Having grown up in a culturally diverse area of the country, I was incredibly lucky to be exposed to many different beliefs, forms of art, and my favorite cultural expression—food! I spent many of my formative years with friends whose family origins spanned the globe. One of my closest friends during these years was Middle Eastern, and having spent so much time and so many meals with his family, I developed a real taste for their cuisine. Lucky for me, they enjoyed my help preparing meals and even made me an honorary Armenian for my ability to roll “choreg” with the best of them. I learned many of the traditional spice blends that were used, but when I was first introduced to za’atar, I immediately fell in love, and it remains my favorite seasonings to this day.

Herbal sprinkles are a quick and easy DIY project that will help you fit more healthful herbs into your meals. Instead of having your spices tucked away in the cabinet, keep a few versatile blends on your table, and you’ll find that eating herbs at every meal is easy—when they are right in front of you, you can’t help but use them! Pretty soon, you’ll wonder how you ever got by without such a pleasing array of spices at your fingertips to liven up breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

We all know that many conventional cleaning products contain harsh chemicals that can be harmful to both our bodies and the planet (not to mention the budget-busting expense and all the waste produced by those empty plastic bottles and extra packaging!). We’ve been creating our own cleaning formulas for years, and we love how easy and inexpensive they are to whip up. 

Althaea officinalis, or marshmallow, is one of my favorite herbs. I love to grow this ancient botanical in my garden because it’s a stunning plant with a fantastic history. People have long viewed marshmallow as a food as well as a gentle remedy, because it is both pleasantly edible and a demulcent. When it’s growing in your garden, you can cook the young stalks and leaves just like any other pot herb or green; they’re wonderful in a salad, you can boil them or fry them, and they disappear into smoothies!

For as long as I can remember, I have had an affinity for anything relating to aromatherapy, be it the lovely scent of a new lotion, the pleasant fragrance warmly wafting from a candle, or the memories evoked by a classic perfume. As a child, I would spend hours carefully selecting flowers and herbs from the garden that, when combined, would produce “the best” aroma I could imagine in the moment.

I probably say this about food far too often, but tom kha is easily one of my favorite dishes. It has the perfect balance of sweet, salty, and sour. The backbone of this flavor comes from the Thai food holy trinity: galangal root, lemongrass, and Thai lime leaves. Back in my early twenties, all I knew of Thai food was arguably the cuisine’s most famous dish, Pad Thai. When my friend suggested I branch out and try this incredible soup instead, I was skeptical, but took the advice anyway. I am so glad I did! Now it’s in regular rotation in my household meal plan, and my daughter gets to benefit from that fateful day I decided to expand my palate.

When October rolls around each year, I start paying attention to the hawthorn berries ripening on the tree in my front yard. Once they're ready, I harvest them to make my annual winter solstice hawthorn elixir to give to friends and family. Hawthorn is known to support cardiovascular health*. My recipe changes a bit every year, but three of the ingredients remain consistent: freshly picked hawthorn berries, raw, local honey, and brandy.

As a parent, I found an enormous amount of joy in watching my babies develop and grow. Teething, however, was not one of the happy times. Fussy, cranky, drooling, tearful babies rend a parent’s heart and stretch everyone’s patience. There is nothing worse than feeling helpless while your child suffers.

At the outset of a new year, many of us contemplate how to incorporate new healthy habits into our lives. For some of us, that means hitting our yoga mats more often for strength, stretching, and de-stressing. Finding more time for yoga is one of my personal goals, and to help inspire myself to embrace my mat, I decided to tinker with some new mat cleansing spray formulas to freshen up my routine.

Nothing gets me ready for winter quite like a batch of homemade fire cider. But the typically long fermentation duration has kept me from having this tonic when I need it most. For those who are short on time and fresh horseradish, this recipe is for you! I actually discovered that you can make a fire cider that has the same kick as the traditional recipe in half the time and with dried horseradish. In fact, it can still be a power-packed remedy without any fresh ingredients at all!

When I was growing up in the mountains, my father gave me two “winter tips” that were passed down to him from his parents and grandparents. First, keep a pot of water on the wood stove as a sort of rustic humidifier to moisten the dry air that happens in homes shut up tight against the winter cold. This helped avoid the dry mucous membranes and throats that would otherwise plague us. And second, keep a jar of raw, local honey in the cupboard at all times, as this beautiful gift from the bees does wonders to soothe an irritated throat. With the cold weather now upon us here in western Oregon, I’m reminded of that steaming pot of water, stoking the fire against chilly nights, and Papa handing me a spoonful of honey before I brushed my teeth for bed.