Homemade Cinnamon Apple Chips - October Blog Party!

Okay everyone so this will be my FIRST post for our October blog party hosted by The Domestic Witch. :) Even though it is a day early, I'm leaving this post up until the first! Hope that doesn't disqualify me. Lol!

The Apple is the earliest cultivated tree known to man. The apple is used in love spells, divinations, and healing.

Magickal aspects: Fertility, peace, love, healing magic, garden spells and immortality.
Associated Greek God/Goddess: Hera, Zeus, Melanion
Planetary Ruler for Apple Trees: Venus, Libra and Taurus

Try this comforting and healthy snack to welcome Autumn. They are wonderful!

Ingredients:
2 cups unsweetened apple juice
1 cinnamon stick
2 red delicious apples

Preparation Directions:~ In a large saucepan, combine apple juice and cinnamon stick; bring to a low boil.~ Meanwhile, prepare apples. Cut top and bottom off apples, then cut crosswise into 1/8-inch thick even slices. Drop slices into boiling juice and cook 4 to 5 minutes or until slices are lightly golden.~ Preheat oven to 250 degrees. With slotted spoon remove apples slices form juice and pat dry. Arrange slices on wire racks in single layer. Place racks on middle shelf in oven and bake 30 to 40 minutes or until slices are lightly browned and almost dry to the touch. Let chips cool completely on racks.~ Store in airtight container.

I promise they're not poisonous!

Ever notice the five-pointed star in the core of an apple when you slice it? :)

The cauldron was boiling tonight!

The lighting in the kitchen somehow gave off an eerie orange glow...okay or maybe I had my settings wrong on the camera. Lol!

Welcome Autumn! It was certainly Autumn here today. Cold, windy and rainy. Burrrrr!

Out in Nature

Saturday was a beautiful day so my girlfriend and I took her two horses (Ari is the one I ride a lot, seen in the picture) and went for a beautiful trail ride. It was also a special day for me and Ari. We cantered for the first time! I cantered before with the horse I train on but had not with Ari and I had always wondered what it would be like. It was such a high!! We didn't want to stop but we came upon some other riders coming the other direction so...the fun was over. Lol!

Along the way, I decided to gather some elements from nature to make this. :) What do you think?

And of course, here's my little Quincy posing for me...next to my favorite Halloween decoration, the Witches boot. Lol!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

An Award from Bridgett and Lizzie!

I'm so excited. The Vintage Sage hasn't received too many awards but I got another one! Yay!!! Bridgett (aka Boo) of Dog and B Boo + Two first presented me with this wonderful award. Then a few days later Lizzie of Lizzie's Logic presented it to me as well! I guess it's making its rounds and I got them from two fantastic gals! Please swing over and say hi if you haven't yet visited them but I'm sure you all have already . :)

Now, here are the rules:

1.) Thank the person who gave this to you.
2.) Copy the logo and place it in your blog.
3.) Link the person who nominated you.
4.) Name 7 things about yourself that no one would really know.
5.) Nominate seven 'Kreativ Bloggers.'
6.) Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.
7.) Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.

Okay, here goes!

1.) I have a fear of water because I almost drowned once.

2.) I cannot kill any animal, not even an ant! Seriously...I have to look on the floor before vacuuming in case there's an ant I might suck up!

3.) I have written one book (romance novel) and a half of a suspense novel. I'm seriously thinking of getting back into writing again.

4.) My father got me start on the Pagan path unbeknownst to him. His entire library was filled with mysteries of the world, Buddhism, life after death, time travel and even magic. :) Unfortunately he did not live long enough to see how much I benefited. I have a feeling he knows though. :)

5.) I have two tattoos and seriously considering one more. Just one more, I swear!

6.) I volunteer every Sunday at a no kill cat shelter not far from where I live. It's like having a hundred cats but never having to actually have them live with you. Lol!

7.) I am terrified of having my past life regression done. Something in the past has me terrified, obviously! Hmm...is that considered a fact? Oh well. :)

Now, I nominate the following awesome bloggers!

1. Play of Light and Shadow.

2. Domestic Witch

3. Merlin's Mistress

4. Octoberfarm

5. Je Reviens (Rose Cottage)

6. Barefoot in the Sand

7. Rainbow up North

8. Hibiscus Moon

9. Carolina Gonzalez

10. Blue Moon

Okay, okay so I went over. I couldn't stop! Ugh. Sorry..I broke the rules. It's the Gemini in me. I can never decide!

One more thing! Here's peak at my modest Mabon Altar. Not much...it was very low key and quiet and just nice and peaceful. :)

I'm not sure how you draw your Tarot but sometimes I use my pendulum to pick the cards for me. I spread the cards out (fan-like) after meditating on them and run the pendulum across the cards. It will tell me when its found a card by tugging a bit in the direction it wants to go. Try it...it's very amazing how your pendulum talks to you!

Also, apologies for the grainy pics. I got a new camera and since I'm technologically handicap I pushed a button and now I can't get it back to the way it was! I'm sure I'll figure it out next year. :)

Peaceful blessings always....

xoxo

A quick peek into my magical room....

Well, it's a start anyway. :) This used to inhabit a huge queen size canopy bed and it took up most of the space. I rarely have guests that stay overnight for long so I decided to transform it into my magical space!

The kitty cats apparently think it's their new room. Of course, you know I can't say no. :)

My magical board waiting for affirmations to be scribbled all over it.

See my little "Believe" sign? It actually has glitter all over it but you can't really see it in the photo.

This Foo Dog came from Japan. I'm not sure how old it is but it was my father's before he passed away. It kind of makes me feel like dad is protecting me. :)

This is just the beginning. I need to add some wall art now. Also! I was gifted a beautiful award from a lovely gal! I will be posting that on my next post.....with a few facts about me. ;)

Brightest blessings always and Happy Mabon!

A Cottage Witch Is Always Well Stocked with Herbs

How big is your herb collection? Also, question for all of you. What are YOUR essential magical herbs?

Brightest Blessings on this rainy Sunday! :)

Stirring Up Some Enchanted Punch!

This punch will sure to spark magic at your Samhain celebration!

8 cups cranberry juice (health and love)

6 cups apple cider (love)

6 cinnamon sticks (psychic powers)

6 orange slices (luck)

1 liter ginger ale (success)

1 tray of ice cubes

Pour cranberry juice and apple cider into a large bowl. Break the cinnamon sticks in half. Put one cinnamon stick and one piece of orange in each cube holder. Fill an ice cube tray with some of the cranberry-apple mixture. Freeze. Refrigerate remaining punch mixture in bowl. Before serving, add ginger ale and ice cubes.

Recipe courtesy of Halloween (spells, customs, and recipes) by Silver Ravenwolf

The Magickal Nectarine

Nectarine - Feminine, Venus, Water
Astrological: Primary - Libra and Taurus/Secondary - Cancer, Pisces, Scorpio
Magickal: Eating fresh Nectarines will bring on a sense of love and strengthen bonds in a relationship.

Well, they were fresh. :) Nectarine Pockets! So comforting for a cool Autumn evening, don't you think?

I don't really have a recipe for this. I just threw the nectarines in a bowl...added a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar to sweeten it up even more. Rolled out ready-made dough, cut out large circles, filled the pockets or half moons (you can find symbolism in almost anything) and crimped them with a fork! Oh yes...I brushed the dough with melted butter and sprinkled with a bit more sugar then baked at 375 degrees for about 10-15 minutes or until brown. How easy is that?

Brightest blessings always!

Tea Kettle as a Divination Tool

Yes, even tea kettles can be divination tools. When pouring water into your kettle concentrate on a yes or no question. When the water comes to a boil, a slow steady whistle means yes, a broken up whistle means no.

Off to boil some tea!

Taken from A Victorian Grimoire by Patricia Telesco

Spell Stars!

So, as I mentioned in my previous post I have been hooked on watching CharmingPixieFlora on YouTube since I discovered her videos. She had one segment where she made Spell Stars! They're basically star cutouts made from cinnamon and applesauce. Very simple, very easy. It's like making cutting out sugar cookies! You can have so much fun with these. Here is a link to to her YouTube video. Unfortunately there wasn't an embedded formula I could use to imbed the video into my post but no biggie. Just follow the link!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GFJw1gPibM

Cinnamon's magickal properties are spirituality, healing, psychic powers, protection, love, luck, knowledge, success and power.

Apples are known to be fruit of the Gods so the Spell Stars are THAT much more powerful. :) Their magickal properties are love, healing, garden magic and immortality.

I am thinking of making these as Yule gifts....stars, circles and moons. I love her idea of putting them in a jar as gifts! The other idea I had was to decorate my year-around tree. Unfortunately the tree is pink but that's okay. Brown and pink are the new "in" colors right? Lol!

I apologize in advance for the lighting....my kitchen was awfully bright that afternoon and some pictures look a little washed out. :)

Have fun with these guys!

Brightest Blessings Always!

Esbat and Sabbat Cookies and New Books!

I found this great YouTube video created by the adorable CharmingPixieFlora. She has about 100 videos on YouTube geared towards the Craft whether it be recipes, spells, teas, etc. I encourage you to check her videos out! I can sit for hours watching these videos. :) Don't forget to turn off my music player on the bottom!

Here she is making Esbat and Sabbat cookies. I am definitely trying these out for our next ritual!



Also! I got some new Craft books this weekend. Since I see myself more as a Cottage Witch/Kitchen Witch these books sounded perfect for me!


Hope you're all having a wonderful day!

Brightest blessings!

Full Moon Altar

My sister in spirit and I had a wonderful Full Moon ritual, simple but wonderful. This ritual was for good luck and prosperity. I made bead bracelets out of wood and natural hemp string and my girlfriend worked with a stick she collected outside. The bracelets and stick were blessed and we passed them through two candles of purple and blue. We grounded ourselves, meditated on our intentions, chanted while empowering the bracelets and stick and pulled the Tarot.

We ended our ritual as we usually do with a snack and for this we had wonderful homemade banana bread with walnuts and this drink we made courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens.

Autumn Punch

Ingredients

2 teaspoons whole cloves

1/2 of a vanilla bean, split lengthwise1

64-ounce bottle apple-cranberry juice

4 medium purple and/or green plums, pitted and sliced

1 750-ml bottle Gewurztraminer, or other fruity white wine*
Ice cubes

Directions:

1. Place cloves and vanilla bean in center of a double-thick 6-inch square of 100-percent-cotton cheesecloth. Bring corners of cloth together; tie closed with clean string. Pour apple-cranberry juice into a large container or pitcher. Add plums and spice bag. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours.2. Remove and discard cheesecloth bag. Stir in Gewurztraminer. Serve beverage and plum slices over ice. (Or omit the ice and heat the juice mixture and wine in a 4-quart Dutch oven until hot. Serve in heatproof mugs.)

*Nonalcoholic Option: Substitute two 12-ounce cans chilled ginger ale for the Gewurztraminer, and serve over ice.

We actually made the non-alcoholic version and substituted the plums with nectarines since we couldn't find any plums! Hey, whatever works, right?

Full Moon Magick

Today is the glorious Full Moon....and my sister in spirit and I will perform some Full Moon Magick. Are you? I will take some pictures and let you now how it all goes. I do know this....I am making some bracelets made of wood and natural hemp for this spell. :)

Rue's Happy Birthday Giveaway!

Rue over at Rue & Hyssop is having a birthday celebration giveaway in honor of her birthday!! Happy, Happy Birthday, Rue! I mean how kind is that? Giving away things on her birthday. In my book she is a truly special and giving soul. Thank you, Rue!

Click on the button above and it will take you right over to her magickal cottage! She's got three baskets (boxes) of goodies she's giving away!