Pine “products” contain different usefulness: kidneys – essential oil, tannins, tar and the bitter substance panipicrin; resin – essential oil and resin acids, needles – essential oil, resin, ascorbic acid, tannins and carotene.
Even a child can distinguish pine from other conifers: pine is an evergreen tree and it has long soft needles. And we will tell you how to eat everything that the pine “produces”. For example, you can cook tasty and healthy jam from young cones, and prepare a vitamin broth or a healing infusion from pine needles.
RECIPES
Decoction of pine buds
To prepare a decoction of pine buds: 10 g of buds are poured with 1 glass of hot water, kept in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes, cooled for 10 minutes and filtered. Take 1/3 cup 2-3 times a day after meals.
Pine cone jam
Before cooking, young pine cones are sorted out, debris, needles are removed, washed in clean water, poured into an enamel pot and poured with cold water so that it covers the cones by 1-1.5 cm.
Then the cones are boiled by adding granulated sugar (1 kg per liter of infusion). Cook, like ordinary jam, for at least one and a half hours, removing the resulting foam. Ready jam is poured into hot jars. It should get a beautiful reddish hue, and the smell of needles will give it a piquant delicate aroma.
Pine cone infusion
In early June, pick up the cones, cut them into 4 pieces and fill a 3-liter bottle with them halfway. Pour in 400 g of sugar, pour cold boiled water and close the lid tightly. Shake the bottle periodically. Infuse until the sugar dissolves and the mixture stops fermenting. Drink 1 tbsp. spoon 30 minutes before meals in the morning and evening.
Pine Needle Vitamin Drinks
- Rinse 30 g of fresh pine needles in cold boiled water, pour boiling water over a glass and boil for 20 minutes in an enamel bowl, closing it with a lid. After the broth has cooled, it is filtered, sugar or honey is added to improve the taste and drunk a day.
- Grind 50 g of young annual pine tops (they have less bitter resinous substances) in a porcelain or wooden mortar, pour a glass of boiling water and leave for 2 hours in a dark place. You can add a little apple cider vinegar and sugar to the infusion to taste. Strain the infusion through cheesecloth and drink immediately, as it loses vitamins during storage.
Infusion of cones and needles
Fresh pine needles and cones are placed in a glass, poured with vodka or diluted alcohol to the brim (the ratio of cones and vodka is 50/50). The infusion is kept for 10 days in a warm, tightly closed place. Then filter and use 10-20 drops with warm water 3 times a day before meals.
Pine “honey”
Young pine cones are harvested on the summer solstice, June 21-24. Cones are placed in a transparent container, densely sprinkled with granulated sugar (about 1 kg per 3-liter jar). The neck of the container is covered with gauze and placed in direct sunlight (for example, on a windowsill) until the autumn equinox from September 21 to 24 (corresponding to the June date on which they were going). If mold appears on the surface of the cones above the liquid layer, then these cones need to be discarded and sprinkle those that look above the surface with a layer of granulated sugar.
The resulting honey elixir is poured into a bottle, closed with a cork and stored in a cool dark place. The shelf life of such honey is 1 year. For preventive purposes, use 1 tbsp. spoon in the morning for 20 minutes. before the first meal and in the evening before bedtime. Honey can be added to tea.
Pine honey has an excellent taste and smell, usually enjoyed by children.