Apple Beer

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Pour four gallons of boiling water over four pounds if grated apples in a pan and stir each day for two weeks. Then strain and add two pounds of sugar, two ounces of root ginger and a level teaspoon each of cinnamon stick and whole cloves. Pour into a cask and bung tightly at once. In six weeks, it will be ready to bottle.
from Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft
By: Raymond Buckland, 1993.

Honey Beer

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Boil an ounce of ground ginger with a half a gallon of water for half an hour, then put it into a pan with a pound of white sugar, two ounces of lime juice, four ounces of clear-run honey, the juice of three lemons and another half-gallon of cold water. When the mixture is just luke-warm, add a large teaspoon of yeast spread on a piece of toast. Leave for twelve hours and then strain through muslin. After giving it an hour or two to settle, carefully bottle it.

from Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft
By: Raymond Buckland, 1993

Sweet Autumn Air Fresheners

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by Cait Johnson, author of Witch in the Kitchen (Inner Traditions, 2001). Simple Solution Printed from www.care2.com

Cool weather approaches and soon our windows will be shut tight against the cold, so it will be more important than ever to keep our homes smelling clean and fresh. But we don’t want to rely on artificial air fresheners: they contain chemicals that can be toxic. Instead, we can use all-natural ingredients to make our homes smell fragrant and inviting. We offer many fun, inexpensive, luscious-smelling ideas for making your home smell homey, cosy, and sweet, safely. It’s all right here: Try a Simmering Potpourri 1. Home heating dries out the air, which can lead to sinus problems, dry skin, and more. But this handy air-freshener restores humidity while making your home smell absolutely divine. Just pop a tablespoon or more of ground cinnamon in a pan of simmering water and keep adding water as it boils away. 2. Another variation: 1 cup of apple cider or orange juice added to the water, and ground cloves instead of or in addition to the ground cinnamon. Essential Oil
Fixes 1. Dab a drop of your favorite pure essential oil on a cool light bulb. When you turn on the light, the scent will fill the room. 2. Add 10 drops of your favorite pure essential oil to a spritz bottle filled with water and shake vigorously, then use to spritz furniture and curtains, or simply spray upward in the center of the room. (Make sure the spray doesn’t affect the color of fabrics: test a swatch that doesn’t show before you try this.) 3. Essential oil added to a bowl of dried flowers, leaves, or seedpods makes a lovely potpourri. When the scent disappears, simply refresh with a few more drops of oil. (Favorite autumn blends include cinnamon, sandalwood, and orange or clove and orange.) Place the bowls at key spots in your home so the fragrance can waft about. 4. A few drops of essential oil added to a bowl of water may be place on a radiator or on top of the fridge, where the warmth will cause the scent to spread nicely. Herbs, Spices, and more 1.
A small dish filled with ground cinnamon will make the surrounding area smell sweet. 2. Some of us like to use a coffee-grinder to grind allspice or cloves before company comes. The fragrance is simply luscious, and the spices can be used in baking or simply placed in a dish. 3. A small dish with pure vanilla extract in it will neutralize unpleasant odors and add a sweet fragrance of its own. (Vanilla is anti-depressant, too.) 4. Try burning smudge sticks or small dishes of sage, thyme, rosemary, or juniper. These are all traditional purifiers, with antimicrobial properties. They also smell lovely when burned. (But do be careful of fire hazards.) Beeswax Candles Try burning beeswax candles. Recent research has shown that beeswax candles actually remove impurities from the air, and they add a sweet honey fragrance of their own.Helpful Hints
Please be sure to use pure essential oils, not fragrance oils.

Edible Autumn Leaves

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Materials:
1 bag each of semisweet chocolate and white
chocolate morsels (chips),
broad leafed herbs such as mint, basil,
celery, etc.

Select your sprigs of leaves in the produce section of your grocery
store or from your garden. Wash leaves thoroughly and pat dry. Melt
chocolate with 2 tsp. of butter, stirring until smooth. Pour chocolate
into small bowls and use a clean small paintbrush. Paint
the underside of the leaves with the chocolate and place on a wax paper
covered cookie sheet. Refrigerate until firm. Slowly pull real leaves
away from chocolate leaves.

American Traditional Pumpkin Pie

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3 eggs 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups pumpkin mush*
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1- 12oz can evaporated milk
1 pie shell

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large non-metal bowl combine sugars and eggs. Add in the pumpkin mush, the spices, salt, and evaporated milk. Pour the filling into the pie shell. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 50 minutes, or until pie sets.
Makes 6-8 servings.

*Pumpkin mush: cut a medium pumpkin in half. Prick the skin several times with a fork, and place on a cookie sheet, cut-side up. Bake for 50 minutes or until very soft when poked with a fork. Let the pumpkin cool, then scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Scoop out the pumpkin meat, and throw away the skin. Mash the pumpkin meat with a potato masher or puree in a blender/food processor. Makes about 4 cups.