Your Christmas Gift List, 2019, Part 2—for Herbs, Spices and Aromatics!
(See Your Vegan and Vegetarian Cookbooks Christmas Gift List, 2019, Part 1, here.)This year’s Herbs, Spices and Aromatics Christmas Gift List are must-haves for those in the know about healthy drinks and infusions. Herbs and spices create stylish menus, like salt and pepper, only a thousand times more flavorful. Now you can create a spicy diet to wow yourself, family and friends.
Here are my choices for Gift Books, 2019:
Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina and Stress Relief. / by David Winston and Steven Maimes. Published in Rochester, VT by Healing Arts Press 2019, c2007.
Herbs can help relieve seven kinds of stress, according to herbalist David Winston. We often hear about calming herbs—think chamomile, or lavender, hops, etc.—or conversely, stimulating herbs, such as rosemary, black pepper, ginger. But what about the term adaptogen, or adaptogenic herb? In Adaptogens, author David Winston reviews many ways that herbs called adaptogens can help your body adapt to stress. In addition, he gives several pages of recipes for broths, drinks, and teas that blend adaptogenic herbs for nutrition if taken as food or drink instead of in pill form, as medicine. One of the recipes I like is a restorative tonic. It features tulsi tea, ground ginger, cardamom seeds, cinnamon and long pepper infused together in water for a delicious drink. See my review of this book, here.
Essential Oils for the Whole Body: The Dynamics of Topical Application and Absorption. / Heather Dawn Godfrey, 2019. Published in Rochester, VT by Healing Arts Press, A Division of Inner Traditions International.
An aromatherapist and gifted teacher of the dynamics of olfaction, Heather Godfrey has chosen 15 essential oils to address psychological imbalance and common physical diseases. She’s called this list of oils the Serenity Oils and dedicated a chapter in the book to specifics on each of these oils. A collection that includes related modalities, the 15 Serenity Oils are also paired with colors, gemstones, chakras, energies and elements relevant to each oil. So, in a relatively small-sized book, you have access to a range of healing possibilities. See my review of this book, here.
Complete Wellness. / Susan Curtis, Pat Thomas, Julie Wood, MNIMH, Fran Johnson, Fiona Waring. Published by DK Publishing, 2018. First American Edition.
If you’d like to have wellness at your fingertips, this is the resource for you. Like an encyclopedia of practices that you put in place, the experts at Neal’s Yard have found ways to care for your bodily systems. Take the Respiratory System for example with colds and flus in season. The book outlines which herbs, essential oils, and home remedies are suited to your particular kind of cold. Then it details which foods, supplements and lifestyle habits contribute to less infection and more wellbeing throughout the year. Other maladies of respiration are too much phlegm, bronchitis, coughs, sinusitis, asthma, even snoring are undertaken, so that you can benefit from information about natural remedies.
Healing Herbal Infusions : Simple and Effective Home Remedies for Colds, Muscle Pain, Upset Stomach, Stress, Skin Issues and More. / Colleen Codekas, founder of Grow Forage Cook Ferment. Published in Salem, MA by Page Street Publishing, 2018.
Healing Herbal Infusions, as the title subtly indicates, is not only about teas, instead it’s about the technique of making medicinal remedies by infusing an herbs in a liquid or oil of some kind, even in honey. Each page describes a unique recipe with ingredients and method for making it. The result is an array of remedies, including teas, tinctures, salves, and electuaries, lotions, balms and butters—indeed all kinds of infusions for putting in or putting on your body!
Tea-vitalize : cold-brew teas and herbal infusions to refresh and rejuvenate. / Mimi Kirk ; photographs by Mike Mendell. Published in New York by The Countryman Press, a division of W. W. Norton & Company, 2019.
Tea-vitalize is about all the ways to bring the tea-taste, instead of plain water, to your daily hydration goals. Mimi Kirk’s refreshing and adventurous attitude about tea is — tea doesn’t have to be cooked to brew deliciously. Either tea or coffee can be combined with raw fruit, herbs, or spices for delicious combinations, almost effortlessly. The author, mother of four, is a raw foodist whose enviable style keeps her heathy and young-looking. Besides water as a base, her recipes usually feature only two to three ingredients, allowing the herbs and fruits to enrich a beverage with real health benefits. Drink to your health’s desire!
Vital Teas & Soothing Tonics. Traditional and Modern Remedies that Make You Feel Amazing. / Rachel de Thample ; photography by Ali Allen. London : Kyle Books, 2017.
I really love to sample these recipes because the collection presents a range of options. I can choose from energizing drinks I’m familiar with to more exotic herbal tonics. Written for kitchen and pantry ingredients, de Thample’s recipes will be new to you, not in scope but rather in technique. She offers the best ways to prepare teas and tonics for potency and health benefits. Brown rice horchata is described as a drink for endurance athletic performance! And Jamu kunyit, a drink made famous in Bali for radiant health features turmeric and tamarind paste. And Moroccan mull is a mixture of fruits with the pleasing aromas of spices that are much-sought after this time of year: cinnamon, cloves and ginger.
