Ostara Recipe for Honey Cakes
- 1/2 cup Riesling wine (German white wine)
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup flour
- 1 cup honey
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- Dash of salt
- Beat the egg together with the wine.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, sugar and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Stir until blended through.
Let the mixture rest for 30 minutes. In another small bowl, mix the honey and nutmeg. In a skillet, heat up about a 1/2 inch of oil, preferably coconut, olive or avocado oil, avoid seed oils. Drop a tablespoon of batter into the oil and fry until golden brown. Drain off the oil, and dip into the honey mixture.
Ostara Recipe for Crispy Roast Potatoes with Rosemary
- 700g Small new potatoes
- 2 Tablespoons Olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Fresh rosemary, chopped
Cover the potatoes with water, season, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain and toss potatoes in a pan over medium-high heat until the outside of the potatoes is dry. Add the olive oil, salt, garlic, and fresh rosemary. Place potatoes in a baking dish, in one layer, and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C until crispy and browned about 15-20 minutes. Serve as part of an Ostara-curated menu.
Perfect Ostara Recipes
A perfect Ostara recipe is full of real ingredients especially those currently in season such as fresh greens, asparagus, rhubarb, cauliflower, purple sprouting broccoli and kale. These might not sound very exciting but with a little kitchen magic, you can turn these simple ingredients into a feast along with seasonal meats such as lamb coming into season.
If you don’t eat meat, make sure you read this post and download your free collection of 12 plant-based Easter Recipes.
It won’t be long until we celebrate the summer solstice so make the most of springtime and find new ways to celebrate the seasons.
12 Weeks ‘Til Summer Solstice
It is just 12 weeks now until midsummer’s day.
How would you like to feel in your body in just 12 short weeks?
- Clear headed?
- Rested?
- Confident?
- More lean?
- Pain free?
- Cooler!!
These are just some of the results you can achieve by using my unique SHIFT System to take control of your menopause symptoms and start feeling like yourself (or better) again.
If you would like to chat with me about your unique menopause transition and how I may be able to support you, book a Wild Well-Being call and come away inspired and motivated to begin your journey to optimal health even if it’s not with me.