Tag: seasonal

Categories
wheel of the year

Celebrate Litha!

If you’re in the northern hemisphere like me, then the summer solstice, or Litha, is approaching! To me, there is nothing more hygge than aligning yourself with the seasons, the natural world around you, and traditions associated with each spoke on the wheel of the year.

To that end, this week I have a few super simple, low-energy activities planned to do with my kids. I am all for low-cost, low-prep ways to ground yourself in the season and reap what it has to offer. But I never seem to have time or energy to put a ton of effort into anything elaborate. That’s not really necessary, though! Do things up as big or as small as you like, but in my opinion, simplicity never goes amiss.

Summer Treats: Fruit Salad, Herbed Lemon Bars, Popsicles

The summer solstice revolves around the idea of transformation. The fruits of the season are ripe for the picking! So I’ve been making super simple fruit salads with local fruits, fresh herbs, raw honey, and squeezed citrus. This is an excellent way to experience the transformation of spring blossoms into summer bounty.

Watermelon, strawberry, peach, basil, lime, and honey fruit salad

Later this week, the kids and I plan to also incorporate some of those fresh fruits and herbs in simple homemade ice pops! We are going to add vanilla yogurt (you can use dairy or plant-based) to make it a creamy, satisfying treat.

Finally, lemon bars are a summer favorite of mine. Add summer rosemary or lavender, and you’ve got a festive, cottagecore-worthy baked treat! While you can find some excellent recipes on Pinterest, I am probably just going to make a boxed mix and add my own herbs in. (No shame in the boxed mix game!)

Summer Sips: Cooling Iced Sun Teas

You can’t beat the power of the sun to brew tea. It’s so simple, and you feel like you’re sipping on summer sunshine when you drink your brews! Just add about a tablespoon of herbs per cup of water in a tea strainer or eco-friendly paper teabag, place in a glass jar, fill with cold water and put the lid on tightly, and leave in full sun for 2-4 hours. I sometimes stir in a bit of sweetener (honey works great or your own choice of sweetener), place in the fridge for several hours, and then sip straight from the jar with a reusable straw.

I have been mixing up hibiscus-based teas for the kids and I lately. Hibiscus is a delightfully tart, cooling botanical that is perfect for hot summer weather. It tastes a lot like cranberry juice as an iced tea, so it’s great for kids! Hibiscus is also known to be beneficial for your heart, circulation, and blood pressure.

Little jars of hibiscus sun tea for the kids!

Here are my two favorite hibiscus blends:

Hibiscus, mint, lemon balm, chamomile, blueberries

Hibiscus, lemongrass, orange peel, rooibos, mint, calendula, gotu kola

Summer Moments: Fires and Flowers

Recently we took the kids for their first trip to a “beach,” at one of the largest lakes in our state. We had a blast swimming and playing in the sand! If you are lucky enough to live near a lake or ocean, it’s obviously a fun way to experience some nature in the summer sun.

Most of my plans for marking the solstice are much lower key, however. Taking evening walks when the heat of the day has just passed, burning citronella candles on the back porch (we don’t even have a fire pit, let alone a place for a bonfire!), and maybe making a craft from spent flower petals are all possibilities on the list.

So, those are some of my simple plans for celebrating Litha / the summer solstice this week! How are you planning to celebrate?

Categories
Herbs and Herbalism

Herb Profile: Rose

It’s June, herbology faeries! If you’re in the northern hemisphere like me, it’s the month of warming temperatures, lengthening days, bugs and blooms, and the summer solstice. Here’s hoping for lots of energizing sunshine to brighten the days!

I have decided to try something here on the blog and concentrate my focus on one or two plants per month. (It will probably depend on the month and my mood!) So, to start off June, let’s talk about a quintessential June plant—roses!

There are many types of roses, but in culinary and body care contexts it’s best to stick with strongly scented varieties. Use wild roses if you can! (And stay away from pesticide-treated and florist-bought roses.) You can use the petals, buds, leaves, and hips (fruit) of roses.

Roses are an age-old herbal ally, and are best known to represent love. Health-wise, they are great for your heart, pain, PMS, inflammation, blood pressure, stress, anxiety, and insomnia, so that’s not hard to understand! They are great tasting and mood-elevating, too. And rose hips are incredibly rich in vitamin C and are often used as in immune system booster. Roses are considered sour, drying, and cooling, with astringent, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and nervine properties.

And now, for the fun part: a few of my favorite ways to use rose!

Rose, lavender, and chamomile tea (alone or with other additions such as green rooibos, mugwort, green tea, lemon balm, and/or dried or fresh berries)

Rose and cardamom (with or without additions like mint, nettle, cinnamon, citrus, and/or fennel) tea

Rose, mint, and cacao nib tea

Rose-infused honey

Rosewater-infused desserts (cakes, scones, cookies, fruit salads)

Dried rose petals in skincare products and loose leaf incense


Which ways do you love to incorporate rose into your botanical creations?

Sources:

“Rose Monograph.” LearningHerbs, December 28, 2016. https://herbmentor.learningherbs.com/herb/rose/#botanically-speaking/.

de la Forêt, Rosemary. Alchemy of Herbs. New York: Hay House, Inc., 2017.

Categories
Recipes

Lavender-Cardamom Blueberry Muffins

Happy Beltane! As mentioned in my previous post, this day marks the halfway point between the spring equinox and summer solstice. It traditionally involves a sweet, floral baked good, so I decided to create a new recipe!

I based this recipe on one from another website, but changed it up with herbs and spices; my version became Lavender-Cardamom Blueberry Muffins. Since lavender honey cakes are pretty traditional for Beltane, this is sort of a twist on that idea. My kids helped me bake these, and they really loved eating them, too!

Lavender-Cardamom Blueberry Muffins

PREP 10 min | COOK 20 min | TOTAL 30 min

Ingredients:

•1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

•3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for muffin tops

•1/4 teaspoon salt

•2 teaspoons baking powder

•1/2 to 1 tablespoon dried lavender, to taste

•1/4 teaspoon finely ground cardamom powder

•1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil

•1 large egg

•1/3 – 1/2 cup milk, dairy or oat

•1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

•6 to 8 ounces fresh or frozen blueberries (about 1 cup)

Directions:

Prep—

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Line muffin tin with 8-10 paper liners, depending on your preferred muffin size.

Batter—

• Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lavender, and cardamom in a large bowl.

• Add oil to a glass measuring cup that holds at least 1 cup. Add the egg, then fill the jug to the 1-cup line with milk (1/3 to 1/2 cup milk). Add vanilla and whisk to combine.

• Add milk mixture to the bowl with dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon to combine. Do not over-mix. (The muffin batter will be fairly thick. Fold in the blueberries.

Bake—

• Fill the muffin cups with batter. (If making big-topped muffins, the batter will come to the tops of the paper liners). Sprinkle a little sugar on top of each muffin.

• Bake muffins 15 to 20 minutes or until tops are no longer wet and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out with crumbs, not wet batter. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Categories
wheel of the year

Celebrate Beltane!

Beltane is coming! For those who don’t know, Beltane is sometimes known as May Day, which is observed on May 1st. It marks the halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice on the wheel of the year. Beltane is associated with flowers, abundance, fertility, bonfires, maypoles, gardening, trees, honey cakes, fruit, feasting, love, and the approach of summer. Sounds fun, no?

There are all sorts of ways to celebrate Beltane from a hygge herbologist approach! Below are a few of my favorite ideas. I’m sharing them in a maximalist / minimalist format in case you’re like me and tend to talk yourself out of things that you were excited about, but that end up sounding energy-draining when the time nears. That way you won’t be bummed with yourself for mixing the idea altogether. (That’s my approach, anyway!)

Max: Light a Bonfire / Min: Just burn a candle or incense

Bonfires are a very traditional part on Beltane, going back to the Celts. Your backyard fire pit would make the perfect Beltane bonfire. Or, if you are an apartment dweller or just not feeling the fire pit thing, light a floral candle or few to brighten the occasion!

Max: Bake honey + floral cookies or cakes / Min: Just make honey + floral fruit salad

Lavender or rose and citrus zest make perfect compliments to a honey cake or shortbread. Try one of the recipes from my Pinterest board! Or, if fruit salad is more your speed, go with a combo like berries, apples, and peaches, with honey, citrus zest, and herbs (fresh mint or lemon balm are excellent choices).

Max: Plant something new / Min: Just plan out your soon-to-be garden

I am planning to plant a couple of hardy herbs in containers as part of Beltane weekend (it’s still within the frost window here so I’m not doing everything yet). Whether or not that actually happens, though, I am definitely going to take some time to sketch out plans for the rest of my container garden. Use that Beltane creative energy to your advantage!

Max OR Min: Make Beltane tea

Minimalist or maximalist, herbal tea can be a tradition and ritual that makes for a special and fun way to mark each sabbat. I am sharing my recipe for a Beltane herbal tea blend, or you can create your own!

Beltane Tea recipe:

1 part Elderflower || 2 parts Chamomile 2 parts Lemon balm || 1 part Mint 1 part Green Rooibos (optional; could also replace with loose leaf green tea)

Note—steep with just-boiled water up to 10-15 minutes unless you add green tea, in which case you’ll want a little cooler water and shorter steep time, probably about 3-4 minutes max.


How are you planning to celebrate Beltane? Or do you have another seasonal celebration to mark the halfway point between spring and summer?