Kitchen Witchery: Unlocking the Magick in Everyday Ingredients

by Laurel Woodward

Transform Your Cooking into a Magickal Act of Healing, Manifesting, and Creating

Featuring a wide variety of recipes, correspondences, and techniques, this practical guide elevates the way you cook and prepare meals. Laurel Woodward shares the magick of everyday things, revealing how each task can become a ritual of creation. Organized by food type, this book teaches the magickal ins and outs

• Wheats and Flours • Beans and Lentils • Nuts and Seeds Oils and Vinegars • Sweets • Spices and Herbs • Vegetables • Fruits Dairy and Eggs • Drinks • Gluten-Free Meals

Kitchen Witchery also provides recipes for the seasons and holidays, oil and seasoning blends, and clever ways to turn your pantry items into magickal tools. From homemade hummus to herbal teas and so much more, this book nourishes your practice and shows you the bountiful magick right in your kitchen.

Genres: Cookbooks, Witchcraft, Nonfiction, Magic, Cooking, Religion, Spirituality

328 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 8, 2021

Reviews

[Nina · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I really enjoyed the detailed breakdowns of ingredients/recipes and the user friendly nature of "what can I use this thing for" that this book had I had some serious reservations. The opening diatribe about only using organic food made me raise an eyebrow and I quit reading whenever I ended up at authors soap box on how canning was disgusting and had dangerous chemicals. It had the cherry picking of scientific evidence and complete disregard for lower income practitioners I found profoundly frustrating. On top of that there we a couple passages I clocked where the author seems to forget that it may not be a heterosexual woman reading her book. Because of that it's not what I would consider a very welcoming book, and certainly not "Everyday Ingredients" as the title suggests.

The long and short of it is that I really enjoyed the discussions of intent and magical workings. But the tone and clear judgement of those that couldn't adhere to her lifestyle was palpable. I'll be using this book as a reference, but likely not revisiting many if any of the author's opinion passages.

[Melike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and informative book on kitchen witchery. It shows the reader how to be mindful and intentional while creating magic through cooking. There is a lot of information on the types of foods, their benefits as well as their magical uses and correspondences. I only wish it had more recipes to try.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy from Llewellyn Publications through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re interested in spell work and want to expand your knowledge about it from a cooking standpoint, this is the book for you. While it does talk a lot about organic ingredients, which is not exactly affordable for many people, I do think that a lot of the information not pertaining to organic foods is very informative. It talks a lot about setting your intentions and learning about the properties of foods, which expands reader’s knowledge. I love that there’s also information on how to create your own tools with what you have on hand.

I think it’s great because it’s spell work meets a cookbook since there’s a combination of recipes included. Spell work can be a cup of tea, combining herbs, or even a meal, and I think there’s a lot of information here for anyone who is drawn kitchen magic. The possibilities are endless. I think this is a great starting point for anyone interested in either getting started with magic or just looking to expand their general knowledge.

[The Sassy Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am very drawn to books about kitchen witchery. I love cooking and using organic and home-grown foods. So I was excited to get approved for this one. It did not disappoint. It was choked full of interesting information about a range of foods, from herbs to flour. I also loved the easy to follow recipes and spells. And kudos to the author for including gluten-free options. 🙌🏻 The only niggle I had with it was I wish it was a bit more visually pleasing.

**ARC Via NetGalley**

[Beca ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love the idea of setting intentions while cooking and while I appreciate the discussion around organic/gluten-free/healthy options, I felt like the author was very judgmental towards those that don't adhere to her practices. Organic is great, but a lot of times quite a bit more expensive than the alternatives. The tone in general rubbed me the wrong way.
For beginners I think this would be a good starting place, but it just wasn’t for me.

[LittleRead · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many books provide a list of herbs you can use in the kitchen to work your magic, but this book takes it far beyond herbs. With spices, herbs, fruits, vegetables, flours, dairy, etc. you have far more to work with when weaving your delicious magic for family and friends. There are even recipes, spells, and gluten free options included for you as well.

Magic is all about setting YOUR intention and I like that the author shares this from the get go and begins building on it with the items you have in your pantry and others that you will be putting on your shopping list or adding to your garden. The one thing that I didn’t care for was the overt opinion of the author pushing her opinion of dietary habits and organic foods. While it’s fine to state your opinion and I agree with the statements, I feel it was repeated a bit too often and organic foods are not within everyone’s budget. State it and move on, don’t revisit it again. Overall, this is an impressive book that will provide the kitchen witch of any level with more ingredients to use and share the love with family and friends.

[The Shakti Witch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Take your next meal to a magickal level with Laurel Woodward’s, Kitchen Witchery. This is fabulous tome not only about food but includes instruction on how to consecrate your kitchen utensils, how to set intention before you start cooking and the importance of good quality organic ingredients. I did not make any the recipes due to them containing animal products but the magickal correspondences are so thorough and extensive you will be creating your own dishes in no time. This is one of the best books on the subject I have read.

*eArc provided by the publisher and NetGalley

[Cathy Geha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitchen Witchery by Laurel Woodward
Unlocking the Magick in Everyday Ingredients

Everything on earth has energy that can be tapped into for personal use. Food provides calories but also, with intent, can provide a bit more. The kitchen witch resides within all of us and whether or not we tap into the witch is our choice. I know that as mother with children in the house I would look for healthy nutritious foods to cook and present to them and would hope that they were eaten, digested and provided health, wellness, and energy to accomplish great things. Some say blessings at the table over cooked food but one can also add words to the alchemy of cooking and provide that little bit more magick to each and every meal. This book has much to offer that will enable to reader to maximize mealtime in a magickal way.

What I liked:
* The way each food was discussed with nutritional information and magickal properties
* The recipes within the chapters pertinent to the ingredients
* Thinking about intention, energy, and focus while preparing meals
* The reference to moon phase, week and day in regard to magick and food
* The recipe section with ideas for the Seasons celebrations during those times
* That most ingredients are readily available where I live
* The chapter layout
- Introduction
- Why food matters
- Magick of everyday things
- Wheat and other flours
- Gluten-free flours, meals and groats
- Beans, peas and lentils
- Nuts and seeds
- Oils and vinegars
- Vegetables
- Fungi
- Fruits
- Hydration and drinks
- Spices and Herbs
- Dairy and eggs
- Recipes for the seasons
- Index
* Thinking about how I could/would use the ideas in this book when in the kitchen next time

What I didn’t like:
* No nutritional information was provided
* There were no photos of the recipes
* The Index was not included – if it is comprehensive and well done then this book will be easy to search within but if not, it might be difficult to find recipes, ingredients and other items one might wish to look for.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I like to have it in my kitchen? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Llewellyn Publications for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

[Rebecca Elson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally appeared on The Magical Buffet's website on 11/22/2021.

I like food. Duh, right? Unless you’re new here, in which case, hello, I like food. Thusly, I am always on the lookout for books that can offer me new and exciting reasons to enjoy the foods I like. Enter “Kitchen Witchery: Unlocking the Magick in Everyday Ingredients” by Laurel Woodward.

Personally, I’m loving this renaissance of food and cocktail books infused with witchery, and “Kitchen Witchery” is a wonderful addition to this growing niche. Woodward includes plenty of recipes. However, what I truly loved was the extensive list of ingredients and their potential for adding magic to your cooking. I liked looking at the ingredients that go into some of my favorite dishes and reimaging the dish as this new, magical thing. And thanks to Woodward’s thorough writing including oils, nuts, vegetables, fruits, beans, gluten-free flours, spices, and more, you’re sure to find magic in everything!

For example, tonight for dinner I made chicken with black beans, corn and bell peppers. The side has corn, which is associated with abundance, fertility, life, luck, protection, resurrection, and spirituality, black beans for healing, love, prosperity, and wisdom, and green, red, and yellow peppers which are associated with growth and prosperity, vitality and strength, and creativity respectively. Suddenly that pile of veggies is a lot more impressive, right?

“Kitchen Witchery” by Laurel Woodward is for anyone looking for a little more in their meals.

[Marla Holt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun recipes, great correspondence resource

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the perfect companion for the kitchen witch who enjoys inventing recipes. I'm tempted to call is "Mastering the Art of Kitchen Witchery" because it's a shelf staple, much like my beloved hardback of Julia Child's famous cookbook. Rather than focusing on "witchy" ingredients (e.g. foraged nettles, moon water, etc.) covered in herbiary and other texts, Woodward provides much needed details on the usages, and properties of kitchen staples. As an avid fan of pastry, I found the section on wheats and flours to be particularly interesting. I would have enjoyed more illustrations because I LOVE visual guides, especially in the kitchen, but you can bet this book is going on my wish list for a physical copy and will find its way into many future homecooked meals, baked goods, and--everyone's favorite--cocktails.

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would probably have been better arranged by correspondences than ingredients. This is largely an encyclopedia of the non-exotic, and the bulk of the information is, for better or worse, not of the woo variety. I guess it's meant to be referenced rather than read straight through. Spoilers: many, many things are "good for you." It could be a drinking game. (I think corn...either oil or syrup was the only flat-out "no, it's entirely worthless" item. Which...sure, it's not great in all our processed foods and industrialized farming, but no value at all? It's not its fault that it's overused and abused. Sugar overall mostly received a more nuanced introduction that acknowledged good and bad.)

There was a fair bit of redundancy and repetition that can't be wholly explained by using it to look things up rather than read. E.g. when explaining Samhain, it's stated 3 times in 2(?) (e-book guesstimate) pages that it's a time when the veil is thin and the dead are welcomed to come have a sit. Thrice! Like, fine, whatever, if similar language is used about apples in both the apple entry and then Samhain 200 pages later, but in the same section? That is not the only example, either.

I appreciated the footnotes and citations everywhere -- it's amazing how many popular nonfiction books skip doing that at all -- but there'd be odd gaps in what was vs was not cited. Or little moments where it's mentioned e.g. the ancient Romans or Greeks believed something did something, with footnote...great, but no follow through on whether that belief has actually ever been vindicated/proven. Like, people have believed all sorts of things over the years -- so what? The implication is that it must be true and see how academic we are with this citation and use of a primary source?

(I am afraid I'm one of nature's skeptics, even when 🛸 ~I want to believe~ Also, for something like this, it's hard to win with me. If there had been 0 citations, I would have sneered at every alleged health benefit named. But by including citations, it just emphasized where there were still gaps. But that's a little unfair because this is not a scholarly work, and that context does matter. Oh well.)

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is pretty encyclopedic in scope and fills a surprisingly sparse corner in the realm of witchery books. Unfortunately, I thought there wasn't quite enough structure in this book to make its quantity of information very accessible. I also would have loved to see more recipes and more references in the text, especially for magical information (Woodward does fine in citing her scientific sources). These may not be issues for other readers, but they made my reading experience a bit less enjoyable.

[Dodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is for all those kitchen witches. The book goes into detail with ingredients we all use for cooking. Each chapter cover fruits, vegetables, nuts, rice …etc. it was interesting but there were only two chapters that I was drawn to, recipes for the seasons and what we drink. If you are a kitchen witch you might use this book more.

[Mandy Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advanced copy through NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are truthful and my own.
I liked this book, and I recommend it, but there were some sections where the author felt a little judgemental about non organic or cheaper alternatives.

[Adrian T · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bought a copy from a local metaphysical store and I'm the opposite of impressed. This book was quite the let down and I wouldn't recommend it.
The recipes sounded good, and I appreciated the gluten free options. I enjoyed the explanations on each of the ingredients mentioned in the book.
The book was heavily preachy (almost ranting) about organic only and felt like the author was shaming anyone who didn't adhere to this or other aspects of her practice. This book also gives a sense of privilege since it emphasizes organic food only, as not everyone can afford that or has access to that. The discussion of "the less organic/more processed the food is, the less magical value it has" gritted on me. As a practitioner who believes in each ingredient having its valuable purpose I highly disagree with this. I've found great work with cheap and "bad" foods. In my practice, practical means making do with what you have in everyday items and if you don't have what you need, substitute or get what is in your budget. Witchcraft isn't about having the best ingredients or the fanciest tools and it never has been, and if you want the fancy and pretty, that's fine, but don't force others who don't have the means to get those items feel shamed for not having them.
I also felt this author didn't take into account that other people outside of heterosexual cisgender women would be reading this, and that really put me off from the start as a sapphic person.
The part that rubbed me worst was the inclusion of a recipe from a closed practice, specifically hoodoo. Appropriation from closed practices is immediately a huge no-no in my mind.

Tdlr: not inclusive, hardcore on organic only, and includes appropriation. Has good recipes and ingredient info for the most part.

[Eva Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Kitchen Witchery" is an amazing magical compendium for all foods. Here you will find delicious recipes and corresponding information of plenty of cooking ingredients. The book is divided into sections such as wheat and flours, gluten-free flours, beans, peas and lentils, nuts and seeds, oils and vinegar, vegetables, fungi, fruit, drinks, spices and herbs, dairy, and eggs, and seasonal recipes.

You can use this book in two ways – following ready recipes or making your own magical foods by researching the ingredients. The book also brings additional value by bringing up topics such as intention, meditation, working with the Moon, days of the week, or guide on how to cleanse, consecrate and charge magical tools. It serves as a great base for enhancing the daily practice of cooking and creating magical foods.

Who is this book for:

✦ Kitchen Witches and people who would love to learn more about the magic of food.
✦ Green Witches that are interested in widening their practice.
✦ Everyone who loves to cook and would like a comprehensive compendium of magical associations to the foods they eat.

What could be improved:

Information wise this book is very well written and gives a great introduction to the importance of healthy foods and our daily choices. Personally, I would love to see some photographs or illustrations to make the book more aesthetically pleasing, but it's my own preference and it doesn't give this book any less value because of that.

* Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Westveil Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was granted complimentary access to Kitchen Witchery via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I genuinely wasn't sure what to expect from this book when I requested it. Is it a spellbook of some sort? Is it actually just a clever cookbook? As it turns out, it's both. Although I don't practise any religion or spirituality that would call for the witchery side of things in this text it was nonetheless very interesting to read, and I'm glad my witch brothers and sisters out there are able to get their hands on material like this in mainstream book markets these days. The recipes are mouth-watering and inspiring, and they're be tested and celebrated in my home for sure! As a writer of fantasy, I'm also glad to have this insight into "kitchen witchery" for accurate representation, should I ever need to write a character who might use these practices.

[Katherine Van Halst · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I appreciated that this book had so many references and made sure most if not all of their claims had a reference to match, it was the oddest mix of reliable and very much unreliable sources. I liked that it went ingredient by ingredient to talk about their use, but I find recipes for kitchen witchery most useful when its purpose and that of the ingredients is part of it (not just a recipe the magical purpose of which I have to guess by looking up the ingredients) and this book did not do that. I also take issue with soap boxes about organic ingredients and against junk food-- not only does it have less to do with witchcraft than some think, it can also be really classist. You're not killing your family by buying chips and produce that isn't from the organic section. We all know that some things are healthy and some aren't, beating people with the fact isn't necessary.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a bit old to admit this, but I'm just getting into cooking for my family. In the past I've always relied on others but since I am taking some time off of work and homeschool, I figured it was a good time to learn. Books like this have been such a blessing since the author doesn't assume I know anything. As a result, I really enjoyed this book.

The thing that really sets this apart from being another cook book is the stories the author mixes in, then the history if the ingredients for magical uses, then recipes. I enjoyed the author's stories and it made it feel like a friend was sharing recipes with me. I appreciated the fact that the author kept to all natural products for her recipes and I can't wait to try some in my own kitchen.

[Agnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Every kitchen should have this book. I am not much of a kitchen witch but I'm always looking for new and interesting ideas for things to make. This book was very well organized and laid out.

[Holly Senecal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will get more use out of it when i can buy a hard copy because my ebooks are on my phone and the print is really small. So that is my first thought: buy a hard copy, it will be worth it! The content of the book is really well done and easy to read. As someone who is finally beginning the journey of my witch soul I enjoyed Kitchen Witchery and see it becoming part of my everyday kitchen tasks. For those that are not inclined to be a witch, it is a useful tool for anyone.

[Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recieved this book as an ARC from Net Galley.

This book is a great source for setting intentions through food. With recipes, tips for creating your own tools as well as spells based around food... this is a fantastic source to have on your bookshelf. I love how it goes into the different aspects of foods but make note there is a big emphasis on buying organic which isn't always always option for all people.

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5* rounded to 4
I think it's a good introduction to kitchen witchery and the recipes are easy to follow.
A bit too preachy when it talks about organic, I must eat organic due to health problem and it's a good for your health and the environment but also a privilege as it's expensive.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Violet Laflamme · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable book with a lot of good information. I'm not sure I'll use any of the recipes, but the writeups on individual ingredients were really cool. Some of the language bothered me (smudging=/=smoke cleansing), but overall a good read.

[Hali Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's poorly edited (often with literally a paragraph's worth of the same sentences baked onto the same page), but it's still a decent reference. I wish there'd been more seasonal recipes, but alas. I had a lot of fun reading it, though!

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goes through different foods in own chapters. Get recipes in those chapters/items (flours/lentils/etc) Get a variety of information and history, connection to food. Overall good.

[Alexandria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not what I was looking for at all. I was excited for this book but when I was looking through it was not what I was expecting.

[Tarja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book.

[Emery Pearson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good reference for correspondences, but the rest is very meh (and often privileged and off-putting).