Mom's Tzatziki

This week were pulling a page form my mom's cookbook! I'm gonna be honest with you I don't actually have the recipe for this so I've made it few times to get a grasp of the amounts and I definitely nailed it this time! That being said feel free to play around with the amounts to get your ideal dip! You may want to use more or less garlic or honey, you may want to drain your cucumber for more or less time to change the consistency. You may even want to cut your ingredients differently like mincing or dicing to add to the texture. A food processor is also an option! Have fun and use what you've got.

This recipe reminds me of three things. Summer. Holidays. and afternoon living room picnics. We definitely ate this more often in the warmer months especially as a "dressing" on pasta salad. My mom also makes it for most holiday potlucks. But the fondest memory i have is from a lunch tradition we had when i was much younger. Most Sundays we'd have a picnic in the living room for lunch. Basically it was a less sophisticated charcuterie and homemade tzatziki and hummus often made an appearance.

Enough about me though! Time to get you on track to have your own tzatziki to experiment with as a burger topping, on a wrap or sandwich, pasta salad, a dip with pita? Let me know what ideas you come up with in the comments below!

TZATZIKI

1/2 English cucumber
1 or 2 garlic cloves

1 cup plain Greek yogurt (or drained regular yogurt, see pro tip)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp honey

optional: Dill to taste

Peel and shred your cucumber and garlic into a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth.

** pro tip ** I use a fine cheese grater for the cucumber and a microplane for the garlic but you could do this by hand or with a food processor. Use what you have rather than feeling you need all the fancy gadgets!

Leave this over a bowl to drain for at least an hour, longer if you want it thicker but make sure you find room in your fridge to avoid harmful friends making their home there. to play around with texture you can also drain your yogurt in cheesecloth.

** pro tip ** if you cant find Greek yogurt (or you think your Greek yogurt isn't quite thick enough) you can drain regular yogurt in cheese cloth but be sure to use a few layers or you will end up losing solids too. This is the way my mom used to do it before Greek yogurt was regularly available.

** witchy tip ** you can use this draining process as a way to visualize something being banished and then continue that sentiment when you're stirring everything together by stirring counterclockwise and visualizing that concept leaving. When you set your mush to drain take a second to visualize and say, "As the liquid leaves this mixture so too does ____" just maybe don't keep the liquid for a salad dressing as I suggest below.

Remove the liquid from your bowl or use a new bowl to mix your drained veg and the rest of your ingredients.

** pro tip ** keep the cucumber/ garlic liquid and use it in a salad dressing, I tried it for the first time last night and it was great! If you want to see how I did that check out my other social medias for quick instructions!



Its done! As with many things this recipe tastes good right away but tastes WAY better if you let it sit for a day and allow to flavours to develop and mingle.

Quick simple recipe today! I hope you can find a special way to incorporate this delicious, fresh dip into your next meal!

Now for some correspondences!

Cucumber

Feminine
Water,
Venus, Moon

Beauty (inside and out), youth, healing, fertility

Honey

Female
Venus and sun
Balanced with slight pull to fire

The biggest reason to use honey is as a sweetener. to sweeten the views of others toward the thing you are trying to manifest or you yourself. It can even be used in self care to sweeten your own vision of yourself.

Garlic

Masculine
Fire
Mars

exorcism, spell-breaking, invoking passion, protection and strength

There are few ways to lean on the magickal side of this recipe. You could lean into the protective nature of garlic, the balancing and lifting action of honey or the beauty or fertility of cucumber.

If you're looking for a time or reason that all of these ingredients could come together the narrative I come up with is a couple that have been trying to conceive but they are starting to lose their passion and forgetting the joy of what they're working toward. The garlic is to protect them from outside influences and pressures, the honey sweetens them to each other and returns the passion and the cucumber brings luck to the actual "problem" at hand of fertility.

Let me know in the comments below what intentions you're adding to your tzatziki today!

The Short and Gritty

Ingredients:

1/2 English cucumber
1 or 2 garlic cloves

1 cup plain Greek yogurt (or drained regular yogurt, see pro tip)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp honey

Optional: Dill to taste

Directions:

1. Shred cucumber and garlic and let drain in fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth for at least an hour

2. Remove liquid

3. Mix drained veg with remaining ingredients

4. Best if made the day before

This One's No Longer Under Wraps: Tortillas

How excited would you be to learn that making your own, and therefore customizable, tortillas at home is as easy as 5 ingredients, a rolling pin and a hot pan?

I’ve seen a lot of fun recipes recently that use store bought tortillas and a cookie cutter, but what do you do with the leftover tortilla? Just toss it in the bin? Why not make your own at a smaller size? Tacos and muffin tin cups are at your fingertips without the waste of a large tortilla cut to size! Not to mention tostadas and nachos if you’re feeling adventurous.

The following recipe is for flour tortillas but I’m currently playing around with recipes for corn tortillas as well. The last one I tried out didn't quite hold up to my standards but give me a follow and I will have one ready for you soon!

With this recipe I usually do a half batch and make 9 taco sized tortillas because I have a household of 3 and 3 tacos is a great serving size. The original recipe, which is the amounts I have below, has a yield of 16 tortillas of similar size. If you’re looking to do one of those fun muffin tin cups though you can get even more out of the recipe. Let me know if you’re interested in me doing a whole other post about muffin tin fun!

Let's get into it!

TORTILLAS

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

1 cup warm water
⅓ cup oil (about 6 tbsp, I use 3 tbsp for a half batch)


Start in the usual baking way mixing dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Add them together.







Mix them up together until it forms a dough ball.

 ** pro tip ** if the spoon method isn't creating a ball don’t fret! Get your hands in there! The warmth from your hands will help the oil spread out a little more and bring the dough together.

Once you have a dough ball turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes. I knead until it feels smooth and silky. be careful not to add too much flour, your dough will become stiff but this dough also isn't nearly as sticky as our traditional bread dough.

Roll it out into a sausage shape and cut into equal sized pieces to the number of tortillas you are making (see my notes right before the recipe begins). Roll them into tiny balls, place them back into the mixing bowl and cover with a clean tea towel to rest for 20 minutes. This step is important to allow the wet and dry ingredients to come together as well as allowing the flour to form its glutenous bonds.

After resting, start heating your pan (preferably heavy bottomed like cast iron) to medium heat (I heat to a 5 and then turn down to a 4 but everyone's stove top is a little different.) A little oil can be heated but if you trust your cast iron it isn't necessary.

On a lightly floured surface, one at a time, flatten and roll out your small dough balls. They should be super thin to the point where if you hold them up you can see the light through them. 

One at a time place your tortillas in the pan. Cook for about 45 seconds each side. They will bubble and become lightly browned.  

** pro tip ** If your tortillas start shrinking while waiting to be fried you can give them a gentle stretch rather than fighting to roll them out again.

That's it! You have freshly made tortillas. You can serve them right away while they're still warm or make them ahead of time. If you are making them for a future day I definitely suggest covering them in something airtight. Check out below how to spice these babies up!
** pro tip ** If they get a little hard before you serve them, reheat them very quickly and then put them in an airtight container. The humidity will bring them back to life.

Now how do I use tortillas in a witchy sense? I like to think of them as binding together the intentions of the rest of my ingredients. If I make a super garlicky filling it binds in my protection. If I make filling to bring peace to my household with an abundance of leafy greens it adds security. And when I'm trying to add a little tomatoey passion the tortilla represents the bond between me and my beloved.

In addition to this you can add spices to the dough that correspond with your intentions.

Examples might be:

Basil and oregano: ideal for cold tacos with fresh ingredients like tomatoes, red onion and cucumber!

** Basil an oregano for love, luck or mental steadiness

** Basil is associated with the element of fire, masculine energy and the planet Mars

** Oregano is associated with the element air and the planet Venus as well as the deity Aphrodite

Chili powder and cumin: Ideal for Tex-Mex style tacos!

**Chili and cumin for passion, fidelity or protection
**Chili is associated with the element fire, masculine energy and the planet Mars
**Cumin is associated with the element fire, masculine energy and the planet Mars

Garlic and black pepper: ideal for spicing things up a bit or going Mediterranean with hummus, roasted chickpeas and feta!

**Garlic and black pepper for clearing of and protection from negative energy

**Garlic is associated with the element fire, masculine energy and the planet Mars as well as the deity Hekate

**Black pepper is associated with the element fire, masculine energy and the planet Mars

And so many more! Tell me what you’ve got cooking in the comments below or tag me in your pictures on Instagram @Cooking_With_Spirit

Don't forget to follow me here and/or on Facebook @CookingWSpirit so you never miss a post!

The Short and Gritty

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

1 cup warm water
⅓ cup oil (about 6 tbsp, I use 3 tbsp for a half batch)

Directions:

1. Mix dry ingredients
2. Mix wet ingredients
3. mix together to form a ball
4. Knead on lightly floured surface for 3 to 5 minutes
5. Cut into 16 even sized pieces (taco sized tortillas) and roll into balls
6. Place balls back in bowl, cover and rest for 20 minutes
7. Heat pan to medium heat
8. Roll out dough balls very thinly
9. Cook both sides 45 seconds until lightly browned

10. Serve or pack away in airtight container

Mo' Muffins, Mo' Magick

I want to start by thanking everyone that tuned in for my first post! I was overwhelmed by the response I got and I am so happy to see how many open minded people there are in my life that are happy to learn how to cook along side the metaphysical streak through this blog. Thanks for coming back and I cant wait to hear more from you, please, please, please feel free to interact with me and others in the comments below!

Who doesn't enjoy a good muffin? Great for breakfast and great for a snack and also a great way to use a simple recipe to provide a lot of variety to your taste buds.

It’s time to jump head first into the meat of this blog. I promised witchiness and here’s where we're going to get started! My favourite thing to do is find a simple base recipe that I can add new flavours, and therefore correspondences, to. Baking is the easiest, hence why we're starting with muffins, but I want to expand your horizons past that too. But all of that for another day.

I’ll start with the simple muffin recipe and then below I’ll give some ways to spruce it up. For everyone not here for kitchen witchery you’ll get something out of it too so please stick around. That or your muffins are going to be very sad and loveless!


BASIC MUFFIN BATTER BASE

2 cups AP flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup sugar

1 cup skim milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 lrg egg
¼ vegetable or canola oil

Butter, oil or, cooking spray for greasing your pan

The directions on this are relatively simple. But remember that it is important to read through all directions before beginning a recipe, time is important on this one.

Preheat your oven to 400. It is important that your oven is ready when you’ve finished mixing

Start by mixing your dry ingredients together.

** pro tip ** if you desire lighter muffins sifting your ingredients here is ideal, i don’t mind a dense muffin so i don’t this is up to personal preference

Mix your wet ingredients separately.

Add wet to dry and stir only until combined. Your batter should be lumpy. Over mixing causes chewy muffins and chewy muffins are far less desirable. Don’t be afraid if you can still see little spots of dry ingredients, they will soak in on their own, i promise.

** witchy tip ** don't forget to stir in your intentions! Clockwise to invite and counter clockwise to banish.




Grease your pan with desired... well… grease and fill your cups ¾ of the way full. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Your muffins should be lightly browned.










** pro tip ** not SO pro but remember that a toothpick can be skewered into the middle of a muffin to test its doneness, if it comes out clean you're good to go.







You’ll notice something is missing above; we’ve completed absolutely plain muffins. This is where the fun begins!

In the pictures above you’ll see a few things amiss. I had some extra bits thrown in. I made ginger pecan muffins. The reason I left these ingredients out is because I wanted to talk about variety down here. You can add whatever you'd like to your muffins and even better you can make each muffin a little different if your household or guests are picky! And for my witchy friends you can choose ingredients to correspond with your intentions. Here are some of my favourites but feel free to mix and match! I’d love to see what you cook up!

The amount of extra ingredients you want to add is really up to your personal preference but my suggestions are: about ¾ cup chunky bits (nuts, chips, fruits etc.), about 2 tsp spices, and/or a tbsp of liquid. Be careful with liquids as they will throw off the ratios. I usually substitute for equal parts milk or add dry ingredients like oats along with it. You also have the option of just adding extra ingredients to the muffin tin and you can kind of eyeball that, I sprinkle on top until it's mostly covered and then quickly mix them in.



** pro tip ** if you're adding spices throw them in with your dry ingredients, if you're adding liquid ingredients throw them in with your wet ingredients and, if you're adding chunkier ingredients make them one of the last things you add. Gently fold with your last few stirs or simply push them into the batter after you’ve filled your pan.



Craisin Orange

I like to soak my craisins in a little orange juice to avoid them sucking moisture from the batter and then I replace about 2 tbsp of milk with orange juice.

Oranges

Masculine

Fire

Sun

Zeus, Hesperides, Hercules (this was a difficult research project but there is a story surrounding oranges including these Greek figures)

Luck, wealth, divination, love, prosperity

Cranberries

Feminine

Water/Fire

Mars

Astarte

Abundance, energy, healing, love

Cranberry and Orange Together

Your best bet for this combination is to bring love back into your life whether with your partner or your family. Especially if an event has caused some tension the bright energy and healing coming from these ingredients is sure to lighten the mood and provide a safe space for healing. Be careful with the energy you put into these muffins though, do not make them while still fuming as their fiery energy may lend easier to anger than happiness.

Ginger Pecan

I used fresh ginger and used a micro plane to mince it but ground ginger is good too. I mixed in pecan pieces as well as placed some on top for aesthetic

** witchy tip ** you can say a little incantation or affirmation as you place each piece on top to seal your intentions

Ginger

Fire

Speed things up, adding power, add passion

Pecans

Longevity, prosperity, spiritual purification, protection

Ginger and Pecans Together

When you feel like your energy is a little off these muffins should help perk you back up. The ginger acts as a catalyst to push that spiritual purification from the pecans. Keep ginger in your back pocket for a little boost in your kitchen witchery along with its best friend cinnamon.

Blueberry and Thyme

** pro tip ** try rolling your blueberries in sugar or flour to get them to stay afloat in your batter, sugar will also add sweetness so keep that in mind.

Thyme

Feminine

Water

Venus

Freya, Aphrodite and Ares

Strength, courage, staying power and positivity, faerie offerings, spring festivals for beginning anew

Blueberries

Feminine

Water

Venus

The Hunter, dark lord, Lugh

Protection, psychic strength

Blueberries and Thyme Together

Best for when you're feeling a mental drain. The thyme provides you with the strength and courage to keep going and the blueberries provide you with targeted psychic protection.

In addition to this a great TIME for them is early spring especially around the early sabbats if you're into that kind of thing. Both thyme and berries are much appreciated by the Fae and so one of these muffins would make a perfect offering on Beltane or Lughnasadh.

Chocolate chip

Everyone's favourite. Try bittersweet, dark, milk, white! Try mixing them together or adding other bits like nuts or fruit.

Chocolate

Really cool that I found associations for all different types of chocolate but for now I'm going to pass along Cacao Nibs and anything that shows up for all/ most. Maybe I should do a special spotlight on the different types of chocolate? Let me know in the comments if that's something you're interested in.

Feminine

Fire

Earth, Sun, Uranus

Grounding prosperity ancestors friendship and love

Comfort food! Any comfort food can be used as just that. Mix in some feelings of home and positive relationships. Its grounding properties add to this feeling of safety at home. And don’t forget your ancestors; chocolate is a great offering option for them!

If you want these to be a little more on the romance side of things add some cinnamon for a fiery boost!

Maple and Oats

I’m letting my Canadian show. But seriously: delicious and nutritious.

Maple

Feminine

Water

Moon and Jupiter

Travel, learning decision making, spiritual healing, soothing the psyche

Oats

I couldn't find anything on the metaphysical properties but when I think about oats I think about hardiness and sticking power. I always associate them with being filling so fulfillment seems like an appropriate attribute as well.

Maple and Oats together

In these muffins I see the oats filling you up and getting you ready for a coming change and the maple giving you the ability to make the decision and stop riding the fence on that said change. So if there is something you're trying to make a decision on eat one of these muffins and then sit down with a pros and cons list.

A quick note: don’t come at me about gender! We’re talking feminine and masculine energy which are akin to yin and yang not male and female. This has been your friendly inclusivity announcement.

Don't forget to tag me to pictures of the creative creations you bake on Instagram @cooking_with_spirit and don't forget to tell me what intentions you've stirred up

The Short and Gritty

Ingredients:

2 cups AP flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup sugar

1 cup skim milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 lrg egg
¼ vegetable or canola oil

Butter or oil for greasing your pan

+flavour bits

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400

2. Mix your dry ingredients together

3. Mix your wet ingredients together

4. Mix just until combined; do not over mix

5. Fill muffin tin cups ¾

6. Bake for 20 minutes, until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean

7. Rest for 5 minutes, cool on cooling rack

Introduction and the Most Versatile Recipe You'll Ever Learn

What brought me here?

Long story short: a passion for cooking, a curiosity for the metaphysical and COVID lockdown.

So here we are; everyone is trying to better themselves during this strange time in history. We're all looking to distract ourselves from the atrocities and boredom of our current world’s state. Many of us thrown from our jobs and looking for a new way to fill the void and hopefully our wallets. And for those of you that haven't been thrown from their jobs but have still been completely uprooted from their normal lives you’re still looking for a distraction. Cooking is a big one. And that’s what I'm here for. I will teach you mostly about cooking, and you can certainly stop there because my food is delicious, but I have a little magick up my sleeve (and a hankering to learn more.) For everyone else just think about it as cooking with love. Love is and always has been the most important ingredient.

So what gives me the right?! That is, where am I coming from that I think I can even attempt to teach you anything about cooking? Witchery? And who the heck am I?

My Cooking Background

I’ve loved cooking for as long as I can remember. I used to spend hours baking with my Nana around holidays and once I was old enough to cook alone my parents got me a cookbook for kids and it was my job to cook dinner fairly regularly.

Every job I've had has been in the food industry and 5 years of that was as a professional cook. I did cake decorating for 3 years at WalMart and my 5 years of kitchen experience included pretty much everything. I was lucky enough to start as a line cook and not a dishwasher despite no previous kitchen training. In hindsight that might have been a red flag but in all actuality that was probably my favourite kitchen to work in. Starting at that job I did line work and prep work. In my most recent job I worked EVERYTHING. Then COVID lockdown became a thing and I was temporarily laid off. The economic and industry climate leads me to think I may not have job security and that was a real kick in the pants to do what I’ve talked about doing for years, writing.

My Witchy Background

I’ve dabbled in the metaphysical for a long time; a lot of it without really realizing what I was doing. My spirituality and beliefs play easily into the metaphysical community. My mom recently took her journey (into card reading and crystals) to a serious level and while looking for Christmas gifts for her I found myself falling deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole. Immediately I was drawn to the idea of kitchen witchery among other things. And so I wouldn't say I have a deep background but I have a desire to learn alongside you as we embark on a journey of learning how to make the recipes I already use into little bits of magick for you and your family.

Who the Heck Am I?

I am many things. A daughter. A girlfriend. A sister and caretaker. I am a cook. I am a nurturer, a listener. I am a reader and learner and thinker. I am an old soul, or so they tell me. I have been an athlete. I have been a student. I have been up and down. This and so many more things have made me who I am. I draw what I know and have learned from the people I have encountered in the many settings I have been in. Who I am is going to change while we are here; you can learn from me and I sure hope I get to learn from you.

I hope I've given you a reason to stick around. Good recipes. Fun stories. And a little magick.

Without further adieu, here is your first recipe and one you will see pop up ALL. THE. TIME. Versatility is key.

DOUGH

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups Flour
1 tsp Salt

2 1/2 tsp Yeast
1 1/2 tsp Sugar

2 tbsp Oil
1 cup Warm water

There are two ways to do this recipe. Traditional yeast and Active yeast. Due to the complete lack of traditional yeast in the stores near me I am using my less favourite of the two: active yeast. I will explain the difference throughout this post; I just won’t have pictures.
In a large bowl combine flour and salt.

If using active yeast add to that same bowl sugar and yeast, if using traditional yeast add the sugar and yeast to the next step.



Combine warm water, think a comfortable bath, and oil. If using traditional yeast mix and set for 10 minutes and allow the yeast to bloom. If using active yeast obviously skip this step.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry. I like to make a well but this is unnecessary; I just like to try to keep my bowl as clean as I can to avoid having to scrape too much later.

Combine until the mixture comes together into a ball. 

                                                Turn out onto a floured surface. Knead and continue to add flour in small amounts until the dough is smooth and not sticky. This you have to get a feel for but according to most recipes it’s about 5 minutes. I should really try timing it for you, I will.
** pro tip ** this timing and the amount of flour you have to add will change depending on the environment. If it’s particularly humid in your kitchen it will take more time and flour to get a good consistency.
** witchy tip ** during both stirring and kneading is a perfect time to do so with intention. Decide why you’re making this bread, visualize it and infuse your dough with it.



Place in your greased loaf pan and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave to rise/proof for 40 minutes or so before you begin to preheat your oven to 360. Your dough should be almost twice the size you started with.

This timing changes a bit depending on the environment and which yeast you’ve used. If using traditional I usually leave it for 10 to 15 minutes longer before starting my preheat.

** pro tip ** put the kettle on when you start the proofing to add humidity to the air. In a commercial setting they use a “proofer” which has a regulated environment for temperature and moisture.  

Once preheated bake your loaf for 20 minutes. It should become golden brown and sound hollow when you knock on it. Remove to a cooling rack, bon appetit.

** pro tip ** At this point an experienced baker might use an egg wash, butter or oil brushed over the top of your loaf to give you various types of crispier crust and/or score the crust. See more at the end. 

This is the most basic way to use this recipe. You will see it show up about a million times after this if you stick around with me. It can be used in a variety of ways and also can be varied in its current state as a loaf.

** witchy tip ** This variety is where we add correspondences but it is WAY too much for a tip sized bit. Stay tuned for another post.

If you are an experienced bread maker you may notice I don't do a second proof; I have in the past and I don't feel like it changed my bread! Maybe I did it wrong or maybe I don't have an eye for the changes in bread. Please feel free to call me out in the comments below! Like I said, I’m here to learn as much as the next.

Now what is scoring? It’s a shallow slice in the crust of your bread just before you place it in the oven. You see this on artisan loaves you get from the grocery store. A single straight line, three diagonal ones or crossed to make a window pane are common. Historically, families that shared an oven would have family specific scoring to be able to tell their bread from the other families.

** witchy tip ** score with a sigil and allow the heat from the oven to expand and release that power

If you decide to get fancy with your scoring I would love to see pictures. Tag me in your posts over @cooking_with_spirit

The Short and Gritty:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups Flour
1 tsp Salt

2 1/2 tsp Yeast
1 1/2 tsp Sugar

2 tbsp Oil
1 cup Warm water

Directions:

1. Mix first two ingredients.

2a. If you're using active cry yeast include the next two ingredients.

2b. If you're using traditional yeast mix last four ingredients together and let sit for 10 minutes.

3. Add wet to dry, mix in the bowl until it comes together into a ball.

4. Turn out onto floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes adding small amounts of flour when it becomes too sticky.

5. Place in greased loaf pan and cover with a clean tea towel. Allow to rise for 40 minutes and then begin preheating your oven to 350.

6. The dough should double in size by the time you put your loaf in the oven. About 10 to 20 minutes after you begin your preheat.

7. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. the loaf should sound hollow when knocked on.

8. Remove to a cooling rack and it is ready for eating.