Wild Violet Syrup | Kentucky Forager. I made my first batch of wild violet syrup last night. I had half expected it to taste like sugar water, but I was pleasantly surprised. It turned out to have a nice sweet floral taste and made a nice addition to my evening tea. I’ve always been familiar with wild violets, but never by that name. My grandma always called them fighting roosters, because kids used to compete by hooking the “crooks” behind the flower head together and pulling to see which head would pop off first.
For this recipe you will need: Wild violet blossomsWaterSugarLemon juice I used white sugar in this recipe to achieve the ideal color, but I imagine you could use any type of sugar. Wild Violet (Viola odorata) Making violet syrup is simple. Once you have picked your violets, place them in a jar or glass and add enough boiling water to cover the flowers. Let the flowers steep for an hour or two (until the water cools). Slowly add small amounts of lemon juice until desired color is reached. Pretty cool huh? Enjoy! Lavender Lemonade with Honey. 1134StumbleUpon Lavender is beginning to bloom now in my garden, not only looking and smelling beautiful, but attracting bees and other pollinators to the rest of my plants.
I harvest it for its beauty, and dry it for use as food and medicine. Growing Lavender Lavender is easy to grow in full sun and any well-drained soil, and is a relatively drought tolerant, perennial plant that adds interest to any garden with its grey leaves and tall, purple blooms. Like many plants grown for their essential oils, a lean soil will encourage a higher concentration of oils. An alkaline soil will enhance lavenders fragrance. While you can grow lavender in USDA Zone 5, it is unlikely you will ever have a lavender hedge. It is dampness more than cold, that is responsible for killing lavender plants. Lavender planted where the ground routinely freezes and thaws throughout the winter will need a thick layer of mulch applied after the ground initially freezes. Using Lavender Lavender Lemonade with Honey. Shrub love — Rediscovering a colonial classic :: by Ellen Jackson.
We wait all year for this: fingers stained with cherry juice, arms covered in bramble scratches, and countertops cluttered with canning jars. We can, dry, freeze, jam, pickle, and preserve summer, and we’ve gotten pretty good at it. But there’s another way to bottle summer’s bounty. It’s called a shrub. Shrubs date back to the 18th century. Their name comes not from leafy bushes but from sharab, an Arabic word meaning syrup, and sharbat, a Hindi word for an aromatic syrup made from fruit, or herb and flower extracts, that is stirred into water and served over ice. Similar to drinking vinegars, shrubs are concentrated syrups made from fruit, sugar, and vinegar. A rhubarb shrub. When stirred into a glass of cold water, a shrub syrup produces a refreshing, quaffable beverage that strikes a pleasing balance between tart and sweet, simultaneously quenching the thirst and whetting the appetite.
How to make shrubs at home A bar isn’t the only place to sample shrubs, though. Basic Shrub Recipe. Easy Homemade Probiotic (no starter culture or special equipment required!) | Find Your Balance with Michelle Pfennighaus. Easy Homemade Probiotics (no starter culture or special equipment required!) December 4, 2013 Depending who you talk to, the best diet is a raw food diet. Or a grain-free diet. Or a low-fat diet. How the heck are we supposed to make decisions about food and get on with our lives? But in between the fads and hype and extreme views, there are some areas of truth that overlap. One of those truths? Some dietary theories don’t mention fermented food, but I’ve never found one that actively recommends against it. I first learned all this while studying Macrobiotics. At one point I tried. I gave up. Four years later, I felt ready to try again. After all, I’ve got one toddler and a baby on the way. Actually, my kids are giving me good reason to work on my home fermentation.
So, here we are folks. But did I mention this stuff is tasty?? I call it juice and my son drinks a few ounces per day, which is really all you need. FYI, kvass is traditionally made from beets. You may also be interested in: How to Make Cardamom Infused Tonic Water | The Dabblist. Natural Ginger Ale Recipe - Homemade Fermented Probiotic Drink. Honey lavender soda.
For the honeycomb baby shower I served a lavender honey soda. It was my first attempt at herbal soda making and it was amazing! I made a second batch this week to drink myself, it is incredibly refreshing on a hot afternoon. To make the soda; combine 1 cup of honey with 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of lavender florets (find these in the spice section). Simmer until combined, about three minutes. PS. Switchel. DIY Healthy Soda - Simple Life Abundant LifeSimple Life Abundant Life. Once upon a time I was addicted to Coca Cola. When my eyes were opened to the world of real food, I learned to start reading ingredients instead of calories, and here is what I found: Carbonated waterHigh fructose corn syrup (A probable GMO)Caramel color (A probable GMO and linked to cancer)Phosphoric acid (derived from a rock. Seriously! But don’t worry, they remove the arsenic compounds before they put it in your drink.)Natural Flavors (A probable GMO/excitoxin/addictive element from “natural” sources including bugs, beaver butts, and other deliciously savory things.)Caffeine Ya’ll, there is not one redeemable quality about drinking conventional soda.
But don’t despair my friends. Score! Water Kefir This homemade soda is made with water kefir grains (not to be confused with milk kefir grains). They are clear, gummy-like “grains” that when placed in a sugary solution like sugar water or juice, eat away at the sugars creating a probiotic-rich, lacto-fermented beverage that is carbonated. Lacto-femented Sparkling Apple Cider - Nourishing Simplicity. Nothing says the holidays like a glass of sparkling apple cider. It’s the favorite of kids and many adults for Thanksgiving, Christmas, weddings and toasting in the New Year. You would not belive how easy it is to make your own sparkling apple cider that is full of millions of healthy bacteria, enzymes and probiotics!
Mix whey with apple juice, cover and a few days later you have your very own lacto-fermented apple cider! The fermentation process eats up of most of the sugars in the juice and leaves it slightly carbonated. It’s as easy as that, you’re very own bubbly drink is ready for your next special occasion. Learn how to make this tasty cider at Modern Alternative Mama! Ancient Ales. You might not know it, but medieval Germans nearly ruined beer forever. In 1516, a purity law called the Reinheitsgebot mandated that beer be made with only water, hops and barley. (The role of yeast hadn't yet been discovered.) Thanks to that bit of brewing censorship and the bastardized recipes of modern brewing conglomerates, beer drinkers have been subjected to bland lager for a long, long time. In 1995, Dogfish Head broke the shackles and started brewing extreme, exotic, extraordinary beers, and we've been thumbing our noses at the Reinheitsgebot ever since.
Turns out, we were the ones making traditional beers. In 1999, Dogfish Head started working closely with Dr. The first beer we created with Dr. All these beers are part of the longer tradition of creative brewing Dogfish Head has focused on since the beginning, and for this reason, we just might be the most traditional modern brewery in the world.