#food meanings

[foodandfolklore]

Magical Recipes; how to approach an established recipe as a Kitchen Witch

Art by forestfolke on Deviant Art I think one of the most confusing things for new, or even experienced, kitchen witches is how to expand their recipe catalogue for their practice. A lot of new kitchen witches think you need to follow a recipe that has been written special for Witchy Cooking. That the regular recipes they find or use just won't have any magical purpose. But that's just not the case.

You don't need to buy special cook books with recipes exclusively for Kitchen Witches. You can take any recipe that already exists and apply it to your wants or needs. To help explain this process, I'm going to take a recipe I found online then reverse engineer it into a Kitchen Witch Recipe.

The Recipe

My Partner often donates blood, so eating foods that keep his Iron up is important to us. But I also want this dish to be emotionally satisfying Vs just eating a Steak, which neither of us find particularly appealing. I thought I'd try a Cottage Pie (also called Shepperd's Pie) because I want to find a new recipe that will help use up ingredients. Don't get me wrong, soups are awesome; but I tend to go a little light on the meat/alternatives. I tend to keep a good supply of ground meat in the freezer, so know I'll have most of the key stuff.

So I'm starting with this recipe since I don't have my own Cottage Pie recipe. Here are the Ingredients: Filling

1 lb lean ground beef

1 lb ground sausage (I use Jimmy Dean pork sausage)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 small yellow onion , chopped

2 ribs celery , chopped

1-2 carrots , chopped (about 1 cup)

3  cloves garlic , minced

1/4  cup  all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups low-sodium beef broth

2  tablespoons  tomato paste

1  cube beef bouillon

2  tablespoons  Worcestershire sauce

1  teaspoon  fresh thyme , chopped (or ¼ teaspoon dried thyme)

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary , chopped (or ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary)

2  bay leaves

½ cup frozen corn

½ cup frozen peas

Topping

2 1/2 pounds Russet potatoes , Yukon gold or russet potatoes

¼ cup  sour cream

½ cup milk

4  tablespoons butter

salt and pepper , to taste

½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese , for topping

So let's start with the topping since it has less ingredients to worry about. For those unfamiliar with cottage pie, the base of the pie is mostly meat and Veggies, and then it's topped with some mashed potatoes before baking. It's common to just use leftover mashed potatoes. So, I'll just use my mashed potato and cauli recipe. In short, it's half potato and half cauliflower with roast garlic and seasonings. Both Potatoes and Cauliflower have protective properties. Since this is the protective top layer of the Pie, I thought the symbolism carried itself further. The Cauliflower will also work well together with the Garlic to Banish any negativity from the pie, as well as from those who consume it.

Now let's break down the filling. Starting with the largest Ingredients. Ground Beef and Ground Sausage. Ground meats in general are fantastic for grounding energy. I'll probably sub the ground beef for whatever ground meat I have on hand, so the grounding aspect is what I'll focus on for now. Potatoes are also good for grounding. This is over all is going to be a very down to earth, hearty meal. Next, the vegetables. Onion, Celery, Carrots, Peas, and Corn. Corn is not something I use on the regular, but it's has a good use in Kitchen Magic as a power multiplier. Similar to Rice. Carrots have heath and energy properties, something I want in a dish for improving Iron Levels. Though I never particularly enjoyed peas, I'll use them for their health and abundance benefit. Green Peas are also high in Iron. Celery is great ingredient to add to a dish to add lasting happiness and satisfaction. Which I defiantly want so when the dish is consumed, you don't feel disappointed. Onion will add onto the Protection and Health. But Onion also has good cleansing properties, so I have the habit of adding it to my pan first to cleanse my cooking station. I'll probably cook some or all of the onion with the meat. Now the Seasonings. Not everything used in your cooking needs to have a magical purpose. It can just be there to enhance the taste of your food. I use Worcestershire sauce often in my cooking with no thought to it's magical abilities. I use it all the time when I want to add some extra umami or savory flavour. But there are some things we can add to help enhance the magic. Thyme, Rosemary, and Bay. All three of these herbs are good for health and healing. I can feed this to my SO before a donation to make sure his Iron is up. Then I can feed it to them after when their body is recuperating. Though I may forgo the Bay leaf. I tend to worry I'll leave it in my food when it's not supposed to be eaten XD But that said, I think I'll add a few of my own. Marjoram seems like it will go well in this, which will add to the Happiness and Comfort of my meal. I wanna add some Basil and Cayenne to this. The Basil I'm hoping will help stop long term fatigue, so my SO's mind is not affected by the donation. Cayenne for a blast of extra energy. I'll also add some extra Garlic and Parsley. I'll also make a few other personal tweaks like swapping the Flour for Cornstarch. I prefer using corn starch in my sauces, and I already have corn as an ingredient anyway, so it should mesh together better on their property levels. Cooking/Assembling Now that I have the magical properties of all my ingredients established, I simply need to assemble them according to the recipe directions. The only difference is, when I add something to the dish, I know what I'm adding not only on a Mundane level, but also the magic properties of the food. I'm adding ground meat to ground my dish and the people consuming it. I add Celery to help the food be emotionally satisfying. I'll add peas to enhance health and healing. Ect.

Also note, you don't need to do as big of a dissection every time you want to cook a recipe as a Kitchen Witch. If you come across an ingredient or two you are familiar with the magic properties for (Or the ingredient just has a spiritual meaning to you personally) You can add it to your meal with that meaning in mind. Like adding a little honey to your tea to sweeten and brighten your day. Also note, most ingredients have multiple magical uses. Just as they have multiple culinary uses. You can add honey to tea for happiness, or may may choose to add it help heal and get over a cold you have. Or you can add it for both reasons! Or neither reason; maybe you just want some honey. You are the Castor, the Decider, the Kitchen Witch!

Eat well and be well 💜💜💜

[elbiotipo]

👀

[batcavescolony]

Katniss is such an unreliable narrator. She says "Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don't expect it because I don't think of District 12 as a place that cares about me" girl you deliver strawberries to the Mayor, you hunt and trade for the district, when you fell at Prim being chosen someone caught you, when you went to Prim people parted for you, when you volunteered EVERYONE stopped. Idk how to tell you but I think you're a pillar of the community.

[ayy-junipei]

Fears

[nouverx]

"I want to eat you" is their love language and you can't change my mind

[doubledudeski]

pics that make you go "oh I KNOW he eated a trash"

[aquilaofarkham]

finally started watching dungeon meshi and this is my understanding of it so far

[arctic-hands]

Tom's of Maine toothpaste was manufactured with water containing bacteria, while a "black mold-like substance" was found in a factory where the product was made, according to a warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Goddamn not even toothpaste is safe  

[fairsweetlonging]

headcanon that shen qingqiu (yuan) once yanked his plate away when someone reached for it and yue qingyuan got all teary eyed about it because his xiao jiu still has food insecurities and the memory loss must have made it worse, and he keeps getting shen yuan snacks and treats that he can squirrel away because yue qingyuan knows what it's like to worry about where your next meal comes from, and he's trying to help by ensuring that shen qingqiu is never without

meanwhile shen yuan has never truly been hungry but he did have two older brothers and a younger sister who would shamelessly steal things from his plate when they grew up and the instinct to protect his food has never left him so he WILL bite someone when they reach for his protagonist-made spring rolls

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

getting older can be so amazing? you get more familiar with yourself. learn tips & tricks for troubleshooting your own brain. trial & error helps you build routines that minimize discomfort, maximize reward. your preferences/interests don't get set in stone, but you do find out which ones are going to stay with you in the long-term, and which ones are fun but transient joys to appreciate in the moment.

you learn that the world is so much more complex than you were taught, and that that's okay, and that there's an endless supply of things you can learn or watch or experience or think about if you want to. if you're lucky, you loosen up, stop putting so much pressure on yourself. if you're lucky, you learn to recognize that negative inner voice, and whack it with a baseball bat until it hushes up. if you're lucky, you learn to treat yourself gently, not because you are fragile but because you are worthy of gentleness. (i hope you are lucky.)

and some things will change. some things will get better. some things will get good. and maybe you start to recover from the dehumanizing stress of childhood/education. maybe you learn the power of your own autonomy. maybe you learn how to walk away from bad situations (which is a superpower even if you don't realize it yet). and you get to choose your own clothes. and your own food. and which relationships to pursue! and what you do with your free time. and with your life (but don't worry you get to choose that gradually). and that's crazy! and sometimes scary. and extraordinarily, indescribably precious.

[fanaticalthings]

POV: You're the oldest sibling

it's tough being the oldest.

<- Prev Masterlist Next ->

Bonus:

[theoldkyokodied]

good evening bloodweave enjoyers

[balls-heheh]

Arcane S2: Oh the ex-catholic gay community is gonna love this.

[naturecalls111]

unorthodox murder mystery

[dyinggirldied]

You know, imagine Danny decides to take on millions of jobs (that never last long) just so he can have something to put on his resume and to also experience life in a weird way after he makes peace with his half-death.

One of the jobs being the background actor. Usually no one bothers him much until this one crazy man, the director who insists on him doing the main role of his upcoming movie.

And what's that movie you may ask? The movie about the life and death of the tragic Jason Todd-Wayne.

Meanwhile, the one doing the role of Bruce Wayne is none other than Jason Todd, or whatever fake name he is using. He was caught by the unconventional director whilst on his merry way.

[heich0e]

i don't care what u eat or how u cook but contrary to what every white millennial thinks the secret to making food taste good is not just adding too much garlic