When the colder, darker months envelop us and colds and ’flus start going around, fire cider is a wonderful remedy to have on hand. Fire cider is a warming, immune-stimulating, virus-fighting blend of herbs extracted into an apple cider vinegar base.

There are alternate names and closely related tonics, too, like cyclone cider and thieves’ vinegar. And fire cider itself morphs from herbalist to herbalist and season to season, adding and subtracting ingredients depending on availability and taste. This allows for tons of creativity!

A refreshing chilled chocolatey drink. Lets make it:

All parts of the nasturtium plant are edible: flowers, leaves, stems and young seed pods (mature seed pods have a very hard, unpleasant seed inside). All of these parts have a distinct peppery flavor similar to radishes. That bite is strongest in the seeds and lightest in the flowers. The leaves can sometimes have a very slight bitter taste that isn't present in the rest of the plant.

While the whole nasturtium plant is edible, each part has various uses, like using the stems in place of chives or large leaves as wraps.

What exactly is compound butter? It is softened butter, whipped with various sweet or savory ingredients.

While the concept is simple, the potential flavor combinations are endless.