Spencre McGowan - Forest + Home: Cultivating an Herbal Kitchen

Disclaimer

The recipes and in formation in this book are meant to inspire. This content is not meant to diagnose or treat any ailment. Please consult a physician or clinical herbalist before begi nning any new herbal routine.

When foraging for herb s, please consult a professional before consumption. This cookbook is not a foraging guidebook and canno t be held responsibl e for any mistake s made in the wild.

Foreword

D o you remember that feeling in adolescence when you were old enough to have a small level of independence but still maintain the largeness of your imagination? Do you remember those rambles in the woods and the forts and those walks after dark that felt deliciously re bellious? The feeling that woodland spirits were real and perhaps watching you? The feeling of po ssibility?

I crave that sense memory. I search for it in places I travel to and in songs on the radio and in clothes I pull down from the attic. And when you find that memory, you want to hug it close and live in it for a while. I had a similar sense memory the very first time I saw Spencres book Blot to Botany .

Id ventured to Salem, Massachusetts, for the very first time with my children in tow. It was a pilgrimage under a full harvest moon in mid-October, and I wanted them to have an epic, magical experience. They did. And I, fortunately, got to see it all through their eyes. It had been such a dreamy trip that Id wanted a souvenir to capture that tingly feeling so I could carry it back to our farm and keep it for a lifetime. The kitschy gift shops with Christmas ornaments and mass-produced knickknacks didnt jump out to me. Id been told about HausWitch Home + Healing, the most perfect shop in the most perfect historic corner-store space, with thoughtfully sourced tools and comforts for witches and wanderers alike. And so, as we wrapped up our trip, we land ed there.

What was it about that tiny green book that captivated me? I cant remember looking at anything else, really. I picked it up and knew it had been written just for mea collection of potions and practices to take back to the farm and study over the long winter months ahead. Spencres handwritten style reminded me of notes passed in between classes, journals shared back and forth with a bosom friend. Her sense of curiosity and enthusiasm to share her discoveries felt empowering. If she could do it, we all could.

As happens now, we began a correspondence that spanned thousands of miles but that felt as easy as a neighborly chat over a chain-link fence. And that is Spencres way. She forges ahead and locates the magicas one would morels or a tangle of ripe berriesand then she doubles back to share the excitement with the r est of us.

Forest + Home is a testament to her creativity and her unique ability to recall the sense memory of food. As much as old concert T-shirts and the smell of ocean air take us back to golden hours of the past, food is a sense memory that Spencre uses to combine affection and awareness of our environment and appreciation for the tiny treasures of da ily life.

I have already dog-eared multiple recipes in this book and will pair them with the fruit shrubs I learned to make from Spencres last book. It is a powerful gift to have friends you can learn from, and I feel so fortunate to have crossed forest trails with this magical litt le witch.

Xoxo

Hilarie Bur ton Morgan

Introduction

The first dinner party I ever hosted was a disaster. I was sixteen, my dad was out of town, and my friend Tasha and I decided to invite a few people over for a cozy little meal. Not having much money, or any know-how of cooking more than a box of mac n cheese, we boiled a bunch of spaghetti and threw the ball of mozzarella we found in the fridge directly in the pot with the water. After straining the rubbery mess, we garnished the dish with a sprinkle of cheese and cold blueberries. I remember sitting on the floor in silence while my friends ate their meals, knowing that everyone was thinking the same thing I was: What a horrid mess. To this day, I cringe over the meal, but my friends still try to convince me that it wasnt that bad, but Im trying to make up for it to this day.

I never expected to become a cook. After being raised in commercial kitchens around New England, thanks to my chef dad, it wasnt the sort of stress I wanted to deal with, and making food didnt interest me much at first. When I moved to California to attend herb school, I fully intended on becoming a midwife once it was done. I studied, trained as a doula, and toured a school for midwifery in Maine, but my path kept wandering back to the kitchen. In 2016, I started making recipe zines and selling them on my new herbal cooking blog, Gingertooth & Twine . I told everyone around me that I didnt want to be making food and recipes for others to use, but I felt I had to do something big with my herbalist training. What I didnt realize at the time was that cooking was the thing that was bringing me the most joy. I was obsessed with finding new ways to incorporate herbs into my meals. I devoured cookbooks by day and spent all my time at a library in Maine, trying to find my recipe style while experimenting with different ways to make the perfect herby latte or loaf of bread.

Food influences all of us, whether or not we realize it. It sustains us, frustrates us, gives us something to talk about, and allows us to experience the world in our own way. Fore st + Home is a celebration of the life we live alongside our meals. The name is an ode to my explo ration of food through my love of the forest, nature, and the many homes Ive had over the year s. To me, there isnt much of a divide between the experience we have in nature and in our home. We bring flowers and trees into our safe places to make them feel more natural. We cook with pl ants that have been ground up, dried, and sold in plastic. We live in houses made of broken-do wn trees. If we are readily adding pieces of our natural experience to our homes, why not go one step further by adding medicinal plants in our everyday cooking?

My goal is to bring the aspects of the healing outdoor world into your home, no matter where you live. Even if you have to bring a butane stove onto your fire escape and toss a handful of rose petals into what youre cooking, I can guarantee you will have a memorable experience; youll feel satisfied with your endeavor. Cooking and healing are similar in the respect that both are lifelong journeys, and both will entail many mistakes made along the way. I cant tell you how many times Ive messed up and cried over a nettle dumpling (Im still trying to figure it out) or experienced anxiety about what I should be doing to heal rather than what I can. After thirty-two years in this world, the only thing I can tell you for sure is that the forest can lift your mood and so can a damn fine plate of pasta. My ideal world is where the two are combined in a respectful and exciting way, and I cant wait to share them both with you.