Holiday Stovetop Potpourri Recipe: The Smell of the Season
Stovetop potpourris, also known as “simmering spices,” have been used for centuries to fill homes with the comforting smells of local fruits, spices, flowers, and herbs. Unlike most store-bought candles, incense blends, and cleaning supplies, homemade stovetop potpourri is entirely natural and free of chemical additives and synthetic fragrances. This Holiday Stovetop Potpourri recipe features…
3 Stovetop Potpourri Recipes for Winter
Don’t you just love the smell of the holidays? Fresh evergreen trees, cinnamon-covered desserts, and spiced cider all mingle together during this exciting and hope-filled time of year. Unfortunately, these delightful scents are often overpowered by well-intentioned candles and cleaning supplies that are stuffed with synthetic scents. These artificial smells can be nice at first…
Woodland Winter Stovetop Potpourri Recipe
A long walk in the woods is good for the body and the soul. If you’ve ever walked through a dense evergreen forest, then you know just how rejuvenating it can be to take deep breaths of the fresh, piney scent. Just the smell itself can boost your mood! To bring the smell of the…
Easy Cinnamon Homemade Applesauce
A perennial favorite among children, homemade applesauce is simple to make. Adding cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) provides a nutrient-rich warmth that’s sure to help your batch taste and smell like harvest time. This is an easy homemade applesauce recipe that is a great opportunity to get the kids in the kitchen. Children are always more willing…
Make Your Own Apple and Pumpkin Pie Spice Blends
Creating the best apple or pumpkin pie spice blend for your fall desserts is a simple matter of blending together spices many of us already have in the pantry. Blended and placed in decorative jars, pie spice blends also make fabulous hostess and Secret Santa gifts. Whether you blend to share or blend to bake,…
Hawthorn Berry Homemade Cordial
Harvesting hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) berries in late fall can produce a basket of sweet red berries ideal for a vitamin-rich homemade cordial (Harford,2020). Blended with seasonal favorites, including apple, rosehip (Rosa spp.), and cinnamon (Cinnamomum spp.), this hawthorn berry homemade cordial is sure to delight and soothe. The hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) tree offers many gifts:…
Herbal Spiced Apple Cider Recipe with Cinnamon, Chamomile, and Astragalus
There’s something comforting about a warm drink on a cold night, making spiced apple cider the perfect beverage for a cool fall evening. It is the ideal way to end a day of apple picking or a fall visit to the local farmers’ market. “Apples are sweet and delicious, but also offer health benefits in…
Healthy Homemade Caramel Apples
Homemade caramel apples are a firm fall favorite and a fun way to eat freshly picked local produce. Herbalist Brigitte Mars (2010) offers a healthier alternative, a caramel apple dip that is sure to satisfy your harvest time cravings. By using softened dates instead of processed sugar—and locally sourced organic apples instead of big-box store…
French Apple Cinnamon Tea
This French Apple Cinnamon Tea recipe calls for cinnamon, apples, and honey, providing a little crispness with a dash of sweetness and a splash of warmth. Sure sounds like autumn in a cup to me! The wholesome nutrients in apples include beta-carotene, vitamins C and B, calcium, phosphorus, boron, polyphenols, and pectin (Mars, 2004). Because…
De Materia Medica: The Ancient Text that Changed the World
There is a grand mystery and pleasure in reading ancient texts that can still fulfill our curiosities about the human experience. Writings about herbalism are no exception, as they give us a sense of how our ancestors lived, survived, and interacted with the natural world around them. De Materia Medica, Latin for “On Medical Material”…
