Upon Which We Tread

      As I read over last week's post regarding My Sacred Morning Time, I felt an ironic grin spread across my face. And then I moved slightly and groaned like the pregnant horse I tried to feed a handful of grass to twelve miles ago in Akarreta. Amy and I are currently in Pamplona, in the Basque region of Spain, on the fourth day of our pilgrimage: el Camino de Santiago. We've walked from St. Jean Pied de Port in southern France through the edge of the Pyrenees into Spain and have about 800km remaining to Finesterre (the end of the land). I have never been so exhausted. My senses have never been so accosted in the mornings (fellow pilgrims share sleeping spaces in affordable hostel-like places called albergues and carry a lot of plastic bags). I have never loved fried potatoes with aioli (patatas bravas) and pickled anchovies (boquerones) as much.

      Long have I resisted being called a 'hippie' -- emphasizing that I shave my legs, wear actual perfume instead of essential oil, and pay my taxes (albeit quite begrudgingly this past year). While I still resist it, I realize I am walking across Spain and that I did spend all day yesterday collecting nettles, wild garlic and mountain thyme. Nettles are especially good for circulation and respiratory health, so the tea that I made from them (after I washed them, Mom) was gratefully sipped by the two of us, along with Kai from Hawaii, Lindsay from Portland and a Dutch architect with a ponytail who was painting gorgeous landscape watercolors. Perhaps it was the power of suggestion, but all of us agreed that our leg cramps abated and sinuses began behaving.

      Regarding Spring, Spain is a bit ahead of the States, but nettles will begin appearing around many of you before long. Wear gardening gloves as you collect them -- they sting like a bee. I know that it's a nail in the hippie coffin, but eating from the land upon which you tread is harmonious for both your immunity and your spirit. Buen Camino, my dear friends.

Nettle Tea with Honey and Lemon

      Save the nettles once the tea has steeped -- they lose their stinging capabilities once cooked and are terrific and nutritious additions to soups, salads and Tortilla Españolas, tasting like a peppery spinach leaf.

Ingredients

32 oz water, just boiled

3 c fresh nettle leaves, washed and trimmed from the main stem

2 T honey, or to taste

2 t fresh lemon juice, or to taste

Process

      Boil the water and submerge the nettle leaves. Let steep, covered, for ten minutes before draining. Flavor to your own preference (which may be not at all) and savor away.

Yields: 2 hearty cups of tea

Prep time: 15 minutes (includes foraging and cleaning)

Cook time: 10 minutes

Photography by Amy Pennington/Styling by Me