Native Fruit Drink
Tribal Affiliation : Cherokee and Creek
Orgin of Recipe : Offered by Ulunsuti ... who learned this from Grandmother
Recipe Region : Southeast ~ Prairie
Type of Dish : Contemporary & Traditional
Ingredients
* 4 Cups water
* 1 Cup of Fruit (Wild Strawberries, Wild Blackberries, any fresh berry or perhaps peaches)
* Honey (to taste)
Directions
Combine the water with the crushed, strained (if desired) fruit.
Add the honey and stir. Chill.
Note: Great cool down for a warm day!
Mullein Tea for congestion and cough
Tribal Affiliation : Indiana Cherokee
Orgin of Recipe : Offered by Sharon (Da-Li) Jones ... who learned this from learned from my great grandpa
Recipe Region : Southeast ~ Prairie
Type of Dish : Today’s Native Dishes
Ingredients
* 4-6 Young Mullein Leaves(Lamb’s Ears)
* Milk
* Teaspoon of sugar or honey per cup of tea made.
Directions
Boil the Mullein leaves in enough water to cover. Be sure to strain the liquid after boiling because the “hairs” on the leaves will cause throat irritation. Add some milk and a teaspoon of sugar or honey to personal taste per cup of tea.
Note: Mullein is a pale green plant and is called Lamb’s Ears due to the shape of the leaves being like that of the ears of a lamb and because of the “fuzzy” texture of the leaves. Do not pick large leaves of full grown plants or when the flower stalk appears. Leaves should be picked when the plant is under a foot tall. I don’t know why. I never thought to ask. :-(
[granny note: From memory, this may be the plant of which the dried flower stalk is used for a candle.]
Sagebrush
Tribal Affiliation : Shoshone-Bannock Nation
Orgin of Recipe : Offered by Chris ...who learned this from her family ( it’s common in her area )
Recipe Region : Northwest
Type of Dish : All Indigenous Ingredients
Ingredients
* Sagebrush (at least a handful)
* Water (a potful)
Directions
Rinse the sagebrush if you like, then put it in the boiling water.
The longer it boils the stronger it gets. You can add more water or let it get concentrated. This is used for colds and other ailments- it brings out a sweat in a person.
If you are a wimp (like me) you can add sugar.
Notes:
This is sagebrush, and not sweet sage (although sweet sage tea is used for ailments also) - use the stems and all. Many folks sell sagebrush in a stick for “smudging”- our tribe seldom (if ever) smudges with sagebrush - we use sweet sage.
Sagebrush is excellent for medicinal purposes. If you don’t have sagebrush growing near you - you could probably use part of one of those “smudge” sticks.
Pine Needle Tea
Tribal Affiliation : Chumash
Orgin of Recipe : Offered by Rebecca Rangel ... who learned this from her Chumash Indian Grandmother in-law
Recipe Region : Southwest ~ California
Type of Dish : All Indigenous Ingredients
Ingredients
* Needles, flowers, and candles from yellow pine.
Directions
Crush and snip needles, flowers, and pine candles.
Meantime, boil a pot of water.
Place pine in boiling water, cover, and remove from heat. Let steep from 20 minutes to all night.
What you don’t drink hot, refrigerate for a cold, refreshing drink.Experiment with proportions of pine needles to water.
The best tea will be a nice reddish color, and a small amount of oil will rise to the top.
This recipe makes a beautiful red tea, with a mild, pleasant taste. You can sweeten with honey if desired. If you drink this tea every day, it can relieve mild depression. Good for allergies too.
Note: If desired, you can simmer the tea awhile. It will be very strong, but will probably contain less vitamin C. Prepared this way, it is said to be good for coughs. It is also supposed to flush kidneys, although I have not noticed this effect.
Warning:I was looking at the recipes and noticed pine needles, upon looking at the
recipe I strongly felt the need to add a caution to this recipe; pregnant
women must NOT use this as pine needles will cause “abortion” this also
happens in cows, when they eat the pine needles they will drop their calf’s
(dead) within a couple of days if not hours. Please add this caution.
Thank you
Tracy Sampson
NWSFA Project Coordinator
Nicola Tribal Association
Box 188
Merritt, BC
V1K 1B8
Manzanita Juice
Tribal Affiliation : Passamaquoddy
Orgin of Recipe : Offered by Cindy...who notes the recipe has Miwok origins
Recipe Region : Southwest ~ California
Type of Dish : All Indigenous Ingredients
Ingredients
* Ripe manzanita berries
Directions
Pick and clean ripe manzanita berries.
Mash them a bit and add water.
Note: Real good.
Tea Index:
WOW - thanks for the Blue Corn recipes...
I have 1/2 pound of Aztec Blue corn that I will be planting this year. (first time) I also have two other heirloom varieties that I will be planting too. Sowells Evergreen and Trucker’s choice. Will be keeping them well separated so they don’t cross pollinate.
The Aztec Blue is supposed to be white when it is good for fresh table eating (in the milk stage) then it turns a dark blue/purple and is supposed to be excellent for blue corn flour.
For those who have chickens - I have found that my chickens will skip the regular corn and eat the sweet corn first. I can scatter some regular corn and then start shelling a few ears of sweet corn, and they will all be gathered around waiting for them to drop - some of them even catching them in the air.
After eating all we want, canning, freezing and drying what we might need, I let the rest dry on the stalk and pick and husk it and put it in the corn crib. I then shred the stalks for bedding. Chickens then turn the bedding into nutrients for the compost pile, which I then turn back into growing more corn... Nothing wasted...
Can hardly wait for this weekend with warmer temperatures and the snow melting... So much to do - spring is almost here... I’m hoping that last nights 8ºF temperature is the last for this year. For the week beginning Friday, they are calling for temps in the 60’s - Arthritis says hurry and warm up!!