Ginger is such a wonderful spice, and one of my favorites. It's a great healer, and its heat is just so enjoyable! I've never been able to find a ginger beer strong enough for me at the store, so it must fall to me to make my own. Ginger Wine: One Gallon Recipe Fresh ginger root (I used a whole palm, about ...
The day I have been waiting for finally came...my local grocery store had bags of beautiful, sweet red cherries on sale! Normally $6.98/lb or so, the bags of beautiful scarlet globes were reduced by half for a limited time. I grabbed two bags, which gave me just around 4-5 pounds of cherries to play with. Once I ...
I went foraging in downtown Asheville, right smack dab in the middle of the city. Normally, urban foraging isn't my favorite way to gather edible weeds and fruit because of the traffic and residual pollution, but Asheville is lucky enough to have an edible garden, the George Washington Carver Edible Park. The park ...
Goldenrod plants in full bloom I'm a fan of weeds and wine, as you well may know. I'm particularly a fan of foraging wild weeds and invasive plants for herbal remedies, brews, and medicines. Goldenrod is a lovely and yet often misunderstood plant. Many people blame their autumnal allergies on the showy, yellow ...
It started on Pinterest, browsing for brewing goodies, when I was directed to this gorgeous recipe on a forum called "X Marks the Scot." The image that led me there belonged to a gentleman who started a thread in the forum titled "My Irish Grandmother's Recipe for Dandelion Wine." Well, that got MY attention. I ...
Honeysuckle has been one of my favorite flower friends since I was but a wee pixie. There was a special bush, an old-growth clump of honeysuckle that grew tall and then draped over towards the ground like a willow or a weeping cherry. It was a magical place in the corner of my grandparent's suburban yard where I could ...
Man...is this brew ever a winner! I'm going to make an annual batch every single fall to help carry me through the grim and grey February and March mood swings. Motherwort is a healer. Well named as a Mother, she wants to nurture and strengthen you, to help you mellow out from anxiety and tension. Motherwort is a ...
When there's a chill in the air, I love to soothe myself with a warm cup of tea. I often choose to indulge in a strong, black tea like Earl Grey or Irish Breakfast, but there's something special about spiced Chai. Not only is it creamy and rich, but the spices that lend themselves to the complex flavor are warming and ...
Grab a copy for yourself! I know that they say "don't judge a book by its cover," but as soon as I saw the cover of Artisan Drinks by Lindy Wildsmith, I knew I wanted to read it. I mean, just look at it! Luckily for us all, this book offers much more than just a pretty face. My regular readers know ...
Let's get a little serious. We all know that I am a brewer and lover of good booze. I love to share my drink recipes and such with the world, hence this blog - but I'm a healer first. Let's talk about "conscious drinking." I live in a town full of breweries, wineries, cider houses...often even winning the title ...
Mint, mint, mint. Once you get a good patch of mint planted, you should quickly have more mint than you can ever figure out how to use! (I cover medicinal properties of mint here) My peppermint patch does so well that I have more than I need for teas, tinctures, cordials, and even a few batches of mint chutney. ...
It is a beautiful spring, but I'm singing the blues. I'm down to my last bottle of dandelion wine from last year, and now I have to make more! It will be months before I can drink more of this delicious, nutritious nectar! Oh, well. I'll make the most out of it and get a new batch going. There's no sense in ...
Quench by Ashley English, featuring two recipes from Amber of Pixiespocket.com! Hey, y'all! I'm in a book! Please pardon my enthusiasm...this is the very first time that a few of my recipes have ever been included in a book, and what a book this is! Ashley English, of Small Measure fame, is about to have her ...
Elderberries are delicious! So is Elderberry Mead. Even more than just being tasty, elderberries are useful and quite a potent medicine. I make jars full of elderberry tincture and cordial all throughout the year to stock up for fall and winter coughs, colds and flu. I'm currently on the hunt in my neck of the ...
just a portion of the selection... I just don't know what happened, y'all... One minute, the booze cabinet was all happy and tidy - a whole mess o'bottles of varying shapes and sizes sitting side by side, full of delicious cordials, wines, meads, and experiments in progress...but the next minute? What a mess! ...
Strawberry-Pineapple Wine I had an intense craving for fresh fruit and veggies the other day. Since that is one of those food desires that is acceptable to give in to, I drove down the street to the local fruit market. The awesome little tienda down the road was on my list to visit anyways, as they ...
