golden milk moonday

It was wonderful to wake up to six inches of snow on Brigid's Day. I wove some Brigid's crosses, traditionally used as protective house amulets. I like the old ways and the sense of traveling a well-worn path. And it felt so good to have my hands on something from the Earth.

I've been reading about and experimenting with ways to make golden turmeric milk. Turmeric, Curcuma longa, is front and center in the news lately -- its most well-known compound, curcumin, is anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antitumor, antibacterial and antiviral. I'm interested mainly in the anti-inflammatory qualities of turmeric with a food-as-medicine approach. 

There are many ways to make golden milk, so far I like using fresh turmeric and ginger roots together the best. The batch in the collage photos is made with whole cow's milk but you can use any kind of milk. Some recipes call for cinnamon, cardamom or other spices. Some make pastes and add water for a tea, and a few mention adding pepper to enhance turmeric's healing action.

Golden Milk

1/4 cup grated fresh turmeric root

1 T. grated fresh ginger root

2 cups milk (cow, almond, coconut, etc.)

honey or maple syrup

Heat and hold just below a simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Take off heat, put lid on pan and let sit for another 5 minutes. Blend and strain, I use an immersion blender and a metal strainer. Sweeten if desired.

A teaspoon of honey makes this absolutely delicious. I've been having about two-thirds cup a day to make one batch last three days. 

I froze some of the strained turmeric and ginger root pulp for recipes that call for these flavors. 

I've also been making golden milk with homemade almond milk which is fabulous, but more work. In the batch below, I used almond milk with dried ingredients -- 1 tsp. turmeric and about 1/3 tsp. ginger -- but otherwise made the same as with fresh roots. Powdered herbs need to be strained with cheesecloth instead of a metal strainer -- I'm saving the dyed cloth, of course!

Week 4: Silhouettes for the Journal52 project -- painted and glued and painted some more. And a deconstructed linen moon has been reconstructed with one change. It's been invisibly basted and it's ready to go -- let the stitching begin. 

Today is a waxing moonday in the sign of fiery Leo. Ruled by the Sun and affecting the heart and upper back, some Leo aspects are -- playful, self-confident, straightforward, romantic and honest. I think the term open-hearted might apply to those Leo qualities, don't you? Tomorrow will be a Leo full moon -- hope we all have a Leo-hearted week!