It’s no wonder the digestive biscuit is a long standing tradition. Its simple, gentle nature doesn’t make overt demands on the palate or the stomach, yet it is sweet and satisfying as an afternoon or evening snack. In fact, Brits love their digestive biscuits so much they consumed 420,000 tonnes of them in 2016! So for my Herbal…
Category: Eat
Pineapple Weed Comfort Cookies: A Wildly Loving Treat
Everyone knows comfort foods are a great coping mechanism for soothing negative feelings – which is why these Pineapple Cookies will be served at my Herbal Yoga Workshop for Anxiety & Depression. Their sweet gentle aroma and flavour (a cross between zingy pineapple and soothing chamomile) make a perfect treat for when we’re feeling down…
Herbalicious Lammas Loaf Biscuits: Celebrating The Tradition of Common Ground
This herbaceous and cheesy biscuit loaf is my tribute to the traditional start of the harvest calendar, Lammas Day or Lughnasa. And it features the cornucopia of savoury and aromatic herbs growing right now in the heart of Victoria’s neighbourhood “common ground” gardens.
Nettle Seed & Dandelion Blossom Energy Bars: Wild Superfood Goodness
My sister-in-law Gloria is an avid rower who races frequently with her Dragon Boat Team. Last year as a special request, she asked for a wildcrafted energy bar. I knew I wanted to make something with nettle seeds (tell you why shortly) but I could never find enough seeds on hand without decimating entire nettle…
Calming, Cleansing And Rejuvenating Herbal Treats For Yoga (or just anytime!)
Behold the Lemon Balm & Wild Rose Tea and Chocolate Rose & Dandelion Root Energy Bites I’ll be serving for Restorative Herbal Yoga For Spring – the very first session of The Yoga Apothecary. Because I’m so grateful that this very first class is full (and that so many others of you have wanted to…
Rosemary & Lavender Lemon Curd “Tassies”: Here Comes The Sun!
Nothing says Imbolc better that the bright yellows of lemon, butter and egg yolks. So what happens when you infuse a sweet, zesty, creamy, lemon curd with the aromatic herbs of the sun? Glorious food magic is what! Lemon Tassies are old-fashioned dessert tarts filled with easy to make citrusy curd. And while no one…
Tea & Bourbon Barmbrack for a Midwinter Festival of Light
I’m relatively new to Imbolc. In fact, I’m not even 100% comfortable calling this ancient February festival by it’s Gaelic name despite my Scots/Irish heritage. Gaelic blood hardly makes me privy to old customs. The geography of my foremothers aside, I am drawn to this midwinter festival of light with it’s irresistible magic, food and lore. For my…
Grand Fir Dark Nougat: A Touch of Solstice Magic
I found the recipe for this “extraordinary and irresistible traditional Christmas candy” in a treasured old cookbook “The Auberge of The Flowering Hearth”. Created with only three ingredients, pine honey, toasted almonds and a pinch of thyme, it is caramelized down into a dark, delectable, chewy brittle known as Black Nougat. Well, I was enchanted. Not…
Winter Medicine: Delicious & Warming Tonic Syrups
When dark, winter days challenge our bodies as well as our spirits, nothing makes a better remedy than old-fashioned tonic syrups. Time tested & true, these potent preventatives and remedial healers call on the nourishing, medicinal powers of tonic plants and adaptogenic herbs, berries, honey and warming spices. And not only will they help fortify…
“Soul Cakes” for an Old-Fashioned All Hallows Eve
“A soule cake, a soule cake, Have mercy on all Christen soules for a soule-cake.” John Aubrey, 17th century I’ve been researching old world recipes in search of Halloween food inspiration, and these sweet little barmbrack “soul cakes” are the result. And while we may think of all things pumpkin when it comes to Halloween,…
Chestnuts, Neruda & A Recipe For Crème de Marrons
I adore chestnut season. And by season, I mean post-windstorm sometime in mid-October. There’s just something so cheering and magical about fallen chestnuts. I know of only a few trees here in the city—tall, stately ones lining a couple of boulevards in older neighbourhoods. Ode to a Chestnut on the Ground ~ Pablo Neruda From bristly foliage you…
Fudgey Burdock & Rose Brownie Cake
Last spring, I tested out a batch of Burdock & Rose Brownies at Gather’s “Botanical Sweet Treat” bar. And they were the first to go. Their dark fudgey icing drew peoples eyes like a magnet – and no one cared a whit about warnings that these brownies were a little more “earthy” in flavour than…
