Fire Cider

Glowing fire cider

Your best friend in winter. A cold & flu preventative (coined by the lovely Rosemary Gladstar) that is easy to make and included ingredients that most people have in their kitchen already.
Chop up raw garlic, onion, lemon, grate ginger & horseradish,
and add it all into a glass canning jar.
Add a dash of cayenne and tumeric powder.
Pour apple cider vinegar over the top. Cap with lid (we prefer the plastic lids when using ACV).

Store in a cool, dark place, or your fridge for several weeks. Or be inpatient like us and use immediately.
Take a tablespoon daily as a preventative or take more often throughout the day if you are sick.
The great thing about the age-old herbalist remedy is that you can add or subtract ingredients and play around with it. Don't have horseradish? Don't use it. Want to add fresh herbs? Go for it! I think no matter the combination we always include lemon, onion, garlic, and ginger. Other things vary.

Have fun & be healthy!

Herbal Syrups

Sore throat syrup

4 cups water

2 tablespoons osha root

1 tablespoon echinacea root

1 tablespoon fennel seed

1 tablespoon slippery elm bark

1 teaspoon ginger root

Cook this down to two cups as directed above and then add:

One half cup honey

One quarter cup brandy

One quarter cup black cherry fruit concentrate

This is a great syrup to soothe the throat. It works best if you take one

tablespoon every two hours at the first tickle of a sore throat

Herbal-C Syrup

6 cups water

3 tablespoons elderberries

2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds or cranberries

2 tablespoons rose hips

1 tablespoon pine or cedar tree needles

1 tablespoon lemongrass

Cook this down to three cups and add:

One half cup molasses

One half cup honey

One half cup fruit concentrate

This is wonderful tasting syrup to take as a tonic during cold and flu season.

Wet and Damp Cough Syrup

4 cups water

2 tablespoons elecampane root

1 tablespoon thyme

1 tablespoon horehound leaf

1 tablespoon yerba santa leaf

Cook this down to two cups and add:

One half cup honey

One half cup brandy

This syrup is for lingering wet coughs with lots of stuck phlegm and mucus.

Elderberry Syrup

3 cups water

4 tablespoons of fresh or dried elderberries

one half cup honey

one quarter cup brandy

Put the elderberries and the water into a stainless steel sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then let simmer on low heat for fifteen minutes. Turn off the heat and let the elderberries infuse for a couple of hours. Strain the elderberries out and put them in the compost pile. You now have a strong elderberry tea. Turn the stove on low and simmer the tea without a lid on the pot until the tea is down to one half of its original volume. In this case you are starting with three cups of tea and cooking it down to one and a half cups. This process is called decocting. Take the tea off of the stove and add the honey while the tea is still warm. Stir in the honey until it is dissolved. After the tea cools, add the brandy. Store this syrup in the refrigerator with a shelf life of about three to six months. Take a tablespoon every hour and a half at the first signs of a cold or flu.

Cold and Flu Recipes

Cold and Flu Recipes

Cold and Flu Tea

4 cups water

1 tablespoon echinacea root

1 tablespoon red root

1 tablespooin calendula flowers

Simmer the Echinacea and red root on the lowest heat for fifteen minutes. Turn off the heat and add the calendula. Let everything steep for another thirty minutes after the calendula has been added

Symptom Specifics: Useful when there is lymph congestion. If your throat lymph nodes get engorged and sore when you get a cold, this is a helpful tea

Cold Care Tea

4 cups water

1 tablespoon elder berries

1 tablespoon elder flower

1 tablespoon yarrow leaf and flower

1 tablespoon ginger root

Bring four cups of water to a boil in a pot and remove from the heat. Add the herbs to the pan or pour the water over the herbs into a tea pot. Steep the herbs for one hour. Warm the tea up again and enjoy.

Symptom Specifics: Sinus congestion and compacted mucus in the sinus area

Cinnamon Ginger Tea

2 cups water

1 tablespoon ginger root

1 teaspoon cinnamon bark

Simmer on low heat for thirty minutes

Symptom Specifics: Feeling chilled or catching a cold that is triggered by exposure to wind or cold weather

Soothing Throat Tea

2 parts echinacea root

1 part ginger root

1 part licorice root

Decoct on low heat for thirty minutes

Symptom Specifics: Good for when your throat is scratchy or sore

Easy Cough Tea

3 cups water

2 tablespoons slippery elm bark

1 tablespoon fresh ginger root

1 tablespoon licorice root

Decoct the ginger and licorice root for thirty minutes. Turn off the heat and let the tea cool down a little before adding the slippery elm bark. After adding the slippery elm let everything infuse for another half hour. Drink at room temperature

Symptom Specifics: Spasmodic, non-productive cough

Vitamin C Tea Blend

2 parts rose hips

1 part red raspberry leaf

1 part orange peel

1 part pine needles

Make an infusion and let steep for four hours. Warm the tea up and add a little honey before drinking.

Symptom Specifics: Drink a few cups a week as a prevention tea at the onset of winter

Cinnamon Ginger Honey

1 cup honey

2 tbls. dried powdered cinnamon

1 tbls. dried powdered ginger

Let herbs steep in honey for at least two weeks before eating. Leave the herbs in for the shelf life of the honey, about one year. Put on toast and warm cereal

Source: http://www.livingawareness.com/coldandfluRecipes.aspx