Fruit in jars!

Today I saw some peaches at Albertsons that looked and smelled nice. Did I buy them for a pie? Of course not! I put that shit in jars! I think that I'm going to try brandy and peach for a batch when the local peaches come in. Anyway here is my fruit haul in all it's boozy glory.

Cordials!

Cordials are a curious thing. They remind me of Victorian parlors and cut lead class vessels holding all manner of liquid delights. I don't know why I think of them as old fashioned but I do. They are a sipping drink, a slow drink ment to be savored in small quantity. And with the price of most commercial cordials I can see why. Cordials pack a hefty punch to the wallet.
 Wait a minute, you don't know what a cordial is? Let me tell you. A cordial is a sweetened liquor made most often from fruits, aromatic flowers or herbs that is sipped in small quantities as a digestif or just a saut de langue (I just made that up). They are often made with neutral spirits but can be made with Brandy or even rum or tequila. Once in a while a cordial may even have medicinal properties but most often they are just to delight the tongue.
 I got inspired at the grocery store the other day when I saw this beautiful rhubarb in the produce section. I never grew up eating rhubarb and it is too hot to grow it here in Dallas so I am not too familiar with it but I know it is tart. The stalks at the store were a beautiful red hue and very crisp looking so I bought a few and decided that a tart, sweet cordial might be a fun thing to try. I cut them up to expose more surface area and made a standard tincture from them.( I covered the almost full quart jar with 50% Everclear 50% water to make an almost 100 proof solution)  Then I let the tincture sit for a week. I did the same thing in a different jar with strawberries which were on sale at the store.

I did an experiment where I put a small batch of strawberries in straight Everclear to see if I could taste the difference in infusion techniques. I would think that the Everclear would pull more liquid from the fruit and give a deeper fruity taste after dilution to 100 proof but I'm not sure if there will be a difference between infusing in 100 Proof or 200 Proof. We shall see. At any rate, I saw that the Everclear batch was blanched out and the liquid was a very pretty red so I decided to decant that batch and dilute it. It smelled nicely of strawberries but was kind of harsh. Then I remembered that strawberry and rhubarb are often cooked together and this pretty baby was born.

Oh, what a delight this was! A Strawberry and Rhubarb Cordial! Sweet and tart at the same time. And a very pretty pink to boot! As I am diabetic I needed to avoid using sucrose to sweeten this, and it did need sweetening to bring up the strawberry flavor so I used only one drop of liquid sucralose.  The first sip was extraordinary. But then I got to thinking. I like my lemoncello straight from the freezer, perhaps this would be good cold. I added an ice cube and Voilá, perfection. The one drop of liquid sucralose was just enough sweetening without a bitter aftertaste and the ice made the rhubarb flavor pop. Of course, if you are not watching your sugar intake you can sweeten this with a simple syrup made from sugar and water in a 1:1 ratio boiled until disolved. I am very happy with this combination. After this sits for a month to mellow the Everclear this cordial combo should be sublime. I am so happy with this that I may make up more strawberry "tincture" and then use that to make up a medicinal tincture that tastes good, like Echinacea in strawberry.

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB CORDIAL
2T Strawberry vodka 100 proof
1T Rhubarb vodka 100 Proof
1 Dr. liquid sucralose

Herb Classes in Dallas!

Herb Classes in Dallas!
 Hey there DFW folks. I'd like to announce my summer herbal classes for 2014.
Herbal Medicine Series

7 June It's only Natural! Herbalism 101

14 June Herbal First aid for Life's hard knocks

21 June Achoo! Herbs for Colds ad minor illness

28 June What do Women Want? Herbs for Women

5 July Making Herbal Medicines $40

12 The Beauty of Nature, Skincare and Herbs

19 July Booze you can Use: Elixirs, cordials and other Spirited delights -suggested donation $ 25

all classes $35 12-2pm

location in East Dallas, exact location will be given upon pmnt

 These classes will be a fun, engaging introduction to the world of herbal medicine and health in the Wise Woman Tradition. Come on out and you too could have your very own stash of stuff in jars!

My latest creations are sitting in jars now, waiting to be decanted and enjoyed by my family and friends. I've made both tinctures and oils. My tinctures use dried plants of Yarrow and Damiana leaf and Milk Thistle Seed Powder. I usually don't like to buy pre powered herbs but I don't have a grinder powerful enough to grind milk thistle seeds and I've tried to make tincture from whole milk thistle and have been less than impressed with the results. I like the pre ground herb tincture better. Anyway, here is a pix of today's(yesterday's) creations. These things will be shown at my classes in June.

 Here are some oils I made, fresh rose petal oil and dried burdock root oil

and here is a photo of a failure. I tried to make dandelion root vinegar out of dried roots and I used too much root and it swelled up and sucked up most of the vinegar. I usually use about 1/3 jar of dried roots when I make vinegar and this time I may have used too much. Also it is hard to judge just how much the roots will swell in the vinegar. Oh well. Lesson learned here, I'll make another batch and squeeze this batch into it. No real harm done.

Roses Supposes.

This is my Rosie goodness harvested from the rose bush on the side of my house. We have rose vinegar, rose glycerite, rose tincture, rose honey and rose witch  hazel.

I can hardly wait the 6 weeks needed for this all to steep.

Stevia tincture. I think.

Here is hopefully a decent stevia tincture made from dried stevia.

I've filled the jar about 1/4 full with dried Stevia then covered that with 50% alcohol and water( 100 Proof). I'm going to let this sit for 6 weeks. I tried it today and I do have a sweetness in the liquid but also some grassy bitterness. This may go away in time or it may get grassier. We shall see.

Nettles!

Nettles! The essence of Spring. Rich , deeply nourishing and very defensive, Nettle emerges as the earth wakes from her winter nap and Screams "I'm Alive! Pay attention!" One of my favorite meals is a simple nettle soup made by tossing several fist-fulls of fresh nettle and 2-3 whole garlic cloves into a pot of boiling water, simmering the lot until tender then blending the everloving hell out of it. Eating this is like eating green sunshine after a month of cloudy days. Picking fresh nettle is also a deeply sensuous experience. You may not like it but I enjoy the occasional sting from Nettles. If I get careless as I pick her she lets me know she is noticing by a flick of formic acid on my skin. This sting reminds me to be mindful of what I am harvesting. The sting is not really so bad if you don't get too many at once. I even like the way the zap increases in intensity as the sun sets.
 Nettles is a rich source of protein, minerals and vitamins. I've used nettle as a foundation for helping me increase my iron reserves when they were low. Whenever I feel depleted, I turn to Nettle to nourish me to my core. Others turn to Nettles to help them deal with kidney stress they may be experiencing or allergic symptoms causing them difficulties. Nettles is strong enough to fortify my body while being gentle enough to drink or eat freely.
 Sadly, Nettle does not grow near me, I've invited her in several times but alas, my place is to hot and dry for her to be comfortable. I buy dried Nettle leaf from here:Pacific Botanicals . I make infusions from the dried plant. Infusions are super strong water extracts. This is no whimpy tea or colored water, this is deep nourishment. I put 1oz of nettle in a QT jar and cover with boiling water and let sit for 4-8 hours( overnight) then I strain the brew through a strainer and a muslin cloth. I use a cloth because the teeny tiny bits of plant that settle on the bottom of the pitcher get on my nerves when I swallow them. Some may not be bothered by them but they bug me. I drink my Nettle cold, either from the fridge or over ice. Once in a blue moon I'll drink it warm. When it's warm, it reminds me of soup.
 Notice all the plant material in this infusion.  Yummy nettle infusion.