Happy (upcoming) Imbolc

Hi All! With Imbolc just a week away, we had our Kitchen Witchery class last evening at the shop.

We had a lovely evening. We started by making some fresh butter, using the old spaghetti jar method, and then blended up some flavored butter. I had a variety of dried and fresh herbs to use, along with some honey and cinnamon. I even baked a couple of loaves of Irish soda bread for us to use for taste testing. There were some really yummy blends to try. Be sure to check out the Imbolc page for all the recipes I've put together for this holiday. If you try making your own butter, please be sure to comment and let me know how it turned out, and if you make any flavored butters, please comment with you flavor blend. I'm always looking for new flavors to try. Also, don't forget to check out my Imbolc board on Pinterest for other recipes ideas, along with decorating ideas, tarot spreads and altar layouts.

After making fresh butter this evening, it's made me miss making my own butter. So, I think I'll be going back to make my own fresh better. This will also give me the butter milk I need to make the Irish soda bread that my husband loves so much.

Until next time... Blessed Be!

2015 Year in Review (a bit late)

Well, I'm almost a week late in post a year in review, but considering I normally forget to do one for this blog, I'm ahead of the curve. lol. So, let's take a look back, shall we?

2015 was the year that I decided I needed to make things matter, and to make things happen. I noticed that for several years, I have just live, not Lived! It was time to put things back to the way I want them. And, I did that. This year, my friend Ms. L was needing help with fellowships at her store. I stepped up and volunteered to teach my Kitchen Witchery class, and we have had some great food and fun times. I started with Mid-Summer/Litha, as it was the next spoke in the wheel of the year. Here are a few photos from those classes:

Also, in 2015, a couple of new felines come to live with us. Miss Sophie and her daughter, Onnie, are now irreplaceable members of our family. They are a great source of entertainment, as well a little bit of a frustration, as only cats can be. Here are a few photos of them:

We definitely celebrated the Sabbats, and had a great time doing so. I did decide to set up an altar at home, after not having one for many years. Here are a few highlights:

Mabon Circle in the park

My Samhain altar at home

The Samhain altar at the shop

My Yule altar, and my broom decorated for the season

The Yule altar at the shop

My Yule altar lit up for Christmas day

My Mabon altar all lit up

We had a few adventures this year. Here are a few highlights of thoses:

Cleansing some stone under the full moon

A paddle boat trip during a family reunion

Paying respects on Memorial Day at Greenlawn Cemetery 

A trip to a local historic park, we couldn't resist playing in the creek

A double feature at the last drive-in movies in town

A Dickens of a Christmas at The Ohio Village

As always, there was plenty of cooking and baking at home. Here's a few highlights from that:

Christmas morning, getting breakfast ready, and prep for dinner

Rune Cookies for Samhain night

I did take a chance in 2015, and started an Etsy shop. I have started making and selling Pagan Prayer Beads/Witches Ladders, along with pendulums, replacement pendulum chains, and some jewelry. Here's a peek:

You can find my shop here. Also, if you would like to contact me directly, just click on the email button in the top right hand side of the page. I'll be more than happy to see how I can help you.

And, what would life be for a witch without her witchy friends:

So, there is the past year for me, in a nut shell, so to speak. lol. Until next time...... Blessed Be!

Merry Yule!

Merry Yule to everyone! I have posted up the latest from my Kitchen Witchery class on Yule. We had a very small class, but at this time of year, that's not surprising. We had some yummy treats to eat, and we discussed everything Yule. You can check into the Yule page for the recipes and decorating hints and tips. I had meant to post it before today. Sorry about that. :)

Taken at Dickens of a Christmas at Ohio Village

Until next time..... Merry Yule and Blessed Be!

A way late Samhain post

Wow! I am really late getting Samhain posted up. lol. There has been a lot going on in the past couple of months. But, I know have the Samhain page updated. Just in time, too. My Yule class is tomorrow night. Yikes! Nothing like the last minute, huh? But, the Samhain class was awesome. We had way more people show up. We even had a little one that attended with her mommy, but I guess I'm just not as popular with the wee ones as I used to be, since she fell asleep shortly after I started.

Luckily, everyone else stayed awake. lol. In this class, I made a pumpkin cornbread. It came out great, but I have decided that I am not making anymore cornbreads in my Nuwave oven, they just don't seem to cook completely. The center bottom always comes out just a little under cooked. But, here was my set up:

It was still a great class, despite the slightly under cooked cornbread. I even made sure to grab a gallon of apple cider to share. I just love doing these classes. I excited about tomorrow's class, but I'll get to that in a minute.

The day before Samhain, we had an open circle at the shop. As always, it was wonderful. We had a very large group, and the energy was great. We had several new people join us. Here is a peek at the altar we set up in the grassy area next to the shop:

Afterward, we gathered in the shop to sit around spend a little quality witchy time together. Here's a pic of me and Miss E, sitting and enjoying the company:

Left to right: Miss E and myself

On Samhain, I spent the better part of the day baking cookies and getting ready for the festivities that were planned. I made about 8 dozen Rune cookies (basic sugar cookies with Runes drawn on them):

I used the smallest, round cookie cutter I had, baked them up, and just a bit of glitter gel icing for the Runes. They were a hit. Later in the afternoon, we attended the closed circle at Miss L's house, and then headed back to Miss P's for our usual dinner and Midnight Margaritas. 

My personal altar looked great for Samhain. Here, have a peek:

I just had to watch for little Miss Onnie, as she would run off with a few of the flowers to play with.

Well, now that the wheel has turned, and we are starting into the winter season, I have changed up the altar, and decorated my broom that hangs on the wall behind it. Here it is:

I also got the Christmas tree up. My mom gave me her tree, as she says she's hit the "old lady" phase, and only wants a 2 foot tree. lol. This one is much smaller that the tree I normally put up. And, thank the Heavens, as it's saved a lot of space in my small great room. Here it is:

In the spirit of the season, I figured I would get the gifts I had wrapped and under the tree. Well, that just invited trouble, in the form of a little black cat:

It never fails. Where ever I am working, little Miss Onnie Moon must present herself to help. And by help, I mean batting things off the table, chewing on pens when you are trying to write, walking on wrapping paper as you're laying it, and other such fun things. But, I love her so much.

As for tomorrow's class, I will be doing things a little differently. And, that's only because of how many people already have their family favorite recipes for this time of year. I just want to suggest a few new ideas, and the in class demo will not involve any cooking. I will be making a cold dish. I will be baking cookies tonight, however, to share with everyone. So, let's see how it goes. If you are local to the Columbus and Grove City area, you can attend the class. There is a $5 fee to help cover supplies, but you get to take home lots of recipes, and a dry mix to try at home for yourself. Stop by at visit us at Blessed Be Spiritual Shop in Grove City, Ohio.

I wanted to announce that I now have an Etsy shop up and running. Currently, I only have a few things in there, but I will be posting up more toward the end of the week. Right now I have several styles of Pagan Prayer Beads/Witches' Ladders available, and the new postings will have several styles of pendulums. I also offer replacement pendulum chains that have semi-precious gemstone beads and alloy charms on them. You can find my shop under the name of RosieGypsy Designs. Stop by and have a peek, see if there is anything to your liking. Also, some of my items are sold at Blessed Be. You can stop by there and get some instant shopping gratification.

Well, off to get some things done. Hopefully, in the next few days, I will update the Yule page, and I will post photos from tomorrow night's class. Until next time..... Blessed Be!

Fall is on the way!

Fall is my favorite season. I love the cool, crisp weather, the colors of the turning leaves, the chilly weekend nights around a fire. I am definitely a fall weather person. I love to wear jeans and sweaters, with boots and scarves. Or, for just doing stuff around the house, a pair of sweats. lol. I also love to cook, can and bake. And, even though fall hasn't officially started, I started feeling the urge for fall foods a couple of weeks ago. So, my Mabon class (held last night at the shop) was right up my alley.

For class, I made a Quick Mabon Cake, and served apple cider (my favorite). I would've liked to have done more, but I was unable to get the day off, as I usually do. If I would've had the time, I would've made some Cheesy Potato Soup and Mabon Cider. So, I guess I'll just have to settle for making it this weekend, along with some fresh bread. If anyone is interested, I have updated the Mabon page with the recipes from the class. I will probably use pull out a couple of these recipes to make my dishes for the Mabon picnic we have planned for Sunday the 20th. We have decided to have a community picnic to celebrate in a fashion similar to the old ways. We are doing an old fashioned potluck, taking donations of canned goods for the local food bank, and just plan on enjoying the day together. We will even be holding an open circle just past noon. I can't wait. I'll be sure to post photos.

Until next time.... Blessed Be!