Potatoes, Hops & Lammas

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Welcome to the Lammas Tarot Blog Hop. This is the fifth one so far. I’m excited to be sharing space with thirty six other bloggers all sharing thoughts on this subject –‘’Pentacles : The Fruits of Harvest’’. If you are hopping from Sandie Worthy’s page, welcome! You can find your next hop at the end of my blog. You can also find my monthly Tarotscopes podcast here if that’s what you’re looking for. I know! 2 things at once. 😀 How bountiful.

This one was easy for me because I’m a mad fan of Pentacles. I adore the community aspect of them. My clients learn that I see the Earth suit (aka Coins, Stones, Plates, Discs, etc) as wealth in terms of what we have rather than money in the bank. It’s not about cold, hard cash to me. Pentacles are earth so they are about the steadfast, nurturing aspect of community. Wealth, in my worldview, is your family, your pets, your friends, your possessions, your health. It’s so much more than green folding stuff.

But Kareena, this hop’s wrangler, asked us to write a blog post on a specific card in this suit. That was a bit more difficult since there are so many cards that I love. I narrowed it down to my top six from my favorite reading deck (Elder of Earth, Guardian of Earth, Nine of Earth, Six of Earth, Three of Earth, Ace of Earth), then my top three (Elder of Earth, Six of Earth, Three of Earth). I did this by flipping through them super fast. My decision was based on nothing more than “yes” or “no”. I didn’t have any set thought in my head. Just let Spirit guide me. Then I used that same gut instinct to choose the Six of Earth from those last three. Interestingly enough, I thought I would end up with the Guardian or Queen of Earth.

This Six of Earth makes me happy. Two women exchange goods. One receives the beautiful sunflowers she wants while the other gets the cash she deserves. I’m very fond of farmer’s markets even though I haven’t been to one in Texas in nearly three years. I KNOW!

But today marks Lammas for me which is the first of the three harvest festivals. I am Wiccan and do celebrate the Wheel of the Year, but this blog hop is not pagan-based. Today is also the gateway between summer and fall. There is an emphasis on starting to put things up, put things back, store up the good. I have a friend who refers to her canned tomatoes as “saving summer.” I always liked that phrase even if I am more of a fall kind of girl.

I love to cook and have the body to prove it. One feature on this blog is my Tarot&Food series. One of my earliest offerings in this series was a How To Make Bread recipe.

But I wanted to share a new recipe here (I know…not totally Tarot, but you’ll have to forgive me). Not so strangely, the Pentacles is the suit with the most recipes so far. A perennial favorite has been my recipe titled The King of Swords’ Balls. I can’t imagine why so many search engine results keep hitting that page. But I digress.

The Six of Coins, for me is about generosity. One way I spread the wealth of Tarot is by giving away a free book on how to read Tarot intuitively. It’s on this page. Hint! Over to the right ( –>) towards the top.

Now about this recipe I wanted to share. This makes a generous amount of food and my sister is the one who generously shared her secret with me. I always loved her mashed potatoes. I had to ask her what she did that I wasn’t doing. And she taught me a trick for making mashed potatoes. I added her trick to my own secret ingredient and came up with a dish that people always ask for seconds on! If you combine this with a good milk gravy, you are set!

Six of Coins: Arwen’s AskForMore Mashed Potatoes

  • 3 lbs baking potatoes, peeled and cut into thin slices
  • Water
  • 1 sm onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 sticks butter
  • 1 C heavy whipping cream
  • 1/2 C sour cream
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Boil potatoes and onion slices until potatoes are soft. TIP: The thinner you slice them, the faster they cook.

Remove onions and pour off water leaving only potatoes behind. You can mince the onions and throw them in the gravy or just throw them away.

Add one stick of butter and begin mashing the potatoes. Start with a hand masher! As the potatoes work down, add half the cream. Keep mashing! Add the other stick of butter and the rest of the cream. Now add the sour cream. You may need to move to an electric mixer at this point, but keep mashing. Add salt and pepper to taste!

I advocate for tasting while you mash. You may need to add more seasoning or more milk (sour cream if you love rich, creamy potatoes). From the professional chefs among us, please use a clean spoon every time you taste. Thanks!

When the potatoes are whipped up creamy and smooth, slide the bowl into the oven on warm until ready to eat. Sometimes, I’ll put a bit of shredded cheddar (New York Sharp is my preference) on the top and let that melt all over the top. Oh yeah, I just made myself hungry. How about you?

Thanks for stopping by so I could chat with you a bit about Pentacles as well as share a recipe with you. I’m so delighted to send you on your way to J Jordan Hoggard’s place. Don’t forget to please, please, please take a moment to leave a comment for all the bloggers. It’s the only way we know you were here. And, grin, who doesn’t like a little acknowledgement. Want to see the Master List? It’s useful in case you stumble across a page that’s not up just yet.

Interested in the history of the Tarot Blog Hop? Read this write-up.

6 of Earth, Gaian Tarot, Llewellyn

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36 thoughts on “Potatoes, Hops & Lammas”

  1. Lovely post, Arwen. I don’t eat dairy, so I won’t be trying the mash potatoes, but I still enjoyed the sharing, and the laughs: “King of Swords Balls” 😀 And the reminder that our greatest wealth is our community is always well-taken!

  2. Oooh, I love a bit of mash. My own spuds aren’t ready for picking yet and it’s a bit warm for mash atm, but i’ll definitely file this one for chillier days 🙂

  3. I am now starving hungry, you naughty woman!

    …and it CAN’T be the gateway between summer and autumn – we havent’ had summer here yet *weeps quietly and gets her wellington boots out*

    Great post Arwen!

  4. Now I’m hungry! And this recipe is no where near vegan. I will just go have brown rice and black beans and think about how to veganize this… I’m thinking soy yogurt…. Thanks for the yumminess!

  5. Argh! Now I’m hungry and since I can’t have dairy, my mashed potatoes are not nearly as heavenly as these you’ve described! But, thank you, I have a lovely idea for our leftovers now.

    Love your post! Enjoy the celebration!

    Hugs and butterflies,
    ~Teresa~

  6. Arwen! Lovely, and funny, and tasty. Those are rich mashed potatoes, indeed. Here in Houston, we are anxiously awaiting the time (shortly) to plant for the second harvest of the year. I will have to send Alison Cross and the other Brits some of our sunshine, eh? It’s been summer here since May and will be until late September at least. Also like the way you’ve got your blog structured (must invest time in that Amazon.com favs list on the right).

    And agree with your take on the Earth/Pentacles suit as community in the world right here, cozy home, cup of tea, local markets (I need to get to mine, also), gardens, mmm. Feels almost as tasty as mashed potatoes…

  7. Hi Arwen, thanks so much for your reflections on Lammas and life. I really love your friend’s canned tomatoes and saving summer, I think I must tell my sister that, she makes jam (jelly in the US?) by the jar full, with whatever she finds in the hedgerows. Brightest Blessings – FS

  8. Oh. I think this one is my favorite yet. And a whole new crop of tarot bloggers to check out! Awesome! I love your interpretation of coins, discs, etc. I love thinking of it as community because it is most certainly in community that we are rich and what better than the farmer’s market. My neighbor brought me some tomatoes yesterday and I had left them on a counter (in a plastic bag! sheesh!) so I set them free onto the counter this morning and am hoping to make a delicious salsa this evening when I get home.

    Your mashed potatoes sound delicious. What a treat it will be to make them and think of you.

    1. Amy, how kind of you! We are rich in our friends. Oh those tomatoes…I love a plate of freshly sliced maters with sugar on them. My daddy ate them that way. He was from New York so I’m not sure where the tradition came from. And it is a holiday recipe so it was for a HUGE group. 😀

  9. I may have to cut the recipe down a tad. wow. That is making potatoes for the entire Brady Bunch or something. And, Christaine, how could mashed potatoes EVER be boring? it is the food of the GODDESS.

  10. Love this. I love that you speak of “community” in terms of the Pentacles. My tarot community has sometimes held tarot potluck dinners where we bring tarot-themed foods. Sounds like your recipes would fit right in!

    1. Claire-Marie, I really loved this hop’s theme and results. As a community, the Tarot community really knows how to come together and support one another! 😀

  11. Hi Arwen,

    Love what you wrote about the Six of Pentacles – giving, receiving and sharing. And also the reminder that as we start to harvest we also begin to put things up for the future – that’s a good one to think about, too!

    Cx

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