Autumn Favourites: Apple Cider

Another Autumn favourite coming at you! I made this one for the first time last year and not only does it taste delicious it makes your house SMELL amazing!

Apple Cider at its core consists of 3 ingredients (and water) apples, cinnamon and cloves. Beyond that though there are many things we can add into it. A very popular addition is orange to add a little extra sweet, tart and that telltale citrus flavour. I usually do this but my next grocery trip isn't until this weekend. But because I think this is almost a necessary addition I’m going to throw it into the recipe even though I didn't get to do it this time around. As well as the addition of orange there are a bunch of other spices that compliment the flavours and elements of apples namely nutmeg, allspice and ginger. I always prefer whole spices in a recipe like this but dried works too.

**pro tip** if using dried spices I highly recommend cheesecloth over a sieve (or both!) to really separate out the grit of the spices.

You can play around with these spices for different flavour profiles as well as matching your correspondences to your intent a little more pointedly. I know it’s a little early, and I’ll have a Samhain post coming out closer to the date, but this is a great recipe for the holiday. In that vein I suggest adding allspice to your pot as it is specifically associated with Samhain.

I wanted to make this easy to make a batch for just your family as well as a larger batch to serve at gatherings especially with the current state of the world, many of us will not be having a thanksgiving or Halloween gather this year but that doesn't mean we cant have a tiny celebration with our household or get festive with a zoom call!

Ingredients

water
5 apples (a variety of your choosing, I'm using Macintosh)
1 orange
1 cinnamon stick
15 whole cloves

optional
to taste, sweetener (brown sugar, maple syrup etc)
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 in slice fresh ginger
1/2 tsp whole allspice

* all spices more or less depending on your preference, WARNING be careful with nutmeg. As I've said before it can cause some health problems if over consumed

Quarter your apples and oranges and place in a stock pot. You should be able to cover your fruits with water plus 2 to 3 inches to avoid boil over.

Add your spices and cover with water. Bring to a simmer on high heat and then lower the heat to medium-high.

 

 

 

Simmer for about 2 hours or until the apples are soft. Grab a wooden spoon or potato masher and squash the hell out of the fruits. This will release the flavours. Simmer for another hour or so.



 

 

Give your cider a taste. If it is to your liking in the spice flavour it's time to strain out all that gunk. Using a fine mesh sieve or cheese cloth (or both!) to do this. You will probably have to move the mixture around a bit to allow the liquid to drain but dont push it down. There will be pulp, you cant get rid of it entirely but you can always double strain it.

 
*pro tip* keep this mash and use it in baking! It's like apple sauce just a little more fibrous. I'm going to use it in muffins in place of the oil so I'll let you know how it turns out (but you'll have to follow me on Instagram)!
Taste your cider again and adjust the sweetness if necessary.

Serve warm now or store in a sealed container in the fridge and heat it up when ready (you can enjoy cold but it's oh so much better warm.)

Bonus points if you enjoy outside under the autumn leaves! I want to see pictures!

Apples: love, fidelity, fertility, marriage, beauty, vanity, wisdom, the soul, the afterlife and immortality.

Cinnamon: spirituality, success, healing, adds energy, protection, prosperity, good luck, love, happiness, and money

Clove: Protection, clarity, banishing evil, love, stopping gossip, money, clairvoyance, keep good friends close, good luck, prosperity exorcism, purification

A cool thing to point out about these correspondences is that the spices are all associated with fire and apples with water so they really come together to balance the elements. I find so many of the ingredients I use are fire based so its refreshing to be able to balance that out with the water element in the apples.

But onto the spellwork...

Since the main ingredient here is apples you may want to use this as a love potion especially with the addition of things like cinnamon and nutmeg, which of course is a great direction to go. I wanted to focus more on the spiritual aspect of these correspondences. (I can't help but be excited for the thinning of the veil and approaching Halloween/Samhain day, especially with the blue moon landing on the 31st.) The other main correspondence of the apple is its attachment to the afterlife, the soul and wisdom. We see apples in a lot of religious stories both Abrahamic and Non-Abrahamic. They make great offerings to the dead as well as a perfect ingredient to add into spellwork to get more in touch with the spirits around you and your ancestors. In addition to apples, cloves and nutmeg can definitely add to this intention with their association with clairvoyance and clarity. So stir in your intentions and sit down in a quiet, safe place and enjoy a meditation focused on contacting your loved ones on the other side.

And let me know if this recipe helped you feel closer to your loved ones, living or passed!

You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, through email, and Pinterest. All can be found in the sidebar or comment below!

SABBAT SERIES: Mabon -- Root Veggie Salad

So Mabon is just around the corner. For those of you who are new to all of this I’m going to give you a run down of what this holiday is all about.

Mabon can easily be seen as a thanksgiving stand-in if you only celebrate Pagan holidays (which means those of you not participating in Pagan holidays could easily add this to your Thanksgiving feast instead!) We are to be grateful for the harvest (whether an actual garden or summer projects) and we share in those accomplishments with our community and family. If we look to our ancestors and where this holiday comes from it's about giving you the strength to ready yourself for the coming winter months.

If you follow me on Instagram you’ll see that I paired this with mini-meatloaf and sauteed beet greens but for Mabon I would suggest a corn roast! I would regularly tell you to have a potluck in the backyard but with the way the world is right now that's not possible or safe for most of us. So instead gather up the people in your home, or your bubble if that’s what you’ve got going on, and have a smaller version. Everyone can still take part in the creation of the meal if you want to have that community aspect. One person cutting fruit, another at the grill, one more tossing a salad… you get the picture.

Just a quick word, I forgot to pick up parsnips when I did my grocery shopping ARGH! So I used potatoes instead to keep with the aesthetic side of cooking (which I enjoy as much as any other part)

Without further adieu…

ROOT VEGGIE SALAD
w/ horseradish vinaigrette

Ingredients:

2 medium sized beets
2 parsnips
2 carrots

Cooking oil
A dash ea. Salt and pepper

⅓ cup vinegar (I used white but apple cider or rice wold work)
⅓ cup oil (EVOO is my preference but any high quality, light tasting oil will work)
1 tbsp prepared horseradish
1 tbsp dijon mustard
½ tbsp dried sage
1 tsp dried basil
1tsp dried oregano

*pro tip* you could also use fresh varieties of herbs to add a little more colour to your dressing andI think fresh is always a good idea if its an option for you...

** witchy tip** especially for Sabbats.

First, the veggies. You’ll want to get these roasted early in the day or even the day before because you’ll need them to be cool by the time you’re serving them. You can go about roasting them any way you feel comfortable (I find beets to be a huge pain in the rear which is why I went the way I did) more specifically if you want to roast them whole and cut when they are cooled or chop them up and then roast them. The second option means they will cook and cool faster but I find peeling and chopping beets to be easier (and safer) after they're cooked.

So, I peeled my carrots and “parsnips” and chopped the beard and stem from my beets then threw them all in a bowl and tossed them with a little bit of canola and salt and pepper. I wrapped them individually in aluminum foil, placed them on a cookie sheet and roasted them in an oven heated to 425. The timing will be different spending on the size of your veggies so check them for doneness at 40 minutes. Your carrots and parsnips should be good to go and if you have smaller beets they may be as well. I find some beets take upwards of an hour. As long as you can easily prick them with a fork you are golden.

If you decided to chop your veggies before cooking, follow similar steps: chop and toss with oil and salt and pepper, place on a lined cookie sheet and roast at 350, checking them for doneness at 30 minutes. Again, as long as you can easily prick them with a fork you are golden.

While you have your veggies roasting let's make the dressing. Simply take all the ingredients and mix them together. Cover and store in the fridge until you're ready to dress your salad. I found that after being in the fridge it was easier to emulsify the oil and vinegar so that’s something to keep in mind.

Once soft, allow your veggies to cool. If you haven't peeled your beets now is the fun part! The skins should slip right off with your hands! If not, or you don't want to risk having red hands for the day, simply use a peeler but it should be much easier now.

I like to cut my carrots and “parsnips” in a triangle because it looks fancy but coins, semi circles, haphazard chunks… they all work just fine. I would usually cut my beets into wedges but for some reason I sliced them. I wonder if somewhere in my subconscious I thought, “Circles represent cycles and Mabon signifies the end of the growing cycle.”







For aesthetic reasons I dressed my beets and the other two separate to keep the red from bleeding too much but this is definitely not necessary! You may even like the look of the red changing the lighter coloured veggies.


You can either serve right away or you can let it sit like this (in the fridge) for the veggies to absorb a bit more of the flavour. I served right away this time around and it was a great hit!

MABON

Mabon’s the second harvest holiday and signifies the coming of the end of the witch's year (Samhain being New Years’ on October 31-November 1) and therefore ends of cycles, death (or the Death card in tarot,) and success or accomplishment. We see this as we slowly switch over to autumn as the leaves change colour and fall to the ground and we see our gardens being picked cleaner and cleaner of the fruits of our labour. As we switch over to the dark half of the year, the half more attached to spirit, it is all the more important to ground ourselves and being around all of these root veggies and earthy colours is a great help to that. In addition to grounding during this holiday the spiritual and magickal aspects include: balance, death, gratitude, preparation, sharing, success, agriculture, community, and family harmony.

As with any Pagan holiday, (and for some of us we try to do this all the time,) seasonal food is very important. The one thing that is the same throughout the holidays is FOOD, specifically Cakes and Ale ceremonies or feasts. For Mabon we find ourselves turning to the real dirty, earthy foods that grow underground like beets, potatoes, turnips, parsnips and carrots as well as wheat, grains, pomegranates, apples, gourds, squash, corn, seeds, nuts, beer, and cider.

With today’s recipe I don’t think it's important to list every possible correspondence; I just want to focus on a few that i think really hit the nail on the head for Mabon.

Sage: wisdom, good luck, guarding the home, and grounding
With winter coming we are preparing to be in the home and hoping for the winter to be successful. Wisdom and good luck foster this success. And grounding is important as we enter the spirit half of the year.

Carrot: dispel illusions, and protection
Helps us to see what truly lies ahead and to rid us of the naivety that everything will turn out fine even if we don't work at it. Surviving winter was a lot of work. Providing protection to us as well as the crops that are to sustain us through winter.

Beet: blood (literally and metaphorically,) ancestors and, grounding
As the spirit half of the year dawns, connection to our ancestors becomes stronger and so anything that strengthens that ability as well as keeping us from straying too far from our own reality is a great two-for-one.

Parsnip: health, prosperity and, protection
Our harvest season isn't quite over so any added prosperity is a plus. And then echoing the other protection from carrots with the added health benefit is to set up our success for making it through the winter.

Obviously I stuck to very traditional goals for these correspondences but I did it for a reason. This is a fairly ancestor related holiday so I think it's good to look back at what they were celebrating and going through around this time. In the same vein, I think it's important to be thankful that we (most of us at least) aren't going through the same hardships. We’re here in this time and place because they were able to make it through the hardships we look back on today.

How are you celebrating Mabon? I want to hear from you! Check the sidebar for all the other places you can find me on Social Media and let me know!

SHORT AND GRITTY

Ingredients:

2 medium sized beets
2 parsnips
2 carrots

Cooking oil
A dash ea. Salt and pepper

⅓ cup vinegar (I used white but apple cider or rice wold work)
⅓ cup oil (EVOO is my preference but any high quality, light tasting oil will work)
1 tbsp prepared horseradish
1 tbsp dijon mustard
½ tbsp dried sage
1 tsp dried basil
1tsp dried oregano

1. Roast veggies ahead of time
2. While they're cooking combine all ingredients from vinegar down
3. When cooled, chop into bite sized pieces if you haven't already
4. Toss veggies in dressing. Serve immediately or let rest in fridge.

Autumn: Pumpkin Spice It Up

Mmmmm, Autumn is in the air! I love Autumn. I’ve noticed that I have come to like all seasons for different reasons but Autumn is definitely still my favourite. I love cozy sweaters, warm beverages and brisk breezes. And I simply couldn't start Autumn off without Pumpkin Spice. It’s become a well known staple despite being a long time used blend its popularity definitely came with the Pumpkin Spice Latte (or PSL.) So today I kind of have 2 recipes for you but they’re both virtually the same thing in different forms. I’ll give you a base for a dry, baking spice mix and then I also made my own Pumpkin Spice Syrup!

PUMPKIN PIE SPICE BLEND
I’m giving 2 batch sizes so you can easily make a large amount to use throughout autumn and winter for all your baking needs

1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ground ginger
⅛ tsp ground cloves

Yielding ~ 1 ½ tsp

OR

5 tbsp ground cinnamon
4 tsp ground nutmeg
4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cloves

Yielding 8 tbsp total

Simply combine all ingredients together. If making a large batch store in an airtight container.

PSL SYRUP
Of course you can use this in oatmeal, over ice cream, in hot chocolate and a bunch of other ways too

1 cup water
1 cup white sugar (you could also use brown sugar)
1 cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves
½ in slice of fresh ginger, rough chop
⅛ tsp fresh nutmeg, grated or sliced

First we’ll start by making a simple syrup which is equal parts sugar and water. We want to bring this to a simmer over medium high and dissolve the sugar. Turn the heat down to medium heat.

* protip *flavoured simple syrup is a fun way to jazz up coffees, cocktails and sparkling water. so experiment! or let me know you crave more ideas and i can do a post all about it!

Place your fresh spices into the syrup and allow to steep for 5 minutes. You can go longer or shorter depending on how strong you want your syrup to be just as you can simmer for a longer period of time to create a thicker syrup.

Once the syrup is as strong as you like, strain the ingredients through a fine mesh sieve and store, in the fridge, in an airtight container. I lucked out and had a clean honey jar in my cupboard.

Of course with both of these recipes you can play around with ratios of ingredients as well as adding in some extra ones. I’m a huge fan of cardamom personally.

* protip * If you choose to add cardamom you could also add black pepper and then you suddenly have a chai spice mix or syrup which is also perfect for the Autumn season.

Pumpkin Spice

Pumpkin spice is associated with the element of fire, masculine energies and the planets Mars and Jupiter.

Overall it can easily be used for good luck, love and/or money drawing as all the components share these correspondences.

Within these four ingredients we see a few other correspondences shared between more than one ingredient, namely: protection and healing.

As with any other blend you can also focus on one spice and this blend specifically lends itself to that very nicely as some of the spices (cinnamon and ginger) are power boosters meaning that while they have their own correspondences they will also boost any other correspondence you happen to blend them with. 

For an example you could focus on the divination and clairvoyance of cloves and nutmeg while asking cinnamon and ginger to add power and speed to your manifestations.  

In addition to their magickal correspondences these ingredients share some mundane qualities as well. They all contribute to healthy digestion by alleviating discomfort from nausea or indigestion and stimulating when things aren't running quite right. However, while they may promote healthy digestion and ease discomfort too much of a good thing can be bad. Consuming too much may lead to over stimulation (moving waste too quickly), heartburn and stomach upset (cinnamon is particularly ruthless when over consumed.) Nutmeg in particular can be extremely harmful so be careful with your consumption levels as it is toxic and can cause mental disturbances as well as other physical maladies, it is recommended to not consume more than ¼ tsp (which in reality is a lot for a single serving.) If you are pregnant or suffer with ulcers these may not be the right home remedies for you. And of course ALWAYS TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR before using home remedies. Some may interfere with medications or conditions you have so please do not use these on my recommendation alone.

Additional correspondences to look at:

Cinnamon: spirituality, success, healing, adds energy, protection, prosperity, good luck, love, happiness, money, enhance the male libido

Nutmeg: wealth, luck, love, divination, money drawing, health, fidelity, clairvoyance, encourage visions

Ginger: Balance, grounding, love, clarity, money, success, power, stability, healing, adds power, and adds passion to existing relationships

Cloves: Protection, clarity, banishing evil, love, stopping gossip, money, clairvoyance, keep good friends close, good luck, prosperity exorcism, purification 

Mundane uses:

Cinnamon: upset stomachs, including car sickness and morning sickness, and digestive problems, including gas, vomiting, and diarrhea

Ginger: treatment of upset stomach, anti-inflammatory 

Cloves: antibacterial and anesthetic, antiviral, stimulant, improve digestion, prevent and relieve flatulence and relieve nausea and diarrhea