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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Preparing for Winter Cold/Flu: Four Thieves Vinegar

This picture features the ingredients in Four Thieves Vinegar. But first the story! There are many versions of this tale and here's mine: Long Ago (1700's) in a Land Far Away (France) there were 4 naughty men who were robbing the graves of Black Death plague victims. At first the authorities showed no concern certain the thieves would contract the deadly disease and close the case themselves. But the Four Thieves continued their rampage on not only graves but the homes of the weak and dying. The story continues, and when they were finally captured, the (fill in the blank here: Burgess, Mayor, Noble, King) offered their freedom in exchange for their secret to avoiding the plague. The secret was the use of herbs in vinegar which they either consumed or soaked their bandannas in to cover their face or did both.
There are as many different versions of the recipe as there are versions of the story.
Here is one version:
2 T each of the following herbs Rosemary, Sage, Lavender, Wormwood, Peppermint, and Rue in 1 pint of Vinegar.
Some versions include garlic as well.
Our version is 2/3 C Horseradish, 1 red onion, 2-3 Garlic bulbs, 12 sage leaves, two thyme sprigs, 1 rosemary sprig, pinch of ginger and 1 pint of vinegar. Blend it all in the blender and bottle. It will look frothy like this but in the morning will be a powerful medicine. This is a strong blend. You can mix it with some water to drink it down. Certain to ward off H1N1 and any other pandemic.....

3 comments:

  1. I've been keeping myself healthy with 1 pt. 4T vinegar, 2 pt. hot water, and 1 pt. honey - yum!
    Also, I'm looking at this recipe as a "starter"/concentrate - I added more apple cider vinegar, and will keep adding more herbs etc throughout winter.

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  2. What great ideas for keeping healthy. Thanks!

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  3. Sounds like strong medicine - just the thing in flu season.

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Rosemary