August 2011 part 1

Homemade chamomile tea:

Chamomile tea is known for calming and relieving anxiety.  After l long week, I sat on my front porch planning my approach to the week ahead. I saw that I needed to cut back my many feverfew plants. (I’m always distracted by my garden.) As I began to get ready to cut the flowers back, I made myself a nice cold drink and decided my seat on the porch was very cozy.  Only after I sat down did I realize I was going to make chamomile tea out of the awesome flower heads. I got myself a bowl and started to cut only the nice fresh flower heads from the stems. I soon had a million little flower heads in my salad bowl strainer. (Perfect for getting rid of unwanted debris.)

After I had cut all the fresh flower heads off and got rid of the unwanted debris, I started the oven at 170F’. I put several baking sheets and containers on the counters and spread the flower heads out none were touching. It took about 15 minutes per batch before they were ready to be pulled out and set to cool before putting them in quart jars. (Make sure the flowers don’t turn brown.)

 After a couple days went by, I went ahead and checked the flowers to make sure they didn’t mildew or wick with moisture. Everything seemed nice and fresh so I decided it was time to make myself a nice cup of tea and sit down and relax for a few minutes.

 1 teaspoon chamomile dried flower heads

1 cup very warm water (not boiling)

Steep for 3-5 minutes

Enjoy!

*It is pretty awesome to use a clear glass mug to really enjoy all your hard work. *