Souper #Workshop

     I have taught soap making classes many times.  I am comfortable there but, it is time to stretch my wings.  Slowly moving towards sharing all I have learned about the plant world.  I continue to learn and grow and sometimes feel stuck in the mire of never knowing enough.  But, this year at the International Herb Symposium I looked around and thought I have arrived (not at a final destination but at a point in time). After ten years of study I feel like I know something, more than a little something and it is time to pass it on to more than just my family.
    I'm starting with my first love - cooking.  I am making a big pot of chicken soup. It is after all the what soothes all ailments, right?  I will have it for my students to enjoy while we talk about the ingredients I use to boost the immune system and add that extra something.  Class is Sunday, October 25, from noon until 2.  Sign up at my facebook  event or message me here.
     I will provide the recipe or the bones of my recipe for everyone to take home.  I can honestly say I have never made my chicken soup exactly the same way twice.  But, the base is the same; a good free range chicken, organic vegetables and lots of herbs.  From there the possibilities are endless.

Chicken Potato Soup

     My chicken potato soup started after my daughter's open house at the high school.  She is taking culinary this year and they were doing a baked potato fund raiser.  I was gifted a pile of baked potatoes.  I scooped out the insides for the soup and make potato skins for an appetizer.  As the week went on the soup morphed as I added the leftover vegetables from dinner to the pot.  A little sauteed squash here, some chopped green beans there  and it just became more delicious as time went on.

#Goldenrod

I just love having this golden beauty growing in my flower bed.  Sunshine in autumn that brings a smile to my heart.  Goldenrod or Solidago, is good medicine as well.  Before the flowers are spent, preferably as they just start to bloom harvest them.  Make them into a tea.  Dry them for a winter tea that brings back some of that golden energy.  Make them into a tincture.  I combine this with tinctures of elder flower and catnip for our family decongestant.

Many think they are allergic to this beauty.  It is not so...  She waves her gorgeous flowers high and proud but to breath in her pollen you would need to stick your nose into the blossoms and breath deeply.  It is the rag weed that often hides behind goldenrod's beauty that flings her pollen in the air and causes itchy watery eyes and a runny nose.  Sip some goldenrod tea to alleviate the symptoms.

She is also used for kidney disorders and stuck chi (energy).  I invite you to take some time to get to know her.

Here and Away

August, that amazing month of time way that moves like a speeding train.  I spent a wonderful, rejuvenating week in Hilton Head, SC with my hubby and daughter.  I arrived home to my son visiting for two weeks.  He is on leave from the Marine's before being deployed.  I spent a day with my daughter shopping for school and turning her deep brown locks of hair into electric lizard green.  You need to pick your battles and I figure this is a rather harmless rebellion.  And though I am home physically I'm not sure I have fully arrived.  And then we are off again.  Well, my daughter and I are off to the New England Women's Herbal Conference.
It has become an annual pilgrimage.  My beloved teacher introduced me to the conference ten years ago.  The following year I brought my oldest daughter.  When my youngest was old enough that I didn't need to watch her every second I included her as well.  The girls enjoyed one conference together before my oldest flew the nest.  This will be my youngest's sixth conference.  It has been inspiring to watch her grow at this event.

This conference feeds my soul in ways I just can't fully describe.  I am surrounded by women interested in herbs that I can talk with, share with and learn from.  I get to take class after class with teachers from around the world.  I can meet the authors of the books I devoured.  I get to see that they are as human as I am.  I play and explore and come home with a renewed fire inside.  I reconnect with friends I have made over this past decade.  And I truly mean friends not just acquaintances.  The music, the dancing, the shopping, the learning, the connecting, the laughter, the tears...  the bathroom parties, the long dinner lines visiting, the million little things, the sharing all of this with my daughter...  all of these and more nourish me on a deep level.
The conference also signals the end of summer break.  School has started, the schedule slows a little and I will be drinking in the autumn abundance before the winter hibernation.  I will be in my studio more often.  Regular Sunday hours will be back.  Classes will be scheduled.  New ideas will make manifest. Ashe, Ashe!

Traveling Muffins #Recipe

August is a PTO month for me - Personal Time Off.  I have done some work and will do a little more before the month is done but in between will  be some much needed time away with family.  I started the month at the Health, Wealth and Home Expo.  It was a beautiful week end, I met some amazing people and left feeling grateful.
Today I cleaned the house from top to bottom while hubby detailed the car.  Then I made a batch of traveling muffins before heading to the spa.  Nothing like a good massage to start a vacation off right. I made the first version of these muffins many years ago for something to munch on in the wee hours of the morning before stopping for breakfast. And by wee hours I mean the middle of the night to most people.  They were a big hit and now are part of our family's traveling tradition.
I have tweaked the recipe a little here and there but this is the version I made this morning.

Traveling Muffins

Blueberry Coconut Muffins

AKA Traveling Muffins

Note:  all the ingredients I use are organic.  And my FIL loved these even though he claims to hate coconut.

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup cane sugar
4 tsp lemon zest
2/3 cup raw milk (or heavy cream)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
2 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins or use cupcake papers.

Beat butter, sugars and zest until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time; beating after each addition.   Add milk and mix.  Add flour and beat until just combined.  Stir in coconut and gently fold in blueberries.  Using a large kitchen scoop (ice cream scoop) fill muffin tin.  Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Makes 24 muffins.

#Teachers

I have been blessed with many teachers in my life.  Actually I think everyone is a teacher in some way and I feel blessed to recognize that in so many.  I love to learn.  I would be a full time academic student if that were a vocation. Instead I am a full time student in life - through books, nature, classes and the people that surround me.
I am reading Women Healers of the World By Holly Bellebuono at the moment and one common theme is that all the woman had been taught by their mothers and grandmothers.  My ancestors have taught me many things but not so much about the herbs.  My Grandpa had a huge garden and I learned to eat a varied and fresh diet. Food was central to family gatherings and I learned my love of cooking from my Auntie.
Over the years I picked up tidbits of information from varied sources.  My poison ivy remedy comes from an old boyfriend's grandfather, a wise old farmer.  One of my oldest and dearest friends is a master gardener and I work for her in my off time.  I am paid in plants. My garden reflects those happy moments.

Odessa (payment from Time for a Garden)

I took a soap making class in a shop located in an old gardening shed.  I took classes at a local store in many subjects including introduction to herbs as medicine.  I was hooked.  This is where I met my first formal herbal teacher and now dear friend Rose of Walk in the Woods.

Rose

I studied with her and continue to learn from her.  She is truly an inspiration.  She doesn't just talk the talk but walks her walk.  Her knowledge of plants, gardening and medicine of the people is a gift to everyone she meets.  She can be a subtle leader or in your face and nudges you to think for yourself.  She introduced me to my first New England Women's Herbal Conference. That first year we went together. It was magical being with so many like minded women learning about our plant allies and dancing by the fire.  I haven't missed a conference since.  This year we attended the International Herb Symposium together. It was her first time attending (my third).  The base she helped me develop gave me the confidence to take the advanced herbal class at Sage Mountain.

It was there I met a new tribe of women that I am blessed to call friends.  We travel many miles and to many classes and conferences where we get to see each other again.  We keep in contact in between and continue to learn and inspire each other. The circle keeps growing, spiraling and at the center is love and the plants.

#Rosemary

     I love rosemary. It is one of my favorite herbs to cook with.  A little chopped up in marinades is a pure delight.  Not only does it taste good but it has a toning and calming effect on the digestive system. Thought to help with the breakdown of fats it is often cooked with heavier meat dishes.  It is a circulatory and nervine stimulant making it helpful for tension headaches.  Externally it can be used to ease muscle pain and sciatica.
     Added to a foot bath it encourages good circulation, dilates the blood vessels in the feet and draws the blood downward away from your head often alleviating stress headaches.  This along with a cold compress on your head often stops migraines.  Combine it with lavender, sage and hops for a wonderful foot (or bath) soak.
     Rosemary is often used in skincare recipes.  It is part of the Queen of Hungary's Water a wonderful astringent lotion that has been hailed as the first herbal product ever produced and marketed.  Rosemary combined with calendula blossoms, raspberry leaf and sage make a wonderful steam for oily skin.
     Rosemary is used to stimulate hair follicles and may be used in premature baldness.  It may not reverse the process of balding but will maintain good circulation and promote healthy hair growth.  The essential oil is is used for the treatment of dandruff.  I use rosemary as a hair rinse.

Rosemary in my garden

     Rosemary is great for darker locks and helps if you have oily hair.   For light colored hair you can substitute chamomile flowers. In the summer when I can grow rosemary (I rarely can get it to over winter even in the house though I keep trying) I will cut fresh sprigs.  In the winter I use dried rosemary to make my rinse.

Rosemary Hair Rinse

Fresh rosemary 3 to 4 stalks or a handful of dried rosemary

Water

Organic  Live Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)

Rosemary newly steeping

I bring the water to a simmer and pour over the rosemary.  I let it steep for a long time (all day or overnight).  I strain out the herbs and add 1 part ACV to 3 parts rosemary infusion.  I have a quart spray bottle that I keep in the shower which makes measuring really easy.  You could add a few drops (2 to 3) of rosemary essential oil at this point if you like.  I usually don't. After shampooing and rinsing my hair I spray my hair completely with the hair rinse and rinse my hair again with water.

Rosemary Hair "Rinse"

Soap Making #Classes

Making soap

I have so much fun making soap.  It's a fairly easy process once you know how to do it.  I would love to share that knowledge with you. My next class is scheduled for September 27, 2015 starting at noon.  Or you can turn any of my studio days into a soap making class. Classes can be for one student or up to eight.  I'm in the studio on the following Sundays, September 13 and 20 and October 4, 18 and 25 from 11 to 4. If Sunday doesn't work for you I'd me more than happy to find a day that does.
Classes involve making a batch of soap together, directions and resource sheets for you to take home and a bar of soap for you to enjoy.  The fee is $25.00 per person.  Classes run between an hour and a half to two hours.  Studio 418 is located at Whiting Mills at 100 Whiting Street, Winsted, CT.  Contact me here. or leave a comment or message me on facebook.

Set up for a day of soap making