Every solstice and equinox my husband and I host a large dinner party for our friends. Or, as near to the date as we can, usually whichever Saturday is closest.

This year was no exception, and though I failed to get a picture of it on Saturday, I did have a go at making Riz Aleister Crowley, Crowley’s recipe for pilaf.

Crowley’s original recipe doesn’t give quantities for the ingredients he lists, so I’ve made my best guess, and detailed my process here. It was delicious.

For the bakers among you, there’s also an awesome shortbread recipe you should totally try out.

This year my husband and I also woke up in the middle of the night to watch the eclipse. we had a great view from our porch, even with various wires strung across our narrow street, and streetlights ablaze. I was surprised to see that we were the only people out that night.

There’s been a lot of kerfuffle about this rare red eclipse occurring on the winter solstice, as it hasn’t done so for several hundred years. It was a beautiful night, and I hope you got to experience it.

Kensington Market is a small neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, and for the past twenty-one years there has been the Kensington Market Festival of Lights, a parade with music, puppets, paper lanterns, a stilt-walker, and crowds of people following along. I try to make it every year; I love it. The picture above is taken from this year’s Festival, with two more shared on my personal blog.

Dinner parties, good food, and a parade to celebrate the sun returning to the world are how I celebrate my winter solstice every year. What are your traditions?

Ok, so once upon a time some jerks decided to demote Pluto to a “dwarf planet”, then they tried to amend it to a “plutoid”, because they thought it was smaller than the new thing they discovered – Eris.

Turns out they were wrong and Pluto is actually larger than Eris, though it has less mass. Take that, International Astronomical Union of Jerks. I’m lookin’ at you Mike Brown – aka plutokiller.

In light of the controversy Space.com has a poll asking if Pluto’s planet status be revisited. The answer is obviously YES. Cast your votes now, people. This is serious business.

It’s been a while since we’ve done a Saturday Signal, so a lot of linkage has been piling up. For your reading pleasure I present the following signal: Continue reading »