Thursday, June 7, 2012

Book Review- Homemade Health (and a giveaway chance)

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This is book three in Anke Bialas’ Herbology at Home Series.  What really speaks to me, in this book, is the fact that it helps show us that herbal home medicine making is a craft that has been practiced for eons and it is accessible and practical for all of us. Through the ages people have been using common culinary herbs not only for flavoring food, but also for the medicinal qualities of these plants. Anyone can tend themselves or their loved ones with some of the everyday complaints we humans are prone to, with the help of these herbs. Homemade Health will help you learn how to create remedies for forty three different health ailments using herbs you probably already have in your larder or growing in your kitchen garden. I will share this, I have been making my own remedies for quite awhile now, and I still found lots of new information in this book! Anke has drawn upon the herbal knowledge her paternal grandmother passed down to her and I thank her so much for sharing with us, through this book!
There is a section with the healing properties of some common culinary herbs, over 160 remedy recipes, tips for when to harvest and how to preserve the herbs, easy to follow directions for preparing base remedies, such as creams, ointments, syrups, tinctures and more.
Anke’s goal of her Herbology at Home Series, is to help us realize that each and every one of us have the ability to help support and tend some of our own health issues, (or prevent them), right at our own fingertips. We don’t have to be doctors, herbalists, great gardeners, or chemists! With the help of her tips, ideas, suggestions we can start using common culinary herbs right in our own kitchens to make our own homemade health:) These are home remedies your grandmother knew. Simple and effective treatments right from your own pantry.
In celebration of the honor of being part of this virtual book tour, I would like to offer my readers a chance to win a jar of my rose cream. You will get several chances to win if you do each of these things.
1- Leave me a comment. If your comment also includes a family recipe for homemade health, you will get two chances instead of one.
2- Like Herbology on Facebook and come back and tell me you did so.
3- Sign up for Anke’s newsletter on her site, Herbology, and leave me a comment that you did so
4- Look around the Herbology site, come back and leave me a comment about what tip, recipe or article you especially liked there.
There you go! An opportunity to have your name in the drawing for the rose cream not once, but 5 times! I am leaving this contest open until the end of Anke’s Homemade Health Virtual Book Tour, which ends on the 27th of June. I will announce the winner on the 28th. Make sure and visit the other blogs on the tour for more giveaways! The tour includes question and answer sessions, a radio interview, posts about wild foods, herbs for pets, starting on an herbal health journey, herbal cleaners and more! On the 22nd of June make sure and come back and visit here at Comfrey Cottages where Anke will do a guest blog post about making your own Stillroom book – recording herbal traditions for future generations! I am so excited about this folks, as I have long thought to start a stillroom book, and Anke will help us all get started making our own with her ideas, and suggestions! On that day, I will be hosting a giveaway chance for a signed copy of her book, Homemade Health!
Herbal and Honey Hugs to all who visit Comfrey Cottages xx

13 comments:

Anke B said...

Leslie! Thank you for your wonderful review. As much as I know that you are a Herbology fan, I do expect reviewers to be honest in their reviews and as such had no idea what you would write.

I am delighted that someone as experienced in the herbal arts as you still managed to find new information in this book.

Now, how am I going to sneak myself into your rose cream giveaway *laughs*

Comfrey Cottages said...

You are quite welcome, Anke. Thank you for writing and sharing all this wonderful information with us! xxx This book will now sit right alongside the first book in the Herbology at Home series, Making Herbal Remedies, which is right here in my kitchen where I can handily reach for it when creating herbal remedies. Invaluable information!! big hugs and i think you deserve a rose cream sent to you out of the next batch i make;-) xx

Lisa Allen MH said...

Leslie, that is SO cool of you!! Whether I would win or not, I am so happy and it sounds like you are doing GREAT! :-)

Allison said...

What a fantastic review of what sounds like a fantastic book.

Anke said...

This really sounds like an amazing book! What a wonderful giveaway Leslie!

Rita M said...

This is a wonderful revieuw from Ankes book Leslie. This is a book on my list to read :)
Big hugs XXX

Karin said...

Hi, great to have found your blog. I really like the picture that links to the sage and thyme cottage.

Just in time for your beautiful GiveAway, I guess. :)
Ofcourse I liked Herbology on Facebook, another great page to follow.

My 'recipe' for homemade health would be a made-with-love ginger tincture. It's not difficult to have access to ginger whenever you want or need it. However, I find that when I finally think about using some, it's not that fresh anymore. So, making a tincture from the root and some vodka, it lasts a long time and will be available when needed. At home or elsewhere.

Another tip from nature, although not homemade: coconut oil. There are at least 160 uses for it: http://www.hybridrastamama.com/2012/01/160-uses-for-coconut-oil.html

:)

Herbaholic said...

Excellent review Leslie :) Couldn't agree with you more! The rose cream sounds fantastic, I love all things rose, it was a post of yours that made me realise just how much I love the rose, one of my favourite beauty uses for the rose is using rose water as a gentle toner for my skin, morning and night, I never use soap. I think that's why I don't look my age, or because I don't act it lol!

Unknown said...

SOOOOO~
I left all my entries n Anke's blog!!! Duh! and on the last post, I figured it wasn't your blog!
I love yours that I just found! and I am following you email!
ti
would love the chance to win some rose cream!
Blessings!

Unknown said...

For the next chance, I visited her blog... love it, joined it! and am going to try the herbal bath cookies! Can't wait to try them!
Thanks again for the chance!

A Magical Whimsy said...

Oh, my!
This looks like an incredible book!
Please enter my name in the draw.
Teresa in California
http://amagicalwhimsy.blogspot.com/
tscat@sbcglobal.net

Unknown said...

Just liked the Herbology page on Facebook! I have a small herb garden on my front porch thats a much loved hobby as well as a learning experience for my children. This year I have done quite well, Ive managed to start both cilantro and cheyanne peppers indoors from seed and they are both doing quite well! I also have spearmint, parsley, lavender, lemon thyme, german thyme, sage, rosemary, corn, and heirloom tomatos. Over the last 2 weeks Ive been fighting off an upper resp. infection that seemed to have gotten me pretty good. At one point I remember (before I finally broke down and got antibiotics from my dr.) really struggling to breathe when I thought of my garden. I called my daughters grandmother who is full blooded Native American and asked her if there was anything amongst what I had growing that could help. She paused, then suggested I steep some of my lemon thyme in some tea. It offered alot of relief from the tightness in my chest and easied my throat pain as well.

My name is Tiffany L. from Dublin PA.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate.

Comfrey Cottages said...

thank you for all the lovely comments and for entering the contest ladies. your ideas and suggestions for homemade remedies are inspiring! xxx