I'm Leandra Witchwood and I'm Elyse Welles. And welcome to the Magic Kitchen Podcast where we talk about magic kitchen, witchcraft, herbs and everything in between. The Magic Kitchen Podcast is funded and supported by the Witchwood Tea House.com, offering a variety of hand-blended loose leaf teas as well as loose herbs for all of your ritual spellwork, wellness and everyday enjoyment needs. If you would like to support this podcast while sipping a cup of tea, head over to the Witchwood Teahouse Comm and find the magic that's in store for you this time in the Magic Kitchen. We are joining you from the kitchen for a magic, a magic kitchen. Oh no. What do we call these things? Kitchen witches hearth. Yes. So a more exciting, informal episode. We finished recording the first one and realized we still had energy. And I had food that needed to get made into Apple crisp. So this will be a fun fall edition. Um, and honestly, this is how a lot of kitchen witchery emerges is this thing needs to get eaten. I don't want it to go to waste because that's communion with land. Let's make something that's respect for what we're given by the earth. What are you doing, Lily? Oh, my gosh, we've got a visitor. So cute. Hey, buddy. He found my basket, so he's, like, sniffing it out. He's, like, scratching me up. I don't wanna be held. Try to keep him away from the mic. This is our mascot, William. A little very handsome, Inspector. And it's ironic because, well, maybe it's why he's a good inspector, but he is so uninterested in human food. No, he won't bite me. Yes. Okay. Give me a little love nibble. Are you vicious guy? Oh, so sleepy and vicious. Cute. All right, buddy, we got some food to cook. He's like. But he said, that's interesting, cause I don't even eat cooked food. Yeah. And I am your most big priority. I'm your biggest star. All right, so what are we starting with? So apple crisp, millions of ways to make it. I think it's one of the most traditional American recipes for our international listeners. It's what it sounds like. It's crispy apples. And we're doing a really simple one that features the apples, so I don't use any flour when I make this because it happens a lot. I buy too many apples and then I have to bake them up. I think I honestly, I think I just want the apple crisp. I think it's a lie that I was ever gonna eat a raw apple. I have to do some shadow work on my raw apple consumption. Um, so I just use classic oats. These came from my hometown, um, in Pennsylvania, so I like that a lot. Amish oats. Huh? There. Amish. They're Amish oats. Amish oats. It's my favorite, uh, thing to say incorrectly in the world. But to me, apple crisp is supremely grounding. It's really warming as well. Yeah, it just nourishes the soul like it really does. I don't feel this way today because we're hanging out. We're having a blast. But if I'm feeling like, what's the point anymore? Like, you know, that feeling that you get of just like, but why, like why? Why would I even want to cook something? What's the point? Yeah. It just it just makes, like, life just kind of feels pointless. I love Apple Crisp for that, and I think it's because of the spices in it as well. But it's also all the comforting flavors. It's oats. Talk about grounding. It's apples. Vitality. Yeah. Mhm. And we said this in the last episode. But apples when you use them in anything even using apple cider vinegar that we used. Um it's an invitation to you can actually see our stuff right there. Oh yeah. They're in the shots. Yeah. Um, apples are always an invitation to connect to the five elements as well, because they have the witch's star, the pentagram, right in the middle. So they ground us in our practice, in our truth of self. And they invite us to kind of just remember who the f we are. So, um, and then for the spices I use, I use salt as well. Um, I just feel like salt makes sugar pop, but also it grounds us and it protects us. Yes. I use cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. Classic. And if I had allspice, I would use that too. But I don't have it. Still collecting spices as I haven't lived in this country for a while. Um, and I'm gonna use Cunningham's book to pull up the official things here for y'all. So while you're. While you're talking about that. Yes. Do you keep the skin on? Yeah, I keep it all. And we want first. We washed them first. Yeah, we washed them first. And I'm just gonna slice them up and you'll see that star in there. Even if we get to it, if we get that perfect cut, I'll do that on the next one. And cinnamon is good for prosperity. It banishes negative energy. Um, but it really does invite abundance towards us. So eating this dish is gonna help you get over, you know, what's uncomfortable in your life. And find that abundance that is meant to find you. Um, also, nutmeg and cloves are in the same category of warming, warming, and also, practically speaking, to make this dish, you really don't need to toss to coat in a different bowl if you're using a big baking tray like this one, I'm using high edges on it, so it's yeah, good. What's this called nine by thirteen. Yeah, yeah. So a bit of a bigger I'm using the biggest one. But I'm also I had a lot of apples. So there's a lot of apples here which can be part of the spiritual fun. So I've got seven apples here. Um, honestly, if I had six, I'd be happier because that's Venus's number. But seven is a really good luck kind of, uh, number to have. So and it helps us also transition. Look at that witch's star. Right. Amazing. Perfect. I also think of Apple as a protector. Um, because in the Middle Ages, I'm specifically thinking of Renaissance Italy. Um, there was a well, throughout human history, right? There was a lot of women who had to marry men they didn't really want to. Right. And sometimes those men were very dangerous to be around. And there was not really divorce at the majority of human history, there was no way out for these women. There was nothing they could do except defend themselves with cooking and herbs and quote unquote, women's work magic. So collecting the apple seeds was a way to get access to arsenic, and you could poison your not. So we're not saying do that. No. It takes a lot of apples. It does. It takes a lot. But if you've got the time on your hands that those poor women did, it's your salvation. So they are they're to me. They're just like Venus in her gifts to us, the the beneficent path. You know, it's poison magic, but it's also healing magic. Yeah, Apple heals us, but it also offers us a very pointed protection when needed. And it's round. So it's associated with the moon, which most round foods are associated with the moon. So you got the extra, extra feminine vibes. Extra feminine vibes. Yeah. Cunningham. We're using Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical herbs. A classic. Um. This is the expanded and revised edition that Leandra brought over. And he also talks about it as a feminine, uh, you know, example of the polls, whereas I'm going to look it up to make sure I'm right about this. But cinnamon and nutmeg are more masculine. So we have we have a balanced meal in that way. Yes. I wonder if oats are in here. They should be, yes. They're a plant. And oats would be associated with prosperity, nourishment, grounding. Grounding. It's fun. I haven't had cause to look in one of these books in a long time, so this feels really good to, like, get back to it after a while. You learn the. You learn what the intention is. Well, it's not in here. Weirdly. Really. Oats. Oats? No. Okay. Oh, there they are. Oh my God. Tiniest little. Yeah. It's tiny. Uh. Venus grounding. Prosperity and money spells. I'll take it. That's good. Invite that prosperity. It matches up with cinnamon. They're beautiful. Yes. Um. And while you're chippity chopping, unless you want to switch. If I want to look up nutmeg. This is one of my favorite things to do when cooking. Honestly, that knife is so good, it made me want to just chop stuff up all day. Well, and here's the thing. A lot of people say I don't like chopping because it's so much work. If you have a really good knife and if you have good knife skills, it's not a whole lot of work. That's what I'm learning. Yeah, I learned that this afternoon, people. This is what we taught the kids as we were teaching them to cook the teenagers at Spout Wood. And so if you watch how I'm cutting, I am doing tip to board for the most part, and I'm making flat edges as much as possible. That makes it easy. So things aren't rolling around. They're not I'm not chasing them. So it's safer that way. And then I'm making a bicycle motion. Mhm. This takes the stress off your elbow and off your forearm and makes your whole arm engaged. Huh. So it's less fatiguing. Tip to weight. Do it in slow mo. So tip to board. Mhm. And a bicycle motion. So I'm pushing through. So I'm not I'm not attacking it. So when you watch it I have to think about how I cut now. I don't even know. Well and that's, that's the thing that most people don't realize is that nine times out of ten you've been taught how to cook, how to chop wrong. Yeah. Because we were taught by people who were either self-taught, which is fine. That's how I learned the plague of our entire modern world. Honestly. And honestly, it took me a long time to shift because I was taught by my mother who was she was doing it wrong. Yeah. And no wonder she was tired after she made a big meal, you know? Yeah. Well, and it's the opposite for me. I've shared this before, but I'm like, really? I. I'm shocked. I'm as adventurous as I am because I'm like, the perfect example of helicopter parenting. Like, my mom was really lover. Like, we're very close, but really just insane. I wasn't allowed to ride my bike in my own cul de sac. Wow. You know, like, not even just in circles. So I wasn't allowed in the kitchen. I wasn't allowed to use a knife, I wasn't allowed. I remember in eleventh grade, like, people have babies at that age. Not that they should, but, you know, it happens, right? They could. And like, I wasn't allowed to make my own salad. She like, raged that I was making a salad, that I could hurt myself. And I was like, and I've been this height and kind of looked just like this my whole life since I was like in eighth grade. So I really have always just been like, but why? Yeah, well, and I completely opposite myself with YouTube. I was in the kitchen from the time I could stand on a chair to reach the counter. I've been in the kitchen. That sounds amazing though. I would read my books, I've always liked vintage stuff. I would read Little Women and she's making jam with her three year old, you know? No, not me, not allowed. Absolutely crazy craziness. So I looked up each of our three herbs that we're using. Oh, would you mind? So also we're gonna add plums because they're going bad. I forgot about them right now. They're like basically syrup. They're almost, um, dates or the. Yeah. Like dried. Yeah, they're almost dried, but they're gonna probably just honestly, probably just add a pinch of sugar to it cause they're really like, you can see the syrupiness on them. Yeah. They're super. I won't even I'm not even going to chop them further than this. Yeah, because look, they're just falling apart. Yeah. Yeah. This is honestly, as long as we get the seeds out. It'll add some color. Yeah, it'll look good. I've just lost my ends here. I'm looking for nutmeg. Ooh, mastic is in here. I need to go back for that one. Mastiha, or mastic in English, is a really sacred plant. Um, it's a resin that you add to things for. Oh there's nutmeg. It has its own beautiful page. Yes. Nutmeg has got a huge page. You add it for protection, but also it really helps you with aging. It's I think of it as a Crohn's resin because it also takes a long time to be mature enough for the trees for mastic to be harvestable from. So they're just magical. Just super magical. So here is nutmeg. Um, some might know this, but if you eat enough nutmeg and when I say enough, like you'd have to work your butt off to do it. It's like a whole jar of the dried herb. Um, but it can actually give you, um, psychoactive experiences. But once you reach that point, it will also kill you. Yeah. Then you die. So don't do that. Yeah. No, it's not beautiful or funny. No. It's deadly. Parsley as well does that. So I've not tried it myself, but apparently it's a thing. We don't need to go that route. No, I wouldn't do it. Stay with the safer ones. Um, so nutmeg is for luck. money, health and fidelity. Which fidelity? Oh oh. Ensure your lover's fidelity. Yeah. That is so funny. I've never in my life. Oh, I love that. That's just hilarious. Like, that's so vintage to even think about. Like doing that for magic, but very cause, like, at this day and age, I like to hope our listeners would know that if he's not, she's not. They're not, you know, cooperating. If they're cheating on you, leave. Get someone else to go. Yeah. It's such a reminder, though, that that's a reflection of the past of how people were trapped in relationships. Like, if you had a cheating husband, you couldn't leave them. You couldn't say, you know what? Go off, do your thing. I'm gonna go do my thing. You can't do that. And the sad reality is, you probably were hoping he'd be faithful, mostly just so that you would keep stable. Because if he gets a hussy in the city somewhere that he's putting up in an apartment, which still happens in Greece, it's called Gomina culture. Wow. Um, you know, there goes your money for the kids and family. So. I announced my retreats to Delphi and Sacred Greece for twenty twenty six. In early July, and my Delphi retreat sold out in just eight days. I have now added an additional retreat for May of twenty twenty six, with payment options including biweekly payments, monthly payments or paying in your custom installments. If you are feeling the call to deepen your practice by connection to the sacred lands where many of the West's witchcraft and pagan practices derive from, join me in twenty twenty six on an immersive pilgrimage in sacred waters. Meet the monk seals the ancient seals that Homer writes about in Artemis and Eleusis. Meet Hecate and the goddesses that help us with shadow work and healing our feminine wounds. Swim at the temple of Hera. Meet the oracle. Be one of the few who have met the oracle in modern times, at sites unexcavated and left abandoned for thousands of years. I have been working intently with the land of Greece for the past five years, deepening my personal connection to the land to be shown these special places that I am now being given permission to share with you. Don't miss this opportunity if it's calling you. Visit Seeking Numinous Retreats for more information or follow the link in the show notes. Anyway, do you want to tell them about cinnamon and clove on that side? Okay, so cinnamon. And what are you doing over here? I'm gonna add them as you tell us. Add them. Okay, so we're talking about cinnamon. So cinnamon is, uh, masculine, uh, associated with the sun, associated with fire. It is associated with Venus and Aphrodite, obviously. And the powers of it are spirituality, success, healing power or healing power, psychic powers, lust, protection, and love. Um, I typically use cinnamon for its powers related to success and action because it is a fire herb. It's going to put things into action. It's going to move things into motion. Yeah. Um, and then I'm gonna add the nutmeg actually, first, because I forgot to add it when we were talking. Also, you're gonna notice the measurements are whatever you feel like, right. So that's kind of our theme is we cook with. What the hell's going on? I will say the one you want to be careful with is clove. You can make your you can make it too spicy. Yeah. Be sparing on that. I'm also gonna add a dash of salt. Very good. So clove is masculine. It's a planet. Is Jupiter a luminous fire? Again. Protection. exorcism, love and money. So really high in prosperity. High in like success. Magic for this one. Yeah. Vitality. I think that's the that's the good way to sum it up is vitality. Yeah. And you're looking for. I'm looking for some oil. I realized I need oil to toss it all in. I haven't though. There we go. So you're gonna want some oil just to coat it in. You can get pretty intentional with the oil you use. I'm not used to this. I've never used oil in it. Really? What do you use? Just the butter and the. Yeah. Yeah, I usually use dairy free here. There you go. Dairy free. So. And you can use, um, like a better fake butter. Yeah. But you have to melt it first. And so. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. So I'm using canola because I'm allergic to soy. That's the magical reason there. Um, but also canola is a flower. You know, it's kind of more beautiful, but it's I don't know. The drops are all bad. I'm actually gonna look up canola in here. See, I don't know if he has canola in here. Yeah. Probably not, because I don't think canola was widely used. And then once you've got all your seasonings and your butter or oil, you can totally use butter. I would definitely if I could eat it, I'd be using butter. Nope. Just give it a toss a Rooney. No. Canola. No. Canola. No. Well, what would we think it's associated with? I would guess, since it grows well, um. And fast, you know, it's gonna help spur on all the other ingredients to do the same for us. It makes sense to stay with fire. Mhm. Yeah. What color is the flower? Yellow. Yellow. Yep. Fire. And I've seen it growing in the Netherlands. And I'll be honest I know monocrops are bad. It was beautiful. Yeah. The way it just mustard seed to the way they grow mustard through the fields there too. And in Hungary I saw it there like it just it cuts across the landscape like a like a sun ray. Yeah, definitely worse crops to grow or live near. Um, and you can toss this in a bowl, like I said, but. Or like, why would I have to wash another dish? No. Yeah. You don't. Oh, and I didn't think I said this, but I sprayed it with coconut oil first before I before we started chopping. Um, and I'm preheating the oven. I preheated it already to four hundred. You can do four twenty five. But for a bigger amount of apples like this, I definitely actually do the more time. Yeah. Well, and you mentioned coconut oil. That's another alternative if you don't like canola. Oh yeah. Use coconut oil. Use avocado. That's a good idea. Yeah. Either of those would be fine. So you don't you're not stuck with like what we're doing. Mhm. And then the last thing I do is I just toast some of these oats spread them around at the top. Definitely do a little more. And I would say it's about a cups worth of oats. Yeah that makes sense. The oil. Really? It's just enough to coat. Yeah. And the oats themselves, they create kind of like a thickening agent. Like, if you've ever noticed, when you cook oats, like, it thickens on its own. So that helps thicken up the. So you don't need the flour. You don't necessarily need cornstarch and stuff like that. Yeah. Yeah that makes sense. I never thought about why, but yeah, like the first time I made this recipe, I think I must have looked it up because I used flour and I just felt like it wasn't doing any favors. Yeah. Um, and then I had a friend over who was gluten free, and so I said, okay, I'll try this anyway. Without the flour, gluten free people. Who knows any of those? Actually, I used to be gluten free for like three years, and then I was able to eat it again. But now I'm allergic to dairy and soy. So interesting. I don't know, I think I would have preferred to just not be able to eat the dairy. And then again, you could toss this all, but I just spread it on top and then I do some brown sugar, which really this is gonna be pretty sweet because you're baking an apple. Yeah. So you don't really need it. You don't need a whole lot. It helps sweeten the oats. If anything. If you don't like, I'll eat plain oats. I'm weird like that. If I add salt to them, I can eat plain like grits. Like they basically become grits at that point. Well, that's one thing that I think people forget about. Salt is salt is there to enhance the flavor. It's not there to make make it salty. It's salt has a unique composition that helps enhance the flavor of food. Sugar will do the same thing. And I use sugar in all my tomato sauces. Yeah, it cuts the acidity and it enhances the flavor. I think you taught me that actually probably, I don't know, Leandro's always dropping nuggets of wisdom. Kitchen. Which kitchen? Which stuff? Yeah, and I used probably half a cup of sugar. Half a cup. Yeah. And again, this is for seven apples. Maybe you are doing three apples and you want a quarter cup? Yeah. Yeah. We're really gonna have to figure out, like, how our ratios are for these. Yeah. Never, never quote me on a ratio, people. Because, yeah, we don't we don't measure here. We just do it. So I'm gonna show you guys this. It's so beautiful. It looks so cute. Yeah. And we're gonna pop it in the oven. All right. And there we go. I think it's gonna take too long for you guys to see the finished product here, but I will post a picture of the finished product when we upload this episode. Yeah. So, presuming I don't forget to take one before I eat, don't forget to take one. Now, how long will you leave it in the oven? Yeah, that's what I was gonna say, too. Probably at four hundred. You know what? I might even do it a little lower. I'm gonna do three ninety five because you just don't want it to get unevenly cooked. So. Yeah, I'm gonna do three ninety five for. Let's do twenty minutes. Twenty. Yeah, yeah, that's what I would think. that was my initial thought. Twenty. It just started raining. How perfect is that? Beautiful time. Apple crisp and rain. Yeah. That's cozy. Really starting to feel like fall here. Oh, I'm here for it. Yeah. Me too. Please. So thanks for coming with us. This was a lot of fun. And let us know if you're enjoying this episode style. You can watch the video on both of our communities. You'll see it on my Patreon and in the Rebel Mystic. So yeah, let us know if you like it. It's it's a lot of fun to do it. Yeah, this is fun. Plus, we get to eat. Yeah, now we feast. If you've been feeling a quiet tug, a deep need to better understand the natural world around you, I'm here to invite you to my newest container. A six week guided experience where we will learn to connect with the wild spirits around us. The plant spirits, animal messengers, and elemental forces that want to walk with us on our path. And right now, if you join this live container, you'll receive a free travel ritual kit crafted by my own hands to help you keep the magic alive no matter where you are. But supplies are limited and they are going fast. Click the link in the show notes to get more information or visit Leandra Witchwood dot com. I'll see you in the grove. Mary meets Mary part and Mary meet again. Thank you for joining us on the Magic Kitchen Podcast. Please visit my website Leandra Witchwood dot com for news, information and more episodes. I'm Elyse Welles and I can be found at seeking Numina on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook and seeking Numina that's seeking N U M I N A