Recipes

Guest post by Eleanor Athens

There are so many herbs that make fantastic skin care ingredients. The three in this project – borage, chamomile and calendula – are all annuals.

Start your pot in the spring after the last frost using the two-inch herbs available at most nurseries. Your pot will need good drainage, rich soil and a full-sun location.

Plant one of each in a shallow 18-inch round. Or, for a more formal presentation, center the borage in the middle of a larger pot and surround with three calendula plants. Next plant chamomile, 3-5 plants depending on pot, size around the edges. The chamomile will spill over the pot sides.

Expect flowers throughout the summer and into fall. Bright yellow-orange calendula adds a splash of color against the pretty daisy-like chamomile blossoms and star-shaped borage flowers.

For the following bath and beauty recipes, you will be harvesting both flowers and leaves.

Borage Toner

This project starts with a simple vinegar infusion, which is diluted for use as a toner after cleansing. Borage is high in minerals and mucilage, which makes it a great soothing skin-care herb. It has a cooling, refreshing effect.

You will need:

Borage sprigs, flowers and leaves
Organic vinegar, apple cider or white
Distilled water
Clean glass jar or bottle

Place the borage in your glass vessel and cover completely with vinegar. Store in a cool, dark place for 1-2 weeks, shaking occasionally. Strain well (several layers of cheesecloth is a good option), and dilute 1 Tbsp vinegar in 1 cup of distilled water. Store in a clean glass bottle or mister.

Calendula Oil

A wonderful body or massage oil based on an infusion of calendula. Calendula, or pot marigold, is loved for its healing and soothing qualities. It is important to use cold-pressed oil because it hasn’t been solvent-processed or had its nature altered by the application of heat.

You will need:

Calendula flowers
Organic olive oil (cold-pressed)
Clean glass jar

Collect enough flower heads to almost fill your jar. Place on clean paper towels and allow them to rest for about 30 minutes. Add your flowers to the jar and cover with oil. Cap tightly and keep covered in a warm place for a week. Strain thoroughly and store oil in a clean glass jar or bottle.

Chamomile Tea

The simplest of beauty recipes, chamomile tea makes a fantastic hair rinse for blonds, or can be added to the bath for a relaxing, fresh-smelling soak. Chamomile is well known for it’s anti-inflammatory properties, and has a great apple scent.

You will need:

Fresh chamomile, both leaves and flowers
Distilled water

Use chamomile: water in a 1:2 proportion, that is, 1 cup of chamomile to 2 of water. Place the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer, covered, over low heat for 20 minutes. Cool, strain, and use your tea right away.

Other Great Bath and Beauty Herbs

Try experimenting with the following herbs using the recipes above. Choose your favorites for their scent and skin care properties.

Basil (leaves): green and spicy scent, stimulates dull skin.
Fennel (seeds): earthy, licorice aroma, used to tone and tighten skin.
Lavender (flowers): distinctive floral/herbaceous scent, ideal for all skin types.
Peppermint (leaves): refreshing and cool, good for oily or congested skin.
Rosemary (leaves): stimulating camphorous aroma, tonic for oily skin.
Eleanor Athens, is the founder of E aromachologic fragrance oils; scents created from pure essential oils and perfumer’s absolutes. Her interests in phyto- and aromatherapy led to the creation of a fragrance line that uses natural, organic, and cruelty-free ingredients to enhance the well-being of the wearer. Visit www.aromachologic.com.

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Healthier Pumpkin Pie

This recipe uses arrowroot powder mixed with milk or soy milk in the place of eggs to thicken the filling. Sugar is substituted with maple syrup. The quantity of maple syrup used in this recipe is minimal. More can be added if you have a heavy sweet tooth, but do keep in mind that maple syrup is quite sweet. If you have problems with gluten any kind of gluten free flour can be used but I prefer the taste of spelt as an alternative to wheat.

Filling

1 medium sized pumpkin or 1 can pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons maple syrup (or more to taste)
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh grated nutmeg (or nutmeg powder)
1/8 tsp ground cloves
pinch of salt
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
1 cup milk or soy milk

Crust
(Makes enough for a bottom crust with decorative top.)

2 cups spelt, kamut or whole wheat flour
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup chilled butter
6 tablespoon ice water

Crust option: a mix of half butter, half canola oil works best in my opinion, but all canola oil for a vegan pie also works very well.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325º F. Cut pumpkin(s) in half and remove seeds. Place cut side down on a tray and bake in the oven until the pumpkin is soft and easily poked with a fork. Scoop the flesh from the pumpkin and mash or puree in a food processor or blender. As an option I often bake the pumpkin(s) cut side up (so pumpkin half acts like a bowl) and sprinkle with half of the spices and a drizzle of maple syrup so that the flavours bake right into the pumpkin.
While the pumpkin is cooking you can go ahead and prepare the crust. Mix together the flour, oil, butter and ice water. This can be done manually in a bowl or using a mixer. As an option different flour types can be used, but I prefer the nutty flavour of spelt.
Divide the dough in half and roll between two pieces of plastic wrap or waxed paper.
Dissolve the arrowroot powder in the milk using a blender or food processor until the mixture is smooth. Add the pumpkin, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cloves, and blend to a smooth consistency. Pour the mixture into the pie crust.
Roll out the remaining dough thinly. Use fall-themed cookie cutters (i.e leaves or turkeys) to create shapes that can be placed together on top of the pie to form a “top crust”. Place one shape in the center of the pie and form a ring of shapes around that central shape. Try to place the shapes so that they touch or join slightly.
Bake for 35 minutes or until the crust is browned and the filling is slightly set. It is sometimes difficult to tell when spelt or whole wheat flours are browned but there will be a noticeable colour change. Don’t leave it in until it is too brown! This pie sets up nicely after the pie has been left to cool for a few hours. Do not worry if the centre appears too soft when it is first removed from the oven. This baby will thicken up due to the miracle coagulation powers of arrowroot.

More Options: The cookie cutter top makes for a fancy-looking pie that will impress your friends, but it isn’t necessary. You can always use the other half of the dough to make another pie!

I have also made these as “personal pies” done in 3″ tart tins with one cookie cut per tin. They’re really cute!

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