Crafty Kitchen Witch

Be-Witching Treats For Yule - Chocolate Bourbon Cake Recipe     INGREDIENTS 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, more for greasing pan  2 cups all-purpose flour, more for dusting pan  5 ounces high quality, unsweetened dark chocolate  1/4 cup instant espresso (can use instant coffee)  2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder  1 cup bourbon whiskey (can use 1/2 cup), more for sprinkling  1/2 teaspoon kosher salt  2 cups granulated sugar  3 large eggs  1 tablespoon vanilla extract  1 teaspoon baking soda  1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar), for sprinkling   METHOD 1 Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a large Bundt pan (10 cup capacity), or two 8- or 9-inch loaf pans. Melt chocolate in a microwave oven or in a double boiler over simmering water. Let cool.   2 Put instant espresso and cocoa powder in a 2-cup (or larger) glass measuring cup....

If you like the creativity of cooking and combining flavors and you drink hard alcohol then booze infusions are a natural place to play around and have fun personalizing your liquor cabinet. Infusions are also a great DIY holiday gift if your crowd is a little more scotch and speakeasy than Santa hat and sugar cookie. Booze infusions are very simple – you soak ingredients in a base alcohol until you like the taste. If you can make tea you can make a cucumber gin or a chai tea vodka or a cherry bourbon. Once you have those infusions on hand, you’re some ice and a mixer or two from a Cucumber Gin Gimlet (very refreshing in late August) or a Chai White Russian or a Cherry Manhattan. That’s really all there is to it, so if you learn best by doing, feel free to stop reading now and go play around with whatever’s in your liquor and spice cabinet. I won’t take it personally. If you want the complete guide to everything I’ve learned about making my own infusions, read on. Par...

Or Your Life Savings By Dorothy Morrison Ah, the Yuletide season! No matter who we are or where we live, it's something we all look forward to. And why not? When it comes to the Winter Solstice, cultural differences don't matter. Language isn't a barrier. And neither is the fact that the traditions with which we commemorate this festival are as varied as the celebrants themselves. That's because it's a time of light and warmth - the time when the newborn Sun appears again in the sky - a confirmation that the dark, bitter chill that envelopes the Earth will soon give way to longer days and the greening of Spring. And in the dead of Winter, that's a promise we can all appreciate. Even so, it's more than that. The promise of the newborn Sun brings its light and warmth into our hearts, as well. Common courtesy and good will becomes the norm, rather than the exception. Senseless worries give way to something much more important: A sincere appreciation f...

By Selena Fox Winter Solstice has been celebrated in cultures the world over for thousands of years. This start of the solar year is a celebration of Light and the rebirth of the Sun. In old Europe, it was known as Yule, from the Norse, Jul, meaning wheel. Today, many people in Western-based cultures refer to this holiday as "Christmas." Yet a look into its origins of Christmas reveals its Pagan roots. Emperor Aurelian established December 25 as the birthday of the "Invincible Sun" in the third century as part of the Roman Winter Solstice celebrations. Shortly thereafter, in 273, the Christian church selected this day to represent the birthday of Jesus, and by 336, this Roman solar feast day was Christianized. January 6, celebrated as Epiphany in Christendom and linked with the visit of the Magi, was originally an Egyptian date for the Winter Solstice. Most of the customs, lore, symbols, and rituals associated with "Christmas" actually...

During the winter, negative energies can accumulate in our homes. Protect your home with this spell. At night build a fire, and onto the flames scatter nine whole cloves. As the fire burns say, “Spirits dance, spirits mingle. Bad spirits depart, good spirits linger.” Using your ritual fire, light a black candle. Place this candle in front of a window, and surround it with two or three small mirrors, placed facing the window. Now say, “Into the blackness, into the night. Bad spirits take flight.” Visualize the candle’s flame being reflected by the mirrors through the window, taking with it any negativity. Let it drift peacefully into the night. Repeat this spell on Mondays or Tuesdays if needed.

Yule is a Sabbat to welcome back the Sun King. The sun is vital to all that exist on Earth. It is the giver of light and warmth, and causes the rebirth of this past years crops by warming and gently coaxing the seeds that have been sleeping underground during the winter. Traditional methods of celebrating this Sabbat are mostly inside activities. Yule Log Hike Materials: Warm Clothes, Sense of Adventure. This is an activity that can be done the weekend before Yule. On a bright crisp morning, dress the family warmly and head for the park, mountains, or beach. As you hike along, looking for that special Yule log to place in your hearth, also be looking for decorations to make it personalized by each member of the family. Select a proportionally sized log that will fit easily into your fire place. Ash, oak, or cedar make great Yule logs. Try to find one that has already fallen and is on the ground. On the beach, driftwood can be found and obtained for your log. As you are lookin...

Ingredients 1 cup white sugar 1/2 cup butter 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 cup milk Preparation 1Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with paper liners. 2In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared liners. 3Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch. 4Cut cone shapes from the center of each cupcake. Fill with cooled Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer. 5Frost with your favorite icing. Mine is whipped cream. I decided to use one bottle to make a thick filling for my Winter Solstice cupcakes. To make this filling I simply added 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to the soda. Whisk to remove a...

Historically witches practiced food magic with a variety of tools used to add power to their rituals. They used crystals, essences, incense, oils, and affirmations, to help channel the power. The ancients were known to eat foods containing a specific energy for the reasons of, strength and safety in battle, successful childbirth, prosperity, love and sex. Around the world food is still used for magic, no wedding is complete without a wedding cake, and when the cake is eaten, a wish is made for health and happiness. Birthday rituals around the world are conducted, candles are placed on a cake and blown out, the one whose birthday it is, blows out the candles and makes a wish, this in itself is an act of magic, and the person blowing out the candles feels a sense of wellbeing when this is done. The cake is then cut and eaten and those eating it each make a wish, by doing this they are participating in magic. Food is a magical tool and can be used for positive change in your life. It ...

Everyone has some latent psychic talent. Developing yours can be an exercise in many different types of self-awareness. One of the best ways to develop your own psychic abilities is by way of meditation, because it allows you to tap into your subconscious, and everything that's lurking there. Your objective in this exercise is to achieve deliberate clarity. This sounds complex, but it's not. To achieve deliberate clarity, you have to train yourself to be aware of everything around you. Sense changes in the sunlight and shadows; notice a shift in the wind; be aware of who has walked into a room and who has walked out; feel the change in the air as a person walks past. Take mental notes of everything - this will help you later on when you attempt to decipher what messages are "true" ones, and what's just your imagination or wishful thinking. Listen to what's being said, and what's not. Frequently, people say one thing but mean something entirely ...

It's inarguable that modern life affords us with many wonderful Conveniences the ancients never had, like electricity, telephones, and heating. With the planet Uranus, the computer genius, now in Aquarius, there's a lot More to come. Unfortunately, although these advances in communication and Technology have pulled us closer together intellectually, they've drawn us farther Away from our spiritual selves, and we've lost a great deal of the connection The ancients had with our mother, the Earth. One of the most important traditions we've lost is the concept of the Eight seasons. Yes, eight. Ancient peoples realized that the earth was Alive, and therefore in a constant state of change. They knew that those Changes occurred far more often then four times a year, and that, in fact, The Earth made a transition that was quite noticeable about eight times a year, Or every forty-five days. It makes sense, too, if you think about it. Take summer, for example. The Sun is...