Stay at our place in Segur

It's been quite a while since my last post. Life certainly got busy for me over the last year. We became three! With more time in London and less in Segur, our little retreat is now available for rent when we are not in Segur. You can find details on AirBNB

Ancient House in Medieval Village

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Find a place to stay in Ségur-le-Château

Hawthorn berry syrup

It’s the time of year when Hawthorn trees are laden with bright red berries. It’s only autumn but the bright red berries against the backdrop of brilliant green, remind one of Christmas!

The berries of the Hawthorn tree have been used for thousands of years in the Greek culture to treat a variety of health issues.  In China, the berries are made into a tea, which is drunk to promote the health of the circulatory system, treat angina, high blood pressure, as well as stomach problems.

I used the hawthorn berries we collected in Devon over the weekend, to make a honey infused syrup. We served it today on pancakes with mixed autumn berries. Here’s the recipe.

Recipe

Two cups hawthorn berries

One jar of honey (200mL)

Muslin cloth (to strain berries)

Bring two cups of hawthorn berries to the boil in two cups of water. Once boiling simmer the berries for 20 minutes. The water will reduce the liquid should become a brownish/red colour as the juice leaches from the berries.

Strain the berries, retaining the water. Once the berries have cooled slightly, strain through a muslin bag, squeezing out the remaining liquid into the berry stained water.

Return the liquid to the stove top. On a low heat, simmer the hawthorn berry juice together with the honey. Stir slowly until the honey has melted fully into the berry juice. Remove from heat and leave to cool. Once cooled, pour into a glass jar, or bottle and leave to set overnight in the fridge.

Serve the hawthorn berry syrup with pancakes, or use as a sweetener for tea. It tastes delicious, is very healthy, and should keep for 3-4 months in the fridge. Enjoy!!

A day's foraging

Jen, Chris and I just returned from a day's foraging in the woods. Below is a pick of the woodland goods we brought home: acorns; rose hips; rowan berries; and crab apples. Currently we are working on removing the tannins from the acorns, not a quick task! More on what we do with these goodies over the coming days.