Devil's Spit Punch - September 29 - Michaelmas

Michaelmas is another of our “featured” family feast days. There’s just so much fun, food, and conversation to be had around the archangels, and specifically about St. Michael’s defeat of the devil. The traditional dinner for Michaelmas is goose. But, nine years after I first blogged about being unable to interest my family in the idea of goose, or even procure one if I could, I still . . . haven’t. We have continued to enjoy the compromise of cornish game hens and asparagus spears. Usually I make the main dish and the beverages, and our guests bring appetizers and desserts. Favorites have included a green salad with goat cheese (for the devil’s goat foot) and blackberries (because the stories say that when St. Michael threw Satan down from heaven, he landed in a blackberry bush and spat on the blackberries . . . so you’re not going to want to eat them tomorrow). Appetizers range from flamin’ hot cheetos and deviled eggs to a Victorian recipe for “angels on horseback” and “devils on horseback.” For dessert we’ve had angel food cake, devil’s food cake, and blackberry cobbler. For beverages we offer two punches, one for the kids and one for the grownups, both fun.