Rainbow Soups: Orange -- Carrot Ginger

As the year flips from 2020 to 2021 a lot of focus is falling to reflection and goal setting; I've been talking about the reflection and relaxation part but I'm starting to move into the goal setting part of the dark half of my year. I've been slowly building up a brain dump list in my bullet journal (I'm probably gonna make a video so if that's something you're interested in let me know and give me that motivation!)

So, in accordance with that, we're looking at an Orange soup: Carrot Ginger! Get that passion burning and your eyes ready to see!

CARROT GINGER SOUP

Ingredients:

3 carrots
1 onion
1tbsp fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic
2cups broth
1tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
to taste salt and pepper

Directions:

I like to roast my carrots before adding them to the soup simply for time sake. You can skip this step and just let them cook in the broth or dice them up and throw em in the pan with the next step for a sweeter soup. So, I rough chopped my carrots and tossed them in a little oil and salt and pepper and roasted them in a 350 oven for 20-30 minutes. they don't have to be perfectly soft because they will cook in the soup but you should be able to get a fork in them.

While those are roasting, dice your onion, garlic and ginger. Heat a little bit of oil in a pan (or the pot you want to use for your soup) and add the onions first. When they become translucent you can add the other two ingredients. Saute until aromatic, basically until you go go, "oh, that smells delicious."

Next will be the broth. If you've done this in your pot simply add the broth and swish around to deglaze. If you did it in a separate pan transfer your veggies to a pot and deglaze with just a little bit of your broth and then put all the broth in the pot.

** pro tip ** deglazing is used toipck up all the carmellized sugars left behind. It is the secret to many flavourful dishes.

** witchy tip ** deglaizng can be used as a visualization for letting things go or digging deeper.

Add your roasted carrots and spices and bring to a boil. Reduce to low heat and let those flavours mingle. Check back in 15 - 20 minutes to see if the carrots are tender. Once they are its time to remove from the heat. Be SAFE and let it cool down. For this step you can do small batches in a blender (it is most important to let it cool down because it will build pressure inside the blender) or and immersion blender.

Blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste and you can also adjust the thickness. Going thicker is harder but can be done by adding a little cornstarch or flour to some water and add that, bring it back up to a simmer. To go thinner simply add a little water, broth or cream.

Et voila! I like to garnish with a little parsley for the colour contrast.

To the Metaphysical!

As I said earlier this is often a time of goal setting. This soup is great for that on a general level but also is perfect for what I am focusing on this year. I've chosen the word create as my word of the year (the first time I've ever done this) and this soup carries a vein of creativity in it. While the focus of this is the colour orange and it's traditional meanings lean more toward a generalized goal setting energy I have found I personally associate orange with creativity.

But this is not about only me so lets take a look at the goal setting aspects of this soups correspondences. First we'll delve into the separate ingredients and the colour and then we will put them all together and see what they have in common and what I think this soups power is.

Carrots act to dispel illusions and allow you to see clearly. This helps you to set good (s.m.a.r.t) goals. In addition to this carrots can be associated with the three lower chakras: root because it is a root vegetable, sacral because of its colour and solar plexus again tied to its colour. This means that it will help to ground you and keep you focused on the task at hand, stoke the passion within you and allow your creativity to flow.

Ginger works like cinnamon in the sense that it adds to whatever energy is already present but if your goals center around money this would be an appropriate ingredient to pull on for that as well as stability. I think this is probably a type of goal a lot of people are leaning towards after the odd year we've had.

Orange is the most pertinent here for goal setting as it lends energy of ambition, concentration and success. In addition to this if your goals involve learning this is also a great correspondence for intellectual pursuits.

Overall, the takeaway I have form this recipe is the association with the three lower chakras because I think it means that you can use this for many types of goals. The thing that really popped into my head while compiling this was Maslow's hierarchy of needs because from these three chakras we can pull from almost all levels of that pyramid easily from safety to self expression.

So get to stirring in your intentions and setting those goals. Let me know in the comments below what you've been reflecting on and what you'd like to build in the future!

Overall: Goal setting and working toward your goals from the smallest thing to the biggest (from safety to self expression.) The three lower chakras with an emphasis on sacral (sexual desire and fertility.) grounding, passion, ambition.

Carrot: Mars. Dispel illusions, protection, the three lower chakras, creativity, sexual drive, fertility and ancestral roots.

Ginger: Fire. Mars. Balance, grounding, love, clarity, money, success, power, stability, healing, passion, adds power, add passion to existing

Orange:

-Creativity, focused energy, gentle cleansing, sacral chakra (therefore sexual health and fertility,)
-Ambition, concentration, intellectual pursuits, success, legal issues

Short and Gritty
Ingredients:

3 carrots
1 onion
1tbsp fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic
2cups broth
1tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
to taste salt and pepper

Directions

1. Roast carrots in large chunks tossed in oil salt and pepper
2. Dice and saute onions, garlic and ginger
3. Deglaze with broth
4. Add all to a pot and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer
5. Boil until all tender about 20 minutes.
6. When tender, cool and blitz with a blender or immersion blender.
7. Adjust flavours and thickness
8. Serve

Techniques of Intention: Kitchen Witchery Basics Part 5

When practicing Kitchen Witchery how exactly do I add my intention? Is it any different from other spellwork? The short answer is no. If you are confident in other parts of your practice then you can probably use what you already know. BUT Kitchen Witchery seems to be a starting point for a lot of people so I've used this series to explain a lot of witchcraft basics with a kitchen focus.

As I mentioned in Part 1 of this series, I want to look over some specific ways to add intention into your work. Keep in mind this is not an exhaustive list and if you don't see your method here I would love to hear abut it in the comments below! I'm going into detail about the methods I use. And I'm doing so with the assumption that you've read the rest of this series so if you have questions about correspondence, intuition or colour magic please check these other posts for more information.

I don't have much left to say so let's get into this list.

Stirring

Simply put, in the kitchen a spoon is like a wand. You can channel your energy through it into the things you stir. Traditionally stirring clockwise brings energies in and counter-clockwise is used to banish. This is the only one on the list that I feel needs to be used with another form because you need to let the energy know what it's being used for. Any method from below or a combination of them will work. The way I add intention is to focus on the type of energy I'm working with, I will visualize a certain colour energy or simply repeat the word or phrase over and over in my head as I stir. In addition to this I will sometimes hold my breath while repeating the word or phrase as a stir 3 times and then with the exhale I allow my energy to flow from my body through the spoon. This breath work I usually reserve for things like string my coffee or tea. With stirring I like to sometimes do a stir both ways, one to banish one type of energy and then the other to put the desired energy back in.

Breath work

Breath work comes in many forms. I used an example above. You can use different patterns of breathing like square breathing or lion's breath. You can hold your breath and let your body generate energy from that restriction and then release. You can send your energy through your hands or a tool as you do it. For instance you can slowly and calmly breath in and out with your hands over your bowl, palm down sending energy through your arms with every breath. You can mix this with visualization to send a specific colour energy. If you’re going the banishing route you can use your inhale instead and suck the unwanted energy out. Keep in mind you also traditionally have a receiving and giving hand in magic (usually dominant is giving and the other is receiving but it depends on your practice) so you can use this to your advantage as well.

Visualization 

This is like what it sounds but with a small caveat that visualization in this sense doesn’t have to only be about the sense of sight. If you feel more connected to sounds then bring a certain sound to mind or scents, tastes or textures. If you’re working on something for cleansing maybe you bring to mind the scent of lemon. Just like anything else we've come up against. Focus your energy on manifesting whatever it is that you feel associated with your intention. I find sight is my most attuned sense so usually use colour magic. I see a certain colour of light surround my ingredients and allow it to seep in as I stir or knead or even just as it rests.


Affirmations, Incantations and Words of Power

“Bibbity bobbity boo,” “Alakazam,” “Double, double, toil and trouble…”

These are examples of incantations or words of power. You can say them out loud or in your mind. It’s a way to focus your intentions without any tools or research at all. Just your words. You can use something short and specific or you can make it more elaborate like in a traditional ritual or spell.

The best tip I’ve been given about affirmations is to use the present tense. I find affirmations best for personal use rather than something your whole family will be enjoying. I use affirmations for my coffee and tea. “I am full of energy,” is a great one for those mornings you need a little quick in the pants.

Another common way to use words of power is to tell your ingredients why they’re being added. As you've seen most ingredients have quite a list of reasons to be used so focus them by saying, “Basil for good luck,” rather than just throwing basil into your pot.

End Thoughts

I hope this has been helpful to you. I think I'm coming to the end of my Kitchen Witchery Basics so if there's something you want me to go into please, please, please do not shy away from asking! You can reach me on Instagram, Facebook, the comments below or through e-mail and you can find all these links in the sidebar.

I have one idea left in mind right now and I will be moving on to a new exposition topic for these post that lack a recipe. I'm flipping back and forth between Cooking Basics and beginning Ingredient Spotlights. so if you have a preference (whether specific or of these two options) let me know; I want to give the readers what they want!

SABBAT SERIES: Yule -- Beef and Squash Stew

Blessed Yule! I know it's a little early but that's kind of the point. I want to make sure you all have a recipe ready to go before the holiday begins. In addition to today's recipe you can check out a few previous recipes that also work for Yule's seasonal foods like Apple Cider, and Hot Chocolate.

So first and foremost, for those or you new to the craft: Yule is the Pagan (and Wiccan) holiday that lands on the Winter Solstice. We honour the returning of the light, the triumph of the Oak King and celebrate new beginnings. We are half way through the dark half of the year which began at Mabon, the fall equinox. As an agricultural holiday (which is often where the traditions for these holidays come from) we are starting to see our stocks dwindle and relish in the idea that we will soon be preparing for new crops. That being said we still have reserves mainly in the form of root vegetables and winter squash and anything we preserved as jams or pickles during our harvest. We may have animals to slaughter or hunters out gathering meats so that isn't out of the question either.

So, a Yule spread may not look so different from a Traditional Christmas spread (and we all know why that is...) Roast vegetables and meat, pickled beets and pumpkin pie? Sound familiar?

I've made a stew today that i will freeze to eat on Yule because I have that luxury that our ancestors did not. Keep an eye on my instagram and Facebook page for the rest of my feast come December 21st.

BEEF STEW with SQUASH

Ingredients:

~1 lbs of stewing beef, cubed (I used some strip steak I had in the freezer but that may not be ideal)
1/2 butternut squash, cubed
1-2 medium sized potatoes, cubed , peeled if desired
1 onion (spanish or yellow)
~1cup beef broth
1-2 tbsp flour
2-3 tbsp oil, separated
1/2 tsp cinnaomn
1 tsp sage
1tsp basil
salt and pepper to taste

I pre roasted my squash because it makes it easier to cut but I feel like that was a mistake so decide to do so at your own risk. It will still taste delicious but I think the squash will hold its form if it cooks by boiling in the gravy. So save your hands or save your aesthetic!

Preheat a pan or your pot over medium heat. Mix together your cinnamon, sage and basil. Season your cubed beef with it as well as sprinkle some salt. You can adjust for taste later so dont worry too much about the amouont.






Start to heat about 1 tbsp of oil in your pan. Put your flour on a plate or bowl ans gently dust each cube of beef in it. Once your beef is dusted we're going to brown it. You don't want to over crowd your pan so if you have to work in small batches that's okay and dont be afraid to add more oil between batches. You want to brown the outsides of the beef without cooking all the way through so cook only until it has colour and then flip browning each piece on all sides. Once it's browned you can set it aside.





Next were going to do the same thing with the veggies. you should work in small amount for these too. I was tired and lazy and did not do this myself so please do as i say and not as the picture tells you. You're going for the same idea here. Add anther tbsp of oil, cube your veggies, season them with salt and pepper, and cook in small batches just until the start to shit colour.

Set your veggies aside. Pour just enough broth in the pan to cover the bottom and use it to loosen all the caramelized goodness from the pan with a wooden spoon. Place all of your cooked ingredients in a pot and fill with broth until it reaches 1/2 to 3/4 of the veggies. This is why i said ~a cup because I didn't actually measure my broth.





Bring everything to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Simmer for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally and check the tenderness of your veggies.

The stew is ready when the gravy is thickened and the your vegetables are tender.



Yuletide and Magic

For Yule I wanted to focus on the home and getting through the winter months. Those was a difficult time for our ancestors in a real survival sense and it continues to be a difficult time for many people now. This year even more so with the way the year 2020 has been going. A lot of places are still in the throws of the pandemic and many are not able to see family this year. All the more reason to focus our energy on warmth and success into the new year.

From each of the ingredients below I called upon uses that go along with both traditional survival as well as mental health survival. From squash I asked for protection and longevity, from cinnamon I called for warmth and happiness, from sage I called for wisdom and the guarding of my home and from basil I called for mood elevation, peace and finance.

In addition to these correspondences this combination holds a lot of Fire and Masculine energy leading to warmth and action. I view this as gearing us up for the next Sabbat in which we begin preparing for a new agricultural year. This leads me to a question for those that have been practicing a while and following the Wheel of the Year... When do you celebrate the New Year? I have spoken to many witches on this thought and it seems that in each practice it's a little different and they have answers ranging from Mabon to Imbolc. I'm curious what you do in your practice!

Butternut Squash (similar uses to pumpkin or any other squash): Masculine. Fire. Sun.
Sex, fertility and male potency (because its...shape) protection, warding, longevity, luck, love

Cinnamon Masculine. Fire. Sun and Mars.
Healing, warm, comfy feeling,success, prosperity, happiness, grants power and speed to intention

Sage Masculine. Air. Jupiter. Zeus, the Virgin Mary.
Longevity, protection, wisdom, good luck, guarding the home, and grounding.

Basil - Masculine. Mars. Fire.
Mood elevation and stress relief. Peace, love and finance. Luck and protection especially in travel (both physical and astral/liminal)

Short and Gritty

Ingredients:

~1 lbs of stewing beef, cubed (I used some strip steak I had in the freezer but that may not be ideal)
1/2 butternut squash, cubed
1-2 medium sized potatoes, cubed , peeled if desired
1 onion (Spanish or yellow)
~1cup beef broth
1-2 tbsp flour
2-3 tbsp oil, separated
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sage
1tsp basil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. cube everything
2. season your beef with cinnamon, basil, sage and salt
3. brown beef, set aside
4. brown vegetables lightly, set aside
5. deglaze pan with a small amount of broth
6. add all cooked ingredient to a pot along with deglazed juices
7. fill pot with broth up to about half way up the veggies
8. bring to boil, reduce to simmer, stir occasionally until thick gravy and tender veggies.
9. serve

Winter Season: Hot Cocoa

There's a blanket of snow on the ground here which means it's definitely time to start whipping up some hot drinks! My favourite winter time hot drink is cocoa (I drink tea all year round do we can't really call that a winter drink :P) This is probably simpler to make than you think it just takes a little love and patience to get it perfect.

As with most of the recipes i share there are so many ways to fancy this recipe up but I'm switching things up! You're gonna have to check out my Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest for those ideas! And you're not going to want to miss out. So check the sidebar for links! Check the comments on this post for link as they become available! (or just go follow me!)

HOT COCOA
yield: 8 oz mug, easily doubled/tripled etc

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Cocoa powder
2 tsp  white sugar
a pinch salt

8oz milk, the higher the fat the tastier but we keep 2% in the house
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Add your milk and vanilla to a small pot and heat over low-medium heat. You want to be careful not to heat your milk too high or too fast because burnt milk is... disgusting. While it's heating be sure to stir ( i prefer a whisk but any stirring utensil will do) to avoid a skin forming. This is not only unappetizing but can be dangerous if your milk begins to boil under the surface.

While your milk is heating add the dry ingredients to your mug.



This is the important part. You need to add just a little bit of milk and stir to create a thick liquid. The biggest mistake people make is adding all the liquid and getting those unappealing chunks of cocoa throughout their drink. If you add a small amount of liquid to create a thick syrup that liquid and your hot milk will mix together with little issue.

Once your milk has heated to a slight simmer add about half to your mug, stir until combined and then add the rest and stir until combined. Again by working in smaller amounts you get a better handle on how combined and dissolved all of your ingredients are.

You're ready to drink!




On to the witchy stuff!
 

There's really only one important ingredient here (until we start getting fancy that is) and that's chocolate. Before we even get into correspondences a lot of people have strong feelings about chocolate as a comfort food, an aphrodisiac. It's often linked to romance. And those associations align pretty perfectly with chocolate in witchcraft.

We’re working with cocoa and milk so I’m going to focus on milk chocolate. There isn't a huge difference from one variety to another it’s more about intensity. (You can see some extra info in my Muffin recipe) Through my research I found a really fun description! WitchTips describes milk chocolate as the rose quartz of chocolate! And how perfect is that? They’re both very much about soft, gentle love to both yourself and those around you. Self-love is huge aspect of both and that’s what I focused on with this recipe.

As I stirred I pictured a soft pink light surrounding my cup and built up loving energy. You could add in words of affirmation or an incantation if that’s your thing and repeat them out loud or in your head. I do this most times but I was really feeling the energy and didn't want to distract myself. Remember to be direct and speak in the present tense: “I love myself,” “I am loved,” “I am kind to myself,” etc. I also made a cup for everyone in my house infused with the same energy in order to give them a little boost in they’re self love and happiness. It is that time of year when energy begins to dip and the warmth and love from a perfect cup of hot cocoa is sometimes all you need to perk right back up and get on with your dark half of the year goals.

Chocolate: Feminine, Water and Earth, friendship, self-love, nurturing, balance, fun, comfort, raises emotional energy

Short and Gritty
yield: 8 oz mug, easily doubled/tripled etc

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Cocoa powder
2 tsp  white sugar
a pinch salt

8oz milk, the higher the fat the tastier but we keep 2% in the house
1/2 tsp vanilla

Direction:

1. Begin heating milk and vanilla in a pot. don't scald or boil. stir to avoid skin
2. Put dry ingredients in mug with a tbsp or two of milk at any temperature
3. Mix to create a paste/syrup
4. When milk is at a slight simmer add about half to mug
5. Stir to combine
6. Add the rest of the milk and stir to combine.
7. Done

Rainbow Soups: Red -- Tomato Basil

As promised the Rainbow soup series is here beginning with RED. It's that time of year again with snow falling, temperatures chilling, and long, cold nights. It's time to break out the warm, comforting soup, chili and stew recipes to warm our hearts, souls and bodies.

Today's choice, Tomato Basil, pairs perfectly with a grilled cheese sandwich. It's simple but a classic. It's already vegetarian but if you want to make it vegan simply sautee in oil instead of butter.

TOMATO BASIL SOUP

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, minced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomato
3/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tbsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

optional: fresh basil and shredded cheese to garnish

Directions:

A very simple soup to make. Start by mincing your onion and garlic. Heat your pan on medium heat and melt your butter (or warm your oil if you're going vegan style.) Add your onion and sauté until translucent, add you garlic and continue cooking until your onions have a little colour to them.


Add your broth.

** protip ** use your broth to deglaze the pan. When you sauté onions to the point of browning a lot of those caramelized sugars get stuck to the pan. make sure to swish your liquid around to lift those bits because they are filled with flavour. In other recipes (or this one if you're feeling adventurous) left over wine (or a bit from a new bottle you've opened to decant for tonight) is used to do this adding and extra level of flavour. In this recipe you could opt for either red or white.

Bring that quickly to simmer, it wont take long. Add your tomatoes, basil and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. You can adjust taste and consistency from here but that's your soup! Dish it out into bowls and top with shredded cheese, fresh basil or both!

** protip ** if you want to garnish with fresh basil I suggest laying your leaves flat together, rolling them up length wise and slicing to get uniform strands. This makes them easy to sprinkle as well as express the flavour and it will look nicer than whole leaves which will quickly wilt from the heat of the soup.

 
 
Serve with grilled cheese sandwich, bonus points if you make your sandwich with garlic bread!

It's metaphysical time!

So first and foremost I want to follow up with colour magic. This soup is about as primary red as it gets! Of course it isn't the only red soup out there but it is certainly a classic and very easy one at that. I also think that tomatoes themselves lend to the colour red very well as well as adding just a little balance with it's association with water.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. RED. As we talked about before red is associated with courage, passion, love, and sex from a traditional standpoint. I also brought up that, in my practice (as well as many other would agree I think) it is associated with Fire (and therefore has fast, intense energy) and the Root Chakra (where your physical sense of security is held.) So even if we look at nothing beyond its colour this soup packs quite a punch. While brown is traditionally used for magic of the home I think we could make an argument that red is a close second. It serves a slightly different purpose and is more focused on the people within your home and their energy than the home itself but it also works faster so it may serve as a quick fix while you work on something a little more substantial.

As for out actual ingredients I've decided to focus on simply Tomato and Basil. You of course can look into how the other ingredients can assist you in your working (soon I will have a page jsut for this.)

Tomatoes in the mundane world are good for your cardiovascular system (and liver.) It's no surprise then that they would also be associated with everything metaphorically associated with the heart, namely love and passion. And of course with this they are tied to the planet Venus and the Greek deities Aphrodite and Hera. Although I didn't find this anywhere in my research, for an element i would associate them with water due to their emotional nature as well as being associated with so much Feminine energy. This is where that balance that i mentioned before comes in. Despite tomatoes being the colour of fire they hold the energy of water, masculine and feminine, yin and yang. If we apply this to the fast acting home magic this may be the best red option you have as you can use it to bring the energy in any direction. If you find everyone's energy is heightened and on edge you can bring it down and ground it but also if everyone is feeling a little down you can raise the energy. Even better is if you have a mix of energies you can bring them all back to the middle.

(I just realized that they could easily be associated with a more physical cleansing tied in with their help in liver function!)

Basil lends itself to this idea very well as it is both a stress reliever and mood elevator. It really just cements the idea of balance when used in addition to tomatoes. Of course it also adds a layer of 

protection as well and that's always a happy addition when were talking about our family's well-being.

Tomato Basil Soup

Overall- Fire: speed and power. A balance of yin and yang. Courage. Protection. Blood health. Love.

Red - Root Chakra: physical security and grounding. Fire: speed and power.
Sex, love and desire. Courage.

Tomato - Venus. Aphrodite and Hera. Feminine. Protection and revolution.
Health of cardiovascular system and liver.

Basil - Mars. Fire. Masculine.
Mood elevation and stress relief. Peace, love and finance. Luck and protection especially in travel (both physical and astral/liminal)

Short and Gritty

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, minced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomato
3/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tbsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

optional: fresh basil and shredded cheese to garnish

Directions:

1. Sauté onion, add garlic when onion is translucent, continue until light browning
2. Deglaze with broth
3. add tomatoes and spices
4. bring to boil
5. garnish (optional) and serve