Witch in the Kitchen: Magical Cooking for All Seasons (Paperback)

by Cait Johnson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
A magical tome that explores cooking as a nourishing spiritual practice. -- PJ Birosik, Nexus, July/August 2002

First-rate, through and through, with the gentle touch of a truly gifted priestess-and a talented cook. Recommended. -- Anne Newkirk Niven, SageWoman, Winter '00 - '01

Here we cook and dream, make love and feast. Here, at last, we are encouraged to play--and pray--with our food. -- Elizabeth Cunningham, Author of The Return of the Goddess: A Divine Comedy

The rituals and meditations suggested will give you a grateful appreciation and conscious awareness of kitchen magic. -- The Beltane Papers

This is a text for sacred living. . . . Overflowing with treasures. Highly recommended. -- Sage Woman, 1997

Review
"With a rich and nourishing mix of recipes, rituals, meditations, poetry, and down-home passion for the earth, Cait Johnson welcomes us into the Great Archetypal Kitchen and invites us to make it our own. Here we cook and dream, make love and feast. Here, at last, we are encouraged to play--and pray--with our food."
(Elizabeth Cunningham, author of The Return of the Goddess: A Divine Comedy )

"Our culture may well have lost the spiritual connection with food and cooking.Cooking Like a Goddess reconnects us with the 'Goddess Way' of our ancestors - a way of life in which food is a gift from the body of our sacred Mother Earth. Food again becomes something holy."
(Hearth Fire )

"The subtlety of this book is exactly what it's all about. After reading it, no one will ever look at food preparation the same way again.The writing itself is poetic, magical and personally inspiring. The rituals and meditations suggested will give you a grateful appreciation and conscious awareness of kitchen magic."
(The Beltane Papers )

"Cooking Like a Goddess is a vegetarian cookbook, and much, much more. This is a text for sacred living. . . . Overflowing with treasures. Highly recommended."
(SageWoman, 1997 )

"More than just a cookbook, Johnson has created a primer on how to work with food and kitchen energy in a holistic spiritually satisfying way. She starts with a 35-page ode to the magic of the kitchen altars, cleaning, even how to make a kitchen goddess apron. And then she gets right down to it-the recipes. Organized by season, her year (like the Witches' Year) starts in Autumn. Each season contains meditations, ideas for ritual, decorations, as well as the luscious recipes. First-rate, through and through, with the gentle touch of a truly gifted priestess-and a talented cook. Recommended."
(Anne Newkirk Niven, SageWoman, Winter '00 - '01 )

"A magical tome that explores cooking as a nourishing spiritual practice."
(PJ Birosik, Nexus, July/August 2002 )

"In her latest book, author Cait Johnson shows us how to reclaim our kitchens and reconnect with our ancestors. . . . I highly recommend it."
(Ayden Delacroix, In the Library Reviews, Dec 2005 )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Destiny Books (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892819804
• ISBN-13: 978-0892819805
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 7.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #284,992 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A heartfelt offering, August 22, 2002

By A Customer

This book lays out a spiritual practice of reconnection with nature and the seasons of the year through the food we eat and its preparation. As with all paths there is a need to establish the environment and rituals for practice that enable the alchemy of transformation. With chapters on setting up the sacred space of the kitchen and rituals based around the wheel of the year, the stage is set for connection to our world through feeding our bodies. The healthy, earthy vegetarian recipes sound deeply satisfying for both body and soul. The dishes I have tried were a joy to make and eat.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good recipes seasoned with fun...., September 29, 2005

By	Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

If you are like me and looking for ways to eat veggies without being obvious, you will enjoy some of Cait Johnson's ideas for soups, salads and breads.

The big plus is that most of Cait's recipes are fairly healthful. Take the Cailleach or Kale-Leek Soup. Made without cream or butter, it includes olive oil and two veggies that are good for you.

Arranged seasonally, Johnson't book begins with Autumn (Mabon and Samhain fare) and continues through the witch's year to the festivities in mid-Spring when Johnson offers the reader-cook a lovely Miso soup and Salad Nests that are good for you and don't taste too bad (if you like sprouts, it will help).

I'm not much of a summer cook, but Titania's Cherry Soup made with honey, yogurt and Maple syrup finally allows me to make something other than muffins with my spring cherries. The Midsummer salad helps me make use of the various excess from the stock of hot peppers I grow every year for my parrots and my son-in-law. One of my favorite soups, however, is the Tomato-Venus soup around the feast of Lugh which I prefer to the cherry soup, which seems truly weird to me. Or, there's Juno's Summer Quiche if you can bear to turn on the oven.

In addition to following the Wheel of the Year and it's holidays as an organizing principle for her text, Johnson includes a little mystical background information about each of the various celebrations along with a list of supplies and other-worldly information.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Double the Couldron Fun!, January 29, 2002

By	Kerre A. Reese "manxkity" (Martinez, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Well, I ordered both of Ms, Johnson's books "Cooking like a Goddess" and "Witch in the Kitchen". Imagine my suprise and disappointment when I found that they are the same book from different publishers! Both have the same yummy treats and are packed full of cooking lore and ideas. If you are a Kitchen Witch or just starting to explore, either one of these books is a must for a Cooks bookshelf.