Want a quick, easy and nourishing soup for Spring?  Want to eat more greens?  Want to do both of these things while saving money on your grocery bill?  Have I got the soup for you.

This recipe was a last minute light supper for us over the weekend.  I was out picking more clivers for my detox infusion, and came across a massive patch of stinging nettles.  So I picked some, and instead of making nettle tea, I experimented with a soup.  Oh yum.  Even Zak loved this one.  If you want to try eating wild food, this recipe is a great starting point!

Why would I want to eat wild food?

Eating wild, foraged food is becoming more popular.  Actually it’s the ultimate vintage skill, it’s how our ancestors ate for generations – just eating what’s around you!  But even in our modern lives, I think there are benefits to eating wild foods:

• Wild foods are organic
• Wild foods are local
• Wild foods taste good
• And wild foods are free!

What are the benefits of stinging nettles?

Stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) are in the top 10 list of useful wild plants for most herbalists.   According to Rosemary Gladstar, nettles are:

• Full of vitamins, iron, calcium, potassium, silicon and magnesium
• An all around tonic herb to strengthen and tone the body
• Reproductive tonic for men and women, even alleviating PMS and menopausal symptoms
• Strengthens kidneys and liver
• Excellent for allergies and hay fever

I like nettles because they grow abundantly everywhere, and they’re really easy to identify.

How do I pick stinging nettles?

First, check out my guidelines for foraging.

Now, make sure you’ve identified the correct plant.  You can find more information on stinging nettles here.

You probably want to wear gloves for this, because as the name implies, stinging nettles sting!

Just pick the tops of the stinging nettles, this is the youngest, softest part of the nettle plant.  Just pull off the top at a leaf-intersection so you have a few leaves and the tops.  Get a few double handfuls of stinging nettle tops for this recipe.

Stinging Nettle Soup

Serves 4

2 big handfuls of stinging nettle tops, rinsed

1 large potato, peeled and cut into half-inch cubes

1 stock cube (or even better, use 1 L or 4 cups homemade chicken stock)

1 onion, sliced.

1 Tb butter (or olive oil)

1 tsp dried thyme or mixed herbs (or 1 TB chopped fresh herbs)

optional: cream or sour cream to serve

Method:

Personally, whenever I make soup, I always add a little less water/stock in the beginning – because you can always add more after blending the soup if it’s too thick.  It’s easy to thin down a thick soup – but a lot harder to thicken up a soup that’s too watery!

• In a soup pan, sautee the sliced onion in the butter/oil until soft.
• Add the potato and sautee for a few minutes
• Crumble in the stock cube, thyme, and 4 cups (1 Liter) water or add the chicken stock.  Bring to a boil.
• Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork.
• While the water is still bubbling, throw in the nettle tops and stir into the simmering water.  Cover.  The heat will deactivate their sting.  Simmer for at least 5-10 minutes more.
• Now we need to blend the soup to make it smooth.  The best way is to use an immersion (stick) blender.  Remove the soup from the heat, and blend until smooth.  Alternatively you can put the soup in a regular blender, but be careful and never fill the blender more than half-full, the soup is REALLY hot and you don’t want to to splatter!
• Serve with crusty bread and a swirl of yogurt, cream or sour cream if you like!  Enjoy!

Have you ever eaten wild food?  Will you try this stinging nettle recipe? Let us know in the comments!

Feel a little silly paying lots of money for salt & oil in a jar?

This is a project that I wrote for Joie magazine last summer, but it’s so yummy that I wanted to included it in Summer Camp for those of you who missed it!

This recipe makes enough for one use of body scrub.  It smells delicious and so summery!  Since this is just oil and sugar, you could make a big batch and scoop some out to use throughout the summer.  It should keep for a couple of months if you keep it away from water.

Mint-Coconut Sugar Scrub

4TB (60 ml) sunflower oil

1 TB (15 ml) raw coconut oil (will be solid at room temperature)

½ c. (100 g) demerara sugar

handful of mint, finely chopped

Peppermint essential oil (optional)

Put the two oils and mint in a double boiler (if that’s too complicated, just put it in a pan on low heat). Heat gently for 15-20 minutes to infuse the mint in the oil. Remove from heat and strain out the mint leaves, reserving the oil. When the oil has cooled, add the sugar and stir well. You can add a drop or two of peppermint essential oil, if you have it. Put in a wide-mouthed container to use in the shower or bath. Use this scrub on damp body skin (it’s too scratchy for your face), then rinse off. The bottom of the tub might get slippery from the oil, so avoid shower aerobics while using any oily scrub!

Note: It’s always important to do a patch test with any new beauty product. Try it on your inner arm, then wait 24 hours to see if any irritation develops. Remember, homemade beauty products aren’t tested on animals – they’re tested on you!

If you’re not into Mint & Coconut, you can also try this Coffee Body Scrub.

If you make either of these body scrubs, either leave a comment with a link to your blog, or add a photo to our Summer Camp group on Flickr!

Rhubarb crisp

Rhubarb compote

Rhubarb ginger jam

Strawberry rhubarb pie

Rhubarb fresh from the garden dipped in a bit of sugar…

and of course, this Rhubarb Cake recipe from my Grandpa.

This is a really simple cake recipe studded with pieces of fresh, tangy rhubarb.   Grandpa grew up in Iowa during the depression, and remembers his mother making this cake for him as a boy.  Apparently it’s an old pioneer recipe from much earlier days in America.  I remember eating big squares of this cake with coffee while visiting him at his farm.

This cake is not a fussy, fancy, complicated cake.  It’s rustic and sweet and delicious.  It’s a family cake.

The original recipe calls for a 9×13 cake pan, which is still my favorite way to have this cake.  But I’ve also tried it as muffins, as you can see from the picture.  The muffins were quite soft, so if you do decide to try muffins over a cake, be sure to let them cool completely first to firm up.

Old Fashioned Rhubarb Cake

1/2 c. (110g) butter
1 1/4 c.  (275g) sugar
1 egg
1 c. (250ml) buttermilk (In a pinch, I use regular milk and a squeeze of lemon juice)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. (270g) flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 c. (250g) chopped rhubarb

Method:
In a mixing bowl cream butter and 1 c. sugar.
Add egg; beat well.  Add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda.

Add this to the creamed mixture, mixing until incorporated.  Add the buttermilk and stir to get a smooth batter.

Stir in rhubarb.

Spread in a greased 9×13 baking pan (or in lined muffin tins).
Combine the remaining sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle over batter.
Bake at 350F (180c) for 35min. or until cake tests done by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake.

It’s rhubarb season!  What are your favorite ways to eat rhubarb? Let us know in the comments.

Enter Rosemary Gladstar.  Her book is brilliant if you’re inspired by Harry Potter’s Potions class, and want to start concocting things in your own kitchen.

I adapted this recipe for a chocolate liqueur that uses the herb ‘damiana’ (ok, admittedly, I had to go buy this herb especially for this project, but it just sounded too delicious to pass up!)

Damiana is a restorative herb that is a gentle anti-depressant, helps you deal with stress/anxiety, and is also supposed to be an aphrodisiac!  Sounds perfect for an after dinner drink.

The key with liquors is that they just take time.  Letting them steep and mellow really improves the flavor.  Also, I learned again that packaging is SO important.   Straight out of the measuring cup this was tasty … but once I bottled it nicely, and added a name and a label, somehow it just tastes better to me.  Yikes, I’m really a child of the advertising age!

Chocolate Temptation Liqueur

(Adapted from Rosemary Gladstar’s Damiana Chocolate Liqueur)

1 oz. dried damiana leaves

2 cups brandy

1 1/2 cups filtered water

1 cup honey

vanilla extract

rose water

chocolate syrup

Method:

Put damiana leaves and brandy in a covered jar, let them soak for 5 days.  Shake daily, if you think of it.  Strain, reserving the liquid. (You just made a tincture!)

Soak these same leaves in the water for 3 days, strain and reserve the liquid.

Over low heat, warm the infused water and stir the honey in until it’s dissolved.  Remove from heat, add infused alcohol.

Add a splash of rosewater and vanilla extract.  Pour into a clean, pretty bottle (I usually fill bottles with boiling water for a few minutes first, as a sort of semi-sterilization).  Label the bottle.  Let it sit for one month or longer, for the flavors to develop.

To serve, take 1 cup of liqueur and add 1/2 cup of chocolate syrup and a splash more rosewater.  Serve in little cups straight or over ice. Yum!

Being lazy, I mixed the entire bottle’s contents of liquor with the syrup and rosewater at one time, and then rebottled it.  I think I decreased the shelf life of the liquor by doing this – will let you know!   The liquor mix (without chocolate syrup) should last quite awhile, at least a year.

Have you tried making flavored liquors at home?  I invented a few more that are still steeping, will share the results soon (a hawthorn berry and cinnamon in vodka, and another with dandelion and burdock in brandy).  Happy experimenting!

Short on time?  Make a big pot of soup on the weekend, for easy weekday lunches and dinners. Soup also freezes really well in individual containers, for those nights when you just can’t cook.

Want to eat healthier? Homemade soup has no preservatives and much less sodium than the store bought kind.  Plus, you control what goes into it – so it can be loaded with veggies and nutritious homemade chicken stock.

Saving money?  Soup can feed a crowd. It can be a starter or a main course.  And best of all, it is the easiest, sneakiest way to use up leftovers and random vegetables.

This Split Pea and Ham soup is thick, hearty and comforting.  Perfect for the last chilly nights of early spring.  It’s also a great way to use leftover easter ham!  I made this low maintenance recipe  in a slow cooker (crockpot), but you can just as easily make it on the stove.

You Need:

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

2 celery stalks

300 g. yellow split peas

1L chicken stock (homemade or stock cube)

250 g. cooked ham, chopped

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp. turmeric (optional, but I add turmeric to all my soups – it has anti-inflammatory properties)

salt/pepper to taste

Method:

1) Put dried yellow split peas in a bowl, cover with water, let soak 8 hours (or overnight).

2) Drain peas, and place in slower cooker with onion, celery, garlic, and ham.  Add seasonings.  Cover with chicken stock.

3) Let cook 4-6 hours on High setting (or simmer on stovetop for a couple of hours, until ham is falling apart and peas are mushy).

4) Remove bay leaf, season to taste, and serve with crusty bread.

Looking for something else to make in your crock pot? How about some homemade yogurt?

Growing up in the US, we always bought hams that were pre-cooked, and just needed glazing and baking in the oven.  When I arrived in the UK, I found that hams aren’t called ‘hams’, they’re called ‘gammon’, and they’re completely uncooked.   I was a bit intimidated by this at first since it requires boiling and then roasting – but the big benefit is that you can flavor the meat much more than just putting a glaze on a pre-cooked ham.

If you’re looking for vintage cooking skills, a ham roast is another easy, impressive main course.  And much like the classic roast chicken, gives you a lot of options for leftovers!

The process for preparing an uncooked ham is:  Boil once to remove salt,  second boil to cook the ham, glaze & finish in the oven to brown and crisp the exterior.

The first time I made a ham, I used Nigella Lawson’s recipe for Ham in Coca Cola.  Yes, you read that right.  You boil the ham in a pot of cola.   The ham actually ends up with a slightly sweet, caramel taste – it was really delicious.

For this springtime Easter ham, I decided to try a ginger-infused flavor instead, and substituted Ginger Beer and a sweet/spicy ginger molasses glaze.  This ham was absolutely delicious – tender with a crispy, sweet outside, and light gingery flavor throughout.   Choose a big ham so you have enough for leftovers the next day (served cold in sandwiches with mustard) or to make into a big pot of split pea and ham soup.  Perfect for fending off those last few chilly days!

If you can’t find a raw ham, then you might just try using the glaze, and baking per the instructions on the ham.

Ginger Ham

1 uncooked ham (gammon joint)

1 2L bottle of Ginger Beer (or Ginger Ale, although the Beer is less sweet)

1 onion

Glaze:

1 Tb. Molasses (Black Treacle)

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

2-3 TB. cooking liquid from above (or ginger beer or ginger ale)

Method:

1) De-salt ham: Put ham in big stock pot with lid.  Cover with water.  Bring to a boil, then drain.  It might be all foamy at the top, just pour/rinse all of this off.

2) Cook ham: With ham in stock pot, cover in ginger beer.  If you don’t have enough ginger beer, top with water.  Cut onion in half, and add to stock pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer.  Cover, and cook for approximately 20 minutes per pound, plus an additional 20 minutes.   (Check the packaging on your ham to be sure, or use a meat thermometer).

3)   Preheat oven to 400F.  Place ham in roasting pan.  Reserve 3 TB cooking liquid.  (NB: Apparently you can use this sweet stock to make a bean soup etc, although I haven’t tried that yet.)

4) For glaze, mix molasses, ginger and cooking liquid (feel free to add up to 1 tsp ginger to make it more spicy).  Pour glaze on top of ham.

5) Roast ham in oven for 20-30 minutes.

6) Carve and serve.  Delicious with a little tangy mustard for dipping.  Save leftovers for sandwiches and soup (recipes to follow shortly!)

I usually eat a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon for breakfast … but on the weekends when Zak  and I eat together, we like to have something a little more interesting.   So this weekend, with sausages nowhere to be found, I dug through the pantry and found the ingredients to make these yummy muffins.

Apple and Blackberry is such a British Autumn combination.   Apples are easy to find year-round, but the blackberries I had stashed away in the freezer a few months ago after Zak’s mom came to visit (she always brings a supply of home-grown produce in-season.  For a city-dweller like me that’s such a treat!).

This is one of the reasons I love my (very small) freezer.  Finding some fruit (or veg or herbs) that I put away in the peak of the season really cheers me up in the middle of gloomy winter!

This basic muffin recipe is based on the classic from my 1960′s Betty Crocker Cookbook.  It’s really easy to change the spices and add-ins with whatever you happen to have on hand. Great for an emergency weekend brunch.

Apple Blackberry Muffins

(makes 12)

1 egg

1/2 c. milk (120ml)

1/4c. vegetable oil (60ml)

1 1/2 c. flour (165g)

1/2c. sugar (100g)

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup blackberries (fresh or frozen) (100g)

1 grated apple

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 400 F (200 c).  Beat egg, stir in oil and milk.  Add flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon – stir very gently until just incorporated (don’t overmix muffins or they’ll be tough).  Fold in blackberries and grated apple until evenly distributed.  Drop by large spoonful into 12 muffin cups.  Bake 20 minutes until cracked on the top (and you can test by inserting a toothpick in the center of a muffin, and if it comes out clean, it’s cooked).  Remove muffins from pan and let cool on cooling rack.

This post is included in House of Annie’s Grow-Your-Own Blog Roundup #40.

There’s a simple, time-tested home remedy that you can make to feel better when you have a cold – or anytime during the winter months.

What is this home remedy?  Hot honey, lemon and ginger.

Hot honey, lemon and ginger is quick & easy, and uses ingredients you probably have in the kitchen.  Don’t have fresh ginger root on hand?  You can always use some powdered or dried crystal ginger too … but fresh is best!   In traditional usage, honey, lemon and ginger was used to help get over a cold. Personally I love the fresh citrusy/spicy taste from the lemon and ginger, and I enjoy it as an easy, warming drink all winter long.

[Of course, you can always add a shot of whisky for a nice hot toddy ... and extra cold-fighting power, depending on who you ask!]

Why Honey, Lemon and Ginger?

Honey:  Honey is a naturally antibacterial and antiseptic.  It also coats the throat, to soothe dry or sore throats.

Lemon: Lemon is antibacterial and has a high amount of vitamin C (and gives a nice fresh taste.)  In aromatherapy, lemon is used to detoxify the body, stimulate the lymph and liver, and for purifies the skin and respiratory tract.

Ginger: Ginger is the essential ingredient in this drink.  Ginger is hot and spicy, and is traditionally used to warm the body, for colds & to stimulate the immune system.  Ginger also may reduce inflammation.

How to make Hot Honey, Lemon and Ginger tea

1. Cut a 1/2″ piece of fresh ginger root. Peel.  You might want to cut in a few smaller slices to put in the mug (more exposed surfaces means more ginger juice gets in the tea!).   Place ginger in mug.
2. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon in the mug.
3. Add 1 big spoonful of honey (or to taste).
4. Fill with recently boiled water.
5. Optional:  Add a healthy shot of whisky, if you’re feeling like you need an extra kick.
6. Enjoy!

What’s your favorite winter warmer or pick-me-up for the February slump??

Going through my pantry the other day (full disclosure: My pantry is really one small kitchen cabinet crammed to the brim – ahh the joys of apartment living!) I found unopened dark chocolate Easter bunny that I had stashed away last year.  Since Easter is just around the corner, I figured I should really use this one up before the new season of chocolate bunnies appear on my doorstep.

OK, I could just eat the chocolate bunny.  But it was the weekend and I was feeling more adventurous.  I’ve been having a wicked craving for 7-layer bars recently, but haven’t quite made the effort to figure out substitutes for graham crackers etc. here in England.  These blondie brownies have that toffee-coconutty goodness of the 7 layer bar, with a very dense chewy consistency.  Don’t be discouraged by the super thick batter (mine was basically a dough) of this recipe, just press it into the pan like a cookie dough.

Plus, you get the added enjoyment of chopping up an easter bunny, if you have a little pent-up frustration to get out

So, if you have a leftover chocolate Easter bunny – turn it into these delicious butterscotchy, chewy, blondie brownies.

Long-lost chocolate easter bunny

Chopping in progress

Voila! Chocolate chunks.

Easter Bunny Blondies

Adapted from http://southernfood.about.com/od/browniesbars/r/r90510k.htm

1 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

4 oz. melted unsalted butter, cooled

1c. brown sugar

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 c. dried shredded coconut

1 chopped up chocolate easter bunny (I used a dark chocolate Dove easter bunny) – about 1c. of chocolate chunks.

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease & flour 8×8 baking pan.  In a mixing bowl, combine melted butter and sugar, then mix in one egg, stir well.  Add vanilla.  Stir in flour and salt until all combined.  Stir in coconut until combined.  Then, add chocolate chunks and stir until evenly distributed throughout dough.  Normally blondies are a batter, mine turned out very stiff like a dough – don’t worry about this.  Pour/press into prepared pan.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Glaze (optional): Once cooled, I melted a little extra chocolate and 1 TB butter together and drizzled over the top of the blondies.

Amanda's Homemade White Bread

What’s the quickest way to make a visitor to your house think you’re a domestic goddess?  Fill your house with the smell of baking bread.  And no, a ‘freshly baked bread’ scented candle doesn’t cut it.

[UPDATE: If you want to learn to bake bread, check out my how to bake bread video for full instructions!  These days I tend to make artisan herb loaf or homemade sourdough, no baking tins needed!]

Mmmm, the smell of baking bread.  Enough said.   To really get this smell, you have to really bake bread. Yes, actual, homemade bread.  No, don’t run away yet. It’s easy!  And you’ll be so impressed when it comes out of the oven (as will the neighbors who will ineviatbly stop in to investigate the delicious smells wafting from your kitchen…)

But can’t I just buy a loaf at the store?

Have you noticed how long bread lasts without going off? How is that possible? Preservatives!

Check out the ingredients on the package. It’s a long list.  With unpronounceable words.  In your fabulous domestic-goddess homemade bread there are just a few ingredients: flour, salt, water, yeast … maybe some fat or some sugar.  Ok, so the loaf doesn’t last as long as the one from the store … but considering how good it tastes, it won’t stick around that long anyway.

Here is a small, easy to handle loaf that I make almost every weekend.

Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s recipe.

Domestic Goddess White Bread

adapted from Nigella Lawson How to Eat

Makes 1 small loaf

300g bread flour

10g yeast

10g salt

5g sugar (or 2 sugar cubes)

170ml tepid

10g fat (I like olive oil)

Put the flour in the tepid water and let sit.  Put the salt, sugar, flour and fat in a mixing bowl.  Stir in the water/yeast mix - this will make a mess at first but then will come together into a sticky dough ball.

Turn this out onto a floured surface. I use a floured pastry cloth (you can also use a thick smooth tea towel that you save just for this purpose).  You can also just flour your countertop.  Knead the bread for 5-10 minutes.  (Knead bread by forming it into a dough ball on the counter, then, with the heel of your hand, smoosh it away from you.  Then pull it back into a dough ball, and smoosh it slightly at a different angle.  Basically just work the dough around a lot during these 5-1o minutes, we’re trying to develop the gluten into a nice, elastic ball).  You may have to add a little bit more flour if the dough is sticking to your hands.

Place in a bowl, cover with a tea towel, and set it in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until the ball has doubled in size.

Now the fun part – punch it down. Literally punch your fist into the inflated dough, and watch it deflate! Poof! Take it out of the bowl, shape it into a loaf, and put it either in your loaf pan, or just as a round loaf on a cookeie sheet.  Cover and let rise again for 1 hour in a warm place.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Bake for 35 min.  You know if it’s done when the top is golden and the loaf sounds ‘hollow’ when you knock it with your fist.

Try to resist cutting until it’s slightly cooled (it will cut easier this way).  Serve with salted butter, jam or honey.  Yum.

Everyone seems to be talking about the flu this year.  With my growing interest in herbal kitchen remedies, I wanted to find some herbs that could be used to help with flu symptoms.   You might want to consider some of these herbs to stock your kitchen apothecary (in addition to your favorite over-the-counter meds, of course!):

1. Echinacea - start taking this as soon as you feel under-the-weather.  Echinacea stimulates the immune system to help your body fight off the flu.  Take small amounts frequently throughout the day (I take 1ml of tincture in water every 2 hours during the first few days of a cold/flu, then reduce the amount).
2. Thyme - Thyme is a great remedy for respiratory problems.  I like making a thyme tea (infusion) with fresh or dried thyme leaves, and a little honey and lemon.  Thyme is antiviral and an expectorant.
3. Licorice / Liquorice – This sweet, soothing root is an expectorant, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral.  Great for respiratory infections.  May raise blood pressure, so do not use if you have high blood pressure!  Nice to add to teas for a sweet flavor.
4. Garlic - The kitchen-remedy wonder food!  Garlic is antibiotic and antiviral.  Best to eat raw (I know it’s hard, but you can do it!).  Try chopping it up in food, or take with a spoonful of honey or oil.  Also use freely in cooking. Or make some garlic tea by putting garlic, honey and lemon in hot water.
5. Elderflower & Peppermint tea – Both elderberries and elderflowers are helpful in fighting the flu.  The berries help inhibit the flu virus, while the flowers induce sweating during fevers.  Peppermint is soothing and relaxing, and helps clear congestion.  Can also add Yarrow to this tea blend.
6. Skullcap - A fantastic, stress-relieving herb that is nourishing to the body after an illness like flu.
7. Yarrow – Yarrow is anti-inflammatory and sweat inducing, which can help reduce fevers.
8. Boneset – Traditional use for treating flu.  Induces sweating, reduces fever, and eases body aches.  Apparently also stimulates the immune system.
9. Astragalus - This Chinese herb can be used long-term to support the immune system. You may want to consider taking it daily during cold/flu season.
10. Eucalyptus & Pine or lavender & tea tree inhalation – Just put a few drops of the essential oils in a bowl of just-boiled water, lean over it, and cover your head with a towel to contain the steam.  Breath for 5-10 minutes.

You can take most of these herbs in your favorite preparation – infusion/tea, tincture, or pill.  Remember, I’m not a doctor, just someone interested in traditional remedies for common ailments, so check with a doctor or herbalist before trying these.

What other herbal and kitchen remedies do you use for the flu?