spyderqueen:

Seeing some people on Tumblr still bitching about how it’s too late for voting and the only thing that will fix things is revolution.

How about you fucking vote anyway? It’s not going to seriously cut into your “sitting on the couch waiting for a revolution to start” time.

There’s no “none of the above” option here. You want a revolution, fine, but there’s still little shit to do in the meantime.

You can vote AND protest. They’re not exclusive. Hell, you can even protest the person you voted for when they fuck up. You’re not signing a blood oath with your ballot. But a desire for an ideologically pure candidate or nothing only serves the status quo right now.

barberwitch:

Witch Tip Wednesday 3.28.28

Cast Iron Care

I grew up in what I call a cast iron family. All the pans were cast iron, we had a few enamel pots for pasta, and one beat up copper bottomed pan for boxed mac and cheese. My mom cooked most days and when she didn’t, it was mac and cheese or pasta because we weren’t allowed to cook with her pans unless she was there.

Cast iron has some mixed reviews, some (me), swear by it and some, think it’s difficult and impossible to cook with…and they’re right to a degree (get it, degree, cooking, farenheit, celcius…sorry), if you don’t know how to care for cast iron, it’s a hassle and a mess. That’s what this post is for though!

Seasoning

Seasoning is the term used to treat and clean cast iron. Even when you buy a new “pre-seasoned” pan, you’re going to want to season it yourself. A major benefit of cooking with cast iron is that it retains flavor, and makes its own seasoning for your food…like magic!

Step 1: Clean your pan with HOT water and a scouring brush, rough side of a sponge, or steel wool. Nothing else…just water and something rough.

Step 2: Dry it completely with paper towels, and then place it on a lit stovetop burner for a minute or so to make sure it’s completely dry.

Step 3: While the pan is warm, probably 10-20 minutes after you remove from stove, (because it retains heat like no one’s business, and I don’t want you to burn yourself) pour some oil* into the pan and spread it around, completely coating the inside. Wipe off excess.

Step 4: Place in the oven set to 200º F, Upside Down for 2 hours

BOOM! Your pan is seasoned and ready to cook with.

*But Barber, what kind of oil? That’s mostly up to you, but canola is the classic standard (vegetable oil) but I use olive oil or canola, depending on what I used last. You can use any vegetable oil you want, whether that’s grapeseed, sunflower or flax seed, but there’s no reason to go crazy and buy a “Cast Iron Care Oil” because that’s literally just a marked up bottle of canola…No Lies.

NEVER USE SOAP WHEN CLEANING YOUR CAST IRON,and here’s why…

Soap is great for clothes, and your body, and even your car, but not for Cast Iron. Cast iron is a porous metal, so when you put something in, it absorbs. When you cook with it regularly, and oil it regularly, it creates its own nonstick surface! It’ll absorb the taste of herbs and spices you cook with regularly, and everything gets a mild flavor boost from whatever you cooked in it previously. When you use soap, it removes that surface and flavor; soap can absorb and flavor your food, and no one wants soapy fritatas.

Now, the seasoning steps above are used when you get a new pan, or need to re-season a rusted pan. It’ll restore it like new. But what about cleaning after cooking something tastey?

Cleaning and Upkeep

Step 1: While the pan is still warm, take rock salt and/or a non-metal brush (like the one above that I use) and go crazy scrubbing it.**

Step 2: Rinse with warm water, and dry with a paper towel (I say paper towel, because it’ll actually raise up some iron, and turn your towel black…better use a disposable towel, or risk staining your nice linens) after that, feel free to put on the stove top for a minute to make sure it’s all dry

Step 3: Coat with a little oil, wipe up excess, and store in your oven or broiler.

Special notes: The heat, salt you use to scrub, and iron itself all equal one great big anti-bacterial surface, so no worries about not using soap and feeling like you’ll get salmonella. Because it’s a porous surface, air drying is a no-no. It’ll lead to rust, and then you’ll have to scrub it off and completely re-season it (refer to first seasoning process).

**When you scrub with salt, it starts picking up iron particles and oil. It’ll start turning black and you can keep it in a jar until you’ve got a good amount, bake it on a sheet to dry it, and there you have classic Black Salt! For more banishing oomph, I scald pepper in a fry pan, and add incense ash to the mix.

lunaesteria:

modern witches: 

• we somehow found our love for the occult and decided we wanted to dive in head first, and then didn’t realize where to start
• “is this a good one?” we say as we skim through the tiny metaphysical section at our local bookstore, and walk out with a mishmash of titles from various authors, all with conflicting opinions 
• we jot down notes in old school notebooks because that leather grimoire we found online was too expensive
• we ditched the books we read over and over again and turned to the internet, hungry for hidden knowledge
• we all stumbled upon spellsofmagic.com and tried to do the unthinkable before realizing that it wasn’t working and got discouraged
• we realized that *gasp* you can write your own spells, but how? 
• we spent hours compiling correspondences for every herb and spice in our kitchen pantry, and dug through boxes to find our old crystal or seashell collection from when we were kids thinking “i could probably use these for… something”
• we spent too much money on candles and incense before realizing we could get them cheaper online
• we practiced drawing sigils and symbols to make them perfect before crumpling up the paper and starting all over
• we learned to go outside and look at the moon to see what phase it was in and how we could possibly use that to our advantage 
• “what cardinal direction was for fire again? south?” we went back to the drawing board, digging through our notes to find the section in which we wrote down the information before giving up and doing a quick google search instead
• we set up wiccan altars because we didn’t know that there was anything else out there at first
• we learned about intent, and made sure that we were careful to stir our tea or coffee in one direction or the other to set the mood for the day
• we would squint at bottles of body wash in the shower to find the ingredients and quickly figure out how to use them for magick: “jasmine and lavender? i think that’s good for peace or something”
• we say little incantations when we cook dinner, or pour food for our pets – “bunny, you are happy and healthy. enjoy!”

every witch has gone through their own version of uncertainty and unknowing when they first started practicing. everyone’s path is different, and the situations leading up to our current state, made us the witches we are today. your path is yours, and yours alone. don’t let anyone take that from you.