This is a guest post by Spencre McGowan of the wonderful blog Gingertooth and Twine. She will be telling us all about her recipe for Reishi Red, a delicious infusion of reishi mushrooms and other herbs in red wine, from her new book Blotto Botany. Read more about Spencre at the end of this post….
Herbal Infusions
Pine Needle Cough Syrup
Pine needles may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of natural herbal medicine, but they actually do have a lot of benefits! The best part is that conifer needles are easy to forage year round, even in the fall and winter. This pine needle cough syrup is easy to…
Medicinal Benefits of Hops + Hop Tea
Most of us have heard of hops because they are one of the main ingredients used in beer brewing. They give beer that classic bitter flavor, and in some varieties it can be quite pronounced. Since I love to make my own brews I’ve been curious about growing hops for a while now. Earlier this…
Fermented Elderberry Honey
When elderberry season is here I want to make ALL the elderberry things. Elderberry syrup is a standard every year for keeping our immune system healthy. Some years if I have a large elderberry haul I’ll made elderberry mead or elderberry soda. But this year I wanted something a little more simple. Ever since I…
Elderflower Liqueur Recipe: Homemade St. Germain
Elderflower season is an exciting but short lived time. Every year I try to find some way to preserve the elderflower harvest so that I can enjoy them for a longer period of time. Elderflower sparkling mead is one of my favorite things to make, but I’ve been wanting to try making elderflower liqueur (also…
White Clover Iced Tea (recipe + uses)
White clover is almost ubiquitous in lawns and backyards, but most people don’t know that it’s both edible and medicinal. Red clover is known for having amazing medicinal benefits, but white clover is more readily available and is useful in its own right. One of the most simple and delicious ways to use the sweet…
Raspberry Mint Infused Wine
As many of you know by now, making my own homebrew, specifically mead (honey wine), is one of my favorite things to do. I also love infusing flavors into different mediums, including alcohol. When I don’t have the time to brew up some wine or mead, I like to make an infused wine to extract…
Wild Violet Flower Infused Vinegar
One of the first flowers to emerge in late winter and early spring are wild violets. We get them all over our backyard, so finding them is pretty easy! Since we have so many, I decided that I better do something with them, and making wild violet infused vinegar seemed like the best idea. It’s…
Wildflower Herbal Infusion Tea
I love cooking with foraged ingredients, but I especially love it when I can do something fun with wildflowers (wildflower mead, anyone?) While the season for fresh wildflowers is generally pretty short, they are easy to dry on a drying screen and store for use throughout the year. Dried edible flowers are perfect for using…
Stinging Nettle-Ade Recipe
Many people know about stinging nettles, but they are much more well known for their painful sting than their edible and medicinal qualities. If prepared the right way, stinging nettles are delicious and nutritious! So many edible wild “weeds” are brushed off as being a nuisance, when they are actually quite tasty, and often have…
