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.

DIY Vanilla Extract.

Today I put some of my homemade vanilla extract in my yogurt. Why am I telling you this? Because it was a divine experience, that's why. And I'm not one to keep the divinity to myself.
I've been working on a vanilla extract for some time now. Most commercial extracts contain glycerin or some other sweetener that i don't want in my food. So I began to experiment with making my own extract. My first attempt, which I don't have a pix of, was vanilla beans in Brandy. This was nice enough but tasted more like Brandy than Vanilla. It was just not what I was after. So I decided to try Everclear, since it has no real taste of it's own. In the following picture, look to the right bottom to see the Vanilla bean in Everclear project going on.

What I got was a clearish 95% ABV( alcohol by volume) that when diluted to 80 proof(40% abv) was milky and insipid tasting. See the jar on the bottom right with the vanilla beans in it and the diluted jar of vanilla everclear. In a word, it was gross.
 Then I thought about what I was dealing with. My vanilla beans were dried and needed reconstituting. So I tried a 50% ABV solution of Everclear and Water as seen below.

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' bout!!!!

 This batch was dark and rich and flavorful. The beans needed the added water content to soften up so they could release their voluptousness and yield an extract to delight and satisfy in the strongest sense of the word.

Now you may ask how much vanilla did I use for this magical batch? Well I am not known for exacting measurements but I counted 7 whole vanilla beans in this quart of 50% alc. I broke the beans in half to fit them in the jar and let them steep. I put this up in November of 2013 and it is now May of 2014 and I have not removed the beans. They take up so little space in the jar that it is not worth it to take them out.

 This vanilla tincture, which is what it really is, is fantastic for baking and any use that calls for vanilla extract. In fact, you could probably use 50% less vanilla using this brew than a recipe called for.

 Here is a link to my source for vanilla beans:Grade B Bourbon Vanilla bean, .5#

 I can get Everclear at my local liquor store. 

Have fun with this.

Here are a couple of my most recent creations. I have a beautiful rose bush growing feral on the side of my house. She has always provided me with lush blossoms and vivid color in the Spring. Over the years I have lived here she has grown large and full and never failed to herald springtime in Texas except for the year my husband hacked her back to a stump thinking she was just some sort of weed. Just when I thought she was gone, she poked out suckers and grew back even larger than before with these HUGE thorns that seem to say " Hey buddy, try that again. I dare you." So now she gets free reign to put on her show in April and May and get's a hair cut in June.

What I have here in jars are two lovely concoctions using the blossoms of my rose. I've put up Rose in Apple Cider Vinegar and Rose in store bought Witch Hazel. Why would I do such a thing? Well, in addition to keeping her ruby hue with me all year long, Rose is an astringent, cooling plant. All members of the Rose family have that property. They are also rich in bioflavinoids and other elements of Vitamin C. This cooling, astringent quality is what I'm after in these preparations. The Rose vinegar is going to be used to help cool off the lighter skinned members of my family if they happen to get sunburned( I'm dark skinned and have only had one mild sunburn in my life so far). Diluted with water in a spray bottle, Rose vinegar spritzed on the skin provides soothing relief from the sting of a mild to moderate sunburn. And it smells pretty nice too.

The Rose Witch Hazel blend is going to be a facial toner for me now that I have reached a certain age. I could use the astringent, skin tightening effects of the rose as well as her cooling effects when I get those hot flashes that seem to be creeping up on me these days. This preparation I'll use straight up rather than diluted as a toner and diluted with Sandalwood Hydrosol as a hot flash spray.

For information on Rose check out this link :Botanical.com

And Kiva Rose had a great blog and information about the lovely Rose. Check out her info here:Wild Rose

 Well until I get to harvest more from my sweet backyard rose, Auf Wiedersehen!