In mid-October or so, a friend of mine reached out about this stuff called Fire Cider. She asked, "Have you ever made this?" Not only had I never made it, I had never heard of it. But my friend is a bonafide "Earth Mother," so I knew she had a little secret resource that I had never hear of. My friend Jen is a researcher of energy work, a practitioner of natural life enhancements and a discoverer of unusual but helpful health impacts. This Fire Cider is one such health impact, natural life enhancement, that as we move into the "season of sick" you may find really super useful.
She first found the recipe on Homestead and Chill. You can see the recipe here. But the original recipe is from Rosemary Gladstar's book: Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide. I tried to follow the recipe exactly but found that up here in the remote Appalachian Mountains it can be difficult to find even the simplest ingredients which can be viewed as "exotic" by us mountain folks. Nevertheless, I did the best I could and so did Jen.
I also conducted more research. I had heard from my Uncle about the thieves of the plague having doused themselves with some concoction of vinegar and oils that staved off the contracting and eventual death from the Bubonic Plague. I found the Nourished Kitchen in which, Jenny, an herbalist and writer of the information mentions an entire history of this. It's really fascinating! She also has a recipe which she calls "Four Thieves Vinegar." Although it is different from Fire Cider, I think I'll try it next because it's aim is still to increase our immunity. May as well! It certainly can't hurt. Plus, variety is the spice of life and now I'll have two brews to keep us healthy through the winter!
We began our batches about 2 days apart from each other. I got all the ingredients on a Sunday and she got them a couple days later. You know everything is time dependent and we are both working ladies with families so we do what we can. We chopped, cut, minced, whirred and blended all of the stuff together and let it sit on the counter for a month, maybe a little longer even.
People said the most outlandish things to see this jar of "stuff" on our kitchen counter. My mom called it "mung" and said she would NEVER try it. My uncle said it sounded interesting. My sister-in-law said it stunk like feet. And my husband, God bless him, just hung out waiting for me to be done with it.
The reality is though, that we are headed into cold and flu season, not to mention the nightmare germ is around still so if this stuff can shorten the length of any viral symptoms then load me up with said "mung!"
Young Living has an essential oil called "Thieves." And this acts similarly to that
It was a fun project to do with my friend. It was a reason for us to be in pretty constant communication and our feedback was real; Authentic trials and tribulations of trying something new and natural.
Following are first my photos and notes, then I have posted Jen's photos and notes.
Below are Jen's pics and notes:
These are Jen's ingredients. She processed her ingredients differently than I did. She cut all her ingredients and layered them in the jars. I whirred everything together in the blender.
Here is a photo of her batch on her kitchen counter. Gorgeous colors! Mine were not this pretty but hopefully we were both successful in the fermentation of this medicine.
After a month of fermentation, this was Jen's yield. That should last her through the winter. She just tried her tonic today and reported that it was spicy and not too vinegary. She says, "It tastes like Nature's Medicine!"
Jen added the honey after the final fermentation and before she downed it. I added the honey a day before straining and bottling.
I loved this project, I felt enthusiastic about this adventure the moment Jen reached out to me about it. Naturalist medicinals are just one of the ways Jen and I are soul sisters. We have known each other for years and have often compared notes about bohemian lifestyles, brewing concoctions, boat travel, cooking, crystals and energy work and exercise. We have had numerous adventures together not the least of which was a weekend at the Yoga Farm Ashram (which, if you haven't done, you won't be sorry. Try it!)
