Forest Tea Ceremony

'Walking slowly through a forest,

falling autumn-colored leaves

gray backed squirrel runs to safety

scared to see you walking by...'

                                                     -Forest by Tudor Lodge

On a warm winter day, the calm before the storm, I set off on a morning walk in the woods to gather pine needles. The needles of the eastern white pine can be fermented into a sprite-like drink. No, not a fairy sprite, but rather the lemon lime soda. It's very important to make sure you are identifying the correct tree, as some species of pine can be toxic. Anyway, that is a recipe for another day. Today, I was gathering the needles to adorn the table for a special tea ceremony I planned... 

'Fill your pockets full with pinecones

scattered on the emerald grass...'

I was gifted a bag of Icelandic moss tea for the holidays by my boyfriend Thomas Brown. Along with the tea, he got me a bag of candied baby pinecones! I had first discovered these edible forest treasures at a coffee shop near my old library job in the city. They made special drinks for the holidays and one of the seasonal sips featured a pinecone garnish. They are soft, sweet and chewy. I didn't want to just eat the whole bag, so I dreamed up this recipe for chocolate pine nut cupcakes with spirulina frosting. Here it is...

Ingredients:

1 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup water

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

4 eggs

1 1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup olive oil

3/4 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a mini muffin pan. Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl first, then combine sugar, eggs and oil in another bowl. Mix all the ingredients together with the extracts and the pine nuts. Bake for 35 minutes. To make the frosting, combine powdered sugar with milk or cream until it reaches desired consistency. Add spirulina powder to make it green. Top each frosted cake with a candied pinecone.

I served the cakes with the moss tea, garnished with licorice root sticks to stir with! The tea was bitter and strong, but the cakes were very earthy and sweet. I was worried the spirulina flavor would overwhelm the taste, but it harmonized with the nutty chocolate and sweet cones. I ended up with enough batter to bake a small cake in addition to the cupcake treats and will save it to eat with coffee for brunch during the upcoming snowstorm.

Weekend in the Woods: Apples and Mushrooms, Oh My!

 For the first time all winter, we had a sunny day. It all started when a mysterious package showed up on the front doorstep. Inside was a late Christmas present from an old friend: a DVD of the Archie cartoons from the 1960s, a Hayley Mills record and a vintage mushroom cookbook pamphlet! It was a wonderful surprise.

We set off in my car for a big day out. Breakfast at the local country cafe where I had a caramel apple pancake breakfast, then to Cromwell Valley Park for a bit of hiking. I wore an outfit inspired by the cookbook- a cute little cardigan with mushroom appliques from local vintage shop JoRetro, and a skirt with a light woodgrain pattern my friend Emily gifted me years ago. 

On the way to the woods, we found an antique store off the beaten path and pulled over to check it out. Inside, there was mostly high end antique furniture, no trippy toys or trinkets for me. Until I spied a small box of records with the album Birthday by The Association. I asked a granny inside the store if they had any grandfather clocks. She told me stories of her clock and antique road trips in a truck...

We arrived at  the park and pet some chickens then walked around for a bit. We passed a small farm and an out-of-season apple orchard. Over a bridge and into a small cave, then finally...a small house with a nature museum inside. I will have to come back in the fall.

On the way home, we stopped at Tabitha's Thrift, which I had never been to before. We found rare treasures inside- a vintage 1970s Hallmark puzzle of forest critters harvesting sunflower seeds and then Tom found a Brady Bunch album on vinyl. I collect Brady Bunch records, and did not have this one yet. It is their first album and my favorite. The best song on it is a cover of Badfinger's Day After Day. 

A pleasant evening at home was had whole I listened to my new records and worked on the puzzle. For dinner, I made a recipe from my Mushrooms at Home cookbook- Annapolis Valley Chicken! Now, hold your horses, because this recipe has nothing to do with Maryland's capital cooking. The recipe pamphlet was published in Canada, and this recipe is a French Canadian version of the classic French dish Poulet Vallée d'Auge. This chicken dinner features apples and mushrooms, shallots and garlic all simmered in a creamy apple juice sauce. It was absolutely delicious and I am going to make it next year during apple season.

First Meal of Fall: Sweet Potato Gnocchi

 

I woke up this morning to a cozy, cloudy day. My favorite kind of day. A day for getting up early and lighting a cinnamon apple candle while brewing coffee and baking a batch of cornbread. Watching VHS tapes of Little Bear and vintage Scooby Doo while decorating for fall... 

I made this sweet potato gnocchi on a whim for dinner the other night, rolling out the dough while gazing out my kitchen window at a little yellow house with a lawn that is covered in leaves. I'm so happy i have a room with a view, a new home, and time to do things like make elaborate meals while sipping a glass of red wine...

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes

2 cups flour

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tbsp butter

1/2 tbsp sage

2 cups spinach

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake sweet potatoes until tender, about an hour. Remove the skins and mash the potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Mix in egg, salt and nutmeg. Stir in the flour until dough ball forms. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Add more flour, a little at a time if dough becomes too sticky. Using a leaf shaped cookie cutter, cut out pieces and make leaf veins with a bamboo skewer rolled in flour. Bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook gnocchi until they begin to float to the surface, about five minutes. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, saute the spinach with garlic and onion powder while melting butter and sage together. When the spinach is wilted, add gnocchi and sage butter sauce. Enjoy!

Friends of the forest, what are your favorite fall foods?

Treehousekeeping Tips for a Frugal Forest Kitchen

When it comes to innovative ideas, I'm full of them! Recycling, re-using and re-purposing in the kitchen can be easy and even exciting. Be creative and you can turn scraps and trash into projects that help run a fun and functional home. Here are some of my top tips for the heart of the home, the kitchen...

Save olive oil bottles until the last drop. Add a bit of water and shake it up. Use as makeup remover.

Save wax from cheese packaging to melt down and make your own candles in small jars. Use a piece of hemp string that has been waxed as the wick.

Cut an old cereal box or rectangular box at an angle. Store appliance manuals in it.

Save lemon scraps or old lemons to scrub surfaces or dishes. Wipe down with water after a few minutes.

Put a blank piece of card stock the size of a postcard on the refrigerator. Over time, add stickers from produce to it. When it is filled up, you now have an eclectic postcard to send someone.

Forage wild fruits and herbs and learn to preserve them through drying, canning, pickling, jamming.

Save glass jars and bottles. Wash them and use them for food storage, water storage, organization, vases, gifts, decorations, and more. The possibilities are endless. Use a copper or steel wool scrubber under hot water to get the labels off.

Fill an empty spray bottle with water and lemongrass oil. Spray down surfaces, sinks and trash cans with the mixture to repel insects. 

Save paper bags to make notebooks covers and staple blank paper inside. Or make into wrapping paper. Stamps or stencil designs on the paper.

Save cardboard food packaging to make covers for books and notebooks, bookmarks, and storage.

Save coffee grounds to dye paper for the notebooks to make them look old-fashioned. Or give the coffee grounds to houseplants.

Keep coffee filters on hand. Not only are they good for filtering, they can be used for crafts projects.

Use baking soda and vinegar to create a paste to scrub stubborn burnt-on food from dishes.

Wash popsicle sticks and save them for crafts projects. Store them in jars. Smaller popsicle sticks also make great knives for spreading jam or soft cheeses served on charcuterie boards.

Use wooden clothespins instead of plastic food clips for keeping chip and cereal bags closed. They also come in handy for children's crafts to keep them busy at the kitchen table while cooking or cleaning.

Make an alligator by coloring a clothespin green and gluing on paper teeth. Make an airplane by placing a clothespin over a popsicle stick and draw stripes on it. 

Re-use produce packaging to set up a seed-saving station in the kitchen. Save the seeds to replant (pepper plants are easy to grow) or take them to fields and scatter them to give them a chance at life.

Save orange peels for cleaning or simmering on the stove.

Save eggshells in gallon milk jars and fill with water. Use this to water outdoor plants.

Scrub wooden cutting boards with lemon, baking soda and salt then rinse with hot water to keep them clean.

Save rubber bands from vegetables like green onions. Place a hook on the wall to store them on. The colored ones are sometimes fun to use for hairstyles that require small rubber bands.

Meet the Masters: Ashley Green, Artisan Accessorist

The author pictured wearing a pinecone pendant by the artist.

Friends of the Forest, today I would like to introduce you to an artist who creates one-of-a-kind accessories with items found on the forest floor. As you can see, I am wearing one of my favorite pieces from Natural Shed Jewelry, a pinecone heart pendant. Now everyone, give a warm welcome to the craftsman.

Ariel Greenwood: Hello Mr. Green, thank you for joining us on The Forest for a pinecone and a pint! I am so excited to showcase your craft and talk to you today. Now, what exactly is it you do? 

Ashley Green: I'm Ashley Green Jeweler / GURU of Natural Shed Jewelry. I make jewelry out of natural items that I find or purchase. Some of these creations are pinecone heart necklaces, natural shed deer antler burr necklaces, antler rings, bent wood rings, denim rings, and more. As I find more material that inspires me the list will grow...

Ariel: What kind of tools you do you use, what is the process behind making your jewelry?

Ashley: The tools I use to build my creations are mainly jewelers hand tools, but there are a few machines as well. I rebuilt a 1943 Craftsman Bandsaw for the cutting of antler, bone & pinecone that I use in my craft. I purchased a lathe a few years back, that I have collected all the parts needed to use for rings and other future projects. I also use drills, dremel, torches, and UV light. All these tools are used in the forging of my materials to craft my end result, beautiful natural jewelry.

 The process for my pinecone adornments is as follows:

I slice the pinecone on the bandsaw I mentioned. Then select if they will be sealed natural or with one of the many stones, crystals, gems, cabochons (shaped stones), or other nature items found that I was inspired to use. Now, the sealing process. I use a high-grade UV resin to seal the pinecone and its adornment by applying to resin in even coats over the entire medallion. The process takes a steady hand and several hours to complete. When the adornments are completely sealed and dry, they are then drilled and outfitted with necklace bails that are sealed with resin to the chosen top. Cord, leather straps, or hemp jute are then selected and threaded through the bail and finished with stainless steel crimp cord ends, jump rings and either lobster claw clasps or toggle clasps. After this production they are then boxed or trayed to be sold to their intended owners.

Ariel: What inspires you to create?

Ashley: I find my inspiration in nature and through the media I work with. Holding a natural object. A pinecone, I don't think much of. That is, until I cut into it and the inside is revealed. Each heart of each pinecone I use look as if they are perfectly painted mandalas. The golds, fawn and mahogany colors that were used look as if painted by the creator himself. Inspiration to see in every medallion. 

The antler burrs I purchased intending to do scrimshaw or carving. I have done stone or gem inlays that turned out to be a great match to complement one another. Looking at them one day I saw flowers. Sunflowers, cone-heads, daisies. I asked my wife to paint some of them to resemble these flowers. I see myself incorporating both mediums, antler and pinecone into one adornment. However, that inspiration has not come to pass...

Ariel: Does music inspire you? Do you listen to music while you work?

Ashley: Music on or off I've no preference. I find building my adornments a meditative feat. Staring at these natural items, the nature choir that ensues in my head is music enough. It is a reward when each handmade medallion is set to the next phase of completion. Thought + Vision are music enough oftentimes.

Ariel: Do any animals or spirit animals inspire your work?

Ashley: I live on a farm in northern Harford County, Maryland and there are many animals on the farm as you know. And they do inspire me. I don't think that the yard pigs, dogs, cats or horses lend to my inspiration. But they do help. It is felt when they are helping/sleeping at my feet in the workshop. When the lab is snoring across the shop. Or when Russel is at my feet begging to see what the last step turned out like. He likes the pictures. Through that I feel love.

Ariel: What does a pinecone symbolize to you?

Ashley: When my wife and I went on our first trip to Assateague Island on the Atlantic Coast of Maryland we were camping and I suggested we collect a pinecone as a keepsake. The first one was labeled with the campground receipt tied to the cone with a ribbon. Anecdotes and things that happened were recorded on the receipt. My wife started a basket in her office with these keepsakes in it. Ever since that first one, we have collected pinecones from many corners of this great land and the basket has grown in size. So pinecones mean love, bliss, travel, moving forward and remembrance to me. 

My wife is a skilled painter of mandalas. The lines, dots, curves repeat into a meditative eternity. Seeing this repeated the first time I saw the inside of a pinecone heart. There it lives, nature's mandala. Perfect in every way, simple yet complex and never-ending. Eternal, an internal spiral. I can feel this. Pinecones symbolize to me, the continuance of...

They can be ALL.

Ariel: And where do you find your pinecones?

Ashley: We know pinecones can be found on most pine trees in the forest. The pinecones I use for my jewelry are knob pinecones. The knob pinecones grow in the mountainous regions of Northern California and Oregon. The pinecones don't grow on the outer limbs of the tree singly like most pine do. The knob pinecones grow in clusters of three to six, sometimes double that, on the interior branches or trunk of the conifer. When found they appear to be hugging the tree, they grow so close. And unlike most conifers, the knob pinecone doesn't shed its cones yearly. Instead, they remain on the tree for something like thirty years in extreme cases. The knob pines have been called "the tree that swallows its cones". Oddly, the heat from forest fires causes the knob pinecones to melt the resin/sap and allow it to open their cones which makes them drop their seeds to the scorched forest floor. To be replanted by nature as they are there to reforest the land when this happens.

A pinecone pendant with a malachite clover.

Ariel: What is the smallest pinecone you have ever found? And the largest?

Ashley: The smallest pinecone that comes to mind when asked this question is the pinecone of the golden larch pine tree. One of only twenty deciduous pine trees. Eleven of them being in the larch family. Deciduous meaning it drops all its needles in the winter and regrows them in the springtime. Now their pinecones are the size of a dime, tall and round. They are primarily grown on the East Coast. It's called the Golden Larch because when it cuts off its growing season, it looks like a big golden flame standing there in the woods.

The largest pinecone that comes to mind would be the cone of the sugar pine. Their cones can grow up to two feet long and six inches in circumference. Now that's a big cone.

Ariel: I used to craft with pinecones a lot. I used the tiny ones to make rings. Tell you what, I'm going to give you a few pinecones from my collection. Do you think you could make a pendant out of a pinecone this small?

Ashley: I do like the small pinecones. Yes, I believe that I will let the Larch pinecones make an appearance in my craft. I do like their look and I have always had a fondness for these cones. As for a pendant, they may be too small to hang alone. I can see them as an added dangle charm.

Ariel: Or you could make earrings from them! Do you like to do any other pinecones crafts?

Ashley: I have seen other crafters make many other items out of pinecones. Drawer pulls, knife handles, and other types of old-fashioned jewelry. I have seen pinecones suspended in resin then turned on a big lathe into fruit bowls, vases and other vessels. There is no end to their potential use. But as for now I have not ventured past crafting my adornments.

Ariel: Pinecones also make good fire-starters if you are camping or have a fireplace at home...

Ashley: I agree, I have used pinecones as a firestarter. The older the better. The resin in them when heated is like lacquer thinner when it comes to fire.

Ariel: Do you think you could make jewelry out of petrified wood?

Ashley: I do believe you can make jewelry out of petrified wood. You can wire wrap raw pieces, such as a raw agate that can be cut and shaped. I have some polished, shaped pieces of petrified wood in my rock collection for when the right pinecone medallion calls for it.  All the agate stones are beautiful added adornments to any natural material.

Ariel: What is your favorite gemstone?

Ashley: Hard question. I just switched from tiger's eye and labradorite to turquoise. But, those are not gems per se. I like the option to use all the stones and gems I can in my work without favorites. I love all types of natural materials.

Ariel: How does the intersection of tree and stone inspire you?

Ashley: When I finish one of my adornments. Knowing that how I feel then will be amplified tenfold by the person whom it was made for who finally picks it up and says, "This was made for me!" That look, that is what inspires me. The stone selects the medallion, I just move to make it. It inspires me that some of my adornments that I thought weren't that great, those are the ones that I have seen the greatest reaction from. The last wellness open house I set up at, I was watching two customers talking and admiring each other's medallions back and forth. That was inspiration. To see the JOY that I made by being the go-between. That inspires me to do more.

Ariel: Which art trends inspire your current work?

Ashley: I definitely find inspiration in nature, the elements, and the force I use to bring it all together. It can be seen in all the Natural Shed Craft pieces. The art of nature pure.

Ariel: How has your style changed over time? How long have you been creating?

Ashley: I have been working with the natural material of pinecone, bone and antler in this fashion for about three years now. Building my shop to make it what it is today. Gaining new tools and learning how to construct with them. There has been a lot of trial and error, learning curves to making the best pieces of art to my ability. I feel like its not really a hobby when I feel the life it gives me, when I handcraft every single one. So, my style has not changed as much as it has grown. Like a tree.

Ariel: Are there any other master jewelers whose work inspires you?

Ashley: I just got back from a trip out west. Arizona, to be precise. I collected many different types of materials and came back with many ideas of how to incorporate them into my craft.  Etched in my mind are the truly stunning pieces of Native American jewelry I have touched and admired on my trip. They were and are the masters in my opinion. Mimicked and replicated, does true genius happen by mistake at first.  Hopefully Natural Shed Jewelry's feeling can live on and inspire others in its mastery!

Ariel: Well, you've certainly inspired me. And the many readers of this blog, I'm sure. Say, next time you're in Arizona you should visit Quartzsite. It is a small town near the border of Arizona and California. They host a huge gem and mineral show there every year.

Ashley: Right.

Ariel: Well, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us here at The Forest. I will be bringing you a bag of pinecones soon...

If you would like to order a pinecone pendant, email arieltheauthor@gmail.com

March-to the Forest in the St. Patrick's Parade!

               

 

True to my monthly motto, March to the Forest, I recently marched with the fairies of Baltimore in the annual St. Patrick's Day parade! I was listening to heavy, guitar driven psychedelic rock & roll as I dressed for the day. The weather was windy, so layered a brown wool sweater under my green dress as armor against the cold. I brushed my long red hair and wove vines of ivy into it. I wore a silver locket from Ireland and a trifecta ring. In my basket was a book about leprechauns, a green tambourine and cookies.

When I made my way downtown, I couldn't find the fairies! I looked all around, but didn't see Nina or Jeff, the leaders of the troupe. Finally, I spied with my little eye some people dressed in flowers and wings. "That must be them" I walked over and introduced myself and explained how I found them. "Yeah, man, just look for the freaks..." someone said.

We marched all the way down to the end of the line, past the harbor, through snow and wind and sun. When we got to the tavern at the end, someone yelled, "Hear, hear, it's time for a beer!" It was a fun experience and I hope to walk with them again next year.  Watch out for us fairies. We're coming to your town, we'll help you party down!

A holiday, a holiday, the first one of the year

Under an aquarian sun, after a harsh winter of discontent as I was mourning the loss of my beloved Penny cat, a kindred spirit came to my rescue. My friend Katherine Peach, whom I had met only once about six years go at a fairy festival drove down into the city in her pickup truck blasting 1960's forest folk music and took me on an adventure. 

I was planning to spend all day bed rotting, when I got the message. "Good morning! I'll drive down to your place and pick you up." So I got out of bed and started humming a song to myself. The same song I had made my fiddling fiend of an ex-boyfriend learn to play on violin at the fairy festival all those years ago...a british folk ballad dating back to the 1600's 'Matty Groves'.

"A holiday, a holiday, the first one of the year..."

I started thinking of the day we met at that fairy festival at the Church of the Guardian Angel. We were both there as vendors. I was selling my handmade jewelry and she set up shop as a tie-dyed t-shirt seller. We bought each other's wares, a purple and green tee for me, and a wooden leaf necklace for she! I didn't remember much more from that day but we ended up being friends on Facebook. As my mind wandered back to the present moment, I  brushed the tangles out of my hair and put on a green floral mini skirt, brown paisley pattern shirt and thigh high green pleather boots. I wore my lucky clover emerald ring that my boyfriend Tom got me last year and a tiger's eye necklace for courage. The courage to carry on, to get up and live and not suffer from social anxiety. When we met up, Kat remarked that I was dressed up too nicely.

"I'd rather a kiss from dead Penny's lips than you in your finery..."

We hit the road and decided to get out of the city and go whenever the wind took us. As we chatted and got caught up on things, I mentioned that my boyfriend and I were house hunting for a place in the woods and that he is really into rubber stamps. "What's your boyfriend's name again, Tom Brown?" she asked. It's a common british name. "Where does he work?" "Amazon," I replied.

"By the clover ring on your finger I can tell that you're Lord Thomas' wife.. But if I am, Lord Thomas is not home. For he is out in the far warehouse, bringing the shipments home"

I told Kat about a house we were interested in, a real fixer upper of an old green house in Havre De Grace on Robinhood Road. "I saw that listing too!" she said "Let's go look at it, we can go antiquing up there" So we made out way out there and had lunch at the Vintage Cafe, then went to Washington Street Books & Music, JoRetro, Zodiac Records and Seneca Cannery Antiques. We magically manifested many things. I had mentioned how I found two Royal Doulton Brambly Hedge plates while thrifting last summer. The collection had four plates, one for each season. I owned Summer and Winter, but really wanted Autumn. I told her and she said "We'll just have to find them for you." A few minutes later we went upstairs and would you believe we found the Autumn plate, all by itself without any of the others!

We left the town and headed towards Robinhood Road. Tom's parents had already taken a look at it for us and said it was no good, and a dead raccoon in the driveway for good measure. When we arrived, we took a long look around the property. There was a wooden object in the dirt Kat pointed out. "Is that a stamp?" she asked. "No," I said "It looks like a wine cork" It was a rubber stamp of a paw 🐾 print. "It's a sign!"

"A grave, a grave Lady Ariel cried to put these critters in. But bury my Penny at the top, for she was of noble kin..."