Keeping Cool with Hibiscus

Of the hundreds of species of hibiscus in the world, almost all of them originate in hot, tropical climates. In hot-weather cultures the world over, hibiscus is used to cool the body, relieve stress, and mitigate the effects of excessive heat. Today we will share three summer recipes to bring the cooling beauty of hibiscus…

New to Vegetarian Cooking?

Lots of people these days are trying to reduce, or eliminate, meat from their diets. This may be for health reasons, for environmental reasons, or for other personal reasons. For many folks, used to a certain way of cooking, it can be hard to figure out how to have balanced, satisfying meals without meat. I…

Healing the Whole Heart

You may know of hawthorn as the “heart herb”, and for good reason. It strengthens the heart muscle, regulates the heartbeat, and raises or lowers blood pressure depending on the need. Clinically it is used with heart problems such as angina, mild congestive heart failure, and recovery from/prevention of cardiac arrest. But hawthorn has another…

Cool Summer Recipes

Hot weather, longer days, fresh local produce, Summertime is a great time to cook. This time of year we can balance the heat of the sun with cooling and refreshing meals. I love to cook, and I love to eat, but I don’t like to fuss with fancy recipes. Especially in the summer when I…

Making Medicinal Vinegars

Naturally fermented vinegars are medicines in and of themselves, and they are also an excellent medium for extracting the medicinal properties of herbs. In fact, vinegar facilitates and strengthens the effects of the herbs extracted within it, especially stimulant and expectorant herbs, and we’ve been using vinegar in this way since the days of ancient…