Every January, my partner and I scurry-scurry off to the grocery store to buy pounds upon pounds of citrus fruits. We make nightly citrus-forward cocktails – Lemondrop martinis and whiskey sours – all the while joking that we must have scurvy. We’ve even experimented with juicing clementines and putting them into drinks! (With less than stellar results, sadly – if you have a good clementine forward cocktails please send it in my direction!)
The struggle is real for those of us that live in New England. Not only are we vitamin D starved from the lack of discernable sunlight but winter produce offers slim pickings for those of us that like to eat our vitamins.
Enter this Winter Syrup recipe that I found online – not only is it high in Vitamin C (gotta keep that scurvy at bay!) but it uses botanicals that I can wild harvest from my own “backyard”. For those following along in the back, in an effort to green my craft, I have been turning more and more to botanicals that grow in my own local environment here in Southern New England. My goal for this slow Winter season has been to better get to know my local evergreens and this recipe features one of my new favorites: Eastern White Pine!
Pines grow in many locales and therefor have many magical associations attached. Linked closely with the earth element, they represent Longevity, Protection, and Wealth. Many cultures view all evergreens as signs of immortality and renewal – of overcoming obstacles. Pine is burned for healing and purification. Even some link its high vitamin C content to luck, joy, and happiness. My close friends also happen to have three mature Eastern White Pines growing in their yard so it is a perfect planet ally for my evergreen journey.
The other main vitamin C contributor to this Winter syrup is Rose Hips which I also anachronistically had on hand. I spend a lovely September afternoon picking some hips from Rose Rugosa growing on the dunes of Cape Cod back in September with my family that has been waiting for that perfect project. Because I’m an overly ambitious kitchen witch (and my partner also really likes to cook), we had the rest of the ingredients for the syrup readily on hand.
The crafting was surprisingly simple – this is just a complicated simple syrup recipe. The botanicals cooked in the “tea” portion of syrup for far longer to fully gain the medicinal benefits. Then, combine with some local raw honey and you are done!
This syrup could be adapted in a myriad of ways to suit your intentions. In the end I used Eastern White Pine and Rosa Rugosa rose hips for the vitamin C; cardamon, cinnamon and allspice for flavoring, a knob of ginger for its anti-inflammatory properties; lemon balm for its calming effect, and orange and calendula for sunshine energy. For a sugar, I used raw local honey which is my go-to for most things.
Like any good simple syrup – it has many applications. It can be added to cocktails or your tea or coffee. It can be thickened to use as a glaze of baked goods. It would make a great offering to Winter deities or for use in your Winter magic in general. For my part, I have been drinking a spoonful in my daily cup of ginger and turmeric tea. It has certainly brightened my Winter and I hope that it does yours, too.
-Minx