Yeah. I said it. For some reason, I’ve always been hesitant to embrace kitchen witchery. Not that I don’t respect it as a craft. It’s a little more complicated than that.
When I was a kid, all of my earliest memories revolve around dinner. Grandma and Papa had us over for dinner, or we had them over for dinner, but there was always dinner involved. And it was a very formulaic process. There would be a long afternoon of playing cards and drinking martinis before dinner was served. It was supposed to be fun.
However, sometimes shit happens when you cook. Sometimes you forget something and it burns. Sometimes you accidentally add too much salt. Sometimes you get an avocado that isn’t ripe. Shit happens. And what I really remember most of all was how hard my grandmother would work to put some delicious meal on the table (in between hands of Garbage or Spades). And I remember how my mother would stress for 3 days ahead of time about what to make, and how everything had to be perfect. I remember them running around the kitchen, coordinating dinner in this beautiful, creative dance of culinary skill.
I also remember my grandfather and stepdad bitching. They didn’t care how many hours went into planning/shopping for/preparing/cooking said meal. There was always something wrong with it. I think part of that was due to the martinis and the cut-throat card playing that put everyone in a competitive, if bitchy, mood. But still, it wasn’t OK.
I remember my grandmother’s face falling when my grandfather would start an argument about how corn was supposed to be cooked. (Hint: I don’t think he ever cooked a kernel of corn in his life.) I remember how my mother would fish for compliments endlessly, because she knew nobody would praise her cooking otherwise. (My sister and I did, but we didn’t count.)
I find myself doing the same thing. Ask Bear. When I make a really good meal, one that I’m proud of, I ask him at least 3 times what he thought. The fact that he hasn’t said a word because he’s happily munching means nothing. I have this desperate need to have him praise my food. Even if I know it was fabulous, I need to hear it.
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So I always rebelled against the idea that the woman spends all her time in the kitchen, cooking for her man. I hate that idea. I really hate it. Whenever a man makes a joke about how women belong in the kitchen, or ‘Make me a sammich!’, I kind of want to punch him in his stupid fucking face. At the very least, it assures I will never, EVER prepare or serve him food under any circumstance.
However, when it comes down to it, I love cooking. I love the artistry. I love the alchemy of combining colors and flavors and herbs to make something new. I love experimenting with new techniques, new ingredients, new ideas about food. And let’s be honest, I love to eat as well.
I’ve also always made special dishes for the sabbats. Imbolc as always been potato chowder, Ostara must have something with eggs (though not now that I’m vegan- tofu makes an interesting and delicious substitute). Beltane brings us strawberries and baby spinach, and there needs to be something golden yellow for Litha. Bread for Lughnassadh, apples and grapes for Mabon, some bubbling stew for Samhain, and something rich and decadent for the long Yule night. I have recipes I’ve been making for 20 years or more for the sabbats. Now, I’m having a lot of fun coming up with vegan recipes to celebrate the sabbats, and you’ll be seeing more and more of that here.
In fact, veganism has really gotten me excited about cooking in general. I love all the different ingredients I’ve been using. Hemp hearts and chia seeds are great for protein and fiber, nutritional yeast has vitamin B12. Hummus is good on everything. Seriously, EVERYTHING. And if you make ‘nice cream’ from frozen bananas with cacao powder, it’s actually a nutritious and delicious lunch.
Right now, we’re coming into summer, and the produce is plentiful. I love it. There’s this riot of color at the farmer’s market around the corner, and everything is just so fresh and delicious. I’m obsessed with summer produce. Tomatoes, cucumbers, avocados, berries, mangoes, squash. I’m filled with excitement and love for the bounty of the season.
I’m also compiling my mother-in-law’s recipes into a cookbook to distribute among my husbear’s family. It’s really cool to see all her recipes, as well as various drawings from my husbear, sketches for cakes she made, notes, etc. I wish I’d gotten to know her better (I only met her twice), but I feel like I’m getting to know her now, through her 30+ collected barbecue sauce recipes. Cooking is something that people have always done to show love for their families. And the love in her recipe collection shines through loud and clear, transcending time and even death.
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So yeah. I guess I’m a kitchen witch. I guess I always have been. I love food, and it has always been magickal to me. I suppose it’s time to embrace it, and to let go of all my hangups.
My tools are a food processor, a blender, good knives, my fridge, my oven, willing taste-testers, and knowledge that was handed down to me by my grandmother and my mother.
Blessed be, and happy cooking! <3
I made sesame bread using as a base the recipe for the Monster Loaf of Yeasty Doom. Pretty amazing. I’ve been lucky, Chris pretty much hates eating other people’s cooking except mine and he always find a compliment even if I’m unsatisfied with how something turns out (I thought the mulberry pie was too sweet, he thought it was perfect). Yesterday he called my bread “superior” to store bought breads, including those from the farmers market, in flavor and how long it lasts. There’s something cathartic about making something from scratch, and if I didn’t have to work I’d do it every day.
Dude, getting a bread machine with just a dough cycle and a couple of good recipes is all you really need. I don’t have the time to kneed my dough so I let the machine do all that work.
On being a reluctant kitchen witch – https://t.co/BLf5EwkOgn
We do have a bread machine, and Joe has used it to make pizza dough and cinnamon rolls. 🙂
This is a good recipe to start with until you’re ready to experiment. I let the ferment (sponge) sit for 2 days instead of just the night before.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/in-search-of-the-perfect-rustic-loaf-recipe
Just throw the ingredients in the bread machine, putting the sponge in last, set it to dough cycle, and walk away until it’s done. Transfer to a bowl to rise one last time before baking.
We have all the ingredients for that.. That may be a tomorrow project. :0)
If your want to get swanky, proofing bowls are pretty inexpensive on Amazon – I’d go for a 9-inch one. Best crust comes from cooking in cast iron Dutch oven, but before I got one I used a cast iron skillet. I can never go back to not having the proofing bowl and the Dutch oven now.
We do have a Dutch oven too. Will check out the proofing bowls. 🙂
Ohhhh. Need.
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I’m telling you, you will never go back.
All those bread photos I post? Mixed and first rises in the bread machine, final rise in the proofing bowl, baked in the Dutch oven. If you put the “seam” side if the dough facing the bottom of the bowl it will be the top of the bread – when it bakes it will crack open along the seam which I find more aesthetically pleasing than cutting slits into the bread top.
I keep my proofing bowl in my freezer because we don’t get much frozen stuff, so I don’t have to dump out any flour left in it after using it and the leftover flour doesn’t get contaminated. Since I’ve been using it weekly, this works out well. I just bring it out to get to room temp while the dough is in the machine. Preheating your Dutch oven in the actual oven while the oven itself preheats will result in a darker, thicker crust.
If you want a seeded top let me know and I’ll send you a glaze recipe I found for getting seeds to stick to the top of the bread without affecting the taste or color (you roll the dough in the seeds before putting it in the proofing bowl, then you brush the glaze on before putting the dough in the oven after you’ve tipped it into the Dutch oven). Total game changer.
I’d love that recipe. We have lots of seedy things around here that would be fun to play with. Have you tried adding seeds to that basic recipe you shared?
Yep. It’s a great base recipe to add things to. I’m in bed right now but will get you that glaze recipe tomorrow sometime after work.
Okeedokee. I’m going to start it tomorrow, so won’t need it for 2 days anyways. Thank you!
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RT @AmieRavenson: On being a reluctant kitchen witch: Yeah. I said it. For some reason… #KitchenWitch #Pagan https://t.co/ENTO2jDpF3
Here’s the glaze. Like I said I actually roll the dough in the seeds just before putting it in the proofing bowl then brush the glaze over the top of the already seeded loaf after putting it in the Dutch oven but before putting into the actual oven (the directions say to pat the seeds on after the glaze but that’s a bit of a pain – I feel I get better coverage by rolling, which is what a lot of other recipes suggest doing anyhow). I roll the top in the seeds (spread over the counter) first, then the sides and bottom pick up any stragglers. The seeds along the sides and bottom get pressed into the loaf since the bread rises a bit while cooking so they don’t need the glaze to stay put. Good luck!