Healing Herbs: Pine

I've been wanting to learn more about healing herbs, and it occurred to me that the best way to learn about something is to write about it.  Way back in 11th grade I had to write a report on basketball and to this day I remember something about peach baskets being involved, so I have proof that the system works.  I will be researching the herbs as I write, so my information is by no means the last word on the subject.  Always contact an experienced herbalist if you have any questions about using herbs.


Did you know you can make tea from the pine trees that are probably in your backyard right now?  Neither did I, until my good friend Jeanne Abbot told me about it.  Jeanne owns Abbotswood, a lovely shop on Brown Street in Wickford, RI, where she sells teas, herbs, antiques, art by local artists, and lots of other pretty and interesting things.  She also knows a heck of a lot about herbs.

I knew that pre-Christian Europeans brought evergreens into their homes in the winter as symbols of eternal life, but what I didn't know is that pine is wonderful for winter health problems such as coughs, colds, sinus congestion, and to improve circulation.  It's also loaded with vitamin C, so it helps to build up the immune system.  On an emotional level, pine can help with the "winter blahs" and keep you feeling grounded when you are working on psychological or spiritual healing.  Jeanne Abbot recommends it for times when you need the courage to move onto the next phase of your life.  One caveat, though: pine is better taken as needed and not all the time as the tannins in it can be tough on the kidneys over the long term in high doses.

I thought pine tea would be rather strong and unpleasant, but I tried it anyway because I am your intrepid blogger.  It is actually a very light, tasty, drinkable herbal tea.

Pine Tea


Ingredients
2 teaspoons pine needles per cup of water
honey (optional)

Rinse pine needles under cold running water.  Bring water to a boil in saucepan.  Add the pine needles and simmer for 20 minutes.  Strain out the needles.  Add honey to taste if desired.

Sources:
The Herb Quarterly, Issue 125 Winter 2010
Hageneder, Fred: The Meaning of Trees, Chronicle Books, 2005
Hopman, Ellen Evert, A Druid's Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year, Destiny Books, 1995

Recipe Alert

I've started a new feature on my other blog. It's called The Department of Home Economics, and I plan to write about ways to live better with less in these tough economic times. I decided to put it on my other blog because I will be talking about a lot more than cooking; however, today's post contains a recipe for herbal olive oil. You can check it out at Third Floor With Water View. It's YUMMY.

Bee Happy -- With Recipe!

I bought The Herbal Kitchen by Kami McBride a few months ago, and I've been having a great time experimenting with the recipes. I went through a pesto phase for a while but I didn't tell you about it because I'll be darned if I can figure out a way to draw pesto -- or pasta, for that matter -- without it looking like a Rorschach Test.


The whole book is great. I struck gold, though, with her recipe for Cinnamon-Ginger Honey. It's so simple to make and keeps for up to a year -- but trust me, you will go through it much more quickly. It's yummy. Try it on buttered toast, oatmeal (if you use the recipe I posted here, I recommend omitting the brown sugar), or as a sweetener for tea. Dissolve a teaspoon in hot water to make a warming, tummy-settling drink.

You will need a clean and sterilized glass jar with a lid.

Cinnamon-Ginger Honey

1 cup honey
2 tbsp. powdered cinnamon
1 tbsp powdered ginger

1. Bring water to a boil in a double boiler (if, like me, you don't have one, just put a heatproof bowl over a pot of water once it's hot), and reduce to a simmer. Pour honey into the jar and place in the top of the double boiler. Let the honey warm for 15-20 minutes or until it reaches a consistency where it can be easily stirred. You don't have to stand over it, but stay close enough to keep an eye on it.

2. Carefully remove the jar of honey from the pot and stir in the spices. Allow to cool, then cap the jar. Stick the flavored honey in the cabinet for two weeks before using. Keeps up to a year.

Thyme After Thyme

You may have noticed, gentle readers, that I am a person who is sometimes gripped by a sudden and strong enthusiasm. It might take the form of reading obsessively on a particular topic. I might become enamored with a word and feel the need to use it as often as possible. A few years back it was stir-frying whatever was in my kitchen, which resulted in some very strange flavor combinations.


Lately, I've had an obsession with thyme. Specifically, with adding it to any dish I possibly can. Thyme has an aromatic quality I really like. It does wonderful things for meat and poultry. It's a natural with mushrooms. It adds a little something extra to homemade pasta sauce. I even threw a pinch in some spinach pesto I made the other day.


As obsessions go, this one is fairly benign. It's just that sometimes I wonder what is going on in my head. Come to think of it, I'd be willing to bet that a lot of the time you do too.