Franklin's follow-up to the Hearth Witch's Kitchen Compendium includes countless of recipes for a variety of things from teas to oils and candles. The book looks at internal and external remedies and contains an A-Z herbal index. I liked that the book was quite straightforward once it got going and that illustrations didn't distract or take over most of the space. I also appreciated the historical information that Franklin included, For me, that makes it easier to remember or connect with a herb, which in effect makes me more likely to use it. This would definitely be a book I'd consider for myself or for a friend of mine!

I love cooking and using herbs in my cooking so this book was amazing for that. Not only it gave us information how to use the herbs and spices in the kitchen but it also gave us ideas how to use those in Bath, salves, etc. Would recommended to anyone who wants to learn more about this topic

I loved this book. I love anything witchy and also I am very into natural healing and botany and I think this went really well with that. Would recommend. I will also be purchasing the physical book to add on to my book shelf.

Good book for someone who wants to focus on this path of witchcraft as it contains many good tips and recipes. I only wish there were more information about kitchen witchcraft.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I got this book to read to countinue my own journey of natural healing. There are a lot of recipes and advice in this book, but the recipes don't all tell you the exact herbs to use. It does tell you what each herb does. The impression I got is that you pick you own blends and mixes of herbs and oils for the recipes. It did give the amongs that you should use. I did get some things I did like from this book and that is what I wanted.

I am new to this particular subject, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. What I received was an amazing collection of herbal remedies that felt like opening a christmas present. I appreciated that they gave history and explained the herbs rather than just spouting recipes. I gave me a greater understanding and appreciation for the herb. I also felt like the recipes were realistic. They feel like actually remedies/recipes that will work and has legitimacy to back it up it’s use/success. While the book does touch on the Paganism aspect, it seems to focus on herbalism and has references to back up their text and/or furthering research.

Overall, I was pleased with this book. I would get it again in a heartbeat and recommend it to anyone looking for a more holistic or alternative approach.

The hearth witch's kitchen herbal is an amazing resource! I actually had to purchase a physical copy for myself and even gifted it to a friend for her birthday! It is chock-full of incredible and very useful information. I see myself coming back to this book again and again!

This book contains a myriad of ready-to-use recipes as well as information about protective uses for herbs in the home and beyond. I look forward to trying many of these recipes in my own home.

Anna Franklin has compiled a thorough reference guide for using common kitchen herbs from mundane through magical applications.
I liked her no nonsense approach to herbalism and clearly stated warnings where necessary. The layout of the book was sensible, making it easy to read straight through or to find specific entries as needed. This book is ideal fir beginners and I am sure would be appreciated by more experienced herbalists.
I have earmarked several recipes to try and remedies to make next time I am feeling poorly.

This is a gloriously detailed and rich book for any budding witch. Whether you're looking for a coffee table companion to flick through, or to study and learn.

I found myself absolutely absorbed by the writing and recipes available.

I think this book would work better as a physical copy, as I get the feeling it would be a beautiful display piece. However, I'm glad to be able to add it to my magical library - even in ebook form.

A very thorough book on kitchen herbs, if a bit dry. This one focuses on medicinal use of herbs you may already have in your kitchen, or could easily pick up at the supermarket.

It explains the difference between infusions and decoctions, tinctures and glycerites, etc.

It gives internal and external remedies and detailed information for making salves, balms, poltices and infused oils and there's a section on cosmetic use for hair rinses, facial scrubs, masks and toners.

An A-Z herbal is included as well as recipes for using each one, correspondences and magical virtues. History of each herb actually is very interesting. The book is well researched and very informative.

It finishes off with weights and measures converting metric to cups and includes a recipe index before the regular index. Overall a good reference book to keep handy if you're into natural medicine or kitchen witchery.

This is a wonderful "definitive" book on herbs and the use of . The author has extensive historical information that is fascinating and helpful as well as recipes that anyone can easily follow. For each herb she has included the use for culinary, cosmetic, medicinal, and magical uses as well as its history and use of in history. This is a great reference for any witch and those who wish to utilize herbs in their cooking and daily life as well as those of us that are witches. The author has included citations and reference materials so you can do your own research if you choose and utilize other sources of herbal knowledge which is great to know to expand our knowledge.
As a solitary green/fire/house/sea witch I find this now one of my daily books that I refer to . It has opened my knowledge to herbs I had never considered and improved my personal practice. This book will also lead you to growing new and exciting herbs for use in your personal products and cooking as well as spells. A excellent read and beautifully presented. I will be buying a hard cover for my personal use and giving this as gifts Thank you to the author and to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this wonderful book that has improved my life.. I am looking forward to a lifetime of recipes from this body of work. Very well done to the author !

I normally don't tend to write non-fictional reviews. It's all about fantasy and chick lit on my blog. But this book really hit close to home. For decades I have been travelling an alternative path that led me to wicca, covens, druids and so on. But for the past couple of years I have found my peace with being an solitary hedge-witch. And this book... oh this book fulfilled all my needs when it comes to herbs and natural remedies. 

The Hearth Witch's Kitchen Herbal focuses on the use of herbals in daily but also in spiritual life. The book kicks of with a chapter with introductions with working with herbs and a focus on all the tools you might need when making your own natural remedies. 

After the very detailed and well described introduction Anna Franklin looks at 23 very common kitchen herbs and lists their internal and external uses.  She gives descriptions of the herbs, their benefits but also their place in history and the legends and myths that surround them. 

The book is filled to the brim with recipes everybody can try. Going from teas, to salves and decoctions. But she also highlights some very interesting cosmetic uses for herbs. You can choose from a list of masks, hair rinses, facial scrubs.... You name it, it is probably in this book. 

I appreciated the fact that the book included a reference lists. If you want to learn more or check out a source everything is mentioned in the book. It simply is a wonderful mix of facts, recipes, little tidbits about lore. The book also looks very briefly at pagan uses for herbs, but it is just a small part of the book. So if you are not familiar with paganism and just won't some basic knowledge about herbs and how to use them for your own benefit, this is still the book for you.

I really fell in love with The Hearth Witch's Kitchen Herbal and I will be purchasing The Hearth Witch's Compendium and a paperback version of this book very soon! I don't think I can't go much longer without a physical copy of both books. 

Review will be posted on 25/04/2019

The Hearth Witch's Kitchen Herbal is a guide to using herbs more completely in daily mundane and spiritual life. As the author is a practicing witch and pagan, there is a broader scope of information in this volume than most other culinary herbals.

Released 8th April 2019 by Llewellyn, it's 251 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.

It's logically arranged with an introduction/tools chapter followed by chapters covering recipes for internal and external remedies, cosmetic uses, and finally a chapter on magical uses of herbs. These four chapters encompass roughly 10% of the book's content. The recipes included in these chapters are very general and basic. I was concerned to read that she recommends using petroleum jelly in salves (though her alternative recipe uses beeswax). The other ingredients are natural and sensible.

The intro chapters are followed by an alphabetical herbal with many herbs listed (including proper botanical names to avoid confusion). The herb listings also include appealing line drawings of the plants and this section is impressively well footnoted, providing a rich source of citations for further reading. The individual herb listings also include specific recipes for rinses, salves, decoctions, masks, shampoos, etc.

The final 20% of the book includes the appendices for magical and color correspondences for the herbs used in the book, a glossary, weights and measures, bibliography, recipe list, and index.

The book has uses well beyond the spiritual. The recipes (apart from the petroleum jelly ones) are safe and sensible. There maybe isn't a great deal of really groundbreaking info here, but it is unquestionably convenient to have everything gathered into one volume. The typeface and chapter headers give the whole book a very nostalgic vibe which is appealing. A conscious decision (editorial?) was made at some point and the only photograph in the entire book is on the cover. There are some interesting herbs missing from the text, for example: mullein, comfrey, calendula, savory (mentioned in passing), etc.

All in all, interesting especially for practitioners or would-be seekers.

Three stars.

I would like to thank Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. for providing me with a free – temporary – electronic ARC of this book, via Netgalley. Although I required their approval, the decision to read this book is my choice and any reviews given are obligation free.

This was a book on plants and their uses I adored! Not only for the herbalism and health side of things but also from the Pagan and Hearth Witch side.

‘The Hearth Witch’s Kitchen Herbal’ starts well, has a good introduction to herbs and how to use them. I want to state now that it focusses mostly on the herbalism side of things. Meaning, although there is a Pagan underlying theme, it doesn’t get in the road of the herbalism side. And, as all good readers know, herbalism doesn’t have to go hand in hand with Paganism. So if you’re interested in a book of herbalism but are not a Pagan, you can still enjoy this book.

There were a few areas I wasn’t 100% in agreement with, but not enough to make me stop reading. Just a difference of opinion, which is fine, because if we all agreed on everything life would be so boring.

I also liked that, besides the usual internal and external herbal remedies that most herbalism books cover, ‘The Hearth Witch’s Kitchen Herbal’ also discusses cosmetic herbal uses. And, no, that doesn’t mean recipes for make-up people. They mean the true use of the word cosmetic, meaning hair rinses, facial scrubs, and skin toners… that sort of thing. And, in this day and age of sensible people trying to move away from plastic, package waste, and synthetic, nasty chemical cleaning products – having a good section on cosmetics was fabulous.

Then, before we get into the herb listings, we touch on the Pagan/ Hearth Witch side of herbalism.

What I also liked about ‘The Hearth Witch’s Kitchen Herbal’ is that the listing of herbs included citations and reference lists. So, if people wanted to follow anything up with the source – it was there to be seen. No hearsay, no old women’s gossip side of things. A wonderful mix of facts, referencing, and citations on herbs, their origins, uses, etc. Unlike other books I’ve recently read. Add to this sciency side of things there was also a hint of the Scott Cunningham Pagan look at herbs. So, to someone who proudly sits in both worlds, it was a good balance between science and faith. A LOVELY balance.

The book ends with some rather good follow up appendixes, to try and cover topics not touched on enough in the main section. Extra herbs, metric to imperial conversions, that sort of thing. So, to me ‘The Hearth Witch’s Kitchen Herbal’ comes across as a well-balanced, highly detailed reference book for anyone interested in herbalism – with or without a need for the reader to be a Pagan.

Book nerd side of things, well there were a few sections I felt the wrong wording was used… but that may have just been me and possibly a dialect disagreement. Plus there were a few typos and the like that slipped through the copyeditors net, such as ‘makes a later’ in shampoo terms, rather than ‘makes a lather’. But, seriously, nothing major. None of us are perfect and I know for a fact my writing is full of similar clangers, so I didn’t give a lower score due to these minor issues.

Would I recommend this book to others?

Yes I would. Again I want to emphasise that you don’t have to be a Pagan to read or enjoy this book. Yes, it may help… but an interest in herbalism is a far bigger factor required by a reader. Faith aside, this is a good book on herbalism that reads in such a way that it would be user friendly to all levels – beginner to experienced followers of herbalism.

An open mind, an interest in herbalism – that is all you need to enjoy this book.

Would I buy this book for myself?

Yes I think I would. I do have a lot of books on herbalism (both mainstream, Pagan and old world like my Culpepper) and they do cover a lot of what is also covered in ‘The Hearth Witch’s Kitchen Herbal’ but the book, the flow of what it is teaching, the layout… it just attracted me in such a way that I could easily see myself adding it to my shelves in paper format. I just need to find more shelves first! ;-)

In summary: A good herbalism reference book that finds the perfect balance of science and faith. Highly recommend it.

This is full of great information that every witch should know. A great addition to any pagan's library.

I often request to review these type of books because my daughter is very into Wicca and the occult, and I am always looking for unique and interesting gifts for her. This one seemed to fit the bill nicely...

To start, the cover is very appealing to the eye. It is bright, and the title is eye-catching. The book is divided into the following chapters...

-- Introduction
-- Making Your Own Herbal Remedies
-- Internal Remedies
-- External Remedies
-- Cosmetic Uses of Herbs
-- Your Magical Workshop
-- A–Z HERBAL

Each chapter starts with a pretty header graphic, and a quirky fonted title. Unfortunately, that is where the graphic appeal ends. Although this book is chocked full of information and recipes, it lacks in the visual department. When I get a book like this, I don't just want an information dump. I want it to be eye-catching as well. I think the addition of some colorful graphics or photos would have gone a long way in making this book extra appealing.

This book is seriously packed full of information. It shows that the author knows her stuff! She even includes warnings /alongside the benefits and uses for plants and herbs. For each plant/herb she includes it's culinary, cosmetic, medicinal, and magical uses, which was great information to have. She also includes historical reference to the plants and herbs uses throughout religious history.

This is a book that I'd love to keep in my personal library for reference and I think that I'd get a lot of use out of it!

Now that I finally have my own herb garden I'm so excited to use some of the recipes from this book! This book has so much wonderful information and the recipes are easy to follow. I can't wait to get a physical copy so that I can have it at the ready in my kitchen.

An easy to read, easy to use breakdown of herbs and their uses, both in cooking and home health. The author's practical use of naturally grown ingredients illustrates how to keep your family well without expensive chemicals that take a shotgun approach to healing. Anna Franklin speaks from experience on how to best utilize what is easily gathered from your own home garden. I've read many books on this subject but I'm always looking to expand my knowledge. This book actually has several new items for me to try. I'm impressed with the author's knowledge and her ability to communicate it to her readers.