The holidays don’t officially start until the coquito gets made in my house! I have spent several years revamping, fixing and tweaking the recipe and have finally felt that it was just right. Coquito screams  “Joy” it means spending time with family and friends. It means forgetting about all our problems and having a moment to just be .  It means, I can carry a gift to someone and see them smile in appreciation. It means I can contribute something to a meal, a party, a gather. Coquito evokes the feeling of belonging, like a clan, a group, a coven, a family. So in full food magic form, Coquito making is a well calculated ritual performed on a specific day, and an almost specific time. The music has to be just right and the kitchen has to include all of my ritual participants ( my hubby opening cans, my daughter bouncing around getting in the way and the dog, totally underfoot causing mayhem. The scene may look chaotic but the energy is euphoric. I stir my giant black cauldron and mix away, adding ingredients as needed, invoking the spirit of happiness and guiding it through my hands into my mixture in the hopes of reaching all those who will consume it… So mote it be!!

Every thanksgiving I visit my mother and grandmother (she’s 96 and a firecracker). I ask mom “Hey, what should I bring?” and her response is the same. “You don’t have to bring anything just come! We always welcome anything you want to contribute but please, don’t forget to bring your grandmother coquito!!!” . I laugh and say “I would never forget!”  My grandmother was never a drinker in her youth and always vehemently opposed  its consumption in her presence but coquito… that doesn’t count at all! My greatest joy is pulling out those bottles and her face lighting up.

The first round is over and as we get closer to Christmas I need to make a new batch, I love to gift these and do drive by drop offs! With the last bit hanging out in my fridge, no one daring to take the last sip, I decided to use it for a cookie and boy was it worth it! Check out the recipe below! Hope you enjoy them as much as I did! Happy Baking!

Coquito snickerdoodles

Makes about 36

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup +1 Tbsp sugar

*2 eggs

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ cup coquito

2 ¼ cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

⅓ cup sugar, for rolling

½ tsp cinnamon, for rolling

In a large bowl or in a standing mixer with a paddle, combine butter and sugar and cream until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl often.  Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla.

In another bowl soft flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour to butter mixture, alternating with the coquito until fully incorporated. (dough will be soft, and batter like)

Shape into logs using plastic wrap or put into a container and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until it has hardened enough to scoop.  (if you’re in a hurry, you could put it in the freezer for 15-30 minutes)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Working in batches, use a tablespoon to scoop the dough and form a ball, then roll in the cinnamon sugar. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges begin to set and starts cracking. Remove from the oven and let cool.

*If your coquito contains eggs/eggnog then cut back to only 1 egg

If you make these, please #foodmagic and #gourmetwitch_cookbooks I would love to see how yours come out!

As the Thanksgiving baking will be underway for most ( if it hasn’t started already!) I felt that this super quick pumpkin bread could help out those going to a pot luck, friendsgiving, a coven meet up or visiting with family but dont know what to make! Whip this up in 10 minutes then relax as it bakes and perfumes the house with good vibes! Staying in for the holiday or don’t have any plans? no worries, this easy to make bread subs as a fabulous breakfast option too! Happy Baking !

This recipe and others are available in Food Magic! Click on the main page for a direct amazon link.

Pumpkin Bread Serves 8- 10

3 cups flour, plus more for dusting
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 (15oz) can of pumpkin puree
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground clove
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp. butter, for greasing or cooking spray
1 Bundt pan

Glaze

1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. milk, more if needed

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl add flour, sugar, cinnamon, clove, salt, baking powder, baking soda. Stir with a spoon to mix ingredients. In another bowl add the pumpkin puree, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla. Whisk the wet ingredients together until egg is completely incorporated. Add the wet mixture to the dry, whisking to avoid lumps.

Grease Bundt pan with butter or cooking spray, liberally. Dust with flour all around and add the batter. Bake in the center rack of the oven for 45-1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove pan from the oven and let cool 15 minutes. Place a heatproof plate or platter over the Bundt and invert (pan will still be hot, use kitchen mitts or towels to protect your hand) un-mold bread and let cool completely.

Make glaze and drizzle over cooled bread. Serve

This year in my first outdoor garden, I planted all manner of pumpkin and squash from the summer varieties to the winter and have watched them grow from seeds, to seedlings, to tiny plants and then… Boom. Vines for days! They grew and took over their garden bed, climbed the trellis, even tried to get into the neighbor’s yard!

As a very green urban farmer I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the blossoms, the leaves that multiplied quickly and their various sizes that seemed to changed overnight. I thought of Cinderella’s pumpkin coach, jack-o-lanterns and how I would have squash blossoms to stuff and eat till my heart’s content. I thought of magical herb baths, healing medicines, all manner of witchy things, then I got over that part. They were growing out of hand and I didn’t know what to do!

Gathering my thoughts and wits, I began to reap what I had sown. I was able to give away some of the summer varieties, cooking what I kept, freezing what I couldn’t use at the time. Worked with the plants by including them in spell work and dried what I could use at another time, ready and patiently waiting for the fall/winter varieties.

All things pumpkin roll in with the fall. They are partners, brought together with the season and our love for pumpkin spice everything. From Mabon till Thanksgiving we can never get enough and then just like that, it’s gone. This is just how nature works. We wave goodbye with a heavy heart and keep hope alive that next year isn’t too long a wait.

Although pumpkins are used throughout Halloween and Samhain for carving and warding off unwanted spirits, Thanksgiving gives the pumpkin a platform to really shine. Thanksgiving dinner = Turkey and pumpkin pie (unless you’re at my Mother’s where the turkey is surrounded by ham, roast pork and the pumpkin pie is now a flan ::enter sad face::)

I learned many lessons from this plant. It taught me about persistence, the will to live and thrive, abundance and commitment. Some magical properties of the pumpkin include protection work/ warding, banishing, divination, prosperity, fertility, love, abundance, wealth ($) and healing. Naturally this all made perfect sense as I sit to look back on this journey.

The tiny tendrils that stretch out and grab on to themselves, other neighboring plants, the fencing, exposed not a weakness but a willingness to seek help. To allow its surroundings a chance to hold up the plant and survive. The blossoms grow under the shade of the larger leaves so that the sun will not burn the flowers until it is time for them to bloom. My greatest joy came from watching them in the early morning as the sun rose and the birds chirped all around, they stood up, and opened themselves. Bursting with color and not a care in the world. In a magnificent sun salutation, a thank you, they bloomed and opened themselves to receive as well as to give. Insects that needed shelter, a rest or carried pollen were able to find relief with the plant.

The recipes I’m sharing are for Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin- Chocolate Brownies and Pumpkin Cheesecake Egg rolls easily prepared for any Thanksgiving gathering, potluck, or pre-winter meal. While you measure, mix and decorate, think on all the things you are thankful for, the people who will partake of your dish and the special place they hold in your life.

The pumpkin grows, flourishes and bears fruit if it is fed, kept hydrated, pruned when needed and given access to the sun. We too can be like the pumpkin. Fight to survive, to be better, to be stronger. Don’t be afraid to let others help you. Don’t be afraid to help those in need.  give them comfort, food, support or a couch to lay on. Above all else, continue to be the best you that you can be. Spread love, joy and give thanks for the simple things in life and for the scary over growing one’s too!

Witchy Tip : If you have pumpkins or squash growing in your yard, pick some of the small leaves and lay out to dry. Grind it to powder and anoint candles for spells concerning abundance, financial wealth and healing (depression/stress).