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Posted by Runa Troy on

Episode 44, Season One, A Flaming Hot Summer Prep, May 26, 2018

Well met, loyal listeners!

We have a fiery three-way tarot reading this week, then talk about veggie planting. Then there’s this Scorpio Moon of endings. We learn about the stone Beryl. We challenge you to try something new this summer, maybe even try your hand at this week’s Cauldron Cooking: Rhubarb-Strawberry Pie with a bit of pucker power magick. Kissey-kissey! We do a little preaching on journaling and talk about food as medicine. As always we leave you with a powerful spell of the week.

Apologies if the puppies playing int he background of the podcast are distracting. Runa’s familiars were a bit hyper this week — they’re getting pumped up for summer.

Again, please leave a comment, question, or content request here. Weā€™ll happily respond to you here or on our podcast.

Yours in love and light,

~MareLin & Runa

Posted by Runa Troy on

Cauldron Cooking: Pucker-Up Rhubarb-Strawberry Pie

Cauldron Cooking:  Pucker-Up Rhubarb-Strawberry Pie

Maker:S,Date:2017-3-13,Ver:6,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar02,E-Y

Not prize-winning, but magick making all the same.

Sweet and sour kisses may be in your future after you bake this; regardless, you’ll amp up your joy to all who see, smell, and taste this beauty of a spring-time dessert recipe. This is a matriarchal recipe, so good chance your divine feminine will increase in power while preparing and eating this.Ā The magick in this recipe is all about amping up the sweetness in your life.

Whether it’s just getting a good parking spot in the market; or stealing more kisses with your sweetie. As you roll our the dough, it’s good exercise for your hands to do positive things like give a massage to your spouse, or give a helping hand to an elderly neighbor — ramp up that sweetness in your life. If you’re having trouble obtaining any extra sweetness in your life, bake this pie with the intention to do just that and watch the good times roll. If you attempt a weave crust, this recipe ends up giving you more courage, too.

Notes:

This recipe calls for 5 to 6 cups of chopped rhubarb; however, that is mutable.Ā  I tend to stay closer to about 4 1/2 cups because I like a less tart pie.

I use coconut sugar instead of refined sugar. A good substitute would be brown sugar or organic cane sugar. But, if all you have on hand is refined sugar. that’s fine. Although I like a less tart pie, I coconut sugar goes a long way and I don’t like the sugar ingredient to overpower the natural sweetness of the strawberries. However, you can use up to 1 1/2 cups of sugar, whichever variety you use.

Almond meal is used as a binder in this recipe. Traditionally pies like this are made with corn starch. My body doesn’t like corn starch, so hence the almond meal. However, if you have an almond allergy or arenā€™t a fan of almond meal, you may use corn starch.

Normally this recipe is made with orange zest and juice; however, I have always had a sensitivity to oranges and since I’m using more natural sweeteners these days, and if I’m baking and don’t have juice on hand, the maple syrup (the real stuff, not the fake Log Cabin stuff) complements all the flavors together.

The secret ingredient. hehe.

MY SECRET INGREDIENT:Ā  (Which is obviously not secret any more).Ā  Unlike Momā€™s recipe I add a generous shot of Mischief Whiskey, but your favorite bourbon or rum would be good, too. There’s so many flavored vodkas out there, you could use that; too. I’m allergic to vodka, so whiskey it is.

Cinnamon to taste is exactly what it means — your preference. I throw in a level tablespoon. Your mileage may vary.

When you add the filling to the refrigerated pie crust, leave out as much of the juice that rendered while the filling rested. Filling is going to bubble and splash while it bakes, hence that is why you need a baking tray. I always use a metal pan to make my pies anymore. In the past I’ve used glass and it doesn’t bake as well. If you’re in a pinch, you could totally bake your pie in a cast-iron frying pan. Talk about upping your witchiness in the kitchen!

Need to bake something up in a hurry? Feel free to use store-bought pie crust dough.

Now Momā€™s recipe calls for making a weave top crust, which I don’t always do (see variety of photos); I just put a full piece of crust on top like you would for any fruit pie ā€” apple, cherry, peach, etc. ā€” but the good thing about the lattice pattern is that it allows steam and some of the juice of the pie to evaporate. Iā€™m including the directions for the checkerboard-crust pattern. As you can see by my photo, my lattice work needs improvement. But it’s about goodness and not perfection, as well as having fun. So cut yourself some slack.

Do not skip refrigerating the bottom crust.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds of rhubarb, cut into 3/4-inch-long pieces (about 5 to 6 cups)

2 to 2 1/2 cups sliced strawberries

3/4 to 1 1/2 cup cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup almond meal

1/4 cup of maple syrup or 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest, plus 1 tablespoon orange juice

Cinnamon, to taste

Coarse salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 large egg, lightly beaten, for egg wash, optional

Sugar for sprinkling, optional

A healthy shot of your favorite sweet spirit

Your favorite two-disk pie crust recipe ready to rock.

Doesn’t matter if you use a full crust or do a weave. You decide. Doing a weave amps up your courage, however, so go ahead and try that little kitchen witchery.

Instructions:

To make filling:Ā  Mix together rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, almond meal, maple syrup, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and cinnamon to taste. Set aside and let rest.

Yummy, yummy sweetness.

Roll out one dough disk so itā€™s 1/8-inch thick and will fit into a nine-inch pie plate. Place the dough in the pan, pour in the filling (leave out as much of the juice that rendered while the filling rested); dot top with butter.Ā  Refrigerate while making top crust.

Roll remaining disk to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut into at least 10-inch-wide strips using a fluted pastry cutter.

Lay five strips across pie. Fold back every other strip, and lay a horizontal strip across the center of the pie. Unfold folded strips, then fold back remaining strips. Lay another horizontal strip across the pie. Repeat folding and unfolding strips to weave a lattice pattern. Repeat on remaining side.

Trim bottom and top crusts to a 1-inch overhang using kitchen shears and press together to seal edges – be sure itā€™s a tight seal. Fold edges under, and crimp as desired. Refrigerate for 15 minutes (this is very important step).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the pie from the refrigerator. Brush crust with egg wash, if desired, and sprinkle generously with sugar (I didnā€™t do this step). Place a foil-lined baking sheet on the bottom rack to catch juices, (I highly recommend this! Even if you have a self-cleaning oven) and bake pie on middle rack for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, reduce the temperature to 375 degrees and continue baking until filling is vigorously bubbling in center and bottom crust is golden , about one hour. Tent loosely with foil after one hour if crust is browning too quickly. Transfer pie to a wire rack, and let cool for at least two hours before serving.

Ready for some sweetness? Eat it up and enjoy!

Leave comments on your attempt to make this or any questions you might have.

BB,

~Runa

 

Posted by Runa Troy on

Episode 43, Season One, Switching Roles for Growth, May 19, 2018

Time to delegate!

Thank you, listeners, we love you. We’re so grateful for you coming each week and hanging out in our little witchy cottage on the internet, drinking tea and mimosas with us and cooking up all kinds of magic and fun!

This week we have a special visit from the 10 of Wands and the Ace of Swords, with a special message to delegate for your best and highest good. We talk about elements of a well-written spell, as we enter first quarter waxing crescent moon in fiery Leo with some chakra alignment sparking even more magick. We learn about the stone Sardonyx. Then we eat ourselves well with the magic of cauldron cooking. We plan escapes with our listeners and we have a special spell of the week.

Have a listen below. Donā€™t forget to share our podcast with a friend.

Again, please leave a comment, question, or content request here. Weā€™ll happily respond to you here or on our podcast.

Yours in love and light,

~Runa & MareLin

Posted by Runa Troy on

Cauldron Cooking: Guilt-Free, Good-For-Your-Gut Banana Bread

Slice up some yum and eat yourself well in the process.

This crone is here to tell you that as you get older, what you put in your body becomes even more critical. So why not add a little health magick along with being more intentional about what ingredients you use to create meals and food for yourself, your friends, and most importantly your family.

Notes:

This recipe is adapted from Sugar Loves Spices. I have learned so much from their blog. Go give them some love. The original recipe called for toasted walnuts. I didn’t bother. It tasted great. But if you like that extra roasted flavor, go for it.

The use of olive oil and honey makes this also a healthier choice not just calorie-wise, but also for your glycemic index and gut health.

I used cashew milk in my recipe. It’s got some good nutrients that this ol’ crone needs.

You’ll need some parchment paper for this. I don’t have a cast iron loaf pan yet. I will get one before turning to sea life. But if you have one, especially if it’s well-seasoned, I would recommend it. Otherwise, parchment paper necessary.

You’ll need a baking sifter, too.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups organic whole spelt flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup raw, organic honey
  • 2 organic free range eggs
  • 1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 medium bananas)
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup walnuts, chopped, divided into 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup

Instructions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350Ā° F and line a bread pan, with baking paper hanging over the edges so you can lift it out easily.
  2. Chop the walnuts. Set aside.
  3. Sift the spelt flour, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
  4. Beat the olive oil and honey together in a separate bowl. Add the eggs and beat well. Mash the bananas into the mixture, then add in the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
  5. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.
  6. Add 1/2 cup of the chopped and toasted walnuts and combine. The other 1/4 cup is for sprinkling on top.
  7. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the surface with the moistened back of a spoon or spatula. Top with the rest of the walnuts. Let rest five minutes before putting in oven.
  8. Bake in the preheated oven for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  9. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before lifting out and cooling on a wire rack for a further 30 minutes before slicing.

Let cool before slicing.

Make your life full of love & magick,

~Runa

Posted by Runa Troy on

Episode 42, Season One, Mothers Hacking Cords with Many Swords, May 12, 2018

3 of swords and 6 of swords reversed. Cut them cords, darlings!

Listeners:

This episode is a fun one. We have some massive sword play in the tarot reading of the week. We sweep away all the dusty history of the witch’s broom. The moon is in Aries. You’ve been warned. We look at Mother’s Day and its connection to paganism. We connect with Rev. Sarah Heartsong. The cauldron cooks up some chicken marsala; and, finally we leave you with a releasing spell.

Have a listen below. Donā€™t forget to share our podcast with a friend.

Again, please leave a comment, question, or content request here. Weā€™ll happily respond to you here or on our podcast.

Yours in love and light,

~MareLin & Runa

Posted by Runa Troy on

Cauldron Cooking: Mad Mama Chicken Marsala

The magic of this dish is that it’s simple to make and often impresses; however, even deeper is that you will find your anger, anxiety, and worries slipping away as you pound the chicken into nice thin cutlets to turn into Chicken Marsala.

If you’re struggling with anger or a bit of anxiety, this dish is sure to cure what ails you. The magic is about releasing the negative and taking in the good.Ā  It’s a great meal to pull out to impress,

Get all your ingredients together first. You don’t want to get frustrated or anxious while you cooking. You want to work through that during this process.

but isn’t hard to pull off at all.

Notes:

This meal is made even healthier by serving over zoodles or smashed cauliflower. You’ll notice I cooked up the extra zucchini right

Pounding and dredging the chicken allows you to see your negativity slipping away.

along with the mushrooms; but you don’t have to do that either. I just don’t like things going to waste. But if you’re not concerned, regular pasta or mashed white potatoes is fine.

You’ll need a big plate to set the chicken and mushrooms aside, or maybe even a large corning dish. Just make sure you have one large enough to hold all this deliciousness while you prep the sauce.

This is a one-cauldron recipe. I use my cast-iron dutch oven. It’s perfect.

The recipe calls for shallots, and they certainly are my go-to for this recipe. But you can use whatever onions you prefer or have on hand.

Make sure you have a plate to set the chicken aside on.

Ingredients:

4 chicken cutlets pounded until 1/2 – 1ā„4″ thick

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

Mushrooms help detox you inside and out.

5 Tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp unsalted butter

8 oz white button mushrooms sliced

8 oz cremini mushrooms sliced

2 Tbsp shallots minced

2 cloves garlic minced

2/3 cup dry Marsala wine

2/3 cup beef stock

My favorite cauldron. A lid helps make this recipe cook right, too.

Fresh thyme, chopped

Fresh parsley, chopped

Grated Parmesan for garnish

Zoodles or smashed cauliflower, to serve the Marsala over/with

Instructions:

Add 2 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter and heat over MED-HIGH heat in your cauldron. Imagine your worries, strife, anxiety, or anger melting away.

Almost ready. As this dish simmers to almost done, you can feel your simmering anger melting away.

Sprinkle pounded chicken cutlets with salt and pepper on both sides, then lightly dredge in the 1/3 cup flour. Shake off excess flour and add chicken to hot pan. Work in batches if needed, as over-crowding the pan will prevent the chicken from crisping up.

Cook chicken about two to three minutes per side, until golden, transfer the cooked chicken to a plate and set aside.

Add 2 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter to the pan and add mushrooms. Saute about 5-8 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper about half-way through cooking. As the mushrooms cook, imagine all kinds of solutions and helpers to your worries, problems, and strife — or balms for your anger or anxiety. Remove mushrooms to plate with the chicken and set aside.
Sprinkle in the 1 Tbsp flour and stir to coat. Cook for a minute to get the flour taste out.
Pour in Marsala wine and beef stock, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
Cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes, or until sauce is slightly thickened.
Slide chicken and mushrooms back into the pan, making sure to get all the juices from the plate into the pan – that’s pure flavor there!
Add 1 Tbsp butter to the center of the pan, toss a sprig of thyme in there if desired, then cover the pan and let cook about 2 minutes.
Stir and spoon sauce over chicken.
Garnish with fresh thyme, parsley, and Parmesan — if desired, and serve.

I wish you could smell this goodness. Fresh herbs boost your positive energy.

Posted by Runa Troy on

Episode 41, Season One, Celebrating the Divine Feminine, May 5, 2018

Loyal Listeners:

This week the Empress comes to party. We talk about grounding/earthing. We discuss the Capricorn disseminating moon. We talk about hand-fasting; we make Pot Luck Ham Bean Soup. As always we leave you connected, with a push to self-care, and a spell of the week.

Have a listen below. Donā€™t forget to share our podcast with a friend.

Again, please leave a comment, question, or content request here. Weā€™ll happily respond to you here or on our podcast.

Yours in love and light,

~MareLin & Runa

Posted by Runa Troy on

Cauldron Cooking: Pot Luck Ham Bean Soup

Potluck Ham-Bean Soup: Healthy Togetherness in one bowl.

Spring colds are the worst. But this recipe is great to help you get back on the mend. It’s also great for hand-fasting potlucks. Make this and freeze half if you’re not feeding a crowd. Then you have a ready-made meal on a night you don’t feel like cooking. The magic in this one is not only turning water into good-for-you broth; but, also the kick of healthiness everyone who eats it will feel. There’s nothing better than bringing people together over a big cauldron of soup and watching it warm their cheeks and hearts.

Everything you’ll need to make a happy pot of ham-bean soup.

Notes:

I rarely let things like ham bones go into the compost without first making soup of it. It also cuts down on the amount of leftovers we have after having a ham dinner like at the Vernal equinox. However, making soup right after a holiday isn’t always possible. So I cut my leftovers away from the ham — any that we’ll actually eat given activity schedules, and then always leave about a pound of ham on the bone and put it in a gallon-sized freezer bag and put it in the deep freeze. Then it’s ready when I’m ready. It’s the same with a turkey or chicken or duck carcass, leg of lamb, or seafood shells. Bone broth is magic, so I never let it go to waste.

Never let ingredients to make your own broth go to waste.

It’s best if you start this about mid morning to have it ready for early afternoon dinner. Even if it sits and simmers a bit before dinner, that’s great, too. If I’m feeling even more energetic, I’ll bake a loaf of bread to go with this while the soup cooks.

You’ll need your large 6 quart cast-iron dutch oven for this. You know, your cauldron. And it must have a lid. You’ll need it for this recipe.

The star of this show is really the veggies; but, if you have more than a pound of ham after you stew your bone into broth, that’s fine, too.

Simmer the first round of veggies for 15 minutes.

This recipe is considered low-carb. Enjoy it.

Ingredients:

Ham bone with about another 1 lb. of meat cut up into bite-sized chunks

4 cups water that will be turned into broth

1 Onion, chopped (1 cup), large

2 Carrots, sliced (1 cup), medium

1 stalk Celery

2 cloves Garlic

1 can Muir glen tomatoes, organic, diced

1 tsp Oregano, dried leaves

2 tsp Basil, dried leaves

1/4 tsp Pepper

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

4 cups Spinach, packed fresh leaves

2 cans (15 to 15.5 oz each) great northern or cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained, rinsed

A lid for your dutch oven/cauldron is necessary for this recipe.

1 can of above said beans, but different — this bean will be ā€œsmashedā€ to make the soup thicker

2 tbsp Olive oil (optional)

1 Bay Leaf (optional)

Parsley for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

As you can see, we’re pushing the limit of over 1 pound of ham. But that’s okay. Use what you have.

Take the ham bone and 4 cups of water and put in seasoned cast-iron dutch oven and bring to a boil. After it comes to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer for a couple of hours. Yes, I said a couple of hours.

The water will turn broth, then remove the ham bone and all the meat, and reserve on a plate. Be sure to get all the meat out of the liquid, especially any that fell off the bone. You want to be able to cut it up into bite-sized chunks.

Put the chopped onions, celery, carrots, and garlic into the broth and cook on med-low for at least 15 minutes with the lid on.

While that cooks, take the one can of beans that has been selected to smash, and drain the liquid and smash the beans in a bowl with a potato masher or fork. Add the two tablespoons of olive oil to help it smash easier. But this is optional)

Add the tomatoes, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. You are welcome to add the bay leaf and parsley in at this time if you like. Cook with lid on for another 15 minutes.

Now this is a happy cauldron.

While this cooks, be sure to scrape your bone of all ham and cut into bite-sized pieces.

Then add Parmesan, spinach, and the two cans of whole beans and the 1 can of smashed beans. Cook with lid on for another 15 minutes.

Stir the pot and taste to see if you need more pepper or salt. At this point you can either serve, or let it simmer for at least another 30 minutes. Be sure to keep the lid on until serving and keep heat on low.