 Purple Gems-Santa Rosa Plums This summer has been a glorious invitation to immerse outside in the magnificent nature here in Southern Oregon. Our summer's moderate temperatures and clear air lasted all the way until the third week of August. I cherish all the time I had to explore and play in the outdoors. Until just a couple weeks ago, it felt like the summers of past, before we began experiencing extreme heat, drought and wildfire smoke.  Delightful Summer 2023 This blog is about fruit, not about wildfires. Fruit coming out of our ears, filling our bellies and spilling out the door. The fruit trees first said hello in early July as I walked home from the nearby grower's market while taking a short-cut through our neighborhood common space. The space is a well-tended lush green area with a lovely small pond, surrounded by magnificent old willow trees. Being at the pond feels like pure magic. Still quite new to the neighborhood, I was exploring and finding much joy in watching the baby ducklings gliding through the water and colorful dragonflies flitting about. The pond is surrounded by and lined with perennial flowers, herbs, reeds, mint, cattails and long-established willow trees. On this particular day I was captivated by the deep blues and reds of the dragonflies, landing on the flowers and water plants. I watched as a family of baby ducklings swam in formation from one side of the pond to the other, escorted by mama duck; all dipping their heads in the water and stopping along the way to rest. On the south side of the pond a large Mulberry Tree hung heavy with ripe berries; many dropping to the ground and on an old picnic table below. Birds flocked to the tree, popping fat berries into their beaks. The beauty and wildlife at the pond helped me slow down and feel the wild aliveness all around.  Pond Life - Ashland, Oregon I continued walking home with my bag of fresh produce and crossed over the water on the second of two-foot bridges. As I stepped off the bridge, I noticed a tree rooted and hanging over the pond, filled with dark red shiny cherries. It looked as if no one had been picking the cherries, not even the birds. I easily reached up and picked a clump of ripe cherries and popped one in my mouth experiencing a delicious burst of sweetness. I immediately texted my partner, Johan, who had lived in the neighborhood for years and asked him if the cherry tree by the pond was for any of the neighbors to pick from. He replied with a question, "There's a cherry tree near the pond?" I knew immediately why no one was picking any cherries. It seemed likely that no one spent much time at the pond other than using it as a neighborhood short cut. I have spent much of my life slowing down, stopping, sitting, observing and loving nature. From the time I was a young child, my dad took me into the woods to forage for wild black raspberries, blackberries, elderberries and Morel Mushrooms. My senses wake up when I'm in the natural world. I especially love foraging for fruit and berries in wild places. As I continued on my short walk home, my mental mind was speaking loudly inside my head-"red cherries"; "cherry tree"; "beautiful"; "lots of them"; "sweet"; " large"; "ripe"; "full red clumps"; "gotta pick"; "bake pie.". I arrived home; put the produce away; grabbed Johan and we headed to the pond with some containers and a step ladder. We picked about 6 pounds of cherries. Being a forester and tree propagator for decades, Johan was trying to figure out how he had missed that tree before now. To be fair, fruit trees can often have many seasons when they don't bear much fruit at all, or the birds get all of it before the humans even see it.  Sweet Dark Red Cherries Photo Credit: Syd.ozter The next day, while at the pond following my sit-spot practice, I discovered a second cherry tree not far from the first, also close to the water. This tree had also been over-looked by the rest of the neighbors and was bursting with even more cherries than the first. Its location offered much easier picking. I once again headed home and enlisted Johan who eagerly joined me with containers and the step ladder for more cherry picking. The thing about fruit picking is that you have to keep picking when the fruit is ripe before it falls to the ground. Over a period of a week, we picked about 20 pounds of sweet, dark cherries. It was a bounty year for the two cherry trees next to the pond and we were grateful to enjoy the delectable cherries through mid-July and froze many for future use. Following the July cherry harvest came an abundance of plums. In early August, we went to check on two plum trees we had been aware of for years and they too were having a bounty year. On the first evening we ventured out to look for any ripe fruit, we found full branches hanging heavy with plump, deep purple, Santa Rosa Plums. The plums were juicy, sweet jewels with scores of them ripe for eating and picking. That first evening we picked about 20 pounds. We continued to pick in the evenings when the temperatures dropped after sunset. In the golden evening light, the plums were shining like treasure. Their skins were cool and smooth to the touch-some still a bit hard, some just on the edge of turning ripe and pounds of them ready to pick and eat off the tree. The first bite into the reddish-purple fruit brought a tart and tangly explosion, followed immediately by the satisfying rich, sweet and juicy inner golden flesh.  Santa Rosa Plum Tree Altogether we made 4 trips to the tree to harvest plums. On the first three trips we used the car in anticipation of many plums to bring home. We packed the plums from our 4th trip on the back of our bikes. With each picking, we gravitated toward picking areas between the two trees. Sometimes requiring some tree climbing, stretching way up to high branches, difficult to access. It often took team work to gently pull the full branches a little lower while one of us picked the dense clumps of plums. In over two weeks of picking, we harvested close to 70 pounds of plums and washed the equivalent of numerous smashed, fallen plums off the soles of our boots.  "Plum-mobile" Blix Electric Bike We turned our dining room table into a plum sorting station. Using different sized bowls, plums were sorted into ripe, almost ripe and still in need of more ripening. Some plums went right to the fridge and throughout the day we would gently palpate the plums, transferring newly softened plums into the fridge. Day after day we ate the perfectly ripe plums, unable to resist the sweet fruit. The plums were extremely juicy so my preferred method of eating them was hanging my head over the sink, so my first bite didn't squirt across the kitchen. Over the past month I often noticed Johan with something inside one cheek or the other. He was eating plums and sucking on a pit in his cheek until he got every last bit of the sweet fruit.  Freezing Santa Rosa Plums Initially we pitted and froze 3 gallons of plums. Next came a batch of Tart Plum Sauce. The sauce tastes very similar to cranberry sauce. Johan was eating it as a condiment on everything, even granola. As more plums joined our sorting table, we divided the ripening plums into brown paper bags gifting them to neighbors and friends. We spent one morning on our bikes, delivering the bags to friends and the next day dropping off plums to neighbors.  With many plums still left we needed to do more preserving. When our neighbor, Carolyn, gifted us with some ripe figs from her tree, Johan was right on it, making a fig-plum conserve. When the smoke arrived and settled into the valley in late August, it was the perfect time for staying inside and putting up more plums. We were down to our last big bowl of ripe, fresh plums. and it was the perfect time to finally jump on the brilliant suggestion my daughter, Ailee, shared with me a couple years ago. Due to my tomato allergy, Ailee suggested I substitute plums and make a "no tomato" plum marinara sauce. It was so exciting to finally be doing it!  "Nomato" Plum Marinara Sauce I used the last of our plums along with fresh herbs and spices and cooked it all down into a delicious pot of gorgeous, deep red, plum marinara. For this project, Johan offered to pit the 5 pounds of plums, approximately 50 plums. We each have our own prep areas when we cook together. At one point, as I was mincing garlic and chopping onion, it was extremely quiet over at Johan's counter. I looked over and saw him slicing plums very methodically, filling his cutting board with beautiful slices of the golden-purple fruit. I also saw that Johan's cheek was plumped out, likely sucking on a plum pit. Once he discarded the pit into the compost bucket and could talk, Johan explained, "Sucking on 5 pounds of plum pits is comparable to eating about 2 whole plums."  "Nomato" Plum Marinara Prep Within days of making the plum marinara we were finally down to our last pound of fresh plums. It was about 10 PM and I'd just turned off my computer, having just finished editing most of the recipes for this blog and suddenly realized we needed to make the last of the plums into fresh salsa before they got any riper. We were back in the kitchen for some late-night chopping and slicing, making a batch of fresh plum salsa. I didn't think anything could beat mango salsa, but the plums won out. The following morning, we shared our last two fresh purple gems from our harvest. It has been a month of picking, eating, preparing, loud belly laughing and living and breathing plums-all in deep gratitude, fun, joy and delight.  Plum Paradise Recipes: Tart Plum Sauce Approximately 4 pounds of ripe Santa Rosa plums 1 to 2 heaping tbs honey (adjust based on sweetness of your plums) 2 tbs chia seeds Optional: lemon juice to taste for a tarter sauce Pit and cut plums into small pieces. Heat to a simmer, plums will release juice. Cook on low heat for 30-40 minutes until there are no more plum chunks, stirring every few minutes. Take off heat and stir in chia seeds and lemon juice. Add honey to taste after the sauce has cooled a bit. Chill. Makes 2 pints. Store in refrigerator or freeze. Delicious on toast, ice cream, chicken or anything.  Tart Plum Sauce Fig/Plum Conserve 2 pounds ripe figs 2 pounds ripe Santa Rosa plums 1/4 cup lemon juice 2 tbs chia seeds De-stem and cut figs into small pieces. Pit and cut plums into small pieces. Bring to simmer and cook with low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes. When fruit is soft, use a potato masher to create a smooth texture. Take off heat and add lemon juice and chia seeds. Makes 2 pints. Store in fridge or freeze. Use as you would any jam or preserves.  Fig-Plum Conserve "Nomato" Plum Marinara Sauce This sauce is a game-changer for anyone who cannot eat tomatoes or nightshades. "Nomato" Plum Marinara tastes like a traditional tomato marinara sauce. The color is a delightful, rich, deep red and while it is cooking, the kitchen is filled with the aroma of rich tomato sauce. It looks and tastes more like a classic marinara sauce than the red pepper-based, romesco sauce I often use as a substitute. It is delicious. My basic recipe below uses 5 pounds of Santa Rosa plums and makes about 10-11 cups of sauce. Adjust the spices to your personal taste. Each plum variety is different in in sweetness and tartness. This recipe uses Santa Rosa Purple Plums. Adjust your ingredient amounts as needed depending on what variety of plums you use. You'll need to add certain ingredients to help cut down the plum's sweetness to achieve the taste of a marinara. As I experimented, I discovered that the addition of extra sea salt, lemon juice, tamari and lemon rind did the trick- add the above slowly until you achieve the taste you are looking for. If you you cook your plums down and the marinara is too tart, add honey or preferred sweetener to taste as well as adjusting all other spices as needed. 5 Pounds Red or Purple plums, washed, pitted, sliced 2 Tablespoons-white rice wine vinegar 1/4-1/3 cup lemon juice (adjust up or down to taste) 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil- be generous 1 medium onion, chopped 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced Lemon Zest- from 1/2 -whole lemon 8 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves 1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves 1 Teas. dried Oregano 12 Fresh Basil Leaves 2 Tablespoons Tamari 1-2 Tbs Sea Salt (add more as needed to cut sweetness) Sauté onion, celery, garlic, parsley and spices in large pot in about 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil. When Onion and celery are soft and onion is transparent, add the pitted plums and allow mixture to simmer on low heat, stirring frequently until plums and all other ingredients have broken down. With an immersion blender (or food processor), puree mixture until smooth. Once all is blended: Add: Salt to taste. Tamari Rice Wine Vinegar Lemon Zest- begin with zest of 1/2 lemon and more if needed. Black Pepper to taste Allow sauce to simmer for desired consistency and flavor. Use fresh from the pot or freeze for later use.  "Nomato" Plum Marinara Sauce Fresh Plum Salsa Blend all together in a small bowl and chill: One Pound Fresh Santa Rosa Purple Plums- pitted and cut into small pieces One generous cup finely chopped red onion One finely chopped Medium Serrano or Jalapeño Pepper (Jalapeno is spicier) 1/2 Cup Fresh Lime Juice 6 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro Sea Salt to Taste Fine tune as you like for flavor.  Fresh Plum Salsa
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 Blue Elderberry I began searching for elderberry bushes and harvesting their berries when I was 10 years old, in drainage ditches where they grew together along country roads in Council Bluffs, Iowa. My first forays for elderberries were with my father and sisters. By mid to late September, often at the same time as The Jewish New Year, the berries were ripe and ready for harvest. Many of my memories of picking elderberries are of breaking free into the warm autumn sunshine after a long morning of sitting indoors at the synagogue for Rosh Hashanah services. We'd eat a holiday meal at home or with relatives and then eagerly head out to gather berries. My sister's and I and our father would grab some large brown paper grocery bags and garden clippers and drive to a country road in the east hills of Council Bluffs where we found a favorite elderberry patch. We'd fill our bags with large clumps of reddish-purple berries, hanging heavy on bright red stems and bring them home to my mom and also my grandma Sylvia who was often part of our jelly making process. We'd all help clean and de-stem the berries before squishing them through cheese cloth to get all the juice into a large pot for cooking the batch of jelly- adding just the right amount of sugar and pectin for thickening the tart berry juice as it cooked down.  Blue Elderberrie & Rose Hips Cooking "I loved my mother's delicious elderberry jam, berry pies and earthy tasting sautéed Morels. Though, each time we ate the mushrooms my mom was on high alert; her adrenaline rushing; expecting to rush us to the emergency room-poisoned by the nourishing, heavenly mushrooms she'd just cooked for us. Mom never ate the wild mushrooms." At that point in my life I knew nothing about wild crafting herbs nor had I any knowledge of which herbs and foods found in nature might be used to support health and wellness. I did know that I loved foraging close to home for elderberries in the autumn; black raspberries in summer and Morel mushrooms and wild asparagus in the spring. The Morels and wild asparagus often popped up around May Day each year when we also picked violets for our May baskets. I loved my mother's delicious elderberry jam, berry pies and earthy tasting sautéed Morels. Though, each time we ate the mushrooms my mom was on high alert; her adrenaline rushing; expecting to rush us to the emergency room-poisoned by the nourishing, heavenly mushrooms she'd just cooked for us. Mom never ate the wild mushrooms. When my sister, Heidi, was old enough to drive and I was a young teen, we went berry picking without our father on a warm autumn afternoon. While driving home with our overflowing bags of elderberries. a huge Wolf Spider popped out of one of the bags of berries onto the back seat, just inches from us. We were screaming as Heidi, pulled the car over and parked. We spilled out of the car in seconds and knocked on the door of a nearby home, asking to use their phone (this was about 30 years before cell phones were in use). One of us made the call and my dad arrived shortly, rescuing us from the spider in the back seat of our tiny Fiat. He shooed the large spider out of the car with part of his Sunday newspaper and off we went, terrified to ever gather elderberries again.  Elderberry, rose hips, ginger, cinnamon & cloves. It was in Oregon, years later, that my real education in herbs, plant medicine and nutrition began. It was here where elderberry syrup or tincture became a staple in my herb and supplement cabinet for year round immune support. In Oregon it was extremely easy to find elderberry syrup in one of the numerous food co-ops or natural food stores, I was content to buy it off the shelf. Something big changed for me during the early days of The Pandemic-though nature was a huge piece of my world and work, I found myself in the woods more than ever and at the same time upped my self care practices-every aspect of self care; physical, emotional, nutritional, spiritual and environmental. With the world slowed down, I dropped into slow time and noticed many details around me that I'd overlooked in the past. One day in late September of 2020, on a walk through the neighborhood, I noticed an elderberry bush dripping with ripe berries and the sight of the tree transported me back to my childhood. I knocked on the door of the home where the tree lived and asked the owner if I might harvest some of her berries if she wasn't using them. She told me to take as many as I'd like as she didn't pick them. I returned a little later with my clippers and a bag and was back at it. It had been 50 years since I'd last harvested elderberries and this time, with an intention to make a batch of elderberry syrup. In this part of Southern Oregon, many elderberry varieties are blue instead of the typical black. The blue drought-tolerant variety thrive in our hot and dry climate. Blue elderberries (Sambucus cerulea) are similar to black elderberries (Sambucus nigra). I gathered enough berries for a large batch of syrup; thanked the beautiful tree and left a good amount of berries for the birds. As I walked home with my full bag, for just a moment I had an image of the Wolf Spider from my childhood but quickly let it fade away.  Elderberries and rose hips -transformation I made my first batch of elderberry syrup from a recipe a friend shared with me. The batch was big, tasty and lasted for months. In fact, it lasted so long that it was fermented by the time I got close to finishing it. I used a small amount each day and have had elderberry, well-known as an ant-viral, in my daily regimen every since early 2020. I found the first batch of syrup and the batch that followed the next season to be tasty but very watery. I desired the thick syrupy texture I had been used to from herbal farms such as Gaia Herbs or Herb Pharm. This past autumn, I once again harvested elderberries from the same tree and shared in the medicine making process with my friend, Johan, who was all in for this project. I harvested the berries and delivered them to Johan to prep and freeze. A common method to de-stem the berries is simply by freezing them in a bag, causing the berries to fall from their stems easily on their own, once frozen. Johan, in his love for small seeds and berries and from his years of experience gathering seeds and propagating conifer trees for The Forest Service, chose to meticulously remove the tiny elderberries from their stems, carefully removing any bit of tree duff or tiny bugs before freezing them.  Blue Elderberries Photo Credit: https://practicalselfreliance.com/foraging-elderberries/ Early on I felt the plant and human synergy as we worked as a team-researching and adapting a recipe to make a concentrated thick syrup. We looked at a recipe shared last fall by our friend, Julia Plevin Oliansky, which inspired us to use rose hips in addition to the elderberries. Julia's recipe used dried elderberries and we were working with fresh frozen berries. The proportions of berries and water change depending on if you use dried, fresh or frozen berries. I found a recipe using fresh frozen elderberries which we then adapted by adding rose hips and tweaking the water content as well as the honey. We initially added too many rose-hips for our batch and quickly discovered the natural pectin in the rose hip skins was a powerful thickening agent, so we decreased the amount in the recipe that follows. Rose hips are rich in vitamin C and natural pectin for thickening and it takes very few to get the thickening effect. We gathered the fresh rose hips from my rose bush. They have a sweet and tangy tartness and are full of anti-oxidants.. I scribbled the finished recipe out in my almost illegible printing which Johan proceeded to carefully type out.  Squeezing warm Berry Pulp through a Nut Seed Bag Next, we chose a day to get together and make the syrup. A perfect project for the dark short days of winter. Johan thawed the berries early in the day and I brought the rose hips; the spices and a large, heavy pot. Our collaboration took me back to all the years I spent as a pastry chef in professional kitchens with the whole crew working together. Over the years I have been working on my own with the harvested plants as well as doing lots of cooking and baking which I find quite therapeutic, creative and fun. This collaboration with a kitchen partner reminded me of my childhood, making elderberry jelly with a full crew in our family's kitchen, each of us taking part at some level. The collaboration created an exponential sense of connection between human and plant and human-human-plant connection. It reminded me of the magic that happens on a forest therapy walk between the different human participants connecting with one another and all the living nature beings, relating and sharing in unique ways; each time different than the last.  Trading off squeezing Elderberry Rose Hip Pulp The longer I have related to the natural world, I've found it spilling into all of my life, especially in the form of sensory experience. Making the elderberry syrup was quite an immersion of the senses. The senses of taste, sight, smell, hearing and feeling were all engaged. The smell of the spices and the simmering pot of berries, blended together and created a fragrant forest in the kitchen. The magnificent deep blue berries and red rose hips cooking down and changing color by the moment, transported us into the simmering pot-the plants pulling us into their alchemical mix as they became something new. Through our human-plant collaboration we witnessed nature revealing her power as Earth matter shapeshifting through human-plant relation and intention.  Blending Raw Honey into warm Elderberry Rose Hip Syrup The berries, steaming and simmering away in the pot were deep in an alchemical dance, melting into a new expression or their former selves. The heat and steam from the fragrant pot drifted over our hands and faces offering a potent sense bath. The longer the berries simmered the more grounded and present we became-no longer simply the cooks, observers and planners but an integral part of a newly formed relationship between nature beings and human beings.  One of 2 jars of Elderberry Rose Hip Syrup When the berry-spice concoction had cooled and the warm pulp was squeezed and strained through the mesh bag, I was really excited to add the honey and do a taste test. By this time, our hands were coated in shining purple juice. When we mixed the raw honey into the warm, thick liquid and tasted the sweet, tart syrup, I felt the whole process settle into my cells. From our original intention to find elderberries to the very first sighting of them on the tree; to the now thick, sweet, purple, jeweled liquid coating on our hands and dripping down our chins, a sense of deep joy was palpable. In that moment in the kitchen, there was simply the experience of nature-relation- elderberries, rose-hips, honey, spices and humans, transformed through intention, connection and creative action. Each time I taste a spoonful of the elderberry-rose hip syrup, I drop right back into the embodied experience of the herbal alchemy created in a warm kitchen on a cold winter afternoon. Lip Licking-Finger Dripping Elderberry-Rose Hip Syrup Ingredients: 6 Cups Fresh or Frozen Black or Blue Elderberries 30 Rose Hips- fresh or semi-dried from the bush 1 Cup Raw Local Honey 2 Cups Water (add extra water as needed/f needed) 2 Heaping Tablespoons Raw Fresh Ginger-grated 1 Teaspoon Whole Cloves 1.5 Teaspoons Powdered Cinnamon Equipment: Large stock pot Grater Flat End Wooden Spoon Fine-holed Potato Masher Rubber Spatula Nut Milk Bag or Cheese Cloth Metal Mesh Wire Strainer Measuring Cups (Dry and Liquid) Bowl to squeeze juice through Seed Bag Glass Storage Jars for about 3 cups of syrup Method: Combine stemmed berries and rose hips with water in stock pot. Stir and bring to a simmer. Adjust heat for mixture to continuously simmer but do not boil. Press your flat ended wooden spoon to the bottom of your pot and measure how high the mixture is on the spoon-such as an inch deep or whatever it measures. Stir in grated ginger, cloves and cinnamon. Continue simmering, stirring the mixture as needed. When mixture thickens, begin to scrape the sides of the pot down with the flat end of your wooden spoon and occasionally gently stir. When the fruit is soft, use your fine holed potato masher to mash the berries in the pot. As the mixture simmers down and the water content lessens, measure again with the wooden spoon. When it has cooked down by half, remove from heat. The simmering process could take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes or so. Make sure to remove from the heat as soon as the volume of the mixture has gone down by half. Squeezing: When your berry mixture has cooled enough to handle, place your nut milk bag or cheese cloth over the fine meshed sieve, over a medium sized bowl. Scrape warm berries into the mesh bag. Once the bag is filled, squeeze the berry-filled bag, gently, until you have gotten as much juice as you can from the berry pulp. Be careful to not pop the bag, turning it to different sides as you squeeze. Once all the liquid is squeezed into the bowl, measure out your honey and gently whisk into the berry juice. Adjust your honey amount to your personal taste. After licking your fingers and washing your purple stained hands (and face), pour the syrup into your glass jar(s). It is helpful to use a jar you can dip a teaspoon into, to take out a single serving at a time. Refrigerate. It should keep for a good three months or more in the fridge. Yields: approximately 25 oz. of syrup  Staining from Straining Elderberry Syrup  Dragonfly Image by Steve Prull © Summer officially arrived last week and here in Oregon, it has arrived with true fire-fire from The Sun and fires in the forests. The Pacific Northwest has been hit with a once in a millennium "Heat Dome." With this show of nature's power we humans are certainly being put in our place. In this fiery time it feels like a good time to reach out and say hello following my long silence. I hope those of you in The Pacific Northwest are safe in this intense heat wave and staying cool and well-hydrated. I have adjusted my time in nature to either the cool of the morning or late afternoon for dipping in the cold waters of Ashland Creek. I am so grateful for easy access to the shade and cool green of nature, especially in this heat wave. Hand in hand with the extreme heat, the fires have begun, earlier than ever before, with smoke drifting across the border from Northern California. The presence of planes carrying a large cache of fire retardant on their underbelly are ever present in the sky. There has been ash on my car and on my outdoor furniture this past week. Living in The Rogue Valley, we all understand in real time that climate change is here. We are beginning a very early fire season, still carrying the trauma from The Almeda Fire last September, which on top of Covid, dug pretty deep into the psyche of our community. I am already feeling the stress rising, feeling this extreme heat and looking out my closed windows at the smoky haze hovering over The Cascade Foothills.  Life springs forth from the ashes- Ashland Pond- Almeda Fire 2020 The past 14 months since Covid began, has been quite a wild ride for all of us and the fires here have only exacerbated it. Though I have guided a handful of forest therapy walks in the past year, once we were well into The Pandemic and my work had come to a halt, I began learning much about stopping and slowing way down. It took a pandemic to stop me from the constant figuring of next steps; the doing and the planning. At the same time, I was also forced to change my pace to assist my very elderly parents, who depended on me during lock-down. Though it took time, I came to accept my inability to control what was happening outside of myself. Now, over a year later, much has changed. We all have changed; our world has changed; I have changed. Amongst the Covid carnage; the fear and the death, this period has also brought many gifts. The biggest for me was the slowing down and the isolation which served as an enforced personal retreat. Personal retreat sounds pleasant so that may not adequately describe this past 14 months. It allowed me time to go deep within for self-growth and I didn't do it alone. Thanks to my family; my adult children and my parents, it became a time for serious digging deep into the ecosystem of my own patterns in family communication and relating; pulling myself out of the mud, like a Dragonfly discovering the light for the first time. I am more than grateful for my family members who helped either knowingly or simply through their presence or absence, to shine a bright light on dark and neglected places, pushing me toward a new level of understanding and way of being. I had no choice but to either do the deep painful work or lose myself as well as loved-ones. It has been a year of heartbreak in so many ways and as opposites work, also, a time of great healing, love, release, joy and gratitude. I am grateful to my adult children, my sister's and the many healers, teachers, nature and the plant allies who have all been a part of this transformative journey-and the work continues with each breath, each day.  Resting in Savasana Position I have discovered many gifts through this time and one of the big ones has been learning how to step back and stop the pushing, the expectations; the grasping and seeing life and circumstances as things that I can manipulate. I've learned to let go of expectations about the environment. I wonder if there will be enough water for my community; if the air will be breathable this summer or ever, and will our homes be safe from raging wildfires?- while keeping an emergency evacuation kit in my car. There are no longer any quick escapes and I feel how we are all in this together. When I think about planning a forest therapy walk and wonder how much smoke and heat we'll be dealing with, I then step back and feel into it and remind myself that now is the time for patience combined with listening to my inner guidance, informed by quiet, slow presence and holding space for myself and others. Patience and letting go is my new normal. During this slow, deep and painful work, I have discovered a wonderful practice. I was led to it when I used the slow time during Covid to step up my self-care regimen to a few hours each day. This included Self-Reiki; Wim Hof breath work and ice water immersion; skin brushing; Celery juicing, Jin Jing Gong Qigong and forest bathing. This past February, in all of my doing regarding self-care, I discovered, "The Art of Non-Doing" through Yoga Nidra, an ancient practice, sometimes referred to as, "Yogic Sleep." A practice for deep rest, relaxation and calming the nervous system. Soon after, I found a nature-based branch of Yoga Nidra, called, EcoNIDRA™. I was delighted to find a form of Yoga I could practice lying in place, flat on my back, with no place to go and nothing to do for 45 minutes. My whole life has been so much about moving from one thing to the next. I was always stuck on this: stopping and resting meant I was not creating or producing something- proving my worthiness. Once I began attending remote EcoNIDRA sessions, guided by its founder, Kat Novotna, in The Netherlands, I was hooked. I felt a sense of wholeness that had been hard to come by since the beginning of The Pandemic. My sleep became deep and restful; brain fog cleared; creativity bloomed; anxiety lifted and I felt content to be still and linger in the silence for longer than usual. A new level of patience and feeling the world around me with a sense of spaciousness became my new normal. It's amazing what can happen in 45 facilitated minutes of "Non-Doing", journeying through your senses, your body and through The Earth.  Slowing Down through EcoNIDRA This past April, I began a journey along with a beautiful cohort of, "Dragonflies", to become a Certified EcoNIDRA Teacher™. It felt like a perfect fit and complement to my work as a Forest Therapy guide. I am overjoyed and very grateful to announce that I am now a Certified EcoNIDRA Teacher. I've got my wings and am ready to fly far and wide introducing this slow, gentle practice for deep rest and relaxation. Following a vacation break this summer, I will be offering remote EcoNIDRA sessions through Zoom that you can access in the privacy of your home, as well as remote sessions through corporate wellness programs-even Netflix is now offering EcoNIDRA sessions for their employees worldwide. As well, I will be setting up to guide EcoNIDRA sessions in person through Yoga and Wellness Centers and am looking forward to offering one day and weekend EcoNIDRA/Forest Therapy Retreats. Watch for live streamed EcoNIDRA Sessions coming soon from Wild wellness Guide
Wishing you Peace, Rest and Wholeness, Sari  Gluten-Free, Vegan Hamantaschen Yesterday, following a beautiful afternoon of warm, winter forest bathing, I came home inspired to bake the big batch of Hamantaschen I had planned a couple days earlier when I prepared a batch of filling. These scrumptious triangular-shaped cookies, eaten on the Jewish holiday of Purim, which coincides with the coming of spring and always with the full moon, during the Jewish month of Adar. Though Purim is considered by many a child-centered holiday with a focus on gift-giving, theater and mask-making, I think of it as being about taking off the masks that we grown-ups wear daily to present ourselves to the world. On the deepest level, I have found Purim to be about turning all I thought I knew and understood to be true, upside down, while gaining new eyes to see and touch life and our true inner selves. Before Covid, Purim was the time for the community to come together to have a wild party and take on a persona through costumes and reenacting in very humorous ways, the story of The Book of Esther. In a deeper sense, allowing more of one's true self to be seen. This year for me, it is a time for deep inner contemplation. There is much to this holiday, but I especially love the idea of Purim being a time when we remove our masks, together in community. Coincidentally, this is the only Jewish holiday which involves lots of alcohol. My departed Rebbe and teacher, Rabbi Aryeh Hirscfield z'l, used to share the following Chasidic tale about Purim- "When The Messiah comes, the only holiday required to celebrate will be Purim!" He also shared that there is a linguistic connection between Yom Kippur -The Day of Atonement-the holiest Jewish holiday, also being called, "Yom HaKipurim". It gives me much to contemplate, how the holiest day of The Jewish calendar; a time for deep contemplation and fasting, is deeply connected with a holiday celebrated through wild, drunken revelry while reading The Book of Esther, remembering how The Jews of Persia were saved from destruction. It seems we humans spend most of our lives wearing our masks and if through Purim, we can possibly find our true selves; then it is truly sacred.  Photo by Magda Ehlers Here is the recipe for Hamantaschen. Traditionally they are filled with different types of filling-poppy seed, prune, apricot and sour cherry. The below recipe was adapted by my friend, Julia Plevin from, The Primal Palat. and now, I have added some of my own changes such as the filling recipe. Hamantaschen Makes 4.5 dozen (I used organic ingredients) Ingredients: Dough 3 cups Blanched Almond Flour 1.5 cups Arrowroot Flour 1.5 tsp Salt 1/2-3/4 cup Maple Syrup 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons coconut oil Filling 1/2 cup poppy seeds 1.5 cups pitted prunes (check to make sure there are no hidden pits) 1/2 cup ground almonds or walnuts 1/2 cup pure maple syrup Grated Zest from an Orange Method: Make filling 1-2 days ahead, In small- medium saucepan, combine poppy seed and prunes with approximately 2 cups water. Bring to a boil and lower heat and simmer until most liquid is absorbed (about 30-45 minutes based on when the liquid has absorbed. Next, place the above mixture in either a powerful blender of a food processor and add all remaining ingredients. Blend until mixture is smooth and add a little more water if filling is too dry. It will also thicken up once chilled due to the action of the chia seed. Place in a covered container in the fridge until it's time to bake. You can play with this recipe and use other dried fruit if you like or additional flavorings. Dough:
Purim feels a lot like May Day when we gift others with May Baskets. On Purim, we bake Hamantaschen and share them with others in little gift baskets. Good Purim!  Wild Wellness Guide  Today I bought some great pickling cukes and fresh dill at Ashland Food Co-op, having tried first at The Saturday Rogue Valley Grower's and Crafter's Market, where I am guessing farmer's will have their makings for pickles soon. The most difficult thing to find is fresh dill. Often there are piles of pickling cukes but no dill to be found. Gratefully, today I found both. With Covid still running rampant, it's a perfect time to get some immune-boosting lacto-fermented dill pickles or other veggies put up in your pantry. "The consumption of fermented foods may be particularly relevant to the emerging research linking traditional dietary practices and positive mental health. The extent to which traditional dietary items may mitigate inflammation and oxidative stress may be controlled, at least to some degree, by microbiota." Lacto-fermented pickles are so simple to make and such a wonderful way to get a powerful hit of healthy probiotics for daily gut and immune health. When I'm eating pickles and raw fermented kraut, I feel my gut and immune system are getting the essential coverage they need for optimal good gut bacteria balance. The word out from my peeps in the field of Nutrition and Chinese Medicine is that, eating fermented food with each meal offers important support for our spleen, digestive and immune system. Though it is always essential to keep our immune system strong, during this time of Covid, it is especially important. I make raw fermented kraut throughout the year and am now so excited to have just put up 3 quarts of lacto-fermented dill pickles. Adding some lacto-fermented foods with each meal is an important self-care practice for not only nutritional/physical health, but also for emotional wellness. There is much evidence-based research correlating healthy gut bacteria to a healthy brain, body and immune system. "Properly controlled fermentation may often amplify the specific nutrient and phytochemical content of foods, the ultimate value of which may be associated with mental health; furthermore, we also argue that the microbes (for example, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria species) associated with fermented foods may also influence brain health via direct and indirect pathways." According to a 2014 study in The Journal of Physiological Anthropology, "The consumption of fermented foods may be particularly relevant to the emerging research linking traditional dietary practices and positive mental health. The extent to which traditional dietary items may mitigate inflammation and oxidative stress may be controlled, at least to some degree, by microbiota." The article states, "It is our contention that properly controlled fermentation may often amplify the specific nutrient and phytochemical content of foods, the ultimate value of which may be associated with mental health; furthermore, we also argue that the microbes (for example, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria species) associated with fermented foods may also influence brain health via direct and indirect pathways." A great read on the gut-brain connection is the book, "Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain- for Life", by David Perlmutter, M.D. So, enjoy these fabulous lacto-fermented, garlic dills. Here's the recipe and method. Lacto-Fermented Dill Pickles Makes 6-8 quart wide mouth canning jars *I like to cut down the recipe and make 2-3 quart batches. This way you get fresher batches that don't over-ferment due to waiting months to eat them. Brine for about 8 quarts- 9 Tablespoons sea salt or celtic salt to 4 quarts filtered water (mix together very well and remix just before pouring into filled jars- I use a blender) Per Quart: 2 large, folded *Grape Leaves per jar (tannins help keep pickles crisp) Fresh flowering dill (buy a large bunch and divide between jars) 6 large cloves garlic per jar ½ teaspoon black peppercorns 5-7 small pickling cucumbers- or however many you need to fill canning jar. Method: Fold grape leaves into bottom of jars. Place half the dill and some garlic on top of grape leaves. Pack pickles into jars and add remaining dill and garlic as you pack. After re-stirring brine, pour into filled jars, all the way to top. Seal full jar with canning lid ( leave about 3/4 -1 inch to prevent explosion). Place jar in a low-sided pan, tub or water proof container. Cover jars with a large dish towel and place in dark cabinet. (55-75 degrees is good) Let ferment for about 1-3 weeks at room temperature. If your space is warm, you may want to transfer the jars to fridge after only 1-2 weeks. Sample a pickle after one week. They will still continue to ferment in the fridge so judge by the climate of your home. The original method calls for leaving the jars to ferment at room temperature for several weeks but that can be too long unless you have a nice root cellar. Above 75 degrees will require refrigeration sooner than later. If you notice bubbles in the jar, get them into the fridge. Be careful in opening the jars as they can be wildly fizzy. * Note on grape leaves- tannins in grape leaves get extra concentrated with fermentation. If you are someone who gets migraine from tannins, simply do not use grape leaves and your pickles will still be awesome.. Yummy Happy Tummy, Sari  Makings of Cranberry Conserve Cranberry Conserve This scrumptious cranberry conserve has been my holiday go to recipe for more than 20 years. It is tart, with just enough sweet from dried dates and maple syrup. Toasted pecans add a crunchy richness and the juice and rind of a fresh orange give some citrus kick. And, it is so simple to make. Step One: In a 9"x13" Pyrex, blend together and cover with foil or a flat baking sheet, and place in preheated 350 degree oven, for 30 minutes: Organic Cranberries -24 oz. (rinsed and drained) 1 cup water Juice one organic orange (grate rind and save for step 2) After 30 minutes remove from oven and with the back of a fork, smash cranberries. (While cranberries bake, chop dates and toast pecans-about 10 minutes and chop) Step Two: Mix into Cranberries and then place back in oven, uncovered for 5 minutes: Grated orange rind 2 cups, chopped; dried organic dates (easy to chop with a chef's knife) 2/3 cup pure maple syrup Step Three: Remove cranberries from oven and blend in 1.5 cups toasted, chopped, organic pecans. Refrigerate and cover when cool Serves about 25 Many Blessings and much gratitude, for every single one of you, Sari
Blackberry Heaven Single-Layer Chocolate Quinoa Torte, with Blackberries (gluten-free) Most of my readers know me as a passionate Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, Health Educator and Reiki Energy Healer. What many do not know is that I was a professional pastry chef and baker for over a decade in my early adulthood. I originally trained in a baking cooperative in Eugene, Oregon, apprenticing in the art of classical Viennese and French pastry baking. I learned from a group of rather eccentric Oregon hippies who were serious artists when it came to fine baking. We were The Fine Baking Company. In my time as a a baker, I helped design and set up several bakeries and pastry kitchens. When I left baking to stay home and raise my young children, I found opportunities to make delectable creations for birthdays, anniversaries and a few weddings. As the years passed and I struggled with chronic asthma and allergies, I moved away from refined sugars, ditched all dairy and in the past several years became gluten-free. Being gluten-free was initially difficult. I am allergic to corn and sorghum which is in many gluten free flour mixes. So, I never use pre-mixed gluten-free flours or eat gluten-free breads. Being gluten-free and dairy-free has been a great inspiration for me to come up with yummy and healthier alternatives to fine desserts. The below recipe for the quinoa torte is wonderful and no one would ever suspect they are not eating a cake made with flour or a rich chocolate ganache that is not made with heavy cream or butter. I must admit something. My mother was one of the best pie bakers on the planet. I have been picking blackberries and wild black raspberries with my father since I was a young girl, growing up in Iowa. I learned the art of flaky pie crust from my mother; the real-deal flaky crust with no sugar sprinkled on top-ever. I love, love love the sensory experience of eating the perfect pie crust with the perfect fruit filling. I have experimented with gluten-free pie crusts. I tried one with sorghum and it was flaky, but being in the corn family, I couldn't handle it. I will admit that about once a year, I risk it and eat a small piece of pie made with gluten. I make it with white spelt flour and either monkfruit sweetener or coconut sugar. I invite my friends to share and I eat a slice. It may be blackberry in the summer or apple pie at Thanksgiving. I take Enzymetica Gluten Ease digestive enzymes with my pie to help me digest the gluten. I find it also helps to make sure I eat it with great love and gratitude. I say, "I take you in, as a blessing and in gratitude and allow you to come into my body and do the good works you are going to do." There is nothing more powerful then adding a little Mind-Body Medicine into everything you eat. Enjoy the two recipes below.  Basic Double Layer Chocolate Quinoa Torte Chocolate Quinoa Torte (with Blackberries) (Makes a 2-layer torte (you can also make 2 single layer cakes) Cake Layers 2 cups soft, cooked quinoa (approximately 3/4 cup dry quinoa will yield 2 cups cooked quinoa.) 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or preferred milk) 4 whole eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup olive oil 1/4 cup melted coconut oil 1 & 2/3 cup organic coconut sugar 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt Chocolate Coconut Cream Ganache 2 (13.5 ounce) can of full fat coconut milk, refrigerated overnight 2 cups dark chocolate chips (as dark a % as you like) Blackberries for Decoration 1/2- 1 cup Fresh Blackberries Method Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two round cake pans (or a 9x13” pan) with parchment paper or oil and flour pans with gluten-free flour. In a blender or food processor, combine the eggs, preferred milk and vanilla extract, and blend for ten seconds. Add 2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa along with the melted and cooled coconut oil and olive oil- blend until completely smooth, about thirty seconds to one minute. Sift together the dry ingredients in a large bowl (cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt).
Refrigerate the coconut milk for several hours or overnight (in the coldest part of your refrigerator) so that the cream separates. When ready, melt the chocolate in a sauce pan over low heat or in a stainless steel bowl over a double boiler. Take coconut milk from the fridge without shaking the can. Open and scoop out the solid parts with a spoon, placing them into the pot with the melted chocolate. Try to get as much of the thicker portions of solid coconut cream as possible. (Do not use the liquid) Melt the coconut cream and chocolate together until smooth and thick. Use a wire whisk to beat and thicken the ganache to a spreadable consistency. The Ganache thickens very quickly, but if it is too warm, you may briefly pace in fridge to cool and then get whipping it again until smooth and thick. Assembling Torte Transfer the cake layers to a surface for icing. They are fragile, so handle with care. Even if cake layers crack or break, no worries, just piece them together like a puzzle and all with congeal once iced. Ice top of first layer, then place on second layer and work your way icing down from top layer to sides of torte. Frost the torte using a good, flat icing knife. Place blackberries on torte wherever your creativity takes you. Place torte in cool place until ready to serve or room temp is fine for several hours if it is not too hot. Summer Blackberry Pie with Olive Oil Crust |
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