Coffee falls into the stomach … ideas begin to move, things remembered arrive at full gallop …

the shafts of wit start up like sharp-shooters, similies arise, the paper is covered with ink …
-Honoré de Balzac

Coffee is my bad boyfriend.  We have an on-again, off-again love affair.  I crave it, I love the taste, then a few hours later I start feeling jittery or stressed, and kick myself.  Then I get tired.  So I go back again for another fix.  I love coffee, but he doesn’t love me back.  Still, I persist.

I remember my first cup… it was in 10th grade French class.  I got the “cool” French teacher that year.  The teacher who we wanted to chaperone our dances.  Who was a human rights activist, a bit eccentric and outspoken.  The teacher who put a poster in the classroom window, so the Principal couldn’t look in as he walked the halls.

And not only was she a bit intimidating, but the other girls in the class seemed to be part of her cool posse.  They couldn’t speak enough French to order a baguette, but they had nicknames and inside jokes, and all drank coffee together in our morning class.

And then there was me (who, in 10th grade, was very obviously not cool.)

We had a coffee maker in class (another reason that poster was blocking the window, I’m sure) and a container of French Vanilla coffee mate creamer – et voila – my love affair with coffee was born.

Sipping coffee with the cool girls, and speaking (really bad) French, I felt so grown up and sophisticated, so far away from my normal high school existence.  Maybe that’s what made me move to Paris years later…but that’s a topic for another time!

Coffee.  Is it so bad?

Coffee always seems to be in the media, with conflicting health reports.  One day it’s good for you (antioxidants! Less risk of Alzheimer’s and liver disease!), the next, it’s the beverage to avoid (Caffeine! High blood pressure! Dehydration!)

The only way to find out if coffee works for YOU is to listen to your body.

I used to drink 3, 4, 5+ cups of coffee per day.  Especially in those years when coffee houses were new and cool, and then later, working at my first job, wanting to be the busy professional clutching a cup of Starbucks.  (Was that me? Really? Cringe.)

But recently I’ve started noticing what I eat, and how it makes me feel … and I’ve realized that coffee isn’t as great for me as I thought. 

I started noticing that on days when I had more than one cup of coffee, I felt more stressed, and more mentally scattered.

I felt a lot of pressure to multi-task and do more, more, more … but was not actually more productive.  Just more stressed and busy.

I also noticed that drinking coffee in the afternoon made it hard for me to sleep at night.

So I’ve cut back.  Way back.  To one cup of decaf per day, with the occasional full-caf on the weekends or when I’m out.

I fall off the wagon sometimes, like when I’m in Italy and can’t resist the little espressos.  But overall I’m getting my relationship with coffee under control.

(Everything, that is, except my undying love for Coffeemate flavored creamer.   I am so embarrassed to admit this.  This stuff is about as un-Vintage Savoir Faire as it comes … AND it contains trans-fat!  And loads of sugar and unpronounceable ingredients!  Aaah!  One step at a time.)

What’s your experience with coffee, and caffeine in general? Love it or hate it? Do you notice any physical effects from it? Have you ever tried to give it up?  Share your experience in the comments!

 ”Anyone who spends a little time learning to find and use wild food will soon understand what I mean:

this is not an aspirational lifestyle choice, but a return to an ancient way of life that is part of who we are.”

~Miles Irving

Donning gloves to pick nettles I can do.  But battling through a forest of Japanese Knotweed, and pulling rushes out of a little swampy lake?  I was a little hesitant about what we’d be eating (and wondering if I should have brought an emergency supply of ‘normal’ food!)  But I was with Britian’s foraging expert, so I decided to stop thinking and just enjoy the journey.

A few weeks ago I went on a wild food weekend in Kent (when I stopped off at The Goods Shed.)

What is wild food?  Wild food is food that you forage from the natural environment – eating wild plants that grow around you.  Although you might imagine this resulting in lots of grassy-tasting salads, in reality, you can cook with wild food just like any storebought vegetable – with delicious results.

Why would you want to eat wild food?  Wild food is organic, seasonal and local.  Our ancestors ate a huge variety of plants because they ate what grew around them… in our modern diets, we eat a much smaller range of foods (do you find yourself buying the same produce every week?  Iceberg lettuce, carrots and tomatoes, anyone?)  Eating wild foods introduces a wide range of nutrients into your diet. 

I also love foraging for wild food because it’s a forgotten skill.  Foraging for food is something that humans were designed to do – our ancestors found food all around them instinctively.  But today, we’re never taught how to identify the edible plants around us, or what to do with them.

And so, when I learned about a wild food weekend with the UK’s foraging expert, Miles Irving, I just had to sign up.

Over the past two years, I’ve written a bit about foraging for food and herbs.  I tend to stick to really common, well-known plants so I can feel confident in identification.  I’ve made nettle soup, nettle tea and nettle pesto.  I’ve also made a cleansing cleavers detox infusion and a big batch of bright pink sloe gin.

This weekend, we got a bit more adventerous.

Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) - Japanese Knotweed is an invasive species here in the UK – there is a whole industry dedicated to destroying this plant!  Miles quipped that if we could just convince everyone to eat it instead, we’d take care of the invasion problem and save money on our grocery bills!

This weekend we cooked down the knotweed shoots with some sugar (like rhubarb), poured it into pastry shells, and had little knotweed tarts with ice cream for dessert.  Yum.

Here’s a little lizard we found along the path.  Much to my relief (and yours…and his!), we did not eat him.

Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) – According to Wikipedia, Alexanders was brought North by the Romans to use as food on their travels.  This plant was along every roadside in Kent!  Huge amounts of it.  We steamed it to eat as a vegetable.  Apparently you can also lacto-ferment it (like super veg!) into an Alexander Pickle.

And of course we picked my very favorite foraged food, nettles.  Here’s a big bag of them waiting to be chopped up.

And a picture of a small part of the feast.  There was So Much Food.  Venison, Alexanders, wild salad, beets & ground ivy (which is this big bowl), shredded carrots with nettles and chopped up rushes, a few more things I’m forgetting, and knotweed tart with ice cream for dessert.

And a lovely jug of sloe blossom cordial to wash it down with.  Yum.

Stay tuned for my report on the second day of the wild food weekend, which was all about the seashore.

If you’re interested in foraging, I definitely recommend Miles’ book The Forager Handbook and his company Forager, who supplies wild food to restaurants across the UK.

And finally, if you want to try wild food yourself, remember these four rules for foraging.

So – do you want to try wild food?  I’m sure half of you are out the door, and half of you are thinking …um… what?!  So what are your questions & concerns about foraging wild food? I’ll answer them in a future post.

Happy Friday!

It was an exciting week here at Vintage Savoir Faire … I’m now blogging for the Huffington Post UK, and my first post went live this week!  Check it out here: Why Great Grandma May Hold the Key to Your Best Life.  It would be great if you could share that post on facebook or twitter, or leave a comment over there to get the conversation going.

And now, some links for your weekend…

• This week we interviewed Jenny from Nourished Kitchen – check out her How to Cook Real Food online course here!
• My Coconut Lime Deodorant was included in Tips of the Week.  This stuff is getting rave reviews, and I’ve been using it personally for months … have you tried it yet?
• Since I’m feeling chilly, these DIY aromatherapy tea & rice pillows sound perfect!
• I’m not going to have an herb garden this summer (boo), so am very tempted to get my hands on some succulents.
• More aromatherapy!  Pick me up and calm me down DIY sprays.
• Sad, inspiring, something to think about. “Grab your future by the teeth, pry open its mouth, look down its throat, and let the looming darkness spur you to find meaning, fulfillment, and unbridled joy while you’re here.  Don’t wait.”  And Cheryl’s recipe for Candied Fennel Scones.

Have a great weekend!

xx

Amanda

Our modern lives are often missing a sense of community.  We all need a community of people for support, for sharing and for learning.  Creating Community is a series on Vintage Savoir Faire where we have a virtual “cup of tea and a sit down” with a kindred spirit.  This week we meet Jenny from Nourished Kitchen.

Jenny is the creator of Nourished Kitchen, which is a site all about reviving traditional foods.  In her own words:

“Nourished Kitchen’s goal is to promote sustainable agriculture and nutrient-dense, whole foods in everyday kitchens.  The focus is on whole, unrefined foods prepared according to traditional methods that optimize nutrient density.  Cherish your body, nourish your kitchen.”

Jenny shares her recipes and experiences with a traditional foods diet.  She also offers online courses to learn to incorporate traditional foods into your own life!  Her new How to Cook Real Food course contains over 45 videos and 100 recipes to teach you how to prepare healthy, delicious meals for your family.

If you’re not familiar with Nourished Kitchen, here are some recipes to get you started:

• Baked Oatmeal with Dried Apricots - the most popular recipe on Nourished Kitchen
• Easy Roast Chicken - Just getting started with whole foods?  Try this!
• Sourdough Focaccia with Grapes and Rosemary – Jenny’s personal favorite recipe.

Now let’s make a cup of tea and get to know Jenny including her Top 3 Simple Tips for having a Nourished Kitchen…

Jenny from Nourished Kitchen

Amanda:  Hi Jenny!  I’m a regular reader of Nourished Kitchen, but how do you explain your site to someone who has never seen it before?

Jenny: Nourished Kitchen is devoted to traditional foods – those deeply nourishing and half-forgotten foods that nourished generation upon generation at the rustic and worn kitchen tables of the old world.

We eat butter, heavy cream, raw milk, wild-caught fish, grass-fed meats, sourdough bread and heirloom vegetables – relishing every minute of it.

Amanda: How did you get started with real, whole, traditional foods?

Jenny: I’ve always been interested in whole foods, but I found traditional foods by chance when I started looking into making my own yogurt.

Then I participated in an online cookbook swap where I landed a copy of Nourishing Traditions.  I was a vegetarian at the time, so the concept of acknowledging meat and animal foods as healthy was new and a bit unsettling to me, but I fell in love with the movement.

Amanda: We’ve talked about the idea of nourishment before on Vintage Savoir Faire, what nourishes you and why is nourishment important?

Jenny: I think that many of us interpret the word nourish to mean food, or the way food interacts with our body, but for me it’s a broader term that speaks to whole body and whole spirit wellness.  Nourishment extends not only to what we eat, how we prepare it and where it comes from, but also how we cherish ourselves, love our bodies (flaws and all), care for our children and give ourselves to our community.

For me, I do this by purchasing our foods direct from ethical farms practicing traditional methods of growing foods and raising animals.  I do it when I prepare a supper of fresh, local real food – whether that’s feeding my tiny family of 3 or a crowd of 300 at our community’s harvest suppers.

I do it when I take my child into the woods to forage for wild mushrooms and hidden pockets of alpine strawberries.

I nourish myself when I wake up in the morning and tell my husband I love him, or when we rise early on Sundays to run our local farmes market, or stay late on Monday evenings to run our local real food bank.

That, for me, is true nourishment.

What are your top 3 tips for busy people who want to create a ‘nourished’ kitchen?

Jenny:

1. Buy single ingredient foods.  This step alone will eliminate almost all of the junk that makes it into your diet.
2. Rely on your slow cooker.  It’s like having someone else cook for you and it makes cooking simple, nourishing dinners so easy.
3. Honor yourself.  There is no one perfect diet.  You don’t have to do everything perfectly all the time.  Every little bit that you can manage counts.  Give yourself a bit of a break.

Amanda:  You’re very active in your community and promoting a healthy, whole, traditional foods diet.  How can readers get involved and give back to the movement?

Jenny:  I find that nourishment extends beyond ourselves to how we interact with those around us.  Giving back is a fundamental part of my daily life, and a huge reason why I started Nourished Kitchen.

There are so many ways to give back and to support other people, your community and the movement as a whole.

• Consider helping a farmer to organize a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture scheme).
• Consider volunteering at a farmers market (trust me: most market managers are desperate for help!)
• Instead of giving prepackaged or canned goods to your local food bank, find out when they operate and stop by with fresh produce from your garden or the market.
• Work with local foods advocates and restaurants in your area to create a local food day.
• Give a demonstration of sprouting, yogurt making or gardening at your kid’s school.
• Get involved with your local farm-to-school program.
• Setup a real food dining cooperative or fermentation club.
• Start a community garden.
• Invite neighborhood kids over to pick strawberries or taste the herbs in your kitchen garden.

Always stay abreast of local and national legislation.  Get to know your representatives and make sure they know you, too.  Ask hard questions; give real results.  Be a squeaky wheel.  If no local foods infrastructure exists in your area, stop complaining… and start something!

Nothing will happen if you’re not taking the lead.

Amanda: What is one common confusion people have about creating a nourished kitchen?

Jenny:  I really wish that, instead of seeking one perfect diet for everyone, people would take what they need from the philosophy of traditional foods, put it in place in a practical way in their lives, and just sit down and enjoy their food.

Amanda: Thanks for sharing all this great information! What’s next for you and Nourished Kitchen?

Jenny:  Well, spring is gearing up.  I’ll be planting my gardens soon.  I’m working like crazy on our farmers market with plans to get more and more local foods into the restaurants.  I’m planning a new online cooking class for the summer, and am working steadfastly on my cookbook which is due out in Spring 2014, published by Ten Speed Press.

If you want to create your own Nourished Kitchen, check out Jenny’s online cooking courses:

• Get Cultured! (How to ferment anything)
• How to Cook Real Food
• Simple Dinners & Healthy Meal Plans

What do you think about Jenny’s traditional food philosophy? How do you create your own Nourished Kitchen at home?

Remember when I announced that it was Spring?

Yeah, that was a false alarm.  Here in London we seem to have gone backwards into dreary, rainy, cold winter!  And I’m not happy about it.

OK, it’s cliche, but I really struggle with the weather in London.  Gray, drizzly, moderate temperature year round.  Rarely really hot, rarely really cold, just on the chilly side of moderate.  And gray.

I know what you’re going to say #1:  ”But you’re from Boston!!”

Yes, I’m from New England where it was cold – but cold and sunny!  Blue skies and bright sun reflecting off freezing-cold glistening snow! Skiing! And then proper hot summers.  And gorgeous crisp autumn leaves.  (New Englanders, forgive me if my memory is getting rosier with the passing years of living overseas…)

I know what you’re going to say #2: “But the weather isn’t always bad in London!!”

OK true, when it’s warm and summery in England, it’s gorgeous.  Really, really nice. I love English summer picnics with jugs of Pimms, strawberries and cream… But that only happens a few weeks out of the year, and then the gray resumes…

So I get a bit sluggish, tired and cold, and start questioning why I’m living here again, and then I remember:

Even when you’ve chosen your path in life, there are things you can’t control, and things you won’t like.  C’est la vie.

The true art of good living is enjoying life as it is, not as you wish it could be.

How do you enjoy life, even when it’s not perfect?  Let us know your personal tips and reminders for appreciating every day in the comments.

Vintage Hair Rinse

Lissa:

“I’m actually doing this at the moment, only with spices: cloves and vanilla and cinnamon. Cloves is supposed to darken and bring out red highlights, and vanilla and cinnamon just smell so delicious!”

Hot Cloth Cleanser (aka Portable Oil Cleansing Method)

Carley:

“This is amazing!!! I have been buying a very well known product like this for a while now and costing a fortune! I tailored it slightly but kept to the 50g oil, 30g butter and 20g wax. I tried to recreate the expensive hot cloth cleanser by using.. 20g rosehip seed oil, 10g hemp seed oil, 20g borage seed oil; 30g shea butter and 20g beeswax. I then used 45drops of frankincense essential oil because it’s supposed to have amazing anti-wrinkle properties….Just perfect!

Thank you so much for this  Carley XXXX”

How to Bake Bread – Step by Step Video

Maure:

“Amanda, this is a GREAT video!  I have tried several times to bake bread but I never found a recipe which gave the correct way to knead the bread. People mostly use bread machines and add a comment “if you are doing this by hand, knead for 30 minutes”… Which is discouraging and does not show the way to do it.  My homemade bread is currently rising…”

Maple Pecan (no bake) brownies

Amy:

“Hi!! Just wanted to say, Bravo!!! These brownies were everything you promised, and more!!
Thank you sooo much for your wonderful blog and this amazing recipe! Everyone needs to make this!”

Want more great projects? Here are 3 of the most popular projects on Vintage Savoir Faire.

What did I miss? What’s YOUR favorite project? Tell us in the comments!

Like to travel?  I do.  VSF Travel is a series where I share my favorite finds from around the world.

The Goods Shed is a farmers market / cafe / restaurant in Canterbury, England.   Yes, I love markets.  They’re my first stop when I travel.  But with the increasing popularity of the local food movement, some “local” farmers markets aren’t so local.  

(Have you seen lemons or bananas in your local farmers market?  Are they “local”?  Not if you live in England.)

The Goods Shed is local, seasonal food at its best.  They have food that is picked fresh from the local fields that same day!  They also have a butcher, bottle shop, sundries area, cheeses, bread, preserves and the best part … a restaurant and cafe that use ingredients from the farm shop!

The Goods Shed, Canterbury

Vintage teacups for sale

It’s so important to get in touch with the food that grows around you.

If you eat local, seasonal food, you’re more in touch with your immediate environment, you’re in tune with nature – and nature usually gives you what you need for that certain time of year.  This is why we get bitter greens in the spring (for cleansing!), and hearty, grounding root vegetables in the winter (to keep us warm).

Now THESE are real carrots. Look at all the great dirt. Fresh out of the ground!

Homemade preserves

I was inspired by the variety and quality of products at The Goods Shed – oh, if only it was closer so I could go every week!  Check out the jar of pickled crab apples with a handwritten label.  Or the huge assortment of British cheeses.

The Goods Shed also has a cafe and restaurant which uses the produce from the farm shop.  I had mid-morning coffee and later returned for dinner.  Homemade bread, sticky pork belly, seasonal vegetables and a nice wine list.  The perfect end to a day in Canterbury and exploring the seashore.

So many British cheeses.

Mid morning treat: Coffee and a bite-size raw pumpkin pie.

Have you been to The Goods Shed?  Or have another amazing farmers market / restaurant to recommend? Let us know in the comments!

Happy Friday! Hope you’ve had a wonderful week.  Across Europe people are preparing for the month of May and its many, many holidays.  I’m a bit jealous.

I’m keeping busy this week with my Integrative Nutrition course, saw a hilariously vintage Fitzrovia Radio Hour show (if you’re in London, I recommend it!), am reading Wheat Belly and bought my next nutrition read: Primal Body, Primal Mind.

This week on VSF, I shared some of my experiences from Moscow, and spent a weekend on the Kent coast on a wild food foraging course! (More details to come about that soon!)

For now, here are some links for your weekend…

• Top 10 most underrated health foods
• Have you made yogurt yet?  Here’s a recipe for homemade yogurt in mason jars. Or try my recipe to make yogurt in your slow cooker.
• I agree, we all have a choice everyday.  And everyday, we can choose happiness.
• “A new study finds that many potentially harmful chemicals can lurk in household, personal, and cleaning products, and they aren’t always indicated on the ingredient lists.” Awesome. Don’t believe that label.
• DIY beach hair!  Not sure how the coconut oil would stay liquid in the cooled mix though… who wants to test it?

And finally, remember, you have more time than you think.  I forgot that this week and started feeling scattered and stressed.  Thank you, wonderful internet, for a gentle reminder!

Have a great weekend!

xx

Amanda

Market stalls filled overflowing with pickled vegetables.  Deliciously dark rye bread.  European-style cafes with good coffee and tooth-achingly sweet desserts.  Endless traffic.

Women walking their daily commute in 4 inch heels.

“Asian” restaurants that serve Georgian food, not Chinese.

And my favorite VSF find… herbal tea, everywhere!

I recently spent a few days in Moscow, and was captivated by the contrasts of the city.  Here are a few of my favorite finds.

Rosehip, mint and vanilla tea

Cute curvy teacups

Herbal tea? Who cares!

Can’t understand why I’m so excited about the herbal tea I found everywhere in Moscow?

Herbs were used for thousands of years for health, wellness and healing.  It’s how Great-Grandma would have treated many ailments.  And prior to Starbucks and PG Tips, herbal teas were what people drank for everyday refreshment.  (Oh, and probably vodka, in Russia at least, but that’s a post for another time…)

The thing is, in the US and UK, we’ve largely forgotten this tradition.  Apart from the occasional chamomile or peppermint tea, we’ve kind of left herbal teas behind.

But not in Moscow.  Almost every restaurant had a “tea menu” which a selection of FRESH herbal teas!

Of course they had green tea, and green tea with mint.

But they also had rosehip.

They had thyme tea.  (Note to self: drink this next time you have a cold!)

And even sea buckthorn!

Anyway, I find this so exciting because it means that this vintage knowledge of enjoying herbal tea for health is still alive and well in Russia.

Yeah, my grocery store looks like this too...

Amazingly tasty bowl of lentils and bacon

Next stop: the grocery store.

Aside from food markets (my first stop in any new country), I also like to visit a grocery store to see what kind of foods are on offer.

Food gives you such insight into local culture (hmmm… just think of the impression that American grocery stores, with their endless selection of packaged goods, give to visitors!)

In this grocery store I found tons of cheeses and yogurts, caviar (of course), tons of tinned fish, and a huge array of preserved fruits and jams … including preserved rose petals in syrup.  Yum.

Elsewhere in food… I ate tons of beets, rye bread, and had a delicious bowl of lentils and bacon topped with coriander (cilantro), I’m going to try to recreate this one!  I also saw tons of kefir, which is a fermented milk drink … I need to try to make this too, it’s a bit like Kombucha, but with milk.

Moscow Metro station

Inside a Moscow metro station - yes there are chandeliers in the subway!

We took the metro (subway) everywhere in Moscow – much faster than sitting in endless traffic jams.  A side benefit is that the metro is gorgeous – chandeliers and artwork in many of the stations.  It’s not new – but it’s efficient and easy to use.

We also took a tour of the Kremlin Armory which was AMAZING, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.  Unfortunately, they did not allow cameras inside – but the display of the Tsars’ horse-drawn carriages and sleighs alone was worth the price of admission.  Not to mention the armour, gems, silver, fabrege eggs and historical clothing.  If you’re in Moscow, it’s a must-visit.

Flowers. And Traffic.

Spotted on the metro.

Have you been to Moscow?  Have any great finds to share?

If you enjoyed these photos, follow me on instagram, I’m @vintageamanda.

Our lives have changed a lot in the past 50 years alone.  We regularly talk about the need to rediscover whole foods, natural beauty products, home remedies and living more creatively.  But something else important is missing from our lives as well: a sense of community.

Creating Community is a new occasional series on Vintage Savoir Faire where we have a virtual “cup of tea and a sit down” with a kindred spirit.  

We start off with this chat with Ashley English of Small Measure.  

Grab a cup of tea, get comfortable and let’s meet Ashley…

Ashley English of Small Measure

Ashley English is a writer, mama to a 1 year old “wild child” and wife living in a small mountain community.  She is the Author of the “Homemade Living” book series which showcases topics related to small-scale homesteading and some of the diverse ways people are reconnecting with their food and food communities and taking up sustainable food practices.  Her fifth book, A Year of Pies: A Seasonal Tour of Homebaked Pies, is coming out in August 2012.

You might also know Ashley from her popular column on Design*Sponge, or her own blog, Small Measure.

Personally I’ve been a fan of her Design*Sponge column for ages, because we clearly share the same interests in kitchen experiments, natural beauty treatments, foraging, fresh herbs and whole foods!   If you like Vintage Savoir Faire, you’re going to love Ashley’s column.  Here are some of her posts you might want to check out:

Rosemary Hot Oil Hair Treatment

Edible Spring Wildflowers (foraging!)

Herb infused vodkas

Orange and Vanilla Marmalade

“Perfect is the enemy of good.”  Just take the plunge!

Amanda: Ashley, I love that you do so many simple, practical, homemade projects – like herb-infused vodkas, homemade butter, etc.  How did you get started making things yourself?

Ashley: I’m a big “just go for it” sort of person.  I think timidity about doing things “just right” can be crippling.

There’s an old adage “perfect is the enemy of good.”  I think it’s important to just take the plunge sometimes, and see what you come up with.

Also, many items I find myself interested in can be cost-prohibitive to purchase retail, so I’ve ended up experimenting with making them myself.

Handmade is empowering!

Why do you think it’s important that people learn to make things themselves?

It’s empowering!  The more in charge you are of how something is grown, or prepared, or constructed, the more knowledge you have in your arsenal.

Navigating through life with a set of do-it-yourself resources comes in handy on so many levels, as there’s often transference between seemingly different pools of knowledge.

What is your favorite project of all time?

Oh wow, that’s a tough one.  I love so many projects I’ve done, for some many different reasons.  I especially love food projects I’ve done, like eating wild flowers, or making herbal sun teas, or making homemade butter.  People seem to especially enjoy those.

How do you manage everything that you do?  You do tons of writing including 5 books, your blog and your D*S column among others, not to mention caring for your 1 year old!

I do everything with, and because of, my husband, Glenn.  Without him, there’d be no books, no blog, no recipes, no freelance writing.  Between watching Huxley, our young son, helping with creative ideas and project development, doing recipe development with me, and all sorts of other property and house projects and tasks, he’s the grease that oils the “English” machine.  His help is absolutely indispensable.

Ashley’s simple suggestion for a healthier life.

I often hear from readers that they’re too busy to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.  What would you recommend for ONE simple change readers can make to have a healthier life.

I’d suggest growing some type of food.  It can be anything, in-ground or in containers.  This includes windowsill herbs.

Growing your own food, nurturing it, tending to it, and then incorporating it into your meals connects you in an incredibly profound way with the cycles and rhythms of the natural world.  We’re part of that world, and I think we often forget and/or overlook that, as we’re often so divorced from food growth and food pathways.

Traits like slowness, gentleness, attentiveness and mindfulness are integral to growing food successfully; in turn, these traits enrich our lives.

Growing food benefits us, therefore, on so many levels.  We nurture our minds, bodies and souls, simultaneously.

The ultimate healthy living tip.

Can you share any tips for readers who would like to live more natural, healthy, handmade lifestyles?

My favorite suggestion is simply to get outside.

Whether it’s to grow something, to go for a meandering, exploratory walk, to eat al fresco (either at home or at a restaurant), to visit a farm or orchard, to sit and read by a creek, to go for a hike on a mountain, to play soccer, what have you.

Getting outdoors more regularly makes you appreciate our planet more, and I’d argue, want to be a better steward of it in the process.

I couldn’t agree more.  Thanks, Ashley, for your time with us!

Vintage Savoir Faire readers – please check out Ashley’s work and let us know what YOU do to live a healthier, more creative, handmade lifestyle in the comments!

Want a quick, easy and nourishing soup for Spring?  Want to eat more greens?  Want to do both of these things while saving money on your grocery bill?  Have I got the soup for you.

This recipe was a last minute light supper for us over the weekend.  I was out picking more clivers for my detox infusion, and came across a massive patch of stinging nettles.  So I picked some, and instead of making nettle tea, I experimented with a soup.  Oh yum.  Even Zak loved this one.  If you want to try eating wild food, this recipe is a great starting point!

Why would I want to eat wild food?

Eating wild, foraged food is becoming more popular.  Actually it’s the ultimate vintage skill, it’s how our ancestors ate for generations – just eating what’s around you!  But even in our modern lives, I think there are benefits to eating wild foods:

• Wild foods are organic
• Wild foods are local
• Wild foods taste good
• And wild foods are free!

What are the benefits of stinging nettles?

Stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) are in the top 10 list of useful wild plants for most herbalists.   According to Rosemary Gladstar, nettles are:

• Full of vitamins, iron, calcium, potassium, silicon and magnesium
• An all around tonic herb to strengthen and tone the body
• Reproductive tonic for men and women, even alleviating PMS and menopausal symptoms
• Strengthens kidneys and liver
• Excellent for allergies and hay fever

I like nettles because they grow abundantly everywhere, and they’re really easy to identify.

How do I pick stinging nettles?

First, check out my guidelines for foraging.

Now, make sure you’ve identified the correct plant.  You can find more information on stinging nettles here.

You probably want to wear gloves for this, because as the name implies, stinging nettles sting!

Just pick the tops of the stinging nettles, this is the youngest, softest part of the nettle plant.  Just pull off the top at a leaf-intersection so you have a few leaves and the tops.  Get a few double handfuls of stinging nettle tops for this recipe.

Stinging Nettle Soup

Serves 4

2 big handfuls of stinging nettle tops, rinsed

1 large potato, peeled and cut into half-inch cubes

1 stock cube (or even better, use 1 L or 4 cups homemade chicken stock)

1 onion, sliced.

1 Tb butter (or olive oil)

1 tsp dried thyme or mixed herbs (or 1 TB chopped fresh herbs)

optional: cream or sour cream to serve

Method:

Personally, whenever I make soup, I always add a little less water/stock in the beginning – because you can always add more after blending the soup if it’s too thick.  It’s easy to thin down a thick soup – but a lot harder to thicken up a soup that’s too watery!

• In a soup pan, sautee the sliced onion in the butter/oil until soft.
• Add the potato and sautee for a few minutes
• Crumble in the stock cube, thyme, and 4 cups (1 Liter) water or add the chicken stock.  Bring to a boil.
• Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork.
• While the water is still bubbling, throw in the nettle tops and stir into the simmering water.  Cover.  The heat will deactivate their sting.  Simmer for at least 5-10 minutes more.
• Now we need to blend the soup to make it smooth.  The best way is to use an immersion (stick) blender.  Remove the soup from the heat, and blend until smooth.  Alternatively you can put the soup in a regular blender, but be careful and never fill the blender more than half-full, the soup is REALLY hot and you don’t want to to splatter!
• Serve with crusty bread and a swirl of yogurt, cream or sour cream if you like!  Enjoy!

Have you ever eaten wild food?  Will you try this stinging nettle recipe? Let us know in the comments!

Step by step mindfulness meditation, from the experts.

Hooray for REAL food!  How butter and real food saved my health!

If you have a little person around, you might enjoy this honest account of how having a baby affects a marriage.

Diet sodas are not grandma approved.  They don’t seem that much better than regular soda, really.

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Have a great weekend everyone!  Have any fun projects planned?

xx

Amanda

So in case you missed it, here are three of Vintage Savoir Faire readers’ favorite posts.  I’ve also included their own comments – it’s always nice to know you’re not the only one experimenting in your kitchen!

xx Amanda

The lazy way to make yogurt

Alissa from Simply Wholesome Kitchen:

Hi Amanda, I finally tried this!  Ended up doing kind of a hybrid method…to simplify things, I put the milk in a glass pyrex storage bowl, then put that bowl in the crock pot.  Heated for about 2.5 hours, then took the milk out of the crock pot to cool.  Whisked in some plain yogurt, put it back in the crock pot wrapped in a towel while I used my oven to make dinner.  Then, since it gets cool in my kitchen at night, it transferred it to the cooled down oven with the light on for the night.  Woke up this morning to yogurt!  Amazing!  And doing it right in the glass bowl meant I could just cover and stick it in the fridge…there was pretty much nothing to clean up!  Next step, make granola

How to reduce digital information overload

Grace:

I used to have zillions of bookmarks in my browser until we had a computer problem and they were all unintentionally erased. And you know what? I survived. I was sad at first, but then I realized I didn’t even know what most of them were anymore.

Daisy Balm for Bumps & Bruises Part 1 and Part 2

Geraldine:

“Last night, I dropped a plate on my big toe (yes still challenged in the kitchen, but am trying hard…), this morning I remembered my daisy balm & applied it ! I made such a HUGE difference to the pain as well as the bruising and swelling !!! Thanks AC !”

I’ve been so curious about this project.  Who is going to be brave enough to try it … and who will just think I’m crazy?

Well dear readers, I am only crazy in an effort to bring YOU natural, healthy solutions to common problems.

And clearly underarm stinkiness is a common problem!

But first, why isn’t my store-bought deodorant, or *gasp* anti-perspirant, good enough?

Have you looked at the ingredients list on your stick of deodorant?

Active Ingredients:Aluminum Zirconium Tetrachlorohydrex GLY (17.8% W/W).Inactive Ingredients:Cyclopentasiloxane; PPG-14 Butyl Ether; Stearyl Alcohol; Hydrogenated Castor Oil; PEG-8 Distearate; Fragrance (Parfum); Talc; Corn (Zea Mays) Starch; Vegetable Oil (Olus); Glyceryl Oleate; Propylene Glycol; BHT; t-Butyl Hydroquinone; Citric Acid .

Them’s chemicals, ’nuff said.

OK let’s look a little more closely.  Here’s the full analysis of this deodorant on the EWG site.

Aluminum is found in most anti-perspirants to physically block sweat from leaving your pores.  It absorbs into your skin cells, causing them to take on more water and swell, thereby blocking the sweat glands – read how it works here.  But isn’t sweating how our body releases toxins?  Yes.  This is why aluminum in anti-perspirants is so controversial.  Speculation is everywhere across the internet about whether it causes breast cancer or Alzheimers or a variety of other  conditions … but the truth is, we just don’t know yet.

Fragrance the big mystery ingredient which could contain anything from safe essential oils (which it probably doesn’t, because they’re expensive) to toxic, carcinogenic chemicals.  Companies are allowed to hide all of these ingredients in their proprietary fragrance.  It’s just a big question mark what you’re getting with this!

Stearyl Alcohol is drying and a potential skin irritant.

Talc is questionable because of risk of contamination with asbestos.

BHT is classified by EWG as causing cancer, endocrine disruption and potential reproductive toxicity.  Awesome!

Plus a slew of other questionable ingredients you can find in the full analysis link above.  And this deodorant only ranks a 5 on the EWG scale of toxicity!

Fortunately, there is a better and more natural alternative.

Anti-perspirant stops you from sweating.  We can’t make this at home, and we might not even want to (if you believe it’s good to sweat out toxins!)

What we can do is make a natural deodorant which inhibits bacterial growth so you smell sweet all day long.  Hooray!

This deodorant is simple and it works for me.  Variations of this recipe are all over the internet, but after a lot of experimentation, this is the blend that I love and use regularly.

This lovely, tropical-smelling homemade deodorant contains 4 ingredients:

• Coconut oil.  Coconut oil is moisturising and has a natural antibacterial effect.
• Arrow Root Powder.  Silky smooth for a nice texture.  I prefer Arrowroot powder to cornstarch, because cornstarch may encourage yeast growth? Not good.  Stick with Arrowroot.
• Baking Soda.  Absorbs odors (you know how Grandma kept a box in the fridge to make it smell nice … same idea in your underarms!)
• Essential Oils.  Antibacterial again, and odor-busting.  I use lime essential oil for a tropical fragrance!

And here’s how to make it:

DIY Coconut Lime Deodorant

2 Tb. coconut oil

1 Tb. baking soda

3 Tb. arrowroot powder

5 drops lime essential oil

Just mix it all together and put into a container.  If you want easier mixing, melt the coconut oil first and then let harden before using.

Always always always label the container!

To use, scoop out a little bit (maybe 1/4 tsp) on your finger, press against your underarm for a few seconds to soften, then rub in.  Repeat on the other side.

My little secret: the top of my deodorant did not look this good at first.  So, I melted it down with a hairdryer for a few seconds, then smoothed it with a knife.  Yes, I admit it.  Pretty beauty products are more fun though!

Troubleshooting:

• Coconut oil melts at very low temps, so if you live in a hot climate, you might want to store this in the fridge.  Or add a bit of beeswax to hold it together.
• Baking soda can irritate some people’s skin.  If you want more odor-fighting, increase the amount of baking soda.  For a gentler deodorant, decrease the baking soda, or leave it out alltogether.
• Don’t like coconut lime?  Use a different essential oil like tea tree or lavender.

Effective deodorant seems to be a very personal thing, so change the ratio of baking soda and arrowroot powder until you find what works for you!

Are you brave enough to try homemade deodorant?  

Hope you’ve had a fantastic week!

As a recap, this week we colored Easter eggs with onion skins and I revealed my secret about these yummy no-bake brownies.

Wishing you a wonderful Easter weekend (a long weekend for those of us in Europe!) with lots of Springy weather and quality time with friends and family.

Now, here’s a glimpse into what I’ve been reading this week…

• Pick some nettles or other wild greens and make this wild spring risotto
• I’m loving having eggs for breakfast.  Try these soft boiled eggs with gruyere herb toasts!
• I try to live without regrets, but some of these resonated with me … regrets of the young.  What about you?
• Wish I’d thought of this – coloring Easter eggs with silk neckties! Amazing.
• Simplify your to do list – to 3 things?