Kitchen Medicine - Ellen Evert Hopman

Many of the plants and other ingredients used in my formulas are available from herbalists and health food stores. Whenever possible try to get organically grown herbs rather than those grown with pesticides. When gathering herbs in the wild be sure you are at least one thousand feet from a roadway to avoid the lead, brake linings, and other contaminants emitted by automobiles. If you wildcraft your plants please check first to see if they are an endangered species and if so DO NOT pick them in the wild. If a species is common in your area be sure you leave at least seven healthy individual plants intact so that the herb can reproduce. When gathering flowers for medicine, please do not strip every blossom off of a plant, leave a few behind to produce seeds. These remedies are not intended to replace the advice of a competent health practitioner. Persons who are ill are advised to seek a professional diagnosis before attempting self medication.

WINTER REMEDIES

Healing With Honey

When you select honey for medicinal use always buy a variety that is produced by an apiary local to your area. Ingesting local pollens found in honey can build resistance to allergies over time. The honey should be "raw", not heated or processed.

Honey Flu Remedy

Take a six inch ginger root and slice it. Put it in a non- aluminum pot with about three cups of fresh water. Cover the pot tightly and bring to a simmer. Allow the water to simmer (not boil) for about twenty minutes. Remove from the stove and add the juice of half a lemon, a pinch of cayenne pepper and honey to taste. This is a great remedy for bronchitis and flu.

Honey Throat Syrup

Take several cloves of fresh garlic (please don't use the genetically altered, odorless variety. It has lost it's healing virtue). Place the garlic in a blender with the juice of half a lemon. Blend until smooth. Add 1 cup raw honey and blend again. this mixture can be taken as it is in teaspoon doses for a sore throat or strained through a cheese cloth and bottled for later use.

Garlic and Honey Wound Dressing

If you have a cut or a wound wash it carefully and then apply chopped or mashed, raw garlic which will kill any bacteria or viruses. Cover the garlic with a slather of honey and apply a clean bandage. The honey will keep the wound anaerobic (without oxygen) so bacteria will be unable to grow in it.

Roasted Garlic Sore Throat Remedy

Take unpeeled cloves of fresh, raw garlic and place them in a pan over medium heat (do not use oil). Gently roast the cloves until they are soft to the touch. Remove them from the pan and allow them to cool . Peel and eat.

Ginger Ale

This is a good remedy for stomach flu and also makes a tasty beverage. Chop a large ginger root. Place the slices in a non aluminum pot and cover with several cups of fresh, cold water. Bring to a simmer and then simmer for twenty minutes. Remove the pot from the burner and while the liquid is still hot add honey or maple syrup to taste. Allow the mixture to cool. To make the ginger ale fill a glass one half full of the cooled mixture and add sparkling water until the glass is full. Voila!

FOOD FROM THE GARDEN

Flower Tea

This magical and delicious tea is also a love potion. Share it with your beloved on a full moon night. Take equal parts Lemon Balm leaf, Rose Buds, and Chamomile flowers, fresh or dried. Add 1/4 part Lavender blossoms. Place the mixture in a pot of freshly boiled water which you have removed from the stove. Cover tightly and allow to steep. (Do not let the herbs steep more than ten minutes or the delicate flowery aroma will be lost). Serve with a touch of honey.

Flower Sandwiches

"Nasturtium Flower Sandwiches" Take slices of crusty whole wheat bread and slather on thick coats of natural cream cheese. Place peppery Nasturtium flowers on top of the cream cheese. Serve the sandwiches open faced.

"Clover Blossom Tea Sandwiches" Cut the crusts off of delicate white bread slices. Spread with real butter and then place fresh Red Clover blossoms on each slice. Cover with water cress leaves and top with another slice of buttered bread. Serve this with organic black tea in the garden.

Flower Salad

To a salad of fresh mixed lettuces add fresh rose petals, Johnny Jump Up blossoms, Violet flowers and leaves, Red Clover Blossoms, baby Dandelion leaves and flowers, and Daisies. Sprinkle with grated carrot and thinly sliced spring onion. Use a delicate lemon juice and olive oil dressing. Top with a pinch of sea salt.

Violet or Dandelion Jelly

Fill a glass jar with either Dandelion flowers (remove the stems) or Blue Violets. Pour boiling hot water over the flowers until the jar is filled. Allow the jar to sit overnight.

Strain out the flowers and reserve the liquid. To two cups of liquid add the juice of one lemon and a package of powdered pectin. Place the liquid in a non aluminum pot and bring to a boil. Add a tiny piece of butter (to prevent froth) and four cups of sugar and bring to a boil again. Boil hard for one minute, pour into clean jars and seal.

Raspberry Honey

Take Raspberries, Blackberries or Strawberries and place them in a non aluminum pot. Cover with fresh, raw honey and gently bring to a simmer. Cook for two minutes and allow to cool. Pour into jars and store in the refrigerator. Great on waffles, pancakes and French toast.

Day Lilies

Day Lily buds can be sauteed and served as a vegetable side dish. The roots and leaves can be chopped and eaten raw in salads. The roots can also be steamed like baby potatoes and served with butter.

Flower Cake

Make a delicate yellow layer cake batter and put five fresh Rose Geranium leaves in the bottom of each cake pan before you pour the batter into it. Cover the cooled cake with a thick white frosting (add a few drops of Rose or Rose Geranium oil to the frosting as you stir it, if you like). Into the frosting press rose petals or entire roses, fresh Day Lily blossoms, Daisies, Johnny Jump Ups or Violet flowers. Place fresh mint leaves around the base of the cake. Eat the whole thing.

Saint Johnswort Liqueur

Gather fresh Saint Johnswort blossoms at the Summer Solstice. Place two cups of chopped organic oranges (keep the peel on) in a non aluminum pot with two cups of fresh, cold water and two cups of sugar. Cook until the sugar dissolves. Pour the mixture into a large glass bottle and add two cups of Vodka and two teaspoons of vegetable glycerine. Add two cups of the flowers and stir or shake. Keep the mixture in a cool, dark place for six months, shaking occasionally. Strain and bottle. The beauty of this process is that the flowers are picked at the height of summer and the liqueur is ready in the dark of winter, on the Winter Solstice. Saint Johnswort is a Solar herb, the perfect herb for a Winter Solstice ritual celebration.

Zucchini Pancakes

Saute half of a small onion and set aside. Grate one medium zucchini and place it in a bowl with the onion. Add a pinch each of fresh, chopped Basil and Marjoram. Grate in 1/2 cup cheese. Add 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 beaten egg, and a dash of cayenne. Pour in enough milk to make a batter. Cook like pancakes and top with a mixture of yoghurt and sour cream. Top with fresh, chopped parsley.

SUMMER REMEDIES

Poison Ivy Wash

Take Sweet Fern (Comptonia peregrina), a woody-stemmed fragrant herb that grows in wild places at the edges of fields and forests. Place the leaves in a clean glass jar until the jar is 2/3 full. Add Plantain leaves and Jewelweed (Impatiens) until the jar is packed full. Pour vodka over the herbs to the level of the top of the jar. Cover with a lid and allow the tincture to sit for three days. When he herbs begin to wilt and the liquid is brown strain out the herbs and reserve the liquid. Apply locally to poison ivy with a cotton ball four times a day. You will also want to take Burdock Root capsules (2 capsules, three times a day for a 150 pound adult) for about a week to clear the poison ivy out of your system.

Scrapes, Sunburn, and Burn Salve

Take equal parts of three or more of the following; Plantain leaves, Pine needles, Comfrey leaves, Elecampaign roots, Baby Oak leaves (not old ones), Wild Sarsaparilla roots, Bee Balm leaves, chopped Horse Chestnuts (the meat of the nut and the shiny brown covering), fresh, chopped green Walnut hulls. Add Calendula blossoms, and Lavender flowers, fresh or dried. Place the herbs in a non aluminum pot and cover with good quality olive oil. Bring to a simmer and simmer with a tight fitting lid for 20 minutes. In a separate pot bring fresh bees wax to a simmer. When both pots are of equal temperature, add 3 tablespoons of the hot beeswax for every cup of Olive oil to the pot with the herbs. Stir, strain and seal in a clean jar. This salve is great for diaper rash and if you add the Horse Chestnuts it makes a wonderful remedy for piles.

Queen of Hungary Rosemary Cologne

Use this cologne as a facial spray in the heat of summer or as a gentleman's after shave any time. Fill a glass jar with fresh Rosemary greens. Add a small amount of fresh Lavender blossoms, Lemon Balm leaves, a fragrant rose or two and a little Lemon zest if desired. Cover the herbs with Gin (Gin is flavored with Juniper berries), place a lid on the jar and let the mixture sit in the hot sun for two days. Strain and bottle.

Slan agus siochain agus beannacht leibh

Saille/Willow (Ellen Evert Hopman)