Good Time for Pumpkin Soup…

… Don’t you think?

Autumn is probably my very favorite season. The colors, the harvests, the weather, the… EVERYTHING, really.  One of my favorite bits of the season is the food though, especially the food made with pumpkin. Pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice mead, pumpkin pies and cakes, I could live off of pumpkin based foods. In celebration of the season, the weather and al the rest of the amazingness of Autumn, here’s a great recipe for a vegetarian (easily made vegan) pumpkin soup!

Ingredients

1 pumpkin (or one can of pumpkin)
2 cups vegetable stock
1 large onion (you can caramelize the onion for a slightly more complex flavor)
1 cup heavy cream (can use coconut cream)
5 peppercorns
5 cloves
salt to taste

1. Peel and chop the pumpkin, and the onion.
2. Put into large pot with 1-1/2 cup vegetable stock and 1/2 cup cream (or coconut cream) and the remaining ingredients.
3. Let the ingredients boil until soft. Cloves can be removed at this point, but it is up to you.
4. Blend in a food processor or blender until smooth.
5. If soup needs thinning, add more vegetable stock or water.
6. Serve in a bowl topped with a small amount of cream and a sprinkle of black pepper.

Lughnasadh Recipe–Oregano Salt Sticks

Found this recipe on Ms. Graveyard Dirt’s blog.

Oregano Salt Sticks
This recipe's been adapted from The Herb & Spice Book by Sarah Garland, any alterations made are noted below in "MS. GD NOTES".

YIELD:
Approximately 20 sticks

INGREDIENTS:
* 450g (1lb) flour
* a handful of chopped fresh oregano or marjoram
* salt
* 15g (1/2oz) fresh yeast
* 1/2 tsp brown sugar
* 1 egg
* 3 tbspns cooking oil
* 150ml (1/4 pint) warm milk
* 3 tbspns grated Parmesan cheese
* 40g (1 1/2oz) coarse sea salt

METHOD:
Put the flour and a pinch of salt to warm for a few minutes in a low oven. Crumble the yeast into a bowl, add the sugar and a few spoonfuls of warm water and mix well. Leave in a warm place until frothy. Make a well in the flour and tip into it the yeast mixture, egg, oil, and sufficient milk to make a pliable dough. Knead for a few minutes, then leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Knead in the oregano or marjoram and Parmesan. Divide the dough into about 20 pieces and roll into long sticks the thickness of a pencil. Lay them on a greased baking sheet, brush with milk, sprinkle thickly with the sea salt and leave to rise again in a warm place for 10 minutes. Bake in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/Mark 4, for 10 to 15 minutes until lightly browned and crisp.

MS. GD NOTES:
Instead of using fresh yeast I used dry yeast (one yeast packet, roughly 7.5g), and my cooking oil of choice was a lemon-infused rapeseed oil (locally produced!). I incorporated BOTH marjoram and oregano and threw in a small handful of fresh parsley too. What I DIDN'T do was use all of the sea salt; I sprinkled liberally down every stick until partially covered, and that turned out to be the right amount of seasoning. (I don't EVEN want to contemplate how inedible they would've been if I stuck with the instructed 40g!)

Seven African Powers Incense

4 TBLSP. Frankincense (small grains or powdered)
3 TBLSP. Myrrh (small grains or powdered)
2 TBLSP. Cinnamon (powdered)
1 TBLSP. Sage (powdered)
1 TBLSP. Sandalwood (powdered)
1/2 TBLSP. Dragon’s Blood (powdered)

Using Ground Ivy

Medicinal uses for Ground Ivy:

Internal (as tea or tincture): Duiretic, astringent, diaphoretic, sinus congesion and headaches, expectorant, coughs, consumption, whooping cough, bronchial catarrh and asthma, stimulent and tonic, good for weak digestive systems, complaints, blood purifyer, kidney ailments.
External (as lotion, oil, compress or poultice): Cleaning sores and ulcers; abscesses, boils and skin tumors (combine with yarrow and chamomile flowers).

Magickal uses for Ground Ivy:

Magic, divination, safeguard against sorcery, promoting sleep, meditation, healing, love, friendship, fidelity, helps to overcome silence, promotes serenity, peaceful dreams.

Ground Ivy Tincture:

Fill a jar with the clean flowers and leaves without the stems cover with at least 80 proof vodka. Screw lid on jar, shake daily.  Allow tincture to macerate for 8 days out of sunlight. Strain with cheesecloth or an unbleached coffee filter. Keep out of direct sunlight.

Recipes For Perusal From The Witch of Forest Grove

Food and Drink

Autumn Harvest Soup – Harvest/root soup.
Homemade Absynthe – Absinthe-like liquor.
Herbal Tea Experiments – Teas for illness. Elderberry Cinnamon Tea, Ginger Mint Tea, Dandelion Lemon Ginger, Lavender Lemon Herb, Lemon Herb.
Honey Lemon Rose Cake – Self Explanatory
Midwinter Mulled Mead – Self Explanatory
The Witch’s Magical Winter Adventure – Bacon Mushroom Stuffing.
Weeds for Witches Part III: Dandelion – Dandelion Root Tea (Coffee Substitute), Dandelion Wine.

Home and Body Items

Spiritual Cleansing Carpet Sprinkle – Odor and pet hair and dander removing carpet powder.
New Witches’ Salves – Madea salve guidelines, Nine sacred herbs healing salve guidelines.
Wild Berry Shampoo – Making shampoo from Devil’s Club, Snow Berry, and Soap Berries

Magickal Items

Buying and Preparing Graveyard Dirt – Self Explanatory
Crafting Spell Candles – Self Explanatory
Magical Ink Making – Self Explanatory
New Pacific Northwest Kyphis – Guidelines on making Kyphi Incense
On Flying Ointments – Basic Salve Recipe

My Yule Gift to You? 5 Minute Chocolate Cake!

I was emailed a recipe for 5 minute chocolate cake and HAD to share it!


 

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour 
4 tablespoons sugar 
2 tablespoons cocoa 
1 egg 
3 tablespoons milk 
3 tablespoons oil 
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional) 
A small splash of vanilla extract 
1 large coffee mug (Microwave Safe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.  Add the egg and mix thoroughly. 
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well... 
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.. 
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. 
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! 
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT ! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?
Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

Yummy (and Healthy) Cheesecake

One of the things I did to help myself to stay healthy was to sign up with SparkPeople for ther Daily Healthy Recipes. I recently got a recipe for a Citrus Cheesecake, and as the self appointed Cheesecake Queen, I decided to give it a try without looking at how many calories you get per serving. The cheesecake was delicious and I found out that one slice (1/12 of a cheesecake) was only 177 calories, so I thought I'd share the recipe.

INGREDIENTS
Crust Ingredients
nonstick cooking spray
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Filling Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup wheat flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 8-oz. packages nonfat cream cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup 1% milk
1/3 cup nonfat sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon lemon peel, grated
1 teaspoon lime peel, grated
1 teaspoon orange peel, grated
3 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 300º F.
2. Prepare the crust: Coat a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, mix crumbs, brown sugar and butter then firmly press mixture into bottom and 2 inches up the sides of the pan.
3. Prepare the filling: In a large sized mixing bowl, combine sugar and flour then add vanilla, cream cheese, and eggs. Beat until smooth. Add milk, sour cream, citrus juices and peels and beat until smooth.
4. In a separate mixing bowl, using clean and dry beaters, beat egg whites at room temperature at high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg white mixture with cream cheese mixture.
5. Pour into prepared crust and bake at 300º F for 1 hour or until set. Remove from oven and let completely cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill for 4 hours or overnight.
6. Sprinkle with grated lemon, lime and orange zest before serving (optional.)