I don’t think I can emphasize enough how hard it is for me to get out of bed in the mornings—like it is actually a serious problem at times. Part of my brain knows that I am making my morning routine a bit more and more frantic with each horizontal moment that ticks by, but it is so hard to care. What could the outside world possibly offer me that is better than the total warmth and comfort of my snuggly nest? Especially when there is a good book at hand and the world’s laziest dog snoring away next to me. Because of my proclivity for lengthy wakeups, I learned a long time ago that “I’ll just do it in the morning” is one of the rudest things I can do to my future self, so I have gotten into the habit of doing my morning meal prep the night before. Chia seed pudding is the definitive MVP for this practice. It is super quick to make and one of the few foods that is better after sitting overnight in the fridge. For this particular recipe variation, I wanted to try including herbs that pack a little extra oomph to help me show up for the day (however reluctantly) bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Right around Spring Equinox, I start to take inventory of what is in my apothecary, what needs to be used in the next few months, and what needs to be replaced now. This timing is serendipitous because as winter comes to a close and summer’s nutritious fresh berries are still months away, I start to crave the bright flavor and nutritious zing of freshly made superfood jelly. Hence, the end of March is my annual dried berries jelly-making time. This year, I was excited to find that my dried hawthorn berries and bilberries are on the 2024 refill list. These two superfood berries, particularly in combination, are perfect for early spring jelly-making and result in one of my all-time favorite jellies. One batch carries my family happily into summer.

If there are three things that I love, they are sweets, botanicals, and Star Trek. Did I ever think I would be party to a recipe that would marry those things together? Not really, and to be fair, the Star Trek involvement in this recipe is pretty nonexistent. (However, if any Next Generation fans are reading this, I think you will appreciate the reference.) In all seriousness, we already know that sweets and botanicals go hand in hand, and we are always trying to find creative ways to combine the two. We recently stumbled upon this classic Mountain Rose Herbs caramel sauce recipe and could not resist bringing it back. Earl Grey fans to the front of the class, please! This recipe is for you.

It’s the time of year when I’m working my way through the last of our stored root vegetables and winter squash looking for ways to extend their lifespan and nutrition. With this in mind, I spent an afternoon last weekend hasselbacking. In its simplest form, hasselbacking is a special cutting method for raw vegetables (also some fruits and even bread) before roasting. The most common version is Hasselback potatoes: the Potato à la Hasselbacken or, in Swedish, hasselbackspotatis. The glory of this cutting/cooking method is that it allows you to get flavorful fats and your favorite herbs and spices down inside the food so all that deliciousness gets roasted in. Plus, hasselbacking makes your food so pretty!

Eating sprouted seeds is a relatively recent culinary trend in the U.S., even though they are ridiculously easy to grow and can be an excellent source of potassium, magnesium, folate, beta-carotene, calcium, vitamin C, and vitamin K. These days, bean sprouts, grain sprouts, and salad sprouts are readily available at farmers markets, natural foods stores, and in the produce section of many grocery stores. But I grow my own because it’s easy to do, saves me money, and I like to keep control over the process to ensure that the sprouts I feed my family are safe and at the peak of flavor and nutrition.

I am a firm believer in broths for their gut-supporting, extremely tasty, and nourishing qualities. You can pack so much nutrition in each little sip. Adding a myriad of herbs to our broth base is the perfect vehicle for incorporating wellness into our modern lives.

We are big stir-fry and Asian food fans at my house, and I love a really good stir-fry sauce. But I struggle with the high fructose corn syrup and the way-too-many-preservatives-and-ingredients-I-can’t-pronounce problem in most bottled sauces. Also, the presence of seafood and/or gluten are issues for my vegetarian and gluten-free family members. And finally, for many households like mine, it’s hard to get through an entire bottle before the contents spoil. All of this means I refuse to purchase pre-made stir-fry sauces and the oyster or hoisin sauce that is so common (and delicious) in my favorite Asian sauces. I wanted to create an easy-to-use substitute that packs in the umami goodness I love about these sauces.

I like inclusivity in food, and my friends and family group includes omnivores and vegetarians/vegans, as well as people with food allergies, autoimmune diseases, religious restrictions, etc. I love to feed my people, so I’m always experimenting, which is how I found myself going down this agar-agar as a replacement for gelatin rabbit hole, and then one thing led to another, and I got curious to know how much agar is the right amount for the best mouthfeel in vegan gummies (welcome to my brain). I made elderberry juice gummies, which were tasty and a fun way to get an extra boost of vitamins and minerals. Then I discovered apple cider vinegar gummies—I love these little ACV morsels!

What do dandelion, burdock, chicory, and garlic have in common? They all contain inulin. Inulin is a naturally occurring polysaccharide made up of chains of fructose molecules that are not digested in the small intestine and belong to a class of dietary fibers known as fructans.

Pinwheel cookies (also called spiral cookies) have been a holiday tradition for decades. Often made with vanilla and chocolate or red and green food color, they show up on cookie plates throughout the season. I like traditions like this… and I also like to see how far I can push those traditional recipes to accommodate more flavors and spices.

This classic “icebox” cookie recipe (modern world translation: refrigerator cookie) is essentially the same one my great grandmother—and thousands of other people—used to make in the 1930s and it’s remained a standard ever since. It’s a dough you can easily change into a variety of different cookies with small additions like spices, nuts, dried fruit, crushed candies, etc. And it’s also an accommodating dough for rolling and cutting. These two qualities make it an ideal choice for delicious pinwheel cookies infused with herbal powders!

Caramel apples have always been one of those mixed-feelings food experiences for me. I love good caramel and I love apples, and when the two things come together in a perfect synergy, it is one of my favorite flavor combinations. Unfortunately, a typical caramel apple falls short. First, the caramel is often too sweet rather than buttery-delicious. Second, I want caramel and apple in every bite, and once I work my way around the caramel-y outside, I’m left with a lot of apple and no more caramel. Finally, I don’t like that I end up with caramel all over my face and in my hair every time I eat a caramel apple on a stick. Recently, however, I found the solution: caramel apple slices! So, of course, down the caramel apple rabbit hole I went and I’m so glad I did!