Winter is the time for bitters.

In this post I am talking hot warming tea. That wonderful concoction to make and have in the winter months. It are upon us, as I sit here it is expected to be -40 F.

We eat rich and wonderful foods in the winter. Nourishing soups, root vegetables that perhaps we've traded or bartered with our neighbors, inticing trays of zoom balls (from Rosemary Gladstar and others, also know as energy balls or bliss balls.)

Among the two hardest to find foods before this modern era are sugar and fat. Naturally we consume those first, combined with with the cold and less physical work we beging to feel sluggish, one was to counteract sluggishness is tea and bitters.

First there is Burdock amazing lovely, Burdock. She grows just about everywhere. I prefer the second year roots dug up in the spring. Scrub well with a veggie scrubbie and peel them like a carrot to remove the outside layer if you wish, it's the most bitter part but I like the twang.

If you start with the first year roots, dug in the fall, they are smaller and easier to dig. I like fresh Burdock sliced and added to stir fry. A delicious Burdock tea recipe is below. Most health food stores, called co-ops here have fresh or dried Burdock and I have seasonal offerings and dried Burdock root.

Burdock root tea:

1 teaspoon Burdock roots

1 teaspoon Dandelion root

2 dried Red Clover flowers

Dried Peppermint to taste

4 cups hot water

Steep roots for a good half hour then add the Clover and Peppermint for ten or so minutes. Strain and enjoy.

Do you remember the sheer joy of everything about Dandelion flowers? I do and I still do. I love how soft the petsls are, the perfect green of the leaves and stem, the bright, bright yellow against the grass like happiness showing up especially for us. Dandelion roots much like Burdock roots are also fantastic as food and tea, but let me introduce you to slighty roasted and toasted Dandelion roots as morning drink, half with coffee or without. I hesitate to call Dandelion roots a coffee substitute because it isn't. And it isn't fair to Dandelion or coffee. To make the tea, find you some Dandelion get the roots but don't skip the leaves or flowers, you can munch on them too. Clean well and chop the roots up and roast them in a big pan or toast them in a toaster oven, until they get a couple of shades darker then use them exactly like you would coffee. I like the flowers in muffins and the leaves in a salad.

You can find recipes for those here and here.

Nettles are the plant that if I could get almost everyone to drink Nettle tea I would. I wish you to try infused nettle tea. In a quart of waterdadd about a quarter cup of dried Nettles, infuse over night, many people leave it out on the counter, many people leave infused Nettles in the fridge, either way strain them in the morning, reserve the liquid, compost the leaves and drink up,...Do use dry or wilted Nettles for this, fresh and you'll learn first hand why they are called Stinging Nettles.

Raspberry, Nettle and Rosehip tea:

!.5 ounces raspberry leaves (thats a lot of dried leaves.)

1 ounces dried Nettles

1/2 rosehips

1/2 ounce Hibiscus flowers

!/2 dried Orange peel

Four cups hot water.