Ingredients

1/4 cup Lucuma powder

• 3 cups dried coconut flakes
• 1 cup coconut syrup/nectar
• 1 1/4 cup pecan flour (fine ground pecans- you can use a coffee grinder)
• 1 Tbl. Vanilla
• 1/3 cup Coconut Butter (melted)
• 1 1/2 tsp. Salt

Tis the season for colder nights, extra hot tea in the morning, and wearing a scarf just for good measure before venturing out into the elements. It’s almost Winter and if the weather doesn’t give you that impression, your garden will. Now is the time for plants to start winding down, grounding into the earth a bit more, and for buds to go to sleep rather than bloom. As a gardener, I mourn my roses, calendula and lavender this time of year. I’m so fortunate to be able to go out and pick flowers most of the year - for baths, salads and tea making, but when it ceases in the winter it can be a bit rough to take. One thing that gets me through this horticultural lull, is by bringing the nature that is left this time of year indoors for some at-home apothecarian projects. Our skin is our largest organ, absorbing so much throughout the day and night - and this time of year is important to nourish it as much as possible. Crafting your own organic, botanically infused bath and beauty products can be easy and a great way to ward off the dehydration caused by the cold and rough skin this chilly season can induce.
Here is one recipe that motivated me to start my organic bath/beauty line, Garden Apothecary (www.gardenapothecary.etsy.com). Projects like this inspire me to create healing treatments for my customers, using organic, whole botanicals. Try this one for yourself:

Honey Mask -
Ingredients: -Raw, local honey (you can find at a farmer’s market or local natural food store).
-Petals (this time of year try using any left over geranium, pansy or marigold petals) 1. Take about 3 tbsp of honey and about 2 flower heads of petals, and emulsify together in your hands. The mixture will be tacky at first, quickly becoming soft and creamy with the heat of your finger tips. 2. Apply to your freshly washed face and neck. 3. Let sit for about 30 minutes. The honey mask will never dry, but will warm up from your body heat, allowing your skin to absorb the nutrients from the petals and honey.
4. With warm water, wash the mask off your face and neck, and pat dry with a soft towel. You face will feel incredibly clean and fresh!

*To really indulge your skin, apply the honey/petal mask above, then shower your face, neck and hair with Garden Apothecary’s organic rose water refresher - this can be found at any Cafe Gratitude store or online (www.gardenapothecary.etsy.com).
This post is brought to you by Jenn of Dirty Girl Gardening.

Sometimes the simplest, smallest and seemingly most tangential recipes are the most important. A dish composed of many ingredients might need just a dash, splash or hint of a spice, seasoning or topping to pull it all together and make it delicious. Just think of what salt and pepper can do...or Parmesan cheese! 

Try this on your favorite salad, sandwich, pasta, or other savory snack!

Every day new products hit the shelves of stores that can do more, better, faster, and smaller.  I'm sure you or someone you know owns a laptop, a smart phone, or a ipad (the mico-powerhouses of modern computing).  Not only do we have access to a world of information in the palms of our hands, we also have access to more mundane technological masterpieces: fridge magnets that play digital videos, ant farms that project moving images of the ants onto the ceiling, and laptop fans to keep your laptop cool as you stream video while playing solitaire.
In our modern experience of high-tech saturation (both necessary and superfluous), I would like to serve up the technological equivalent of some down-home cookin’. I present to you three low-tech, high-impact appropriate and responsible technologies that are transforming the lives of regular people worldwide.

Solar Bottle Lights: In the town of San Pedro, just outside of Manila in the Philippines, a local transformation is occurring.  Men salvage used plastic bottles, fill them with water, and cast light into dark places. Huh?  That's right.  In an area where most buildings are made of corrugated steel, most families have had to rely on expensive electrical lights to see in their homes during the day.  Not any more.  At the price of $1 per installation, many families are opting to let the sunshine in, using plastic water bottles filled with water to create solar ceiling lights.  Not only is this diverting waste from landfills, it is also creating green job alternatives for people ready to embrace this new technology.

This is one of my favorite snacks – for any time of day. It's inspired by Cafe Gratitude's “I Am Super” (dark chocolate nuggets), but my version is even more simple. These are a great energy boost and quite tasty!

I offer ratios instead of measurements so you can make whatever amount you want! I usually use ½ cup to equal one part, which makes about 20 balls.

I love raw pie! Strawberry pie is one of the first treats I made when I first became interested in Raw foods. When I first encountered a recipe on the internet I thought it was too good to be true. Now I make it all the time and have perfected this simple recipe. Its best served with raw vegan vanilla bean ice cream, especially to children or adults with a desire for a special treat that takes little time to prepare. I hope you relish this recipe as much as I do! 

Crust

• 2 cups almonds (soaked & dried or raw, chopped down in the food processor)
• 4-6 medjool dates (process first to make into a paste)
• 1/2 tbsp cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• generous pinch of salt

Filling