Tag Archives: willow bark

Serpentine’s Restorative – Neverwhere

“Richard knocked back the green liquid, which tasted of thyme and peppermint and winter’s mornings. He felt it go down and prepared himself to try to keep it from coming back up again. Instead he took a deep breath and realized, with a little surprise, that his head no longer hurt, and that he was starving.”

–Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman

There is always a challenge in creating real world versions of food and drink that is probably mystical in origin. In this case, I wanted to include the elements in the description, namely the mint & thyme, and the green color. And then, if possible, I hoped to capture a bit of that restorative power.

Spirulina proved to be the key ingredient, as it gives the drink that Emerald-City-green, and the combination of protein, vitamins, and minerals helps restore what one’s body has lost as a result of over-indulging. The flavor is fairly pleasant, owing mostly to the mint and copious amount of honey (which helps keep the green powders in suspension).

This restorative beverage is lovely the morning after heavy drinking, but is also very effective when taken before going to bed. I personally recommend taking half warm before going to sleep, and chilling the other half for the morning after.

Recipe for Serpentine’s Restorative

Boiling: 10 minutes       Cooling: 15 minutes

Makes 1-2 servings, depending on your headache

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 2 Green Tea bags
  • 1 sprig each mint & thyme, crushed
  • 1 tsp. willow bark
  • honey, to taste, but at least 1 tsp.
  • 1/2 tsp. spirulina powder
  • 1/2 tsp. wheatgrass powder (optional)

Combine the tea bags and herbs in a small saucepan with the boiling water. Simmer for around 10 minutes, then remove from heat. Strain into a bowl, and stir in the honey while the liquid is still warm. Allow to sit until it is still warm, but cool enough to touch. Stir in the spirulina, and if using, the wheatgrass. Stir until it’s completely combined, and serve. , blend, and let sit for 10 minutes. Strain, chill and serve seriously ice cold.

Sweetsleep

“‘This will give you dreamless sleep,’ Maester Luwin said as he pulled the stopper from the jar. ‘Sweet, dreamless sleep.'” -A Clash of Kings

Sweetsleep Infusion Mixture

This post will benefit from a small bit of back story.

Several months ago, after suffering from bouts of fitful sleeping, I sought a remedy in the form of the huge bulk herb bins at a local co-op. I played around with a few combinations, finally settling on the one below. Then, being one of the biggest geeks I know, I started referring to it as “Sweetsleep”.

This version of Sweetsleep is true to its name, if not strictly like the concoction described in the books. The biggest difference: ours won’t result in death. I’d say that’s a pretty good improvement. It does, however, result in a nice knockout sleep (although not strictly dreamless), and is absolutely delicious with honey.

And for extra fun, why not get a fabulous IatC  Sweetsleep Jar to put it in?

Sweetsleep Recipe

Cook’s Notes: I usually just wing the amounts on this one, with a pinch here and there, going by intuition. However, that makes for a lousy recipe, so the measurements below should be just about right.

Ingredients:

  • 3 Tbs. dried chamomile
  • 3-5 small dried rosebuds
  • 2 tsp. willow bark
  • 2 tsp. lemonbalm
  • 1 tsp. valerian
  • 1 tsp. saigon cinnamon, or a cinnamon stick to stir with
  • honey to taste

Combine all ingredients in a medium teapot, then add 3-4 cups of boiling water. Allow to steep for several minutes, then pour through a strainer into serving mugs. Adjust sweetness to taste with honey, and enjoy!

Makes enough for ~ 3 small mugs.