As you may have seen monarch butterflies are now officially endangered as of this year. Up until now they have been listed as threatened, and while many of us anticipated this move it was still difficult news to hear. As we enter mid August you may have started to see more of these magnificent migrants
Christa Daring
Metheglins: Herbed Meads
Metheglins are herbed meads, and are considered one of the oldest ways of preserving herbal remedies for later consumption. It makes sense if you think about it, readily available clean drinking water is still in short supply in many parts of the world, and while modern water filtration systems have proliferated in some places, we
Baltimore Peach Cake
I grew up eating Baltimore Peach Cake and my mom and I experimented with a variety of different recipes (before the internet!) As an adult I’ve gone back to the super thin yeast dough base, so it’s very much not a cake, but still delicious! Time: 45 minutes active, 2 hours 30 minutes passive Ingredients:
Gluten Free Pie Crust
I use this a lot for making quiche (when you have backyard chickens, you make A LOT of quiche!) and there are a number of strictly gluten free people in my life. It’s a high dairy recipe, but the texture is lovely and it holds up well with a heavy filling. You can also use
Blueberry Lemon Verbena Pie
This is one of my favorite summer pies, I have four blueberry bushes and this is the primary dish they go into! This recipe is just for the filling assembly and baking, for my regular pie crust click here and for a gluten free pie crust click here. Time: 20 minutes active and 35 minutes
Pie Crust
I use this for both sweet and savory pies, but I leave the sugar out for savory crusts. This is specifically for a gluten centric crust, check out my gluten free pie crust here. This recipe makes enough for one bottom crust and one top crust. If you’re making a quiche, half this recipe. Time:
Baked Mac & Cheese
Preheat the oven to 400* Ingredients: 4C whole milk 1/2C unsalted butter 1/2C flour (GF flour can be used) 1Tbs salt 2tps garlic powder 1tps paprika (plus extra for sprinkling on top) Couple dashes cayenne 14.5 oz box pasta (regular or GF) 3C Cabot extra sharp cheddar shredded 1C parmesan shredded 1/2C panko crumbs (regular of
Purple Dead Nettle Salve
I have made quite a number of wound and skin salves over the years, and one of my favorites has to be purple dead nettle. It is an incredibly effective healer, but it works a little slower than salves that include comfrey, I’ve personally had some issues with comfrey healing the top layer of my
Natural Egg Dyes
There are numerous theories about where the modern practice of dying eggs for easter came from. I’m not an observer of Easter myself, but I have always enjoyed the practice of dying eggs. It’s not lost on me that hunting for eggs has lost its charm since I know have to actually search for eggs
Pressure Cooker Chicken Stock
Ingredients: 1 whole cooked chicken carcass (picked over organic rotisserie is great) 2C veggie scraps fresh or frozen (celery, tomato, peppers, carrot, garlic, etc.) 2C mixed fresh herbs (parsley, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc.) 5-8 bulbs garlic 1Tbs whole peppercorns (I like a variety of black, green, and pink) 2Tbs salt 1-2 “thumbs” of fresh
Herbalists’ Sicky Icky Chicken Noodle Soup
(Note: This is enough to make quite a bit and freeze, it’s involved and not the kind of thing you want to try to whip up when you’re already sick!) You can also half the recipe. Ingredients: -4 lbs organic chicken breast cut into half inch cubes -12C chicken stock (preferably homemade)* -1 box dried
Vegan Elderberry Gummies
Adapted from: https://www.simplyhappyfoodie.com/elderberry-syrup-gummies/ Ingredients: -2C Elderberry Syrup -3/4C water -4Tbs agar agar powder Supplies: -Silicone molds -Droppers Add syrup and water to sauce pot and heat to near boil, add the agar agar powder, whisk vigorously until combined and lower heat. While keeping the liquid warm use the dropper to add the mixture to the
Pressure Cooker Elderberry Syrup
Adapted from: https://www.simplyhappyfoodie.com/instant-pot-elderberry-syrup/ Yields approximately 4C elderberry syrup Ingredients: -1C dried elderberries -4.5C water -Whole fresh garlic (eyeball for how much garlic you like, I used about a thumbs worth) -Zest of 1-2 lemons -2 cinnamon sticks -1/4 C rosehips Add all above ingredients into InstaPot or other pressure cooker (not a pressure canner). Set