Content of the article:
The medicinal properties of coniferous trees have long been known. Next to them, even the air becomes cleaner, breathes easily and freely. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to arrange a pine forest near the house in order to have such useful assistants on hand. However, during a walk through the forest, several branches are often brought home. You can put them in a vase, and soon the room will be filled with a fresh pine smell. And you can make an incredibly tasty, fragrant and healing pine needles jam.
Usually, the preparation of jam starts in the middle of summer or in autumn, when fruits, berries and vegetables ripen. But conifer needles jam is best prepared in the winter - then they have the greatest amount of nutrients.
Read also: pine cones jam - tasty and healthy delicacy!
How to prepare pine needles?
Before proceeding to the preparation of jam, freshly picked pine twigs should be poured over with boiling water. Then tear the needles and sort them, removing the dried ones. In total 2 glasses of needles will be required.
Now you need to chop the needles. To do this, pour them into a blender and add approximately 700 g of water.
What else is needed for medicinal jam?
In addition to pine needles, you need to prepare a tasty medicine:
- 1.5 liters of water;
- 0.5 st.rosehips;
- 500 g sugar;
- 1 lemon.
Instead of pine, you can use fir needles.
After the needles are crushed to a pasty state, it is necessary to pour the mass into a saucepan and add another 800 g of water. Thus, the total amount of liquid was 1.5 liters. Pour the washed rosehips( whole berries) to the needles and leave to infuse for 12 hours. During this time, the fruits will also give all their nutrients even without heat treatment.
Step-by-step preparation of jam
The resulting infusion will acquire a yellowish tint. It must be filtered through three layers of gauze or through a fine sieve and poured into a saucepan, where the jam will be prepared. Further preparation of the dessert is as follows:
- Pour sugar into the pan with infusion.
- Boil over low heat until the pine-rosehip infusion thickens to a consistency, like fresh honey.
- At the end of cooking, squeeze the juice from one lemon into the pan. It neutralizes bitterness from needles.
Ready to pour the jam in jars and roll up. You can store both in the refrigerator and in a dark cool place( basement, cellar).In winter, a jar of such a “medicine” will help protect loved ones from colds and strengthen the immune system.
