This post goes with the foraging videos I’ve been doing on YouTube I’ve been out collecting for a small batch of Christmas gifts—baby food jars filled with foraged herbs and spices, with a little skirt around the rim so they look a little more special.

Please be sure to check for any ingredients that cause allergic reactions before using of giving as gifts!

Steam Bath

One of them is a steam bath mix. Horehound, pine needles, and eucalyptus. You put a small handful (or the contents of one little jar) into a pot of water that has just come off the boil. Let it steep a few minutes while the water cools enough that it won’t burn. Then you lean over the pot, take the lid off, and put a towel over your head and the pot so the steam stays under there with you. Breathe it in. It’s one of the oldest ways I know to loosen congestion.
My grandparents used to make me do this when I was little. I cried every time. The steam was hot, the towel felt like a trap, and I hated it. But it worked. It still works. The horehound is the old cough herb, the pine and eucalyptus open everything up, and the whole thing just moves the gunk. I still do it when the weather turns cold and damp.
For a small jar gift, a rough starting mix is about one part horehound, one part pine needles, and two parts eucalyptus leaves. A tablespoon or two in the pot is usually enough. Let the water sit a minute after it boils so it’s steaming hard but not scalding. Keep your face a comfortable distance and stop if it feels too strong. (And keep little kids clear of the hot pot.)
The other two jars are for the kitchen.

Sausage Blend

The sausage blend is bay leaves, rosemary, garlic, and hot peppers—whatever dried or lightly crushed form you have. A small jar can hold a few bay leaves, a couple tablespoons of rosemary, a spoonful of garlic, and a pinch to a teaspoon of the hot peppers depending on how spicy you like it. Use it as a seasoning: start with a teaspoon or two per pound of meat and taste as you go.

Tea

The tea is roses, chamomile, mint, and dried lemon. For a jar, try roughly equal parts chamomile and mint, a smaller amount of rose petals (they’re strong), and a bit of the dried lemon for brightness. A teaspoon per cup, steeped a few minutes, is a good place to start.
All of it goes into the little baby food jars with a strip of fabric or ribbon around the rim so they look like they belong under the tree. Nothing fancy, just foraged and put up so someone else can use it when the cold sets in.
That’s the batch I’m working on. The steam one still makes me think of sitting under that towel as a kid, sick and crying and breathing at the same time.  It seemed like torture to my childish brain. Now it is a comfort to share with you with no side effects other than feeling better. 

I hope you have so much fun putting these together for your friends and family.

Let the Holidays begin!