If you go for a walk in nature pick some hawthorn berries, it’s everywhere now. Recipes ideas are below.
The hawthorn tree is from the rose family, it’s a fantastic heart tonic, high in antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, reduced blood pressure, slow heart palpitations, calming anxiety, balance blood sugar, high in vitamin C and B’s. I’ve been spending the weekend playing with the berries and sitting next to the hawthorn tree, and its presence feels very feminine and erotic… think about it; prana is a creative force, nature is prana, orgasm is prana, so you can feel aroused creatively by nature. Apparently, the Celt’s associated hawthorn with sex, fertility, love, hope, beauty, and boundaries. The thorns were used as needles, and the mythology tells us that hawthorn can mend broken hearts. Pick about 500 grams, cover it with water and bring to a boil. Let it cool.
You can make fruit leather push the cooked berries through a sieve (be in a meditative state, it’s time-consuming). Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 45 mins at 140 degrees. To be honest, I wasn’t impressed with the taste, the berries are more like avocado flavor so I think the fruit leather recipes that combine apples with the berries will be nice.
I also used it for jam biscuits; you can mix it with raspberries jam, delish.
For the tea, use the water you’ve boiled the berries in, (because of the high pectin content it’s more like a syrup) squeeze lemon, add honey or stevia. Very comforting tea.
You can also keep the water and use it as a broth for a soup or for when you’re cooking grains; quinoa or rice.