Welcome back, Geeky Gluttons, to another episode of Munchies & Minis!
For those just joining us, Munchies & Minis is my tabletop RPG-inspired live cooking show. Once a week, I make a snack or meal to pair with a side of dice rolls. You can catch me on Twitch (unless indicated otherwise on social media) Wednesday nights at 7 pm EST.
In our last video, we made achiote-marinated turkey tamales inspired by D&D’s Maztica. This time, we finish out season two with three holiday recipes from Pathfinder’s Golarion.
Three-Goddess Winter
I know it’s June now. Munchies & Minis may be behind on the blog, but it’s 13 episodes into season 3 on Twitch and Patreon! Besides, it pays to plan early, right? That said, I usually try to finish out the show with a Holiday Special inspired by a single tabletop RPG campaign setting. Last year it was D&D’s Faerun. This year, we hang out with Golarion from Pathfinder‘s goddess thruple Desna, Sheyln, and Sarenrae. Hmm, I just noticed as I was editing this that I’m releasing this during Pride month. I’m ok with this.
Like Earth, Golarion also has 12 months — the Winter solstice during the last month of Kuthona. This day plays host to three festivals honoring three different goddesses: Candlemark (Sarenrae), The Ritual of Stardust (Desna), and Crystalhue (Sheyln). I find it funny that they are not only besties, but their worshippers all find a reason to celebrate them on the same day.
Desna’s Stardust Pilaf
Desna is the goddess of dreams, freedom, travelers, and luck — most associated with Golarion’s Varisians. The Ritual of Stardust involves feasting and bonfires. And “when only embers remain, sand mixed with ground star gemstones (either star rubies, star sapphires, or rose quartz) is thrown on them or into the air downwind. At this point, it is common to make proclamations of love and friendship and of promised journeys to come. The twinkling of the sand is thought to mirror the night sky and demonstrate Desna’s witnessing of these pronouncements.”
So with that, I made a hybrid of Iranian jeweled rice and Turkish rice pilaf using orzo, dried cranberries, raisins, cardamom, and garlic. Being that the Varisians are the fantasy world-equivalent of the Roma, I used cumin and paprika from their respective cuisine. The sourcebooks also say that Varisians associate the colors orange and yellow with joy and good fortune. So I added orange bell pepper, lemon, and carrots. Finally, I simmered it in lapsang tea since it has a smokey flavor like a campfire and is often the base of Roma (or Russian Caravan) tea.
Sarenrae’s Candlemark Pastry
Sarenrae, also known as “The Dawnflower” and “The Everlight,” functions as Golarion’s sun goddess of healing, honesty, and redemption. Her Winter Solstice festival of Candlemark is a day of remembrance “representing that even during the sun’s weakest day, Sarenrae’s power to heal and redeem is still with her faithful.”
Since a common activity of Sarenites during this time is retelling when they chose to join the church, I thought a sharable pastry appropriate. She is also the patron goddess of the Kelesh Empire — the fantasy equivalent of the Persian empire. So with that, I stuffed puff pastry with an Iranian gottab-style filling using walnuts, almonds, lemon zest, cardamom, and cinnamon. I then twisted it in the shape of Sarenrae’s winged ankh.
Click here for the cutting guide PDF for this pastry.
Shelyn’s Crystalhue Cookies
Finally, what are the winter holidays without some cookies? Sheyln’s Crystalhue festival seemed the perfect occasion for some stained glass cookies. Why? Well, Sheyln is Golarion’s goddess of art, love, beauty, and music. During Crystalhue, “locals hang crystal prisms and glass baubles throughout town in order to spread light and scatter rainbows in the streets,” women dye colored streaks in their hair, artisans sell their crafts, and clergy members perform marriages in masse.
Sheyln’s symbol is a songbird with a rainbow feathered tail. So with that, I crushed jolly ranchers and melted them into bird-shaped cookies. If you know me, though, I prefer inspired flavor over inspired looks. That’s why I flavored my dough with orange zest, ginger, vanilla, and caraway seeds. Caraway seeds are associated with the Roman god Mercury and thought to enhance communication. Ginger and vanilla also represent both pure and passionate love in multiple cultures.
The Golarion Holiday Special
Sing for your Supper!
This video will always be around to cook along with. But I also have the printable PDF recipe cards available for my Ko-Fi and Patreon supporters.
This week, my blog post and Munchies & Minis recipe cards are available in exchange for a $2 donation on my Ko-fi page.
-OR-
If you join my Patreon community at the “Kitchen Twitch” ($5/month) level or higher, you will not only get access to ALL of my Munchies & Minis recipe cards. You’ll also get blog-post Spotify playlists, community polls, random digital and physical swag surprises, AND a welcome gift of my Lord of the Rings recipe cards and playlists.
I hope that this episode inspired you to start a culinary campaign of your own. Next week, I’ll continue the third season of Munchies & Minis with a recipe chosen by my Patreon subscribers!
Make sure to join me live Wednesday on Twitch from 7 pm – 9 pm EST. OR you can catch the archived episode on YouTube.
