Essential Herbal issue - January February 2019

Here we go again, another year begins. A clean slate filled with half-formed dreams and plans,
born in the mists of winter.  This issue has an extraordinary number of things to make, recipes to try,
and medicines to create!

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Table of Contents:

Field Notes from the Editor, Tina Sams
My usual rambling thoughts on a handful of things.

About the Cover
Jenel Schaffer provided a dreamy watercolor, featuring the herb of the year – Anise Hyssop. 
We include a recipe for shortbread and tea!   

Facing Senior Challenges, Naturally, Sandy Michelsen
Lots of different ways to keep the old bones from creaking, and help us stay active and vital as we age.
   
Witch Hazel - Medicine Cupboard Necessity, 
Barbara Steele
Learn about this winter beauty, and how to make Witch Hazel Water.
   
Turkey Tail, Kristine Brown
TONS of info on this lovely medicinally active mushroom. 
How-to’s for many preparations and how to use it as a dye.
     
Five Fun Herbs & Their Uses, Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh
Lavender, Peppermint, Borage, German Chamomile, and Lemon Balm are discussed.
Loads of recipes, like aioli, lip balm, dressing, and more!
   
Planning Your Herb Garden, Jenel Schaffer
What do you want to plant?  Where will you put it?  What will you use them for?  So many things to think about. 
There’s a sweet illustration included to inspire you.   

The Scone Debate, Rebekah Bailey
Did you know the difference between an American scone and a British scone?  You will! 
And you’ll have several delicious sweet and savory recipes to try.
   
Agastache, Kathy Musser
Herb of the Year for 2019 is Anise Hyssop, of the Agastache genus.
Read about some history and information about Anise Hyssop and move on to several
other agastaches that are briefly covered.   

The Herbal World of Adaptogens, Cathy Calfchild
What are adaptogens?  How and why should we include them in our foods, teas, and supplements?
   
Conifers - Our Winter Healers, Janet Gutierrez
There are so many ways that the conifers come to our assistance in the winter time. 
We can also make salves and various preparations to take us through the year.
   
Experimenting with Vegan Waxes, Marci Tsohonis
If you don’t know your carnauba from your candelilla, this is for you!
   
A World of Spices, Jackie Johnson
Mmmm… warming spices.  After we read about them, we can go on to make several fabulous blends.
   
Recycle a Shutter, Rita Richardson
A very cute decorating idea.   

Endocannabinoid System, Pt 1, Marita Orr
“The endocannabinoid system is made up of neurons, endocannabiniods, and cannabinoid receptors.” 
Lots and lots of information here.
    
Meet Our Writers

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Confetti Shortbread and Ginger Crinkles

Everyone loves cookies, and they're a real downfall for me, but making them to give away helps.  Making small batches helps even more.  I've made 6 little batches this week, and they almost all made it to the freezer.

2 of the batches were recipes that I sort of made up, taking guidance from 6 or 8 recipes I found online, and using the parts I liked.  They both turned out dangerously delicious.

Without further ado...

Confetti Shortbread
This turned out to be the perfect quantities of rosemary and ginger without either being overwhelming.  Delicate and buttery, they had to be packed away as soon as they were cool! 
Preheat oven to 300 F

1/4 c sugar
1 stick butter
1 c all purpose flour

confetti:
1 1/2 t finely chopped (fresh) rosemary
1 T finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 t chopped dry red rose petals
1 t cornflower petals
1 t calendula petals
(Alternatives to these flowers could be pineapple sage blossoms, bits of saffron, 1/2 t lavender, or any dried, colorful edible flower.)

Cream together sugar and room temperature butter til fluffy.
Add flour and mix well. 

Add confetti.
Form the dough into a 2" diameter log.
Roll log in light brown sugar (I mixed it with the loose sugar in the crystallized ginger bag)
Chill until firm.

Slice 1/4" thick, and place on parchment lined cookie sheets 1" apart.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until just barely browned.  Turn the pan halfway through to insure even cooking.

Ginger Crinkles
A week earlier, I dug around recipes to use cacao nibs and dark cocoa powder - both of which I had "laying around," and ginger.  I came up with this recipe, with those two ingredients added.  It was good - but I like it better without the chocolate.  You might want to add a tablespoon of each to try that!  These are crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside.  The perfect ginger cookie in my mind!
Preheat oven to 375 F

1/2 c butter
2/3 c sugar
1 egg
1/4 c black strap molasses
1 1/2 c fllour
1 T chopped crystallized ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t clove
1/4 t cardamom
pinch salt
1/8 c chopped pecans
1/2 c or so confectioners sugar for rolling.

Cream butter and sugar together. I use a processor.
Add egg and molasses.
Add spices, baking soda, and pecans
Mix in flour (by hand)

Chill dough for an hour or so.

Roll into 1' balls. Roll those in the confectioner's sugar and place 2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet, or preferably on parchment.

Bake about 10 minutes, til the tops are cracked.
Makes about 30 2" cookies

These are both recipes that will be made again!

Winter Essential Herbal Mini-mag

Here are several jam-packed pages with info, recipes, and herbal crafting for the winter months.  It will give you a good idea of what our magazine is like.  The Essential Herbal is print in the US only, pdf is available everywhere. 

Click here to download

Just to give you an idea, *some* of the things you'll find inside this miniature sampling:
- Mushroom Ginger Soup
- Frankincense and Myrrh
- Handmade Holidays
- Herbs for Immunity
- Herbal Resolutions (with a touch of humor)
... and quite a bit more!

Take a few minutes out of this busy season, grab a cup of tea, cocoa, or eggnog, and enjoy these pages.

ANNOUNCING - 2 great new herb books!

I'm so excited to announce that both I and my friend Susan Hess (from The Stillroom at Pitch Pines) each have a new book coming out!

My book is called The Healing Power of Herbs and I'm always so happy to share the joy of working with herbs and hope to inspire confidence in those just beginning their herbal journey. Those of you who have been magazine subscribers over the years know that this is the most important thing I do.  In addition to a primer of herbal preparations, the book covers 30 important herbs, and offers over 60 simple,interesting, and helpful ways to use each one of them.

Its sister book by Susan Hess is called The Herbal Medicine Cookbook.  It is brimming with information and delicious, healing dishes and meals that help to support vitality and health.  I was thrilled to do some background work on the book.  During her years as a trained therapeutic herbalist, she has fed many of these dishes to her students during her Homestead Herbalism courses.  Some of you may remember posts from Molly while she enjoyed taking Susan's class series.  Now we can make these foods at home with the teachings that go with them included.

These two books (together or separate) are great resources for any herbalist to have in his or her library. Stick around as I share some helpful sneak peeks from each book over the coming weeks. I can't wait to share all this great information with you!

They'll be available January 15th.  Do something for yourself, or for someone you love.  These books will be referred to again and again!

Pre-order The Healing Power of Herbs here: http://bit.ly/HealingPowerofHerbs
Pre-order The Herbal Medicine Cookbook here: http://bit.ly/HerbalMedicineCookbook

Ginger Shortbread

Excerpt from Holiday Sweets with Exotic Herbs

originally published in the Nov/Dec '15 Essential Herbal Magazine

by Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh www.backyardpatch.blogspot.com

Gingerbread seems to be a staple of the holiday, but it is not one of my favorite things.  In fact I do not even like making gingerbread houses!  I know sacrilegious, but I do like ginger and I love this great recipe for shortbread that uses crystallized ginger that will bring the flavor of the holiday to a traditional tea treat.

Ginger Shortbread

3 ½ C flour, plus extra for dusting while rolling dough

1 t ground ginger

½ t salt

12 T butter

½ C confectioners sugar

3 rounded T slightly crystallized honey

¾ C crystallized ginger, finely chopped

Sift together the flour, ground ginger, and salt.  Rub in the butter and stir in the sugar.  Mix in the honey and chopped crystallized ginger and form into stiff dough.  Knead lightly in the bowl. 

Halve the dough and roll out each piece on a lightly floured board to make an 8-inch circle.  Score wedges into the shortbread with a sharp knife and prick the top with a fork. 
Bake at 325 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, until crisp and golden around the edges.  Sprinkle with a bit of confectioners sugar and leave to cool slightly before breaking apart and allowing to cool completely.

Bee’s Wax Solstice Ornaments

by Marci Tsohonis
Originally published in the Nov/Dec '17 issue of The Essential Herbal

I have a tradition of making Winter Solstice ornaments for our tree and for gifting, because they are hard to find in gift shops or online.  In years past, I have made clay, quilted, embroidered and felted wool ornaments.   I am making solar ornaments with Bee’s wax this year. 

Do you have Brown Bag clay cookie molds in the back of a drawer somewhere?   

You know, the ones you saved for making that cool homemade paper-craft project you have always meant to try?   I did!  Wax ornaments are my favorite way to use them now.  Some of the molds are too large for ornaments, but others are just perfect.  If you don’t have any, you can sometimes find them on the cheap at Antique stores.  I have acquired several that way.

I want to make a rubber mold of our Sol doorbell because it is the perfect size for a tree ornament. 

 

I could not locate any rubber mold making kits in our town, only acrylic clay mold material.  It didn’t hold the pressed image well, or, I didn’t do it correctly.  It lost some details when the clay relaxed.  I have since learned Amazon has the rubber mold material, but I couldn’t get it delivered in time to use it for this article. 

To make wax ornaments in the clay cookie molds, first spray 2-3 clean molds lightly with vegetable spray.  Arrange the molds on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper so you can reclaim any spilled wax.  Melt about 1 to 1½ cups of bee’s wax to 60 degrees in a wax-melting pitcher (or other small, metal container) in a saucepan with 2 inches of simmering water.   The metal container will allow the wax to stay fluid long enough to pour it into a few molds.  Using a ladle will not work well.  The edges cool so quickly that any pouring irregularities will be highly visible. 

Add one half teaspoon of Cassia essential oil to melted wax after it has cooled to 50 degrees.  Pour into cavities immediately, slightly under-filling each mold.  Tap the edge of the mold on the counter and release over a soft towel after they have cooled an hour or two.  Most will pop out of the cookie molds very easily.  If they don’t, refrigerate them for about 20 minutes and try again. 

To create a smooth hole for ribbon or string, heat the end of an ice pick or narrow paring knife over a stove burner or candle.  Press lightly, and the hot metal will easily pierce through the wax to create a smooth hole in the ornament.  If the edges are rough or irregular, heat the flat side of a butter knife and quickly smooth it over those areas of the ornament.  

 

 Happy holidays! 

2019 Winter Holiday Specials and Gift Ideas

 

We have just a couple of "deals" that are valid through the end of the year.
#1 - all back issues are Buy 2, Get 1 FREE.  This is an automatic discount, and no code is necessary.
#2 - All purchases (US only) over $100 will be shipped FREE.
#3 - All boxed orders will get FREE gift, and I'll be trying to slip a little something in with envelopes of books, etc.

There are some interesting new things on the site.
We got in 10 or 12 new lightweight earring styles.  Beautiful and reasonably priced.

They're all light as a feather.

We got three different options for doing some for making Sun Prints.  Packages of treated 8 x 8 inch cotton patches, notecard kits, and tshirts.  Let your creativity go!

This is my first attempt, playing around with it the other day.  Yours would be much better, I'm sure.

 Gift Subscriptions - what a great way to give something special 6 times a year!  

Each issue is filled with all kinds of herbal goodness and wonder, generously

We have both print and PDF available in the US, and PDF is available worldwide.  For print, just provide your name and address in the billing section, and the recipient's info goes in the shipping section.  Would you like us to include a message in the gift card?  Just let us know in the comments section. 
For PDF, please provide the recipient's email address in the comments section.

Books that will inspire and delight

A very popular gift is the complete 10 Years of Herbal Knowledge in 3 volumes.  Someday we'll try to put together the third 5 years, but for now, this is really a spectacular compilation.

Beautiful and soft, the design uses 11 screen passes to capture the details - it's gorgeous!

Fire cider t-shirts are also welcome, as well as soaps, teas, and remedies.

A large selection of teas, soaps, tinctures, hydrosols, and much more.

Come take the website for a spin and you'll find gifts and stocking stuffers for everyone.

Incenses and the ingredients to make your own, too!

Rather than linking directly to each product, just come over to essentialherbal.com and look around.  There's a lot more than you see here.

Adventures with Shingles

As is often the case, we managed to slip a week of something intense into the schedule, with almost no visible disruption.  My sister stepped right up to the plate and covered for me on the magazine while also running her soap business and some other less pleasant responsibilities.  I know that I am extremely lucky to be able to just relax.  That is rare.  I want to share how many different modalities were used together.  In my mind, there is a place for all manner of healing, and they can help each other work better. 

One day a couple of weeks ago, I was working on the index for 2018 magazines (still need to work on that!), and felt as if I'd pulled a muscle around the right, rear rib cage.  Probably slouching in the desk chair.  It didn't go away, and by the third night it hurt so badly that I couldn't sleep.  Middle of the night Google had me on the phone first thing the next morning, sure that we were dealing with a ruptured gallbladder.  That may sound alarmist, but I've (just barely) survived a ruptured organ in the past, and the pain was similar.

The skin was becoming very tender along that side, but it was probably from my touching it, right? 

We get to the doctor, who does NOT mock me (much) for Googling in the middle of the night.  She asks how long I've had this rash.  WHAT??? 3 tiny little pinheads.  Not even blistered yet.
Once again, I am very fortunate.  It is very early in the course of this outbreak, meaning that anti-viral medication will help shorten the duration and severity.  I shudder to think how bad it could have been.  She sends me on my way with a prescription for Valtrex and for 5% lidocaine patches with instructions to use tylenol as needed.  The   patches are denied by my insurance, so the pharmacist suggests Aspercreme 4% patches.  Later insurance allowed the 5%, and that 1% made a huge difference.  Still, the Aspercreme patches were better than nothing.

When I got home, I posted on social media about it.  My friends didn't let me down.  I'd already planned to get Ravensara essential oil blended in Calophyllum from Nature's Gift, and Marge mentioned that it could be overnighted.  I foolishly passed on that, and wound up waiting a few days.
In the meantime I put some lemon balm hydrosol in a spray bottle, and mixed St John's wort and Lemon Balm tincture in a dropper bottle.  They were all very helpful.  Sometimes just spraying the lemon balm hydrosol stopped the pain briefly.  Maryanne bottled up some SJW infused oil for me.

Several people mentioned Vitamin B-12 and L-Lysine.  These both make perfect sense.  A couple people recommended an antihistamine for sleep.  Ah sleep, you elusive tease!

Sleep was the hardest thing.  I tried breathing exercises as well as Reiki, with moderate success, but it didn't allow sleep.  My rash was around my waist on one side, spine to navel.  It was impossible to get comfortable.  The same was true during the day, but night time brought a sense of eternal dread.  The doctor prescribed Gabapentin at a low dose.  It made me sleep, but first I had to spend a couple of hours retching. 
NOTE:  The first night, I'd also tried everything at once.  Everything.  At once.  That meant that I didn't know what caused the retching.  The next night I found out it was indeed the gabapentin, so no more of that.  She then prescribed a low dose of elavil.  That worked perfectly.  Don't try everything at one time.

Slowly but surely, the rash receded.  It never got oozy or scabby.  I believe that probably has a lot to do with the anti-viral medication, but the topicals were probably very valuable too.  10 days in, I'm only using a patch and an elavil at night, and that's probably only because of a fear of pain, more than the reality. 

I hope this helps someone.  As miserable as you might think this ailment is, it's much worse.  I hesitated to write this up because I know many purists who shun OTC and pharmaceuticals.  That's fine.  Generally speaking, I always reach for herbal and energetic medicines first, but there are times when we need to combine everything in the arsenol.