Kitchen Coffee Witchery

Make your own pumpkin spice coffee by adding pumpkin pie spice to the grounds before brewing.  You can make your own spice:
4 T. cinnamon
4 tsp. ground nutmeg
4 tsp. ground ginger
3 tsp. ground allspice
Stir all spices together and keep in an airtight jar (re-use an empty spice jar).

Experiment and come up with your own combination, maybe adding cloves or chili powder or cocoa - whatever you like!

Mourning Moon

This month's full moon is called the Mourning Moon.  Here is a bit of info from the pagan/wicca site on about.com.

It's a little chillier each day, the skies are a bit grayer, and it's the time of year we call the Mourning Moon. This post-Samhain season is often considered a fallow time, a period in which we rest and rejuvenate. It's also the beginning of a new year for most Pagans and Wiccans - why not use this month to plan your new beginnings for the coming year?

Correspondences this month include colors that match the changing skies -- grays and blues and silvers. Gemstones for this month continue the theme with topaz and lapis lazuli. Take the time this month to honor deities of the dark season like Isis, Bastet and Hecate. This is a time to wash away your old bad habits and baggage -- get a fresh start for the new year. Dump those toxic relationships that are dragging you down with negativity, and work on strengthening your connection to the Divine and to Self.

Dinner to brighten longer nights

Daylight savings time is over.  I'm spending what time I get outside raking leaves, pulling the last (hopefully) of the weeds, trimming back bushes and laying down mulch.  Colder nights mean time to break out the crockpot again!  I think of it as a modern day cauldron.

Tonight I'm making pulled pork:
3.5 lb boneless pork shoulder
1 large chopped sweet onion
6 cloves garlic, minced
(I leave out the onion and garlic for digestive reasons and the pork is still the best I've ever had!)
1 12 oz bottle chili sauce
2 T. packed brown sugar
2 T. cider vinegar
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

For easy cleanup, use a liner in the slow cooker.  Place pork, onion & garlic in slow cooker.  In medium bowl, combine all other ingredients.  Pour over pork.
Set cooker on high for 5-6 hours or low for 10-11 hours.
Remove pork to large plate or serving dish, reserving juices in cooker.  Using 2 forks, shred pork, discarding any fat.  Skim fat from top of juices.  Pour enough juice over pork to moisten it.  Recipe makes approximately 6 cups.  Leftovers can be divided into 2 cup portions and kept in airtight containers for other recipes.  Refrigerate for 3 days or freeze up to 3 months. 

For dessert - blondies. 

The recipe (and a video) can be found here: http://www.joyofbaking.com/barsandsquares/Blondies.html

In older times, the beginning of winter meant fresh meat (so the livestock would not have to be fed through the lean times ahead) and the wine and beer that had been fermenting since the harvest were ready to drink.  Celebrate that fine tradition: eat, drink and be merry!

Autumn Blessings

First of all, it's snowing, so water for the plants! My baby oak trees are a year old and dropping acorns like crazy. I was wondering what to do with them when the blue jays swooped in and solved the problem for me. Nature is pretty amazing!
Between the shorter days and cold wind, I've been preferring my couch to a walk around the park. Then I discovered all the workout dvds you can find at the library. So far I think this is my favorite:

It has great music and incorporates other moves into the walk so you don't get bored. It can all be done in a very small space in your living room and is a lot of fun. Plus the instructor is so nice and upbeat - the time flies by and I really enjoyed working out while watching the snow fly!
Enjoy your day!

All Hallows Night

If you have not yet performed your Samhain ritual, follow the link to a very cool one I found at wicca.com.  It basically involves invoking the Goddess and God and asking them to watch over you and your ancestors as the year dies and the new year is reborn.  It allows you to let go of the past and consider what you'd like to accomplish in the coming year as well as reflecting on your family and loved ones who have passed on.  Even if you can't gather all the items and prepare the altar, it's worth reading just for reflection and awareness.  (If you can do the candles, though, it's pretty cool to watch them almost go out and then flare back up again!)

 

Thanks to Cyndi for the eerily cool tree photo!

Happy Diwali!

Today is Diwali, the Festival of Lights celebrating the Hindu New Year.  It is a time to laugh, enjoy life, and be grateful for the abundance of the Earth.  Along with Ganesha, Lakshmi is honored today.  She is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity (both material and spiritual), light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm. She is said to bring good luck, and is believed to protect her devotees from all kinds of misery and money-related sorrows.  May she shine on you!  It is the new moon today and also a time for divination and introspection.  As the days grow colder and darker use your down time to grow your inner garden - plant thoughts and dreams you would like to cultivate during the fall and winter months ahead.  Blessed be!

Countdown to Samhain

Just posted my first quilted project on Etsy.  It's a Hallowe'en themed candlemat and it was so fun to make!  I definitely want to do more quilting in the future.  I would love to make a quilted robe to wear for outdoor rituals, with appliques of various pagan symbols.  Have a happy day, my darlings, and here is a blessing I have found calming and inspirational.  I incorporate it into my daily ritual right after invoking the Goddess and God:
Bless me, my Lord and Lady, for I am your child.
Bless my mind that I may know your truth and wisdom.
Bless my voice that I may speak with kindness.
Bless my heart that I may know your love and let your light shine through.
Bless my womb that I may be aware of all life.
Bless my knees that kneel at your sacred altar.
Bless my feet that they may tread the path of rightness and reverence.
Bless my hands that they may be instruments of creation and healing.
Bless me, my Lord and Lady, for I am your child.