A slight twist on the Classic version of Elderberry Syrup. This one has a much stronger "bite" thanks to the increased levels of Cinnamon and Osha. Also, I've added three other new herbs to the mix. I'm not usually one to add more than three herbs to a formula, but in the case of colds and flu for the masses, I'll make an exception. Too difficult to customize the formula to one person, and the payoff wouldn't be that great. This is a "one size fits all" remedy.
Elder-sha Syrup
Ingredients:
- Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) berries, dried - 8 oz.
- Osha (Ligusticum porteri) root, dried - 3.5 oz.
- Ginger (Zingiber officinalis) root, dried - 2 oz.
- Oregon Grape (Mahonia repens) root, dried - 2 oz.
Red Root (Ceanothus spp.) root, fresh - 2 oz. - Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) bark, dried - 3 tsp.
- Honey (unpasturized) - 2 cups
- Distilled water - 8 cups
- Grand Marnier liquor - 1/4 cup
Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) root, dried - 1 oz.
Weigh the proper quantity of each herb and combine with the water in a stainless steel pan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes.
Strain the mixture into another pan using a cheese cloth and strainer (a press if you have one.) Once the liquid is separated, add the honey and brandy at a low heat setting, stirring with a wooden spoon.
Pour the syrup into dark glass bottles. Green wine bottles work nicely and can be stored in the refrigerator. I keep a 2 oz brown, blue or green bottle out and handy during the winter months.
Not the medicine, mind you, but the dried plant when you're making a glycerite!
I'm a big fan of Astragalus (Astragalus membranaceous) as an immunomodulator. I like to start on a daily regiment for at least three months before the cold season starts. Since we recently moved up 2500 feet in elevation, I'm thinking that cold season might start a bit earlier than normal. And rather than make a tea with it daily (which I'm apt to forget,) I decided to go for a glycerite.
Astragalus is water soluble, so tinctures don't extract the right constituents. A glycerine is just the trick in this instance. Glycerine extracts the water-soluble compounds (some say even better than water,) yet has the preservative properties of alcohol. Plus it tastes great!
As I had only dried Astragalus, I used a 60:40 ratio of glycerine to water. You need some water in your glycerite, unless you're using fresh plant which has a high water content already. The marc to menstruum ratio was 1:5, and I wanted to see how 8 ounces of menstruum would translate into medicine. When making herbal remedies, you always lose some of the liquid to the plant itself, regardless of your press. I have a pneumatic suction pump that I use, which usually results in some really dry spent plant matter when I'm done extracting.
Did I mention Astragalus sucks? I put in 225 ml of menstruum, and got back only 75 ml of glycerite! That's losing 2/3 of your menstruum back to the plant. Simply unheard of! Examining the spent plant, it was awfully moist. Much more moist than anything else I've seen in the past. Lesson learned. I think I'll stick with my daily infusions of Astragalus after this 75 ml is gone...
I was catching up on my blogging friends and noticed an entry on Veg Blog about the health benefits of flax seed.
I grind a quarter-cup of flax seeds with no problem, then put it in a container in the fridge and over the course of a week or two, spoon a tablespoon or two a day onto my cereal, into my sandwiches, or into pasta sauce after it finished heating. The flax adds a very slight nutty flavor, but the consistency is fine enough that you don't even notice it in most things.A week or two? Holy Hanna! I go through a little more than a quarter cup every single morning in my shake! Want my super-secret recipe?
- Evo's Morning Glory
1 big or 2 small organic bananas. Freeze 'em if you like a thicker shake
2 cups organic frozen blue berries
2 heaping tablespoons of almond butter
1 single-serving of good quality yogurt, any flavor
1/8 - 1/4 cup freshly ground flax seed
1 teaspoon freshly ground milk thistle seed (Silybum marrianum)
Chai tea, orange juice and apple juice
Add all ingredients to a blender, cover with the juice mix in any ratio you like. Blend away until smooth and enjoy! Should make about 32 ounces, plenty to get me through until lunch time!
Caution: People with caffeine or other stimulant sensitives, heart disorders or other mitigating factors SHOULD NOT ingest massive quantities of guarana (Paullina cupana.) Massive headaches and depressive hangovers are likely with overuse.
OK. Enough of the gloom and doom. I found this recipe via one of the legends of botanical medicine, Michael Moore. To do this formula justice and to make sure you take it in it's full context, I'm posting it in it's entirety. Enjoy...?
Guarana Fudge - AKA Speed Fudge
by Michael Moore - Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
Mix together:
5 cups brown sugar
2 1/2 cups milk
salt
Add later:
1 cube sweet butter
6 ounces powdered Guarana Bean
Various nuts (if desired)
Boil to the soft ball stage. Remove from heat for 10 minutes, add 1 cube sweet butter. Mix in 6 ounces of powdered Guarana Bean, and stir constantly until the glistening surface starts to look like frosting and stiffens. Add nuts (if desired), scrape onto greased surface, cool until set, and cut. WARNING: This stuff tastes GREAT, but speeds like a mother. This fudge has no self-redeeming qualities...it's just happily perverse.
Dosage: start with a small square, and wait an hour before overlapping with another piece. Guarana is the Queen of caffeine plants (with some hypoxanthines thrown in) and will generally (to quote Dr. Donald Culbreth) produce gaiety, restlessness, quick perception and wakefulness, while slowing the pulse and impairing the appetite. Eating it slows absorption and can extend its effects well past the 3-4 hours you might expect from a similar amount of coffee. The fudge tastes good, the effects of Guarana are fun, but if you pig out on this stuff you can get to a level of pure caffeine jitters that will completely over-ride the subtleties that, at a more reasonable amount, make Guarana so nice.
For several years in the early 70s I manufactured this fudge, packaged and labeled it and wholesaled it to truckstops in the L.A. area. One time I madeup a huge batch to give to my sales reps to take to a Gift Show (I was making a line of herbal gift boxes...teas, spice blends, stuff like that). They passed it all out, the show ended up lasting until dawn, with vendors, representatives and buyers wandering around spending, ordering, chatting, dancing, giggling and kvetching long after the doors closed. The reps returned to L.A. only to find that they had walked off with someone else's order book, had lost theirs, and promptly slept for two days. I did not do this again. Neither should you.
OK so these aren't the most medicinal items you'll find in this section. But rose does have beneficial aspects and has been consumed as a food for thousands of years. Enjoy! (Thanks to Kathreen for these...)
Rose Vinegar
Steep petals in white wine vinegar for 2 weeks in a warm place out of direct sunlight. Cook with rose vinegar or use as an astringent wash for the face body.Rose Petal Jam
You'll need the following:- 1/2 lbs. rose petals
1 & 1/4 cup of sugar
3 tbs. organic lemon juice
3/4 lbs. raw, unfiltered honey
Simmer petals in a small amount of water until tender. Add the sugar, honey and the lemon juice and cook gently until this mixture is a thick syrup consistency.
Allow the mixture to cool a little, then pour it into sterile canning jars and seal.
Rosehip Tea
Make an infusion of rosehips with a pinch of cloves, cinnamon and a slice of lemon.To make an infusion, add 1 cup of boiling water to 1 ounce of herb. Do not boil the herb in the water. That's how you make a decoction...Strain herbs out and serve the "tea" to restore and stimulate your vital energy.
Rosehip Syrup
For this syrup you'll need:- 1 & 1/4 cup of boiling water
1/4 lbs. rosehips
1/2 cup raw, unpasteurized honey
Pour boiling water over the rosehips, cover and leave to steep until it is room temperature. Strain the mixture in to a sauce pan, add honey add heat slowly to bring the liquid to a boil. Simmer gently until it thickens to the desired consistency. Cool and bottle.
Use this syrup as a topping for cake, ice cream or with other items of your choosing. Mixes well with sparkling water for a delightful beverage! Also does wonders for a sore throat.
Rose Water Mouthwash
Mix equal parts of rosewater and tincture of myrrh (Commiphora mol mol) for an alternative to OTC mass-marketed "green stuff".Candied Rose Petals
Begin by slightly beating one egg-white in a small bowl. Sprinkle a layer of sugar on a small plate. Dip the rose petals first in egg-white, then in sugar so they are coated on both sides.Dry these confections on a rack. Store the candied petals on wax paper, each layer separated by a paper towel or piece of cheesecloth.
Use these on candy trays, as a garnish for fruit cups, as a decoration on cakes and pies or to adorn a serving plater for a special meal.
Rose Petal Punch
A handful of strongly scented rose petals will delicately flavor a punch for a summer evening.2 - 3 hours before you wish to serve the punch, put a good handful of fresh, scented rose petals into a mixing bowl. Sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over the roses and pour over it a large bottle of sparkling wine or apple cider along with the juice of one lemon. Chill.
When ready to serve, strain off the liquid into a punch bowl and add additional fresh rose petals and any berries in season. Serve in tall glasses.
Kathreen's Rose Petal Ice Cream
- 2 cups heavy or whipping cream
4 scented deep crimson rose heads
2 large brown eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. honey
a pinch of ground cardamon or seeds from a few pods
1 cup milk
- Put the cream, milk cardamon and rose petals in a saucepan and bring to just below the boil. Remove from heat, cover and leave to infuse until cool.
Whisk egg yolks in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Whisk the sugar and honey a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended.
Strain the rose-infused milk into the egg mixture and return to the sauce pan or a double-broiler. Cook very gently until slightly thickened, but do not let it boil.
Chill this mixture (custard now) and then freeze or process in an ice cream maker. Store in the freezer.
* Before adding custard mixture to the ice cream maker, I like to add a little rose water and fresh rose petals minced lightly
I love to eat Rose Petal Ice Cream along side soft summer fruits such as raspberries, cherries or strawberries topped with (of course) Rosehip Syrup or more rose petals.
This salve was one of the first complicated medicinal compounds we created in our studies. My esteemed teacher, JoAnn Sanchez, is owed all the credit in the world for this wonderful healing balm.
This salve can be used as a emollient, as sun protection before and after exposure, for cuts, rashes, as an anti-fungal and to gently promote the healing of skin.
You will need:
- 3 cups olive oil
1/2 cups Simmondsia chinensis (Jojoba) oil
2 cups dried Calendula officinalis flowers (calyx removed, please)
2 cups fresh Larrea tridentata (Creosote bush) leaves (and flowers, if available)
20 drops Hypericum perforatum (St. John's Wort) oil
1 cup (better get extra) grated beeswax
Cook the measured herbs in the olive oil, being careful to have below boiling at all times. Stir periodically. After the herbs have changed to the color of the oil or have lost their once vibrant coloration, remove from heat and strain.
Return the strained oil into the cooking pan and add the S. chinensis oil and the Hypericum oil. Turn your burner on a very low setting and slowly add the beeswax. Make sure it's melted completely and well stirred.
To test the consistency, pour a small amount of the oil in to the lid of your container. Blow on the oil to cause it to set firm. If it's too runny, add more beeswax and retest until it reaches the desired consistency. Fill and cap your containers, keeping them upright until they have hardened.
Copyright JoAnn Sanchez, 1999. Slight textual modifications by me, Evo Terra 2002.
This is a wonderful recipie formulated by Jennie Blechman, an outstanding herbalist from Pagosa Springs, Colorado. I discovered the anti-inflammatory and pain releving properties of this remedy on a recent ski trip. I'll leave the rest to your imagination!
Artemisia's Pain Formula
Hypericum perforatum - 3 pts.
Scuttelaria laterifolia - 2 pts.
Piscidia erythrina - 2 pts.
Piper mythesticum - 1 pt.
Salix alba - 1 pt.
Stachys officinalis - 1 pt
Curcuma longa - 1 pt.
Dosage - 30 - 90 drops to six times daily.
This is a great cold and flu remedy, helping with expectoration, coughs, fevers and the general process of getting well. And kids like the taste!
Elderberry Syrup
(adapted from a recipe by Herbalist Angela Kann)Ingredients:
- Sambucus nigra berries (dried) - 8 oz
- Zingiber officinalis root (dried) - 2 oz.
- Ligusticum porteri root (dried)1.5 oz
- Mahonia repens root (dried) 2 oz
- Cinnamomum zeylanicum bark (dried) 3 tsp
- Honey (unpasturized) 2 cups
- Distilled water 8 cups
- Brandy 1/4 cup
Weigh the proper quantity of each herb and combine with the water in a stainless steel pan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes.
Strain the mixture into another pan using a cheese cloth and strainer (a press if you have one.) Once the liquid is separated, add the honey and brandy at a low heat setting, stirring with a wooden spoon.
Pour the syrup into dark glass bottles. Green wine bottles work nicely and can be stored in the refrigerator. I keep a 2 oz brown, blue or green bottle out and handy during the winter months.