Vermont K 19 - Golden Elixir
From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli
Some two thousand plus years ago during Hippocrates’s time, a medicinal drink called Oxymel originated. It was the Greek’s version of an electrolyte-boosting beverage containing apple cider vinegar, honey and water. Fast forward to agrarian 19th century New England where making hay was a life sustaining necessity. Cutting, raking, drying and stacking hay all day made a hike to the summit of Mount Mansfield seem like a leisurely stroll. Continuous, hot, sweaty, work (or play) requires a person to be energized from dawn to dusk. Switchel or Haymaker’s punch was born via common household ingredients; necessity is the mother of invention after all. As you’ll see, all of the ingredients are dietary sources of potassium, an essential mineral important in the transmission of nerve impulses, building muscle tissue, beating of your heart and metabolizing carbohydrates and proteins. And you thought you were reading about the making of maple syrup. If you can make it with sap, all the better, if not, water will do fine. Make a batch, leave in your frig and use instead of gatorade or vitamin water.
K-19 Golden Elixir
4 1/2 cups Sap or Water
1 tablespoon Maple Syrup
3 teaspoons fresh squeezed Lemon
2 teaspoons Honey
2 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh grated Ginger Root
pinch of turmeric
pinch of cayenne
Bring all of above ingredients to a boil and stir until dissolved; remove from stove and store in refrigerator. Whet your whistle, as often as you like.
-Maple Trout-Lilly
