Backyard Herbal Vinegar.. Plants and ‘weeds’ that grow around your home are often the friends you need most. One way I love to bring these plants inside is by infusing them in apple cider vinegar. Vinegar is one of the best ways to absorb minerals in plants, better than alcohol tinctures. According to Herbalist Henriette Kress, just 1-3 tsp of mineral-rich herbal vinegar will meet your mineral requirements for the day. Plus you taste the flavors of the local plants that grow around you!
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Different plants produce different colors & flavors, and every batch is unique & special in its own way. I add herb infused vinegars to cooked vegetables because vinegar helps to digest food better, especially if you have low stomach acid or sluggish digestion. And I also mix them with oil for salads. So your food tastes better, is easier to digest, and you are getting that days mineral requirements met by the local plants instead of buying vitamin pills. Herbs that are especially high in minerals include nettles, raspberry leaf, horsetail & ladys mantle. The herbs in this particular batch featured here in this photo include: violet leaf & flower, strawberry leaf & flower, maple leaf & flower, black currant leaf & flower, dandelion leaf & flower, birch leaf, wood sorrel, yarrow, lemmikki flower, ground ivy, nettles.
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Directions: Firstly, always make 100% certain of proper plant identification & only pick plants that grow in a clean area with no chemicals sprayed. Rinse any dirt off the herbs, pat them dry with a clean paper towel, and let them wilt for several hours to let some of their water content evaporate. Then chop the herbs to release their scent & flavor. Loosely fill your clean jar with the herbs. Do not over-stuff or cram the jar with herbs because you don’t want the vinegar to become too dilute from the water content of fresh herbs. Fill the jar with apple cider vinegar. Tightly cap the jar, label it with the date and names of herbs. The lid of the jar should be glass or plastic because vinegar will corrode a metal lid. Put in the refrigerator for 2-4 weeks. Shake daily. Then strain into a clean bottle with a tight lid. Label it. Keep refrigerated and use within 6 months. Enjoy! ..
Category: Recipes
Rose & Lilac Infused Honey
The taste of fresh rose & lilac infused honey is something you will never forget. Sooooo delicious, like nectar for a floral goddess. And so simple to make. Roses are edible, and different species have different scents and flavors, so feel free to experiment. Just make sure that the roses are growing in a clean place with no chemicals being sprayed on them. Do not use roses from the store as those have been sprayed. And same with lilacs, they are edible. And some species taste better than others.
Pull the petals off the rose and use only the petals. With lilacs, pull the purple flowers off the stem and just use the purple flower. You can make rose infused honey or lilac infused honey or combine them together to make rose-lilac infused honey. All taste delicious. Place the fresh picked roses petals & lilac flowers gently into a clean jar, cover with honey, and let sit for at least a few days or longer at room temperature. No need to strain as the petals are edible. Although I have also removed the petals and dried them on the lowest setting in the oven to make rose ‘candies’ and lilac ‘candies’. You can add these floral infused honeys to ice cream or desserts or teas. Sometimes you just want to taste a spoonful directly from the jar because the taste is so yummy. Floral infused honeys can also be added to oxymels & elixirs. And given as gifts to friends & family. Enjoy!
Birch Leaf Rieska
Making Rieska has become a Springtime tradition since I discovered how simple and easy it is to make these delicious traditional Finnish potato breads. I experiment with adding different springtime herbs such as nettle, ground ivy or dandelion. Birch leaf is one of my favorites because the flavor of young birch leaves is so refreshing and just tastes very ‘Finnish’ to me.
Here is the recipe for Birch Leaf Rieska: 2 tsp young birch leaves chopped, 300g mashed potato, 1 egg, 100g flour. Mix together and form small round flat pancakes on an oiled baking sheet. Bake at 220C for 15 minutes. Enjoy!
Spruce Sprout Pesto
Something I discovered about Finns is their history of using every part of a tree for medicine, food, shelter, clothing, shoes, dishes, hats, the list goes on & on. For example, I learned from Finns that the young spruce sprouts are edible, and they taste delicious! Fortunately Spruce grows in my yard so I made Spruce Sprout Pesto again this year. The taste is vibrant & fresh and so welcome after months of cold weather!
Recipe Spruce Pesto: 1 cup Spruce Sprouts, a few Basil leaves, 1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts, 1/3 cup nutritional yeast, 1/8 cup olive oil, juice of 1/4 lemon, couple pinches sea salt. Blend all ingredients in a blender. Add a little more olive oil or water to make it creamier and easier to blend. Keep refrigerated and eat within a week. But this tastes so delicious it will probably be gone within a couple days! I spread Spruce Bud Pesto on rye bread or dip chips or veggies in it.
Enjoy! ..
Dandelion Bud Capers
I did the thing: Dandelion Bud Capers. Been seeing them on instajam and since my yard is full of dandelions I decided to give them a try. They actually taste really good! No bitterness and kinda pickle-y tasting. If you have dandelions, I suggest you do the thing too. Dandelion benefits your liver and Spring is the perfect season to support your livers ability to detox and cleanse after a long winter of eating heavy rich foods. Also dandelion capers are naturally fermented and fermentated foods benefit your gut as they help replenish friendly bacteria in your intestines. Dandelion capers are quite healthy and easy to make. When picking dandelion buds, of course you only want to pick dandelions that have not been sprayed with pesticides or chemicals and only harvest from dandelions that grow in a clean area. If you look down in the center of the rosette of dandelion leaves then you will see small round dandelion buds about the size of a hazelnut. They also taste nice just eating them raw. If you would like to make dandelion capers, here is one easy recipe that I adapted from The Elliott Homestead: 2 cups dandelion buds (remove the bottom little frills (phyllaries) and stems, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 3 juniper berries, 3/4 TBSP salt mixed into 1 cup water. Rinse buds in cold water then put into a clean jar. Add garlic & juniper berries. Cover buds with enough salt water to completely submerge buds. They will float so put a piece of plastic wrap over the jar then slowly push down another jar into the first jar. This jar will push down the buds so they stay underwater. Make sure the buds always stay under water. Let this sit on the counter for 5-7 days so it can ferment. Then its ready to eat after 5-7 days. Keep refrigerated. You can add capers to salads, stir-fries, as a side condiment or even eat them as snacks. Enjoy!
Pine & Gooseberry Oxymel
Pine needle Gooseberry Oxymel. The taste is quite Delicious! I was wanting to make an oxymel with Pine because Pine is so high in vitamin C & grows abundantly here in Finland. I decided to try adding some yellow gooseberries that grew in my yard and had frozen from last year. The sour sweet taste of the gooseberries pairs excellently with the taste of Pine. And since gooseberries are anti-inflammatory, Pine is high in Vitamin C, and oxymels are an ancient remedy for respiratory ailments, this makes sense now in the age of Corona.
Recipe: 2 cups yellow gooseberries, 1/2 cup fresh Pine needles, 2 tsp Angelica leaf, 2 cups apple cider vinegar, 1 1/4 cup honey. Mix in a clean jar and put in refrigerator for 2 weeks. Do not use a metal lid on the jar because vinegar and metal lids will react. I use a glass jar with a rubber seal & glass lid. Shake daily. Strain and pour into a nice bottle. Keep refrigerated. I add this to pretty much anything I eat, lately I’ve been adding it to goatpipe salads and stirfry nettles. You can also take a teaspoon 3x a day as a respiratory tonic. Enjoy!
Pine, Angelica, Juniper Massage Oil
Pine, Angelica, Juniper massage oil. I’ve been experimenting with Pine lately and getting to know him. When walking through a finnish Pine forest the trees are so well, Yang. They grow straight up so tall towards the light. And lots of light shines through the pine forest, and the light effect is so warm reflecting off the orange-red pine trunks. And the energy of pine is warming to the body, and dare I say supplementing, to the Yang as well. Since moving to Finland I have noticed that the constant cold climate has been very draining to this Yang energy within me, hence my attraction to Pine. In this oil I paired Pine with 2 other local Finnish warming herbs: Angelica root and Juniper berry. Juniper berry has an invigorating effect and has traditionally been used in arthritis formulas for cold damp types of osteoarthritis. Angelica root also has warming & blood invigorating properties and has a history of use for menstrual cramps due to coldness in the uterus. These 3 herbs combined together have a super warming & blood invigorating effect when applied topically. And the scent reminds me of sauna pine tar, which I love. I apply the oil to my back over the kidneys when my back is sore and to my abdomen when my belly feels cold & sluggish. It feels so nice and warming…. Recipe: fill a 1 Liter jar with fresh pine branches & needles. I gather pine that has fallen to the ground recently and still has a fresh green color in the needles. Then add 1 TBSP dried angelica root and 1 TBSP dried juniper berries. Then fill the jar with oil. (I used sunflower oil but you can use any oil.) Then cover with a paper towel and rubber band. Let sit in a warm place for 6 weeks. Stir every day or so and try to keep the pine branches down under the surface of the oil. Then strain into a bottle. Label and enjoy your warming invigorating pine tar scented massage oil! .. Note: not recommended for pregnant women.
Sea Buckthorn Aronia Berry Ginger Thyme Spruce Oxymel
Sea Buckthorn, Aronia Berry, Ginger, Thyme, Spruce Oxymel. This was an experiment that turned out tasting pretty good. Tangy, Pungent, Savory, Sweet. I wanted to work with Sea Buckthorn because I read they have the highest nutrient content of all wild berries, especially high in vitamin C, E and essential fatty acids. But their taste is so sour! They need to be mixed with other flavors to mellow out their intensity. So I mixed 1 cup smashed Sea Buckthorn berries with 1 cup smashed Aronia berries, thumb sized fresh ginger sliced, 1/2 cup dried thyme, 2 cups apple cider vinegar, 1 and 1/2 cups spruce sprout infused honey. Mix together and let sit in refrigerator 2 weeks. Shake daily. Strain. Pour into clean bottles and keep refrigerated. I use oxymels as food and pour on top of vegetables or whatever food I’m eating to give the food some extra exciting flavors. And oxymels have the added benefit of supporting respiratory health and have been used since the times of ancient Greece for congestion, cough & bronchitis. You can take a teaspoon several times a day and evening for mild respiratory symptoms or just use as a tangy food seasoning. Enjoy!
Finnish Forest Tonic Soup
Finnish Forest Tonic Soup… I wanted to make a Finnish version of the Chinese tonic soups I eat during cold months and this turns out really well! When choosing ingredients for the soup, I wanted to stick with local herbs that have a ‘tonic’ or fortifying and strengthening quality. There are Nettle seeds to tonify kidneys, Chaga & Forest Mushrooms to tonify immune system, Roseroot is an adaptogen tonic, Oatstraw tonifies Qi Blood Essence & Yang, Red Clover is also classified as an adaptogen by many herbalists and is a phytoestrogen, Bilberries nourish liver yin & eyes, Iceland Moss also moistens & nourishes liver Yin and tonifies digestive Qi, Chicory Root nourishes liver Blood & Liver Yin, Yellow Dock Root nourishes Blood. I also added Garlic & Chives to warm and expel wind cold, Lovage to add warmth, Juniper Berry for warmth and to expel Wind Damp Cold, Carrot & Celery & Chicken & Goatpipe for added nutrition and Pine Needles for vitamin C and flavor. I referred to Peter Holmes book Energetics of Western Herbs to research many of the energetic properties. The soup is cooked in a crockpot or on a very low heat for several hours. The base of the soup is skinless chicken with bones plus water which forms a nourishing bone broth as it cooks over time. This soup is one of many things I try to do to feel healthy during these long dry cold Finnish winters. And I will soon be offering packets of dried Finnish Tonic Soup for anyone interested in giving this Finnish Tonic Soup a try!
Nourishing Seaweed Milk
Seaweed milk. Seaweeds are yin nourishing, moistening, nutritive & cooling. Moistens dryness & cools inflammation. I’ve added cinnamon, ginger & cardamom to warm it up a bit. And a pinch of fennel & licorice for added flavor. I used oat milk because its much less damp than cows milk. These seaweed milks are traditional beverages in many parts of the world. The seaweed I used is Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus) and this recipe is based off a Jamaican recipe I learned while living in Florida. The recipe is very similar to Irish Moss drink recipes from Ireland too. Irish Moss looks like the branches inside of lungs, and has traditionally been used to heal lung disorders such as bronchitis & tuberculosis. Irish Moss drinks moisten a dry cough and have also traditionally been used to heal an inflamed or ulcerated digestive system. According to Chinese Medicine, autumn is the season of the Lungs and Large Intestine. And since Irish Moss drinks moisten and sooth both Lungs and Intestines, I think this is a great beverage for Autumn especially. But this drink is nourishing for any season that you are feeling dry. However do add warming herbs such as cinnamon or ginger to balance the cooling effect of the seaweed. Traditionally these seaweed beverages have some warming spice added. Also, Irish Moss drinks are so nourishing that they have traditionally been given to elderly folks or those recouvering from prolonged illness who are still weak, as well as children who have lost weight due to illness and need to put weight back on.
Here is the recipe I used: 10-14 grams Irish Moss soaked in water 20 minutes, drain. Place in pot 10-14grams soaked Irish Moss plus 1 cup water plus some warming spice such as cinnamon and bring to a boil. Then simmer 20 minutes. Let sit until it is cooled to room temperature. It forms a “jelly”. Then add 1 TBSP “jelly” to 2 cups oatmilk and blend in blender. If you want you can add half a teaspoon of vanilla extract or a teaspoon of honey. Traditionally honey is added. Keep extra jelly stored in the refrigerator and use within 1-2 weeks. Yum. Salty Sweet!