Spring

One of the very first spring berries is the beautiful strawberry, and my household loves this berry both raw and in the form of jams and preserves. Strawberries themselves are aromatic berries, but this time I decided to add tea rose petals to the strawberry jam.

Floral cooking never ceases to amaze us. Nowadays you won’t surprise anyone with jam made from rose petals, but jam made from peonies is unusual. Fabulously tasty and indescribably beautiful. It doesn't have the sweetness of rose. Peony jam has sourness and a very delicate aroma.

Spring has arrived - it's time to make jam from pine cones. Harvesting young pine cones should be carried out in environmentally friendly places.

Bird cherry has a very short harvest season and you need to have time to prepare it for the winter, or at least save it until autumn. Bird cherry is dried, jam is made from it, tinctures and compotes are made. But in order not to be disappointed in winter, you need to cook bird cherry correctly. Bird cherry does not like long-term heat treatment. This makes it lose its taste and aroma.Therefore, you need to cook bird cherry compote very carefully and quickly.

Jerusalem artichoke, or as it is otherwise called, earthen pear, is not just a vegetable plant, but a storehouse of health! Tuberous roots, foliage, and flowers also have beneficial properties. The green part of the plant and flower stalks are used to feed animals, and a delicious tea is also prepared from them. Tubers are used for food, both raw and heat-treated. The earthen pear is especially valued by people suffering from diabetes, since the composition of the root crops of this plant contains inulin, which is vital for them. Fructose, which is produced from inulin, can replace sugar for diabetics, so Jerusalem artichoke preparations are becoming increasingly popular for people in this category.

A bad cherry harvest does not mean that you will be left without cherry syrup for the winter. After all, you can make syrup not only from cherry berries, but also from its leaves. Of course, the taste will be somewhat different, but you won’t confuse the bright cherry aroma with anything else.

Walnut syrup has a unique taste. You can feel honey notes and at the same time a nutty taste, very soft and delicate. Green nuts are usually used to make jam, but there are still more uses for syrup. Therefore, we will prepare the syrup, and you can eat the nuts anyway.

Sometimes, reading French novels, we see references to the exquisite delicacy of kings - violet syrup. You immediately imagine something delicate and magical with extraordinary color and taste. You can’t help but wonder – is this really edible?

Although sweet cherries are closely related to cherries, the two berries have slightly different flavors. Cherries are more tender, more aromatic and sweeter. For some desserts, cherries are better suited than cherries. You can save cherries for the winter in the form of compote, jam, or boil syrup.

Dandelion syrup is becoming increasingly popular. This dessert dish is also called honey because of its external similarity. Dandelion syrup, of course, tastes different from honey, but in terms of beneficial properties it is practically not inferior to it. Taking 1 teaspoon of dandelion medicine in the morning will help cope with viruses and various colds. This syrup also helps normalize digestion and metabolism. People suffering from liver and gallbladder diseases use dandelion honey for preventive purposes and during exacerbations.

Melissa or lemon balm is usually prepared for the winter in dry form, but there is a risk of losing your preparations if the drying is not done correctly, or the room is too damp. In this case, it is much easier to cook lemon balm syrup and not worry about its safety. Melissa officinalis syrup not only heals, but also complements the taste of any drink. This syrup can be used to flavor creams or baked goods. You will quickly find a use for lemon balm syrup and it will not stagnate on your shelf for long.

We are used to the fact that maple syrup is produced only in Canada, but this is a little different. In the middle zone and even in southern latitudes, maples grow that are suitable for collecting sap. The only difficulty is to have time to collect the juice. After all, its active movement in maple, when you can collect sap and not harm the tree, is much shorter than in birch.

With the onset of the first warm days, many are thinking about birch sap. This is a taste from childhood. Birch sap smells like snow and forest, it invigorates and saturates our body with vitamins. It can be harvested from early spring, when the snow has just melted, until the buds open. The only question is how to preserve birch sap for the whole year.

Delicate and aromatic rose syrup will find wide use in any kitchen.This can be an impregnation for biscuits, a flavoring for ice cream, cocktails, or a base for making Turkish delight or homemade liqueurs. The uses are many, as are the recipes for making rose petal syrup.

Sorrel is a vegetable that is one of the first to please us with its appearance in the garden beds. Although the sour-tasting green foliage grows well into the fall, harvest should occur in late May to early summer. Later greens are oversaturated with oxalic acid, which in large doses is not safe for the body. So, you need to have time to prepare a large number of delicious dishes from this incredibly healthy vegetable, and try to preserve it for the winter. We suggest making puree. Depending on the recipe, it can be an excellent side dish or a super vitamin preparation for the winter.

Cilantro is the most popular spice for meat and vegetable dishes. Cilantro is also highly valued in the Caucasus, adding it to almost all dishes. Moreover, not only the green part of the plant is used in cooking, but also the seeds. Many people know cilantro by another name - coriander, but these are just the seeds of cilantro, which are used in baking.

Recently, a beekeeping product such as bee bread has become widespread.Bee bread received another name, “bee bread”, due to the fact that bees can feed on it all year round.

There are about 200 varieties of honeysuckle, but not all are edible. Many of them are very poisonous and should not be eaten. The berries are edible if they have an elongated, oblong shape and a color ranging from dark blue to black. The taste of the berries also varies, from bitterly sour to sweet and sour.

White acacia flowers have an incredible honey aroma, and acacia is called a “female plant” for its beneficial properties. After all, many “women’s diseases” recede to flavonoids, glycosides, pectins and essential oils of white acacia.

Jasmine tea is extremely popular in China. Its subtle aroma won the hearts of everyone who tried it at least once. There are many recipes for making jasmine tea, but all of these recipes always use dried jasmine flowers. The matter is complicated by the fact that all teas are sold ready-made, and it is simply impossible to find dried jasmine flowers separately.