Blending

One of the numerous reasons I love working with herbs, is because there are endless opportunities for exploration and expanding my knowledge. Basically, I will never be done learning. I love tinkering with tried and true remedies, investigating new combinations and learning how I can enhance their medicinal properties. Ever since I started tincturing Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) berries, I love including its blossoms and

Beautiful fragrant blossoms

leaves into the mix. Each spring, I try my best to find that ideal window of opportunity to harvest its beautiful blossoms. Some years I am luckier than others. It is important to gather the blossoms while they are open and fresh in order to capture their vital medicinal properties in all their glory. I wish I could convey how exciting it is to have the opportunity to blend my two tinctures in the winter after starting the process in May with gathering the fresh blossoms and leaves to tincture. Then after the first frost in the fall, I harvested fresh berries to tincture as well. I am a big fan of using fresh herbs and adding them to the menstruum (solvent that extracts the medicinal qualities from the herb) as quickly as possible to extract all the potent medicinal properties.  Mike and I have done taste tests of the berries, and then combined the berry, blossom, and leaf tinctures and found both pleasant. But there is something lighter and crisper about the combined tincture ~ it tasted wonderful.  I have always found that if an herb tastes enjoyable to an individual, their bodies are telling them they need those healing and nourishing properties. It’s kind of like their body’s way of welcoming healing and health. Moreover folks, our bodies were loving this Hawthorn tincture.

So, why was it so important for me to combine the blossoms, leaves, and berries, since many traditional Hawthorn extracts simply contain the berries? Basically, it is vital to go with gut instincts and, frankly, my entire being was screaming for the whole plant. In fact, some herbalist actually use the ends of the branches and thorns in their extractions as well; perhaps another time. Yes, Hawthorn berries, leaves and blossoms are all rich in flavonoids but each contains different types or amounts of flavonoids. For example, berries contain more hyperoside than the leaves and flowers, and the leaves and flowers contain more vitexin rhamnoside than the berries. My thoughts  are that all the flavonoids are important and helpful, so I want them all, allowing me to create a more complex tincture. So what is so great about flavonoids? Flavonoids are rich in anti-oxidant, benefiting the heart and blood vessels in many ways; they increase the heart pumping action, which in turn increases blood flow and improves oxygen utilization while relaxing the blood vessels. They improve the integrity of blood vessel walls and decrease capillary fragility and permeability, as well as lowering blood pressure.

Although a great deal of research has been done on Hawthorn and it has been used as a heart tonic since the 1st century, all the mechanisms are still unknown, but it is clear that hawthorn improves cardiac insufficiency and circulation. It does not work over night. It is a tonic and needs time to nourish, tone and strengthen the heart muscle, perhaps 3-6 months or longer. Hawthorn is considered a trophorestorative herb, which are unique as they not only restore actual physical function to a debilitated organ (in this case the heart) and tissue there will be lasting improvement even if herb is discontinued. With time, the heart will become stronger, reducing the overall workload of the heart, steadying the heartbeat, allowing blood to flow freely and reducing anginas occurrences as well as duration. Its also a mild sedative, relaxing a nervous or stressed heart so less damage will occur. It is a cardiotonic superstar for sure.

So, are there any precautions to consider when taking Hawthorn? It is generally safe to use as a long-term tonic. If you are working with a cardiologist or physician definitely discuss using Hawthorn but there are generally no concerns over interactions with other medications. The only concern is that cardio-medication should be monitored over time, as you may need to adjust medication since it is likely that you will not need as high of dose due to your heart being restored and strengthened.

All information is shared for educational purposes only and has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.  This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

A yummy snack for traveling and life

Our Midwest Road Trip

Our Midwest Road Trip

When Mathew was turning one year old, we decided to introduce him to all our relatives and friends in the Midwest. During those 3 weeks, we traveled over 5,000 miles from New York to Minnesota down to Oklahoma then on to Virginia and back to New York. We spent Mathew’s 1st birthday, in Chicago at the Shedd Aquarium. Before we left, I wanted to stock up on nutritious unprocessed snacks for the ride. I had never been much of a baker but I thought muffins were a good choice. I could pack them full of nutritious ingredients and they would travel well. After a great deal of searching, I found this amazing woman, Cathe Olson; she wrote cookbooks with delicious recipes using basic ingredients. I actually started to correspond with her via email and she emailed me several recipes to choose from and has since then sent me several more. Most of her recipes were for loafs but they easily converted into muffins. After the trip, I started to make different types of muffins each week and froze half the batch. After a month, I had a freezer full of a variety of muffins. This kept snacks fresh and from getting too boring.

YUM!

YUM!

Here’s one of Mathew’s favorite muffin recipe:

Apricot-Nut Muffins

This moist, delicious bread supplies vitamin A and iron. You can omit the nuts, of course.

1 cup chopped dried apricots

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1/4 cup maple syrup, brown rice syrup, agave nectar, or honey (I like to use maple syrup or honey)

1/4 cup oil

1 cup apricot soak water

1/4 cup orange juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup wheat germ

1 cup walnuts, chopped

Place apricots in a heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over apricots and let sit about 15 minutes. Drain apricots, reserving 1 cup of the soak water.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Oil a muffin pan or use muffin liners. Beat together sweetener, oil, apricot soak water, orange juice, and vanilla. In separate bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Stir in wheat germ. Stir in liquid ingredients until just mixed. Gently fold in apricots and nuts. Pour into prepared muffin pan. Bake about 20 minutes, or until tester inserted in center comes out dry. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

If you bake this in an 8 or 9-inch square baking pan or loaf pan, it will be like a cake. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out dry.

What’s your favorite traveling snack? Please share and I will continue to share.