September 29th is the traditional feast of Saint Michael and All Angels, or Michaelmas. Historically one of the British quarter days, when school terms started and rents came due, Michaelmas also has particular foods associated with it, especially roast goose, carrots, and apples. Most charming of all, Michaelmas is traditionally the last day on which you should pick and eat blackberries, as folklore has it that when Saint Michael expelled Lucifer from heaven, the fallen angel landed in a patch of blackberry vines and, unhappy with the way things turned out, he, um, wet himself forthwith, thus rendering the berries unfit for consumption.
As much as I like both tradition and blackberries, the timing seems precariously tight, and September 29th usually finds me already passing the fresh ones by. Braver souls than I should celebrate the day with a blackberry cobbler, but, for the rest of you, try instead this Scottish Michaelmas tradition, the Saint Michael’s Bannock. It is somewhat like Irish soda bread and is excellent with butter and, well, yes, blackberry jam.
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