Free Range Friday ~ Outer Space, Edible Moon

October's full moon is going to be showing off mightily tonight, with a penumbral lunar eclipse included. You can read all about it here. Who can see it? Check out the NASA graphic below.

Last evening was a ghostly preview. La bella luna came up much earlier than I expected and it was still quite light outside, but beautiful nonetheless. Call it the Hunter's Moon, the Travel Moon (my personal favorite), Harvest Moon or the Dying Grass Moon - or in the Southern Hemisphere (a first, I have no idea why it took me so long to do this but I have things Down Under on my mind) the Egg Moon, Fish Moon, Seed Moon, Pink Moon or Waking Moon -  and I love these names! it's worth taking the time to see one of the best monthly free shows going.

Depending on where you live, this is either the moving into winter full moon or, in the Southern hemisphere, the first full moon of Spring.

Are you one of those people who associate special events (like waking up) with food? In Japan, the dish for the full moon of Autumn is called Tsukimi Udon, which translates to 'viewing the moon'. I have a couple of friends who would hate this because it uses eggs with soft yolks, but for the rest of you, it might be a simple hit. I have lots of eggs, there is actually udon at Milka's, and what we don't have, we can fake.

For the food history story, the recipe and a video of the Japanese Moon Viewing Festival, go here.

Photo credit: Tess

I saw so many photo versions of this dish, in some the egg looked almost raw, others were more well cooked, one was even hard-boiled, cut in half for the 'moon' effect. So don't forget my first rule of cooking something new, DO play with your food and recipes (well, unless you are baking, and even then there might be some wiggle room - trust me, I know this). There are a lot of versions of this soup, some with chicken, some with kombu (dried kelp), some with tofu, some with shitake mushrooms. I'll put in what I like and can get and so should you! Make it fun, make it your way, make it with love.

Have a free flying Friday. Do something festive.