January reflections

January is a time of reflection, as signified in this month’s header picture. Sunlight is low and when seen casts a golden glow across the land. The shortest day has passed along with the celebrations of light to ward off the darkness.

Now we face the beginning of a new year, the challenges of snow, frost and continuing cold. The need to stay indoors, to isolate ourselves from those we love and care for whilst worrying about our own health and wellbeing in the increasing web of concern for our wider communities.

How do we cope when the world is plagued by uncertainty and change? By concentrating on the shortest time, the simplest thing, each one building a jigsaw to take us forward into a more positive future.

What are we doing to help ourselves stay safe and well?

Every morning we take a shot glass of herbal tonic. We use tinctures/elixirs because it’s easy to administer.

Mine contains: Solomon seal, agrimony (joint pain) bugle (joint & digestive), St John’s wort and lemon balm (nervine plus SAD), hawthorn and motherwort (heart), dandelion bitter (liver) plus elderberry elixir. This may sound a lot, but when mixed together, it’s only a couple of tsps. topped up with water.

Chris has: dandelion (liver), hawthorn (heart) saw palmetto (prostate) plus elderberry elixir.

Chris spends most winters lurching from one cold to another. This year the elderberry has reduced most infections to one or two days of incessant sneezing and nose blowing with only the odd day feeling under the weather. Once he starts sneezing he takes fire cider vinegar and honey. If you have never made any, this is my version of the recipe.

Fire Cider Vinegar

Equal portions of horseradish and ginger root – grate or whizz in a coffee grinder. (It is your choice whether you peel the roots or not.)

1 head of garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 good handful of rosehips (fresh or dried)

6 cloves

2 tsps paprika

2 tsps turmeric

2 tsps cayenne pepper

(If you have access to fresh chilli peppers, you can add these as well, leaving the seeds in to give extra “fire”!)

Mix all dry ingredients together in a large glass jar so it is filled about half full, then add cider vinegar stirring well to remove air bubbles until the jar is full. Place cling film over the top of the jar before sealing with screw top lid. Label and date. Place jar in warm, dark place for 3 weeks. Strain and use.

The drink we make with fire cider is 2tsps infused vinegar with 2tsps runny honey in a mugful of boiling water, stir and sip. Usual dose is 3 mugs a day. If you want to add potency, then you can use an infused honey, such as sage, elecampane or horseradish but the drink is less pleasant using the latter.

When I don’t drink enough, my kidney complains and I end up with back pain. This is dealt with using fresh nettle seed and cramp bark tinctures (1tsp each 3x day) and extra fluids. Yesterday I resorted to a nettle chai which is an easy warm, comforting drink.

Nettle Chai

2 handfuls of dried nettle leaves

1 inch of chopped root ginger

Spices (cinnamon/nutmeg/1 clove)

Orange or lemon peel

Place all the ingredients in a 2mug/4cup cafatiere (French coffee press) and cover with just boiled water. Infuse for ten minutes, strain and drink.

Another warming drink which helps the immune system is made from astralagus root.

Immune support tea

1tblsp chopped dried astralagus root

1inch root ginger

Small handful of dried rosehips and haws

Warming spices (cinnamon/nutmeg/clove/cardamom)

Citrus juice and peel (orange/lemon/lime/grapefruit)

You could make this as a decoction in a covered saucepan (Cover with 1pint water, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 mins, then strain and drink) but it works just as well as a tea made in a cafetière.

 We’re also spending a lot of time in front of computer screens which often means my eyes become either sore or puffy. Putting a square of material or kitchen towel soaked in an infusion of eyebright and goldenrod tea (1tsp of each of the dried herbs) over my eyes for ten minutes during my afternoon nap (yes I am that old!) works wonders.

 There is no escaping the fact that life is currently very stressful for most people.

 Here are some soothing teas to help

 IDGAS tea

1tsp each of dried chamomile, lemon balm and vervain in a single mug cafetière. Add just boiled water and steep for ten minutes strain and drink.

 Ashwagandha evening soother

2 tsps dried ashwagandha roots

1tsp dried rose petals

1/2 pint milk (dairy or nut)

Heat the roots and petals in the milk in a covered saucepan. Simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and drink. Add honey if required.

Keep a dropper bottle of rose elixir and skullcap tincture within easy reach throughout the day and night. Rose will lift your spirits when everything seems too much or when you’ve had bad news about something. Skullcap stops the mice running around in your head when you can’t sleep.

Skullcap is safe for older children and very young children can be sent to bed after a bath to which a strong tea of lavender, lemon balm and catnip has been added. (Bath, bed, story, sleep in strict order, no play fights or running around in between!).

We know these are difficult times. To experience difficult times in winter when energy levels are naturally low is even more challenging but the wheel of the year is always turning and things will change.

  

A symphony of spices

As our northern hemisphere moves away from the sun, shortening days and cooling temperatures turn our thoughts to ways of retaining heat both in our bodies and our environment. Whereas in spring and summer we long for the vibrant, refreshing taste of green herbs, autumn flavours come from the spice cupboard.

In ancient times, to trade in spices meant control of great wealth. Despite our seeming isolation from the hot countries of the middle and far east, our British ancestors have always loved cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. 

Scholars may claim the Crusaders brought spices back with them for general use, but archaeologists have found evidence for Phoenician traders plying their wares around the majority of the British coastline during Roman times and probably before that.

Every housewife with means kept her spices under lock and key, bringing them out to flavour festive dishes often during the dark times of the year. Sometimes their use would be to make rancid meat more palatable and safe to eat, whilst richer folk would dazzle their guests with saffron and beaten gold leaf.

Much of British medical knowledge in the middle ages was based on the works of Middle Eastern physicians such as Avicenna as well as classical Greek and Egyptian texts. Their use of spices to warm the blood and keep it moving around the body was well known and ginger syrup retained its place in the British Pharmacia for arthritic pain until the 1950s.

All spices have warming qualities to a greater or lesser degree. Nutmeg is a warming, stimulating spice. It is a traditional digestive remedy and generally stimulates energy in the body. It can be used with other warming spices for people who tend to be on the cold side, constitutionally. It makes a useful poultice for chest congestion.

Large doses (i.e. more than two whole nutmegs eaten at once) are hallucinogenic causing massive hangovers and inability to urinate. They are a favourite high with prisoners who cannot obtain other illegal drugs but they are often unaware of the side effects!

Cardomom and cinnamon have a gentle effect, if you are trying to persuade someone to help their circulation whilst professing to hate spices. They can easily be added to family staples such as rice pudding or apple pie without anyone protesting. Cardamom has been widely used to treat infections in teeth and gums, to prevent and treat throat problems, congestion of the lungs and tuberculosis, inflammation of eyelids and digestive disorders.

Cinnamon has a myriad of uses, from treating Raynauld’s disease to type two diabetes. Every herbalist will wax lyrical about cinnamon if you listen to them long enough.  Jim Macdonald has written, “Cinnamon excels as a stimulating diaphoretic, and is specific for when there is poor peripheral circulation but the afflicted is either sweating profusely or has diarrhoea and is becoming dehydrated.”

He describes this as an example of a diaphoretic that checks perspiration, rather than promoting it. He says this action isn’t inhibitory; rather, it helps to prevent dehydration resultant from weakness in the periphery. He believes diaphoretics don’t, as is often stated, work by stimulating sweating but rather by controlling ventilation via directing circulation and regulating/correcting tension or weakness in the periphery.

King described cinnamon, “For post-partum and other uterine haemorrhages, it is one of the most prompt and efficient remedies in the Materia Medica.” Ellingwood was another nineteen century herbalist who used cinnamon as “a haemostatic of much power” saying, “it is positively reliable in all passive haemorrhages.”

Cumin and coriander are both anti-bacterial, warming and cooling, thanks to their diaphoretic properties. Other spices such as turmeric and chilli are increasingly being used for their anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving qualities.

Turmeric is an ancient Ayevedic medicine.  It is a useful digestive stimulant and chologouge. It gently warms the digestive system and through slight bitter and pungent flavours, it increases secretion of digestive fluids. Turmeric also stimulates the production and secretion of bile, which is extremely important in the digestion of fats.  Difficulty digesting fats can be resolved by stirring a little turmeric into food, or taking as a warm tea before or after meals.

The classical method of taking turmeric is to dry fry the powder, then add to a cup of warm milk sweetened with honey. A teaspoon stirred into warm water with a spoon of honey is a pleasant digestive stimulating tea or eat a small portion of rice cooked with turmeric, or add to your soup broth. The anti-inflammatory properties of turmeric for treating psoriasis led to one mother hiding turmeric in scrambled egg for her seven year old.

Never add more than 1tsp of turmeric to any dish or it will ruin the flavour. If you need to take larger amounts at any one time, the dose is usually ingested as capsules of powder or tinctured root.

It’s difficult to talk about spices without giving recipes. Here is my favourite warming winter tea

Warming winter tea

Place 1-2tsp flax seed together with a broken up cinnamon stick and maybe a couple of cardamom pods and some sliced orange peel, a handful of fresh or half a handful of dried rosehips and the juice of half an orange. Put all the ingredients in a small saucepan and fill the saucepan with cold water. Bring to the boil, then simmer uncovered until the amount of water has halved from evaporation. Strain, add honey to taste and sip while hot.

Nettle latte is another winter favourite.

Nettle Latte

Make a strong infusion of nettles. Heat a portion of milk and whisk until frothy. Mix hot milk and hot nettle tea in equal quantities. Add honey and powdered cinnamon or nutmeg to taste.

Ginger syrup

1 l (2 pints) water

40 g (1 1/2 oz) dried herb or 100g (4oz) fresh chopped ginger root

450 g (1 lb) sugar

Put the chopped ginger root in water, bring to a boil, simmer for 20-30 minutes, strain.

Clean out the saucepan, pour liquid back into it, evaporate on minimum heat until you only have 2 dl (7 fl.oz.) left. Add sugar, simmer until sugar has dissolved, pour into jars, label.

Sweet Potato Curry

3 medium size sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into approx. 1” segments

2 carrots peeled and sliced

2 celery sticks washed and thinly sliced

1 onion peeled and diced

1 red pepper, diced

1” root ginger peeled and diced

3 cloves of garlic, smashed, peeled and left for 15 mins before cooking

3 courgettes washed and sliced (optional)

1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin

10 whole green cardamom pods

Any other veg you have lying around which needs using up, cut into suitable small pieces

Sweat the onions, red pepper, garlic and ginger in olive oil. Add the spices and cook for 2 minutes. Add courgettes at this point if you are using them and fry until soft. Add the other ingredients and fry for a few moments then just cover with cold water. Season. Cover the saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes until all the vegetables are sufficiently soft for your taste. Serve with rice of your choice.

Mung bean and pumpkin curry

1/2 a bag of mung beans soaked overnight

Half the insides of a large pumpkin

1 tin of coconut milk

One handful of sultanas

1 red pepper, diced

2 carrots peeled and sliced

1 onion, peeled and diced

1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced

2 cloves of garlic

1” root ginger

1 tsp cumin,1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp paprika

Peel the garlic and mash with the ginger to form a paste. Sweat the onion and red pepper for five minutes in olive oil. Add the ginger/garlic paste and spices. Cook for 2 mins. Add the carrots, mung beans and pumpkin and fry for 1 min. Add the coconut milk plus another tinful of cold water. Cook for 20 minutes then add sultanas and apple. Cook for another 20-30 minutes until everything is soft. Serve with rice of your choice.

Spiced rice pudding

1pt milk

2 tbsp. sugar

2 tbsp. pudding rice

½ tsp. nutmeg grated

8 green cardamoms

Small handful sultanas or raisins (optional)

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Transfer to a secure, lidded boiling basin and place inside a slow cooker. Fill the slow cooker with boiling water up to the level of the liquid inside the basin. Cook for about 3-5 hours until soft.

Autumn bounty

Lying in bed this morning, I watched dark shapes fluttering earthwards in the breeze. The oak tree has begun to shed its leaves. Soon we will be awash in brown mulch and kept awake by acorns hitting the caravan or car roof!

The last few weeks have been a rush of gathering. Red rosehips and blackberries will soon be too ripe to pick and birds will have devoured all the elderberries.

As September departed in warm sunshine, I went foraging in the Friary field around the corner from my house. Everything was still damp from recent rain, so I left the bounty of nettle seed, but I found enough elderberries, haws, sloes and rosehips to make up a large jar of elderberry vinegar for Jacki and a delicious cordial. Since the latter is for enjoying rather than as a medicine, I didn't bother to evaporate it very much, which gave a larger yield.

Elderberry vinegar
Strip elderberries from stalks discarding any green ones and place in a glass jar. Cover with cider vinegar. Podge with a chopstick to remove air bubbles. Refill the jar with cider vinegar, seal, label and date. Keep in a warm dark place for three weeks then strain or use with the elderberries still in.

Elderberry honey
Place elderberries in a glass jar about 2/3 full. Cover with runny honey. Infuse for 4-6 weeks in a cool place watching carefully. Elderberries are covered with wild yeast and if kept in a warm place in too full a jar they can ferment and ooze over the side of the jar or even explode. Elderberries stain pink/purple, so should be wiped up immediately.

To make a delicious anti-viral oxymel, add 2tsp of elderberry vinegar to 2tsp elderberry honey in a mug and fill with boiling water. Otherwise, use the honey to sweeten other herbal drinks for an added anti-viral kick!

Spiced Hedgerow Cordial
An amount of hedgerow fruit – haws, sloes, rosehips, elderberries
1 inch of root ginger (grated)
1 nutmeg (grated)
2 large quills of cinnamon or cassia (whichever you have to hand)
6 cloves
Juice from one or more lemons
As many lbs of honey or sugar as you have pints of liquid remaining after evaporation

Strip the elderberries from their stalks using a fork. Remove any green elderberries. Wash remaining fruits if you think they need it. Place your hedgerow fruit in a large pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer with the lid on for about half an hour. Strain the liquid and push any juicy bits you can through the sieve. Discard the debris and wash the saucepan. Measure the liquid and put on a low heat to evaporate for a while, depending on how thick you want your cordial to be. When you are happy with the consistency, measure the liquid again and add 1lb sugar or 1lb honey to every pint of liquid. Heat very gently until the sugar/honey is dissolved. Add lemon juice to taste. Sterilise bottles in the oven for ten minutes on a low heat and sterilise the tops by putting them into a saucepan and boiling for ten minutes. Pour cordial into bottles, seal, label and date. To make the drink, add 1 tablespoon of cordial to a small cup/goblet of boiling water. Sip and enjoy.

I stole time last weekend to visit my parents and the Sanctuary. I really enjoyed searching for conkers in the empty pasture as light faded. The following day, my father wanted to dig up potatoes planted in the new bed, so while he dug, I gathered a last harvest of calendula petals and seeds, roses for white wine vinegar for cleaning, hops to tincture and New England aster to dry and display. Later, we picked rosehips and elderberries to dry and freeze.

I decided to use technology on the conkers this year instead of Chris and his hammer, so about thirty went into the grinder for an infused oil and the same amount into the liquidiser with some vodka to prepare a tincture. This is James Wong's method. It is a lot easier if you haven't managed to pick conkers in early August when they're still immature enough to slice, but it's going to be a pain to strain when it's ready. Luckily I have some butter muslin and will be able to squeeze! The oil came out a beautiful pale green. I shall be using it in a moisturising salve for my legs along with calendula and marshmallow leaf oils.

Like many people, our apple tree has been laden this year. The fruit is a flavourful cooker, but it's almost impossible to keep. The fruit starts rotting almost as soon as it hits the ground and some years on the tree as well! I haven't had time to pick all the apples on the tree, but I've been trying as much as I can to keep up with the windfalls.

It's a real bonus to sit on a sun-drenched bench and peel a basket of apples while honey bees cover the Michaelmas daises in the border. I bought my wicker gathering basket from Mellingey Mill Willow Craft Centre near Padstow over ten years ago. I love it. A basket of apples fills my largest 5 pint saucepan with apple slices which will then reduce by a third when cooked. I used to cook the apples into plain apple sauce with sugar, but this year I've been experimenting with a spiced apple sauce which we've been eating with Greek yoghurt for dessert.

Spiced apple sauce
Peel, core and slice cooking apples into a saucepan. Add half a grated nutmeg, 1 tsp powdered cinnamon and ½ teaspoon of powdered cloves. Add the minimum amount of water you can (I usually place the saucepan under the tap, turn it on and immediately off again). Place the now covered saucepan on the heat and bring to the boil slowly. Simmer until the apples are all soft stirring occasionally to ensure they don't stick or burn on the bottom. Leave to cool, then freeze or keep in the fridge.

Instead of spices, I've been experimenting with lemon juice, zest and honey replacing sugar. The first batch was too sharp for most tastes, but I'll try again soon.

I've also been cooking apple cakes using a family recipe from Germany. It's a really useful recipe if you have run out of eggs for a fruit or sponge cake or are entertaining vegan visitors.

Apple Cake
12 oz flour (½ plain and ½ wholemeal)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of salt
6oz margarine
6oz dark brown sugar
2oz walnuts (or mixed ground nuts)
10oz dates (or mixed dried fruits)
½ pint apples stewed without sugar
Prepare cake tin by greasing and lining with greaseproof paper. Heat oven to 180degrees C or Gas Mark 5. Sieve flour with bicarb and salt. Rub flour into margarine until it resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in sugar, nuts and mixed fruit. Add stewed apple and mix thoroughly. Pour into cake tin and place in the oven as quickly as possible. Cook for 1-1 ½ hours until a sharp knife or skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Last night was the October West Mercian Herb Group meeting. The subject was herbs for Halloween and I'd asked everyone to choose a herb and make something from it. Unfortunately it was a very select turnout with only four people, but we enjoyed tasting Judith's clove and ginger cookies and my apple and honey muffins and soul cakes.

The muffins and soul cakes are a useful double act to cook since one calls for egg whites and the other egg yolks. I found the recipes from the internet, but I've adapted them to suit what I had available.

Apple muffins
2 egg whites
240g (8 oz) flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
170ml (6 fl oz) milk
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons honey
110g (4 oz) chopped apples
Preheat oven to 190 C / Gas mark 5. Lightly grease one 12-cup muffin tin, or line with paper muffin cups. Lightly beat egg whites. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients thoroughly. Mix together milk, oil, honey with a whisk in another bowl until they emulsify then add chopped apples. Gently fold in egg whites to the wet mixture. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients. Fold together until just moistened. Batter will be lumpy. Fill greased muffin tins two-thirds full. Bake about 20 minutes until lightly browned.

The muffins have a delicate honey flavour. They seemed a little dry to me, although the others enjoyed them, so I might add whole eggs next time and see what happens.

Soul cakes
6ozs butter
6ozs sugar
12ozs plain flour, sifted
3 egg yolks
generous pinch (1tsp) of dried calendula petals
2 tsp mixed spice (powdered cinnamon/nutmeg/mace/cloves)
1 tsp allspice
3 tbsp currants
2 tsp milk
Crush the calendula petals in a pestle and mortar, add the milk and grind to combine. Sift together the flour and remaining spices into a bowl.
In the meantime, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat the egg yolks and add to the creamed mixture a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the sifted flour and spice mix and stir in the currants. Add the milk and calendula mixture and enough additional milk to form a soft dough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface and shape into flat cakes about 5 or 6cm in diameter. Transfer to a well-buttered baking tray and place in an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly golden. Allow to cool on the tray for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I didn't add additional milk because I'd reduced the amount of flour from 20oz in the original recipe to 12oz as the former amount appeared somewhat excessive. I took a pinch of dough, rolled it into a ball between my hands and covered it in sugar before placing on the baking tray.

Only three of the three dozen soul cakes I made actually flattened into proper biscuit shaped, but the shape they retained makes them look something special, which is what you want with a soul cake which is made especially to remember and honour our beloved dead. Thankfully we still have two weeks until the end of the month, so there is still time for more foraging, cooking and enjoying the autumn bounty.

Something old, someting new....

This post is a late entry in the Herbwifery Forum January blog party on Warming herbs hosted by Yael.

In June this year, my sister in law, Roz and her partner, Dickie, will be holding a medieval feast at Dunster Castle for their wedding breakfast. They are both keen archers (Roz has been the UK Ladies Longbow Champion in the past) so a medieval celebration seems a perfect culmination of the happy event.

They have borrowed a copy of my ‘Cooking and Dining in Medieval England by Peter Brears’, which was recommended by Anthony Lyman-Dixon as the most comprehensive book of its kind. Although I’ve had it over six months, I’ve only managed to read the first few chapters, but already it has completely changed my view of medieval castle ruins!

You might think this happy family event has nothing to do with a post on warming herbs, but if you can be patient a little longer, I will explain.

During the November meeting of the Mercian Herb Group, Debs delivered a fascinating presentation on spices. It is easy to forget that spices are also herbs and most of them are warming in one way or another. Amongst the spices Debs introduced us to was Grains of Paradise, Aframomum melegueta. This spice was very popular during medieval times and is an absolute “must have” if you are trying to re-create medieval recipes.

Debs very kindly shared some of her Grains of Paradise with us. They look like peppercorns, which they can substitute for, but have a reddish tinge. The seeds are harvested from a green leafy plant very similar to ginger grown in West Africa. It has a distinctive purple, trumpet-shaped flower. The pods are red when first picked, then are dried to a brown wrinkled capsule. The seeds come from inside the pod and produce a grey-coloured powder when ground.

Grains of Paradise have been described as tasting somewhat like coriander, ginger, and cardamom, with a citrus note and a scent which people sometimes describe as being very “floral.” It is milder than black pepper, but it still provides a degree of heat and spice if applied in large amounts.

The name, ‘Grains of Paradise’, was applied by the ancient spice traders, who justified their high prices by telling buyers it came from the Garden of Eden itself and had to be collected as they floated down the rivers out of paradise. The Roman naturalist, Pliny the Elder, knew the spice as “African Pepper”, but the more exotic name was popular throughout Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth century.

Like all spices, Grains of Paradise has its own medicinal properties. In medieval times, under the Doctrine of Humours, it was considered to be “hot and moist”. Like black pepper, it can be used as an anti-inflammatory and a pain-killer by warming arthritic joints. Modern research carried out on rats has claimed it as an aphrodisiac, but one would have to carry out personal experimentation to see if such findings held true for humans as well!

Over the past few days, I have been experimenting with electuaries thanks to the recipes kindly shared by Susan Hess and Ananda Wilson during the August 2009 blog party on Sweet Medicines. I substituted Grains of paradise for red pepper flakes in the Spiced electuary and added some with powdered ginger to the Longevity electuary.

Spiced Electuary (Susan Hess)
1/2 tsp Grains of Paradise,
1 tsp whole cloves,
2 tsp coriander seeds,
2 tsp dried ginger root,
2 tsp whole black peppercorns,
2 tsp fennel seeds,
2 tsp nutmeg powder,
3 tsp cardamom seeds,
3 tsp whole allspice berries,
3 whole star anise,
3 tblsps cinnamon chips
Grind all spices together in a mortar and pestle (or electric coffee grinder if you have one) until quite finely powdered. Stir into 2 cups of honey and simmer together over a the lowest heat possible double boiler for at least a day, preferably longer, but stirring often. Strain warm honey through a medium fine sieve. This will assure that you remove all the tooth-breaking hard parts, but still allow the powered bits to pass through. The finished electuary should be rich, dark and nearly paste-like in consistency. Store in a clean jar and cap tightly.

I made the electuary in a crockpot, which was a big mistake. Even on the lowest setting, the temperature was too high. After two hours, Chris suggested we strain it before it cooled and stuck like concrete to the bowl! We strained it onto a baking tray and put it in the utility to cool. It set into a dark brown toffee which bent and pulled when handled, but which broke when hit with a heavy object (Chris used the wooden spurtle made by my father to stir porridge!).

In small pieces, it is not unpleasant to suck, but is definitely spicy!

Longevity Electuary (Ananda Wilson)
In an 8 oz jar, add:
3 tsp Ashwagandha and or Shatawari powder
3 tsp Spirulina powder
3 tsp Slippery Elm or Mallow powder
2 tsp Siberian Ginseng (Eluthero) powder
1 tsp Cardamom powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
Cover almost full with good local, raw honey
Add 1 tsp of Rose hydrosol or Rose elixir. Dried Elderberry powder is optional as well! Slowly, to avoid the infamous "cloud poof", stir with a spoon until all the powders are smoothed into the honey. Label and store. Refrigeration isn't necessary.

Ananda suggested adding ginger or pepper to the electuary if you have a “kapha” constitution, which I probably have, so I powdered half a teaspoon of Grains of Paradise and added it together with half a teaspoon of dried ginger. The resulting honey is “very different”! The spirulina turned it bright green and the spices have given it a very interesting flavour. So far I’ve eaten it on bread as this seems more palatable to me than having it on its own.

What I love about Grains of Paradise is that it has given me a link to the past which can now carry on to the future. Although it fell out of favour in the kitchen during Georgian times when an Act of Parliament prevented its use as a flavouring in beer, aqua vita and cordials, perhaps now is the time to reassess its distinctive properties and make it part of our lives again.