Health and Hearth

04/18/2024

Spring is here! I'll be out foraging later for dinner. Dandelions and violets from the yard and garlic mustard by a wooded area. Had spicebush ice cream last week, which is a favorite.

01/26/2024

It seems like everyone is coming down with something this past week. Here in NE white pine is everywhere. Besides being beautiful and fragrant it is great for congestion and coughs.

Pine Needle Tea
This has a delicate taste and is high in Vitamin C.
On top of drinking the tea you can breath in the steam to help
with congestion.
Steep a large handful of needles in 2 cups of boiled water for
about 20 minutes.

(Use only 1 cup of water if you like a stronger taste)

Strain.

Add honey or maple syrup to taste.

Tea from pine needles, twigs & small branches
This is a stronger brew and can be used as an expectorant and
decongestant.

Chop 2 large handfuls of pine needles along with their twigs
and small branches.

Simmer chopped pine in 2 cups of water for about 20 minutes.

Strain

Add honey to taste.

Alternatively, you can pulse pieces of pine with the water in a
blender until pine is chopped into small pieces.
Pine Honey Cough Syrup. #1 (Based on Euell Gibbons recipe.)
Take 1 cup of strongly brewed pine needle with
twigs/branches tea.

Add ½ c. whiskey and ½ c honey to tea

Stir.

Pour into a 2 cup jar with a lid. Cover.

Store in cool dark cupboard.
Pine Cough Syrup - Oxymel
Chop 2 large handfuls of pine needles along with their twigs
or small branches.

Place in a pint jar and cover with vinegar.
Close the jar with a plastic or glass lid. (You can also place wax
paper or plastic wrap over the top of the jar before closing
with lid. Vinegar can corrode the metal ball jar tops.)

Leave in a dark cabinet for 2 weeks.

Strain.

Measure the amount of strained vinegar. Add an equal
amount of honey to the vinegar.

Pour into a bottle or jar. Close.

Store in a cool dark place or in the refrigerator.

01/16/2024

I'm excited to be teaching a class Thursday evening at Beaver Brook.
register at: https://www.beaverbrook.org/education/
for the Waste Free Cooking class.

01/08/2024

It’s January and people are thinking about ways to build habits for health. So I’m posting this again.

How do you build healthy habits that will stay with you? Here's a a technique that has worked for numerous clients!

Still a good way to do things even with backwards letters. lol

Set realistic, doable goals and create healthy habits using S.M.A.R.T. GOALS.SpecificMeasurableAction orientedRealisticTime frameAlso see a fun way to do aer...