EDIBLE & MEDICINAL PLANT GUIDE BOOK WITH AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHS AND SO MUCH MORE!

EDIBLE & MEDICINAL PLANTS OF THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES Foothills to Alpine in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho by Mary O'Brien and Karen Vail

Mary O'Brien, Herbalist, and Karen Vail, Botanist, both of Steamboat Springs, have published an exemplary new plant book featuring over 116 plant narratives with full color photographs, identification and habitat description. The high quality photographs taken by the authors - and a few by me, all experienced field guides, plus easy to understand descriptions and fun facts make the book suitable for experienced and inexperienced field use. It also includes pictorial thumbnail plant pictures, tips for harvesting and preparation of foods and medicine, important poisonous plants to be aware of, historical and indigenous uses and practices, cautions about potential reactions, gardening tips, recipes, stories, poems, natural history and scientific facts.

The authors' independent publishing company, Leaning Tree Tales, LLC is winner of the Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA EVVY) book awards: 1st place gold (for interior layout/design - Joan Zinn, designer) and 2nd place silver award (for Academic/Reference). You can preview this beautiful book on their website: www.leaningtreetales.com  and purchase a copy there. You may also pick up a copy from me in Denver or I'll mail you one - email me at joan@medicinehillherbs.com   $29.95 + tax & shipping. Pay Venmo or check. See Books tab for further information.

WILDCRAFTING IN WINTER

Learn to identify plants in all seasons

Herb walks in winter are exploratory challenges of identifying our plants in all seasons.  Winter landscapes are wondrous and full of stalks and stems, seeds and dried flower heads, berries and rose hips the bears and birds haven’t yet found, seed heads still fuzzy and attached, ready for a brisk wind to send them traveling.  Just a few Hawthorn berries are left on thorny trees growing by waterways, some bright red rose hips left now on their prickly red stalks, textured white berry clusters of the winter poison ivy warn us away even in winter, when their shiny leaves of three cannot be seen. A tangle of smooth, reddish robust trailing vines of grapes without a grape in sight, except in bear poop near the path, overlook the beaver’s busy work. Prickly hops vines, called bines, are thick at the base of the perennial plant and scramble over hillocks, their feet in moisture-rich soil, vines growing long have clamored over bushes, hedges and into the trees. We have Usnea lichen growing on the north side of conifers and pines, and even in winter we can wildcraft Usnea for medicine. We see plants differently in winter, without the distraction of leaves and flowers.  We see seeds of what will come, skeletons of what has been, and we seek knowledge and recognition in the season of death and dying, of rest and renewal. There is so much root life beneath plant skeletons, life in seeds waiting to germinate, buds on trees and shrubs fully formed, waiting to burst forth.  It’s halfway between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox and there’s so little time to discover elder life in winter landscapes before Mother Earth changes her face again and beckons forth new growth, calling us to remember their names long before the flowers come.

NATURAL HEALTHCARE IN THE NEWS

by Lisa Bullis, LAc, MSTOM, Advisory Committee for HCBS-SCI Waiver, Home and Community Based Services - Spinal Cord Injuries, Providing treatment through The Chanda Plan Foundation.org

Did you know that people with spinal cord injuries in the state of Colorado are receiving acupuncture, chiropractic and massage therapy through Medicaid?  This is a very exciting time for alternative and natural medicine in the State of Colorado!

In 2012, after years of advocating and hard work, the Spinal Cord Injury Waiver was passed in the State of Colorado. This waiver program is offered through the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS-SCI) and allows patients with spinal cord injuries to receive acupuncture, chiropractic and massage care through our state Medicaid program. This waiver program began in 2012 and has now been approved to continue through 2020. (See further information at: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/hcpf/spinal-cord-injury-waiver)  

A study is being conducted to assess the efficacy of these natural therapies in this patient population.  The study will conclude in 2020, at which time CO State Medicaid will be provided with the results.  The hypothesis is that patients will experience overall improved quality of life, and that Medicaid costs for this patient population will decrease as will emergency room and doctor visits.

We are confident that the results will reflect our hypothesis.  The hope is that once shown these results, Medicaid will expand these services to other populations.  While herbal medicines are not currently offered on this waiver program, it is exciting to see natural therapies and alternative medicine being funded through a state sponsored program.  Perhaps someday we will see herbal prescriptions covered under Medicaid! 

Lisa Bullis, MSTOM, L.Ac studied Chinese Medicine at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and the Cheng Du University Hospital in Sichuan, China. Lisa has been in practice since 2003. Her experience includes treating patients at the San Diego Hospice, UC San Diego Sports Medicine Clinic, UCSD Homeless Clinic and Colorado’s Craig Hospital, a specialty rehabilitation center for patients with spinal cord and brain injury, located in Englewood. Lisa also apprenticed in herbal gynecology in Australia, medical Qi Gong in rural China and most recently Western Herbalism in Colorado. She grew up helping her Grandma, a self-taught Western herbalist, in her Northern Wisconsin herb garden and first learned basic medicine-making at her Grandma’s side. Having been at the forefront of the affordable acupuncture movement in Denver, Lisa has opened and run two community-style acupuncture clinics in Denver. She formulated and produced a well-received line of Chinese herbals for her clinics. Lisa continues to advocate for the accessibility and affordability of Chinese Medicine by sitting on a Medicaid advisory committee for persons with spinal cord injuries to receive acupuncture through Medicaid, as well as providing treatments for the spinal cord injury population through the nonprofit, The Chanda Plan Foundation.

SPECTACULAR YEAR FOR WILDFLOWERS IN THE MOUNTAINS

HEALING FOODS: Parsley, Garlic, Onion, Radish & Basil

 from HEALING WITH WHOLE FOODS by Paul Pitchford

PARSLEY

Slightly warming thermal nature; pungent, bitter, and salty flavor; improves digestion; detoxifies meat or fish poisoning; ripens measles to hasten recovery.  Parsley is a source of remarkable nutrition: it contains several times the vitamin C of citrus and is one of the higher sources of provitamin A, chlorophyll, calcium sodium, magnesium, and iron.  Promotes urination and dries watery mucoid conditions; good for the treatment of obesity, mucus in the bladder, swollen glands and breasts and stones in the bladder, kidney or gall bladder.  Parsley is effective for nearly all kidney and urinary difficulties, although not for cases of severe kidney inflammations (since it is warming).  Parsley strengthens the adrenal glands and benefits the optic and brain nerves; it is also useful in the treatment of ear infections, earache, and deafness.  If is often taken as a cancer preventive.  Parsley counteracts halitosis and poor digestion, and has a refreshing green color thus making it an exceptional garnish.  Parsley tea strengthens the teeth and makes a face lotion to increase circulation and bring color to the skin.

Caution: Parsley should not be used by nursing mothers since it dries up milk.

Dosage: For the internal application above, drink 2-3 cups tea daily made from fresh or dried parsley or eat 1-2 ounces of fresh or lightly cooked parsley daily.

GARLIC

from HEALING WITH WHOLE FOODS by Paul Pitchford

The most pungent onion family member promotes circulation and sweating; removes abdominal obstructions and stagnant food; inhibits the common cold virus as well as viruses, amoebae, and other microorganisms associated with degenerative diseases such as cancer.  Eliminate worms, unfavorable bacteria, and yeasts including Candida albicans; promotes the growth of healthy intestinal flora; used for dysentery, pneumonia, tuberculosis, asthma, hay fever, diarrhea, snake bite, warts, abscesses, and hepatitis.  In chronic conditions, garlic must be taken regularly for several weeks to initiate substantial improvement.

Garlic eliminates toxins from the body (including poisonous metals such as lead and cadmium).  Poultices made with chopped garlic draw swelling from boils; garlic tea, applied cool with a cotton cloth and also consumed, will relieve poison ivy, poison oak, and nettle stings (simmer four cloves of chopped garlic in one cup water for twenty minutes).  For protection against dysentery such as when traveling in foreign countries, chew up a clove of garlic before consuming suspected food or water.  For amoebic or other forms of dysentery, eat ½ clove three or four times a day for the duration.  For the common cold, sore throats and sinus headaches, hold a clove of garlic in the mouth for at least 15 minutes, then consume it. To ward off mosquitoes, eat garlic at least once daily.  Garlic also helps repel fleas from dogs and other pets if combined with their food. 

As a remedy for athlete’s foot, sprinkle powdered garlic daily on wet foot and let dry.  Socks may be worn.

A drop of garlic oil in the ear canal once a day helps clear ear infections.  The oil mollifies the acrid quality of the garlic, making this a safe remedy even for children.  To prepare the oil, crush several cloves of garlic and soak in three ounces of olive oil for at least three days.  Then strain the oil through a cloth.

To remove some of its strong flavor and aroma, garlic can be steamed.  Unfortunately, a degree of the potency is lost with any kind of cooking.  Consume a few sprigs of fresh parsley or cereal grass tablets or beverage after eating garlic to help neutralize its odor and reduce the burning sensation in the lining of the digestive tract.  To make garlic acceptable for children and others who are sensitive to its fiery nature, place a slice between two thin slices of apple.  Garlic eaten this way is not overly hot.  Though less effective than the raw variety, aged and fermented garlic with only a slight odor is commercially available.  Other forms of fully potent capsules and pills are also available that dissolve lower in the digestive tract and thereby cause less odor.

            Cautions: Garlic is contraindicated in heat conditions (red in the face and eyes, sensation of feeling too hot, aversion to the heat, canker sores, and desire for large quantities of cold drinks) and when there are heat symptoms related to deficient yin fluids (dry mouth, intermittent fever, fresh red cheeks, night sweats, fast thin pulse, frequent but small thirst, etc.).  Be alert to quantity and length of use – Chinese herbology claims too much garlic damages the stomach and the liver.

            Dosage:  some individuals have success using large amount of garlic – six cloves or more spread out over the day.  Certainly such quantities are better tolerated when taken with wheat/barley-grass products or other cooling foods, or eaten with meals.  A minimum effective dosage in most cases is approximately 1/3 clove two or threes times a day.  For the common cold, hold the garlic between the teeth and cheeks for 20 minutes before eating it.

BASIL

from THE ENERGETICS OF WESTERN HERBS Treatment Strategies Integrating Western and Oriental Herbal Medicine by Peter Holmes

Ocimum basilicum (botanical source)

Herba Ocimi (pharmaceutical name)

NATURE:

Constituents: essential oil (incl. Phenol methychavicol 45%, linalool, eqgenol, 1.8 cineole, pinene, camphor, terpinolene, ocimene, mycrene, methyl cinnamate_, tannin 5%, glycosides, saponin, oleanol, ursolic acid

Effective qualities: a bit pungent, sweet and bitter, warm, dry, restoring raising, astringing, stimulating, relaxing

Tropism: respiratory, nervous, urogenital, digestive systems

            Air, Warmth bodies

            Lung, Kidney, Spleen meridians

 FUNCTIONS AND INDICATIONS

PROMOTES EXPECTORATION, RESOLVES PHLEGM COLD AND RELIEVES COUGHING; OPENS THE CHEST AND RELIEVES WHEEZING; OPEN THE SINUSES AND RELIEVES CONGESTION

Lung phlegm cold: cough, expectoration of white sputum, wheezing, tight chest

CHRONIC BRONCHITIS

Lung and Kidney Yang deficiency: exhaustion, loss of endurance, chilliness, wheezing, weak cough

ADRENOCORTICAL DEFICIENCY

ASTHMA with deficiency cold, spasmodic asthma, whooping cough

Head damp cold: congested nose and sinuses, thin nasal discharge, loss of smell

SINUSITIS with CONGESTION, ANOSMIA

STIMULATES DIGESTION, WARMS THE MIDDLE AND RELIEVES ABDOMINAL PAIN; SETTLES THE STOMACH AND STOPS VOMITING

Stomach and intestines cold: dull, epigastric pain improved from eating, nausea, indigestion

NAUSEA, vomiting, hiccough in any condition

Intestines Qi constraint: spasmodic abdominal pain, indigestion

INTESTINAL COLIC, IBS, mucous colitis

TONIFIES REPRODUCTIVE QI, HARMONIZES MENSTRUATION, FORTIFIES THE YANG AND RELIEVES IMPOTENCE

Genitourinary cold (Kidney Yang deficiency): lower back pain, sexual disinterest

IMPOTENCE, infertility

Uterus cold: delayed or scanty menses, menstrual cramps

SPASMODIC DYSMENORRHEA, amenorrhea

RESTORES THE NERVES, PROMOTES CLEAR THINKING AND RELIEVES FATIGUE AND DEPRESSION; RESCUES COLLAPSE AND REVIVES CONSCIOUSNESS.

Nerve and brain deficiency (Phlegm damp Heart obstruction):  physical or mental exhaustion, nervous depression memory loss, mental stupor, disorientation

CHRONIC NERVOUS DEPRESSION, neurasthenia

HEADACHE, migraine

Devastated Yang: shock, fainting, collapse

SHOCK, COMA, concussion, epilepsy

CLEARS DAMP COLD, REDUCES INFECTIONS, ANTIDOTES POISON AND REPELS INSECTS.

RESPIRATORY and INTESTINAL INFECTIONS (esp. chronic, with damp cold); gum infections

ANIMAL BITES

INSECT REPELLENT

PREPARATION

Use: The tincture or essential oil is needed to bring out Basil herb’s full potential.  The infusion is weaker in effect.  Inhalations using the essential oil are used for decongesting the sinuses in head colds.

 Dosage:    Infusion: 4-10 g

                 Tincture: 2-4 ml

                Essential Oil: 1-2 drops in a gelatin capsule topped with olive oil

from THE ENERGETICS OF WESTERN HERBS Treatment Strategies Integrating Western and Oriental Herbal Medicine by Peter Holmes

ONION FAMILY: BASIC HEALING PROPERTIES

from HEALING WITH WHOLE FOODS by Paul Pitchford

 All members of the onion family share certain key qualities; they are pungent and influence the lungs (the pungent flavor “enters” the lungs); and they promote warmth and thus move energy in the body, resolve blood stagnancies, reduce clotting, and expel coldness.  They are perhaps the richest foods in sulfur, a warming element that purifies the body, helps remove heavy metals and parasites, and facilitates protein/amino acid metabolism.  Thus, those on a high-protein diet can benefit from the onion family.  These plants also clean the arteries and retard the growth of viruses, yeasts, ferments and other pathogenic organisms often proliferating in those eating unbalanced diets.  In spite of their medicinal virtue, these plants are thought to foster excessive emotional desire and therefore are not recommended in the major Oriental traditions for those seeking mental and spiritual refinement.

ONION

from HEALING WITH WHOLE FOODS by Paul Pitchford

Lowers blood pressure and cholesterol; decreases catarrh (phlegm and inflammation of the nose and throat); treats dysentery; inhibits allergic reactions; induces sweating; and is a cure for the common cold.  A traditional cough remedy consists of onions simmered in water until soft with a little honey added; one onion is eaten every four hours.  Onion packs on the chest are a remedy for bronchial inflammation and other chest congestions.  Juice compresses or raw onion packs are also used externally on insect bites to draw out swelling and pain.  Onion tea calms the brain and acts as a general sedative.

RADISH

 from HEALING WITH WHOLE FOODS by Paul Pitchford

Cooling thermal nature; pungent and sweet flavor; moistens the lungs; cuts mucus; removes food stagnation; and detoxifies.  Regular use will help prevent viral infection such as the common cold and influenza. 

Radish transforms thick mucous conditions (often resulting from past or current animal product over consumption) as well as mucus associated with heat (heat-related mucus is yellow or green.)  It is especially good for clearing the sinuses, hoarseness, phlegm, and sore throat.  Radish also relieve indigestion and abdominal swelling.

The cooling nature of radish benefits these commonly heat-induced conditions: nosebleed, spitting up blood, dysentery, and occipital headache.

In addition to resolving mucus, the toxin-purging property of radish makes it useful for detoxifying old residues in the body during a dietary upgrade.

A traditional Western remedy for gallstones and kidney and bladder stones consists of a tablespoon of grated radish taken daily for several weeks.

Caution: People who are deficient and cold should avoid radishes.

Dosage: Several radishes 2-3 times daily or ½ cup radish juice twice daily.

from HEALING WITH WHOLE FOODS by Paul Pitchford

 Thanksgiving in the garden

A meditative tour of the December medicinal herb garden 12/12

Thanksgiving time and on into this first part of the month of the winter solstice, I'm watering plants, trees and shrubs in the drought and mild temperatures on the western edge of the high plains at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, so many plants with green leaves still.  'Gambel Oak', Quercus gambelii, good for wound healing and healing irritated gums, and Lilac drop leaves when the freezes began, but Privet, a xeriscape broad-leaved evergreen, still has green branches with some bushes in the hedge yellowed from the drought. 

Vinca minor, 'Vinca vine' or 'Periwinkle' is evergreen, a happy ground cover that I use for Tinnitus (ringing in the ear) and dizziness, even in Meniere's Disease, as it is a vasodilator, dilating blood vessels, and a circulatory tonic also good for tension headaches and memory loss. What a great, hardy ground cover so common in gardens everywhere, now and in generations past, gracing us with carpets of beautiful blue flowers on a rich green mats in early spring and sprinkled often later through the summer.

Protected Anemone pulsatilla 'Pasque flower' leaves are still green where mulch from oak leaves and lilac are deeper, some yellowing and brown.  This plant has been a great teacher to me over the years and I love the medicine of its leaves and flowers, good for pain and anxiety. 

Streptopus amplexifolius 'Twisted stalk' or 'Wild Cucumber' are long bleached out and bent over the waterfall, which is still running but full of soggy Bing Cherry tree leaves.  Walking along a mountain creek, flowing full from runoff from St. Mary's Glacier, we enjoy summer hiking snacks of bright red fruits that hang beneath tall and graceful fronds and taste like cucumber.  Too many could act as a laxative, but I have always left most for the forest creatures, just taking a taste treat of one or two once in awhile.  In Spring, before the fruits form, delicate white bell flowers dangle beneath the leaves before they dry, drop, and leave their seed pods to form the red fruit.

The pine that is in too much shade and has not grown over the years, has 'Cranesbill Geraniums' still green at her feet, whose roots are a strong astringent remedy to stop internal bleeding or raging diarrhea.  Dandelions are even blooming here and there and seeding some above green leaves throughout the remaining patches of yard grass.  Dandelions, organically grown for a minimum of three years are such bountiful gifts of food and medicine.  The bitter leaves are full of minerals, good in salads, wilted or as a tea or tincture.  I make tincture, a grain alcohol extract of the plant medicine for its preservative value.  The leaves are my favorite diuretic, draining fluids from the body where they have built up, and have potassium to replace the mineral that is drained away.  Potassium is the mineral needed to regulate blood pressure and many take diuretics to remedy this problem, draining away valuable potassium in the process.  The Dandelion gives back the mineral as it takes away the fluid build-up.  Dandelion Roots are an excellent liver cleanser, cooling for those who have too much heat, a bit laxative in sufficient quantities.  It can be used in soups or teas or tinctures.  Yellow Dandelion flowers are high in Vitamin B and the whole plant is edible and nutritious. Fall usually and this warm long Indian Summer in December would be a good time for digging the roots since the ground hasn't frozen, but I don't need any for more plant medicine at the moment and don't expect to before Spring.  

Oregano is green, but will die down when it gets cold enough.  Salvia officinalis, common garden sage good for cooking, is full of strong fuzzy, quilted sage-green leaves, good also for tea I made the other day.  The sage leaves were added to fresh ginger and dried blue violet leaves to make a tea for healing a bout of bronchitis.  If I was having night sweats or wanted to stop a mother's breast milk, this sage would have been good for that, too. Salvia is not to be mistaken for the confusingly named "Prairie Sage", one of the very bitter Artemisias, never good for cooking, although I added it, with a light hand, to a homemade herbal beer concoction once as the bitter component.

Mints, spearmint and peppermint, hunker down but are green at the base and reddish green on the tips.  I gathered some, along with some fresh parsley, for a wonderful red quinoa and roasted beet salad today.  What a gift to gather fresh herbs from the garden this late in the year when only fresh mint and parsley would do.  The mints are great digestive aids, Peppermint more warming than Spearmint. You can break a fever with Peppermint by putting it in a hot bath and drinking the hot Peppermint tea at the same time.  Careful, though, because you can swoon getting out of the tub. 

Red Kale is still green and strong in the centers of the plants at least, with red spines.  Brown flower stalks mark the spots for perennials Avena Oat grass and Black Cohosh, whose roots are used for medicine, but I never want to dig my plants, so I order them in instead.  Black Cohosh is a large, smooth muscle relaxer, so it's good for backaches or cramps.  I've also had some success with it to ease tendonitis.  In the old days it was used for deep, dark depression.  Commonly these days, it can be found in menopause formulas due to its estrogen precursors and for some women, it works wonders, where as others find different herbs more helpful.  

Reseeding Romaine lettuce are now blond stalks with bent seed heads.  This variety was developed for Israel's desert climate and is very hot weather hardy, the best I ever had.  Most lettuce prefer very cool weather and go to seed quickly in the heat.  It's a great hardy lettuce that has reseeded for several years and I hope will come back forever.  I got the seeds from the company Seeds of Change, but I had to wait for months, into the following season after ordering, a few years ago. 

A very few green Ladies' Mantle leaves are holding on, while heart-shaped Viola 'Blue Violet' has stayed vibrant green. Swiss chard has darkened and cringed from the frosts, yet young centers are left untouched and edible in our salads, cooked to make chips, like we do for the kale chips, added to soups or rice or quinoa or whatever's for dinner, or sautéed for a mess of greens with garlic and onions, dressed when served with apple cider vinegar and cracked pepper, or just wilted down some.  To make the Swiss Chard or Kale chips, we smear a little coconut oil on both sides, sprinkle with a seasoning salt (Savory Spice Shop's Shallot Salt is delicious) and put them on the grill at about 350 degrees or in the oven or on the stove top grill plate for a few minutes each side.  The stem is too fibrous this time of year, but makes a great handle so you can scrape the leave off with your teeth.  A bit of cooking helps break down the Fall and winter fibers of these hardy bi-annual plants.  In the Spring and Summer, leaves are tender and we cut them small and eat them raw in salads.  Come Fall, we are cooking them most of the time. 

The triple-curled parsley is green in several patches around the garden, on the West, on the north side of a fence in a more sheltered area, and here and there when seeds have blown or carried and sprouted this last season.  Parsley, another biennial, is edible as a snack in the garden (Mmmmm), a garnish and breath freshener, and in everything from tuna or salmon or chicken salad or salmon loaf, to beds of greens under fish, or toppings of pico de gallo or marinades.  I also use Parsley leaves and Parsley roots separately as plant medicines. The parsley leaf helps clear extra uric acid from the system and the roots are good for the endocrine system.

Primula, old fashioned 'English Primrose' or 'Cowslip Flower', a migraine remedy, have quilted soft green leaves mulched by brown, dry Convallaria 'Lily of the Valley' leaves carpeting the bed, punctuated by the Viola 'Blue Violet', Vinca minor 'Vinca vine' that escaped into the Convallaria 'Lily of the Valley' bed, a nice grey rosette of Mullein at the edge and a small pretty patch of Ajuga, purple in the cold, blue flowered in Spring.  Lily of the Valley is an excellent heart medicine for congestive heart failure, slowing and strengthening the beat.   Dried yarrow flower stalks lean tall out of a clump of ferny grayish green leaves at the base of a sandstone rock, leaves which will stay mostly evergreen through the winter.  Yarrow is a great styptic, great to know in the mountains where it grows commonly.  I've used it to stop bleeding after slipping and scraping my arm, and it can be used for more serious bleeding, too.  Yarrow also is an extraordinary plant for colds and flu, to break a fever, or as a part of a warming circulatory formula.   Rosy-breasted Thrush and Chickadees visit the trickling rock fountain full of leaves.  I'll fill it fuller and fish out leaves tomorrow when it is to be even warmer and sunnier these first days of December.

Prunella vulgaris  'Heal-All", new to my garden this year, is clumped up thick and dark green in the Contorted Filbert or 'Harry Lauder's Walking Stick' garden, where Swiss chard still grows, calendula is dropping matured seeds, Red Kale centers are still standing, and lettuce seed stalks drop their tiny seeds to come up in the Spring.  I threw a bunch of compost over it all, hoping to renew the soil some.  Valerian stalks under the Aspen have softened some in the frosts, but are held up deep in aspen and cherry leaf mulch, lounging a bit, but still full-leaved and green.  Thyme has turned dark purple in the flagstone path edge where the south sun hits it strong and the cedar fence reflects and holds the heat.  St. John's Wort has died at the tips but the ground carpet is green and the root stalks are creeping. Feverfew is perky looking with its lacy yellow-green leaves, untouched so far by our many frosts.  Arugula and Amaranth stalks have dried, bent and dropped their seeds for upcoming crops of some of our favorite edibles.  Muscari grape hyacinth bulbs have above ground clumps of succulent, happy leaves everywhere. 

Echinacea purpura 'Purple Coneflower' leaves have mostly died down, with some sheltered ones still green and absorbing south sun.  The seed heads of Echinacea are dried and spiky with dark seed head centers dropping long canoe shaped starter pods.  The mulch is deep for the Echinacea between the Montmorency Cherry, a sour red pie cherry the birds and we love and the purple-berried Elder bush, another favorite of the birds that we compete for.  The ripe purple Elder berries make a great syrup for cough and flu and the tincture is great for flu and bringing down fevers.  White Elder flowers are tiny and many on large umbels that smell sweet and make a lovely flower essence or tincture.  Elder is the Sambucus species, and the red-berried Elder, a poisonous inedible variety, grows native in our Rocky Mountains.  The ones I have in the garden are edible with the purple or black berries.  I've made beer from Elder's purple berries, too, another prolific food that I compete with the birds to harvest.  There is such great mythology around Elder. 

Stephen Harrod Buhner (1952-2022), a great teacher and author (see more about Buhner) who introduced me to Sacred Plant Medicine, wrote a great book (one of his many), called "SACRED and HERBAL HEALING BEERS The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation".  In it, he talks in detail about these great stories of Elder.  "The genus name, Sambucus comes from "sambuca," now generally thought of as an ancient Asian triangular stringed instrument.  But of more ancient derivation it also means the panpipes used by ancient peoples throughout the world, in this instance particularly the panpipes of Greece.  From one point of view, the herb was named thus because the stems of the bush or tree are easily hollowed out to make the pipes.  However, the deeper meaning is that the tree itself is "sambuca" - the pipe of Pan - and it is his spirit blowing through this most sacred tree that enters the world (and the sick body) to heal and teach humankind.  In fact, elder is viewed in all ancient texts as a panacea, a cure-all.  Pan is the sacred power of forest and animal, the Lord of the Hunt, Guardian of Forest and Animal.  The exact meaning of panacea is "to be healed or cured by Pan, the deepest sacred power of forest."  When the tree is used for medicine the sacred power of Pan is evoked through this, his most sacred healing plant.  It has been set down in all ancient oral traditions that those who truly use the power of the elder for their medicine shall all grow old, becoming in their turn an elder, that in fact, it will cure all ills that humankind encounters if one calls on its power properly.

"In European tradition," Buhner continues in SACRED and HEALING BEERS, "it is the wife of Pan - the Lady of the Underworld - who guards access to the spiritual power of the plant and subsequently, to Pan himself.  This lady, it is to be remembered, has two faces, that of Spring and that of Winter.  She is of both life and death and either of her aspects can affect human beings.  This lady, called the Elder Mother in many herbal traditions, is she to whom prayers are addressed before the plant itself can be harvested." 

Evergreen English Ivy is climbing the purple berried Elder trunk clump, moving East from a sixty-year ground-cover patch, fifteen feet wide on the northwest corner of fence. 

Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca which means Lion-Hearted) is green, lying down some, some still stand with prickly-balled seed pods at the leave joints of the square stems; young leaves are vibrant as are clumps close to the ground.  Lilacs and Aspen have fat buds.  Hawthorn a is full of tight tiny reddish brown buds.  Lemon Balm, also called 'Melissa', has solid patches of new green, fragrant leaves at the base of each clump of brown stalks, where I chopped them off, not needing them to seed out more.  Catnip still has some green leaves and the kitties chew on them, green or dried, especially in the garden.  The best catnip plant for its green leaves is hiding amongst the Motherwort bed, chummy mint family plants.  Little goldenrod leaves are green and exposed at the base of the Jack pine, the one planted in full sun that has grown 20 feet tall, with lots of dried leaves for mulch.  Some mostly dried Elder leaves hang on to its branches. 

Many rusty orange Mountain Ash tree pinnate leaves are still attached, the bright orange berries all gone already, not even making it to "real" winter.  The squirrels got most of them I think, hopefully leaving a few for birds.  I was astounded to see a baby Mountain Ash tree pop up this year in the Medicine Wheel, on the Western path to the Creator stone, at the third stone, "Strength".  Mom gave us that Mountain Ash tree years ago and was always disappointed at its slow growth, but it's well established and must be twenty five or thirty feet tall, in the shade of a larger Cottonwood tree next door, and shaded for years by a large Crabapple branch I finally pruned so it could have more room to grow.  So the baby Mountain Ash tree sprouted ten feet from the big one, a little farther out into the sun and right in the Medicine Wheel.  I just know it's my mom's spirit sprouting there right by the "Strength" stone on the path, planting another one for us in a little more sunlight.  The other stones on that Medicine Wheel path are "Experience" and "Introspection", things I've had plenty of life time to work on, so now that my mom is gone, "Strength" is a nice reminder message, for I miss her strength, especially this last Thanksgiving time when I did all of "her jobs" as well as my own - her gravy and mashed potatoes, for instance.  Her recipes I referenced, with her notes in her handwriting made my heart squeeze more than a few times over the days I cooked for eight of us, all friends.

Roses have some dried leaves but many are still green, some bronzed by the cold, and rosehips I haven't already gathered for eye infection tea are plumps and rosy.  'Munstead' Lavender, our hardy perennial variety, is fragrant and pliable as I run my hand up the stalk and lift my palm to breathe in its relaxing scent from small dense gray-green leaves.  Galium variety 'Sweet Woodruff' with its whorled leaves around square stems from a green carpet beneath the edge of the forsythia's overhang.  Forsythia is loaded with buds for yellow blossoms that emerge early spring before its leaves.  Lysamachia 'Creeping Jenny' forms another area of ground cover carpet, among, between and beyond the Galium creeping to all parts of the garden, hiding low to the earth.  Lonicera 'Honeysuckle' vine has only leaf tips left, reaching for the sun high above the trellis and cedar fence.  Artemisia absinthe has dried flower stalks that have seeded out above clumps of silvery gray leaved, divided and a bit lacy like the ladies of old, who I picture  with pursed lips, sipping absinth over a sugar cube held between their teeth.  Behind them green parsley plants carpet a protected area mulched by Ginkgo, Aspen, Forsythia, Pear and plum leaves.  Second-year parsley seed stalks, dried and bleached, lean close above the ground spilling seeds for a new crop if the moisture comes so they can germinate.

Evergreen, shiny and prickly-leaved Oregon Grape Holly, Mahonia repens supposedly, is three to four feet tall and has naturalized at the base of a plum tree.  It has begun to colonized the corner it chose when it came in with an upright juniper and a large textured an fuzzy leaved Viburnum, now with some remaining reddish purple leaves above the glowing Oregon Grape Holly bush.  I am endlessly fascinated where plants choose to naturalize and who they choose to grow with in each little eco-system.  Several of these upright junipers have grown right next to Lilacs, which also are colonizing the different areas of the yard, one right in the middle of an island garden with a wild rose, a Potentilla Jackmanii and a couple of mature Mock Orange bushes, with sweet orange blossom fragrance that never lasts long enough in Spring.  Another couple Lilacs are growing right at the South fence line, coming up in the shady north side of it, reaching under the fence from the neighbors rock and concrete areas.  Others are moving into the sun filling the northeast corner where aspens lived and died in front of the privets.  There's one of the juniper partners growing there, too.  And yet another Lilac, well-established enough to bloom happily last Spring, chose a spot on the West on the path to the compost pile, and brought with it another one of those upright Junipers.  A Leonurus cardiaca 'Motherwort' plant decided to grow at their feet, quite a ways from its Mother patch, but then, they are in the mint family and will sprout up everywhere, like lemon balm, catnip and peppermint.

More info coming about the Medicine Wheel, common edible and medicinal uses of all these plants grown in an urban garden in Denver.

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food"  - Hippocrates (460-377 BC)

Deciphering differing wisdom bites

FOOD THOUGHTS, PROTOCOLS, AND HEALING RECIPES 10-11/12

I do believe food is the basis of healing... and medicine, in any form, is an adjunct or secondary consideration.  We are so indoctrinated to treat symptoms in the Western world way that it is a transition to resist simply  substituting plant medicines for pharmaceuticals.  Holistic healing does not support this concept.  Looking at how we get to a state of not-so-optimum health, through lifestyle, food, and stressful situations gives a more accurate picture. 

There is a deluge of changing, conflicting information out there and laws against clear labeling of the uses of herbs.  Everyone agrees that processed food is the bane of our society's health, unless they are the maker's of this food.  This weekend two good friends took me to two different well-known gurus advocating healing with whole foods, a concept I whole-heartedly support.  They had some differences of opinion on what is good and what is not.  Soy is one example: Andrew Weil, MD likes it.  Weston A Price Foundation (WAPF) considers it the spawn of the devil.  I think perhaps that if it is fermented, like miso, and not processed, it is a good thing.  "Nourishing Traditions" (The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats) by Sally Fallon is the WAPF manifesto and I love this book, learning amazing new information every time I open it.  I will continue to learn all sides, read the scientific evidence and passionate for's and against's and form evolving new opinions, as information evolves.  And one friend had been to a Paul Pitchford conference the previous weekend.  I've used his book, "Healing with Whole Food" for years now.  He has another whole take on what is good and what is not.

Though the years, I've experimented in very determined fashion, keeping food journals, asking clients to journal their every sip and bite. I've recorded my symptoms, cholesterol, and weight during these different ways of eating.  I was raised on a mid-western diet with a food conscious mom in the 1950's and 1960's.  I spent my first seven years battling ear infections, treated by the new miracle drug, Penicillin.  They used it on me so often, I was one of the first antibiotic resistant patients.  Eventually, when I was seven years old, a new young doctor came to town and discovered my milk allergy.  After that, it seemed I lived on black tea, Jell-O, cubed steak and vegetables.  I have iron-like hair and nails from that diet. 

My mother learned about food as a young woman working for Pet Milk before marriage and children and her food consciousness continued to evolve with the times until death in her nineties.  She tried new recipes constantly, and we were the happy recipients of her adventurous cooking.  I learned from her and evolved with the new food wisdom of the time, trying it all.  We were raised with bacon drippings kept in the refrigerator and I continued this practice well into my adult married life.  I followed my grandma around, writing down the recipe while she made cornbread.  I still have the original in my ten year old handwriting:  "Beat up 1 egg," she began.   "Mix in enough cornmeal to make a batter like a cake batter. Stir. Put in pan enough shortening like a walnut."  I love that recipe, yet Mom found one we love even better.  I keep the old original, but cook the new recipe in my old well-seasoned iron pan, handed down from my grandma.  I leave out the bacon and bacon grease, using olive or coconut oil in the pan when it is heating, but this is the original recipe from Mom.

BEST CORNBREAD EVER (altitude)

1-1/2 cups Stone ground cornmeal

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (Mom used white, I use whole grain - hers was lighter, mine is heartier)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

12-oz can evaporated mile

3 tablespoons olive oil (or coconut oil)

Mix dry ingredients together, and stir in liquids.  When ready to pop in oven have a HOT iron skillet sizzling with a heaping tablespoon bacon fat (I use several tablespoons olive or coconut oil) and bake 20-30 minutes at 400º.

Also a great addition is several crumbled, cooked strips of bacon stirred into the uncooked mix.

She never did get over the fact that I wouldn't let her add the bacon grease and bacon to the cornbread in her later years, since I was following the current then concept-of-the-day that bacon is bad during the "fat is bad" days, but I've come around to believing now that good quality fat is good.  I still don't eat much bacon, must admit.  The years of antibiotics damaged my gut flora sufficiently that digesting bacon is not easy for me.

We don't do cornbread often, now that my husband and I have discovered through all this experimenting that we feel better with less bread.  Occasionally we enjoy cornbread with lots of butter.  Occasionally we enjoy good breads as toast, but it is no longer an everyday part of our diet.  We learned that too much bread gives us an acid stomach and makes us gain pounds. 

We tend to enjoy the meat, fish or poultry and fresh vegetables way of eating, sometimes adding red and black quinoa, which we find satisfying.  Sometimes we have potatoes, if we are craving them.  We don't deny ourselves much of anything, but tastes have changed and we like the foods that make us feel good.  And we are very creative foodies.

We actually consider ourselves hedonists, as we love good food, wine and good company with whom to enjoy such decadence.  We love good, dark chocolate and my husband, Bill Zinn, has become quite the chocolatier, combining two dark chocolate varieties to make his own darker-than-most chocolates. He spoils his computer clients (he's the BEST computer guy), with chocolate surprises they have come to expect at the holidays.  

Diverticulitis - Who Me?  Can't Be...

The unvarnished truth is that I am a cracker junkie, and along with all the good fiber we eat and highly recommend, I gorge myself with crackers - "good" ones, mind you... salty, crunchy five-seed crackers with low glycemic value and no processed flours, no gluten, and all that stuff we know is bad for us.  I just love them and as so often in my all-or-nothing personality, I did too many of the crackers, obviously off-setting my penchant for all those fruits and vegetables.  I got an intestinal infection because the seeds (especially sesame seeds apparently) had lodged in a pouch that formed in my intestine wall and the diagnosis was diverticulitis.  I have never been constipated.  I couldn't believe it.  Me?  Diverticulitis?  The lifestyle disease of those that do not do enough fiber?  I was incredulous that I, Queen of Fiber and the Food Nazi herself, could have diverticulitis.  

The night of the painful attack in my lower left small intestine we had just finished a great dinner of white fish, Brussels sprouts and Jerusalem artichokes, great fiber vege's.  I had probably eaten crackers, too, before the meal, like always, since I'm a muncher and crave that salty, crunchy satisfying texture that potato chip junkies love.  I was quite righteous in my belief that my five-seed crackers were a healthy alternative to deep-fried potato chips.  In moderation, I suppose that is true.  But moderation is definitely not in my DNA.  So now, I've quit them completely in my all or nothing fashion.

My Diverticulitis TREATMENT PROTOCOL

I fasted on liquid for seven days (teas, miso soup, and V8) and about the third day, started the antibiotics, which killed the infection and decimated my gut flora, of course.  The night of the seventh day I had a couple of bowls of bone broth, which I had been cooking for a couple of days.

"Good broth resurrects the dead." South American Proverb

-from Sally Fallon's book, "NOURISHING TRADITIONS, The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats"

My energy changed completely after getting that bone broth nourishment and my husband said I seemed "softer".  My energy was rather high and frenetic during that week of liquid fasting, and I was never hungry.  My energy was sort of "empty", though, as my reserves were gone.  I thought I was OK but my husband said I seemed "short and angry".  Family is a good mirror of what is real. I started eating solid food the eighth day.  The bone broth nourished me mightily and my appetite returned. 

My tongue turned black, then improved to brown, gray, yellow and eventually white coatings.  Black, brown and gray were symptoms of cold in my digestive tract, since the antibiotics practically distinguished my "digestive fire".  Yellow shows signs of heating up, but still not healthy in the digestive area.  I am doing my best to restore the good flora in my gut and intestine by Miso soup, probiotics of l.acidolphius, l.bacillus and b.bifida for my upper gut and Kefir with lactobacillus reuteri, bifidobacterium lactis, L.casei, l.lactis, l.acidolphilus, l.plantarum, l.rhamnosus, b.bacterium lonum, lueconostoc cremoris, b.bacterium breve, s.diacetylactis, and s.florentinus to repopulate my intestines and colon as well.  The tongue coating will show when my digestion has returned to a healthy stage. It took a full two weeks after finishing the antibiotics before my tongue was normal.

I'm still eating lots of fiber and not eating those five-seed crackers.  I've dropped a few pounds, "cracker pounds" probably.  Acknowledging previous denial and wrong-thinking, I am looking more clearly at my diet intake, not just the incredibly healthy meals we cook for ourselves, but all the between munchies I really didn't count.  More celery and no seed crackers, for instance.  I cut back on my morning coffee to only one cup a day. I am not drinking any wine or other alcoholic beverages at the moment and haven't since the "attack".  Avoidance of popcorn hulls, sunflower, pumpkin, caraway and sesame seeds is recommended.  I've begun sprouting my grains, like quinoa, soaking them in water with a couple tablespoons of kefir for 12-24 hours before cooking.  I am enjoying more potatoes, gold, red and purple ones.  After all, they are absolutely wonderful food.  Since the antibiotics are so strong, killing all the good gut flora along with the bad, Candida opportunistically thrives and I am dealing with symptoms of Candida, like sugar and starchy carbohydrate cravings along with the furry tongue coating and unformed bowel movements, another side effect of the antibiotics.

Failure to comply around Halloween, giving in to eating the peppermint patties and chocolate covered toffee we got for the treat-or-treaters (ha! all three of them), resulted in a setback.  There is no mercy for indulgences when my immune system has been this compromised. 

Diverticulitis Rooted in Emotional Stress, Internalized

According to some, the real reasons for this pattern of spasms are emotional.  A person who tries to deal with stress on her own, internally, rather than expressing outward or openly.  This interferes with the parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for peristalsis, the regular muscular spasms which transport digesting material through the system.  It is this nervous system interference with normal gut functioning which is the root of most gastro intestinal problems from Reflux at the top end to Piles at the bottom end.  A friend who I previously lectured about eating more fiber when she got diverticulitis some time back, says she notices that hers comes back to bite her when she gets angry and frustrated.  As for me, it is true that I have always believed I have to deal with everything on my own, despite any available evidence to the contrary.

Herbal Protocol & Lifestyle Considerations

I am considering a couple of herbal remedy options along with my increased fiber intake, more consciousness about all the food that goes in my mouth, clear thinking about previous denials, less coffee and abstinence from my favorite seed crackers and wine.

  1.    Continue probiotics in pill form, Kefir, Miso and other fermented foods to restore and maintain healthy intestinal and bowel flora.

2.    Slippery Elm Bark powder, 1 teaspoon daily, mixed with cold Chamomile Tea into a paste and taken for 3 months to provide protection of gastro intestinal system mucosal lining to heal the irritated pockets.

3.    Exercise to strengthen internal organs and strengthen muscles.  Yoga and Chinese Wand Exercises by Bruce L. Johnson are my best chance at helping myself in this area.

4.    Herbs containing berberine like:

        -Oregon Grape Root (Berberis or Mahonia family),

        -Yerba Mansa (Anemopsis)

        -Turmeric Root (Curcuma longa)

 Miso Soup Recipes

For the Miso soup, I heat the water, but if it boils, let it cool a bit, since the miso can’t be boiled or it will kill the fermented goodies, beneficial bacteria that have many health benefits from the biologically active miso paste.  Then spoon a fat teaspoon to a tablespoon of miso paste into a mug, pour the hot, not boiling, water over it and stir until it dissolves.

Traditionally, Miso Soup is made with a basic stock used in Japanese cooking called Dashi.  Instant dashi granules can be purchased for convenience, but made from scratch dried kelp seaweed and dried bonito fish are boiled to make the stock.  More dashi makes a stronger stock. Other common dashi soup stocks for miso soup use niboshi, which are dried baby sardines, kombu, a dried kelp, plus the katsuobushi, which are thin shavings of dried and smoked bonito or skipjack tuna.  Dried shitake mushrooms may also be used. Other great additions are  onions, carrots and/or potatoes cooked in the dashi soup stock before adding the miso paste.  You can also make a vegetable or chicken stock in place of the traditional dashi. 

When the stock is ready, lower the heat from boiling to medium and whisk in the miso paste, green onions, daikon radish, and tofu and/or wakame or other seaweed.  The simple miso soup of just the stock and the miso paste with very few additions is most common, but I love it plain or with everything available to make it heartier.

Traditional Miso Soup

2 teaspoons dashi granules (more dashi for a stronger stock) 

4 cups water

Bring to a boil over medium high heat, and cook any additional vegetables (shitake mushroom, carrots, onions, potatoes)  in this stock until done.  Fish or shrimp may also be added to this boiling stock for a few minutes after the vegetables are ready.  Do not overcook the fish or shrimp

When the stock with any ingredients that need cooking are done, then reduce temperature to medium. 

3 Tablespoons Miso paste - whisk into stock (not boiling)

Add a couple of green onions, sliced diagonally in 1/2 inch pieces. 

Add diced tofu to taste (up to an 8 ounce package silky or firm) and if you like, some seaweed and/or daikon radish, shaved. 

Adjust flavors with more miso. 

Simmer soup (do not boil) for a few minutes before serving. Serves 4.

Usually, at restaurants, they add green onions (scallions), or chives and a little seaweed and some small chunks of tofu.  I’ve made all sorts of soups with vegetables of whatever is available, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, dark greens like kale, Swiss chard, or spinach and then added the miso to flavor the soup at the end when it’s not boiling until the flavor is good.  It’s salty, so you can add too much.  So stir to dissolve, taste, then add more if more flavor is needed. 

I buy the red miso, which is heartier and saltier than the yellow, which is creamy and sweet, or white is more mellow.

Miso paste health benefits are considerable.  Researchers at Japan's National Cancer Centre claim that miso soup cuts the risk of breast cancer.  It is an excellent source of dietary fiber, protein, Vitamin K and minerals.  It is high in amino acids, the basic building blocks of protein. It is high in sodium, too, however.  With lower-sodium miso paste used with additional  vegetables and the nourishing dashi stocks, miso soup can provide a complete meal.  Fish or shrimp may also be added for more heartiness.

Recipes for Bone Broths

We went to the local farm to ranch market and bought 4 pounds of beef bones with marrow exposed and a little tough meat on them.  We bought a whole organic range roving chicken at the local grocery store.  And for a third pot, some ham hocks.  Over a period of days, I cooked each meat separately in large stainless steel pots with some vinegar (1/2 cup), lots of water (10 cups) and simmered them all day, adding carrots, onion and celery.  The next day, I simmered them all day again. 

On the second day, I added beans and garlic to the ham hocks.  The third day, I added rice to the beans and ham hocks.  Spices of salt, cumin, paprika, oregano, coriander, garlic, caraway, turmeric, ginger, fenugreek, anise, cayenne, saffron and other spices of my favorite spice store, Savory Spice Shop's "Southern Spain Pinchito Spice" were added.  My friend Kathryn told me about this spice combination that she discovered for lentil soup and after trying it, I went back for more.  Great stuff.  I added more saffron to the ham hock, beans and rice, a generous gift from my Iranian neighbor, Nirvana, and her mother, Minoo.

To the beef bone stock, I added onion, garlic, carrots and celery.  The second day I added Swiss Chard from the garden, gold potatoes, and some red cabbage, later serving my husband a good beef stew.  I probably added herbs from the garden like thyme, parsley, maybe sage, and basil I'd just pulled in before the frost.  This was the bone broth (still on the liquid diet) that I had on the evening of my seventh day of liquid fasting.  It was heavenly and incredibly restoring. 

The whole chicken made great chicken soup with lots of hot chiles, garlic, and a favorite recipe called "Cactus Stew", our go-to chicken soup for cold and flu season.

Cactus Stew (Green Chile Chicken Stew)

Approx. 2 lbs. chunked chicken breast, skinned and deboned, or whole chicken simmered 12-24 hours with vinegar to make the stock

3 large onions, diced, raw

1 T. fresh diced garlic (I use about 10 cloves)

1 t. black ground pepper (fresh ground is best)

½ C. chopped fresh Cilantro or parsley (Cilantro gives even more Mexican flavor and I use a full bunch, chopped stems and leaves)

10 C. chicken stock

-especially nourishing if made from simmering whole chicken with bones for 12-24 or more hours

-if made from chicken bouillon, keep in mind it can often make things salty, so check flavor and add to taste

2 cans diced green chilies (fresh or frozen Hatch chilies are best)

-We like it spicy, so add an additional 6 large hot, roasted hatch chilies we keep in the freezer for adding to soups

1 Lg. can hominy, drained (30 oz. can for large recipe quantity)

2 T. chicken base if using chicken breast instead of whole chicken

Salt and pepper to taste

(use of additional salt is cautioned if chicken stock is made from bouillon)

 2 T. Butter (or sufficient butter, olive oil or coconut oil to sauté chicken, garlic and onions)

In large stew pot, sauté chicken chunks in butter until nearly cooked or lightly browned

Add diced onions, chilies, and garlic – sauté lightly

Add chicken stock and bring to boil

Simmer approximately 40 minutes.

Add cilantro, chicken base (check flavor before adding- you may not need this if you made a bone broth stock from the whole chicken), and hominy. Cook at simmer temperature additional 15 min. or until oils begin to appear as thin film on surface.

Serve with favorite sides – tortillas, tortilla chips, or (our favorite) cornbread (recipe above).