Flavored Vinegars.

When spring comes, it seems like soups are out and salads are in, at least for me. When it is cold outside, and I am freezing, the idea of a salad simply has no appeal; but now that the weather is warming up again, I have been eating a salad for brunch.
I enjoy using flavored vinegars when I make salad dressings. One of the most interesting ones that i ever made was pine needle vinegar. It smells and tastes similar to balsamic vinegar; but it is basically free, and easy to make.
I used apple cider vinegar because it is healthier; but a plain white vinegar will give you a pretty green color in the pine vinegar. I trimmed off a couple end branches from a pine tree, washed the needles off, and shook them dry.
Then I trimmed the needles to about a half inch long, and also used the tiny little end nubs of the boughs. I put it all in a quart jar, and added the vinegar and then just put it in the cupboard for a week or so.
After that, I strained the pine vinegar into a small bottle for pouring out of and used it when making salad dressings.
It adds an interesting flavor and smell to the dressing, and is also very healthy.

http://www.bodyenlightenment.me/blog/2012/03/pine-needle-recipes/

 

Pat, you can do this with any kind of evergreen. What kinds of evergreen do you have where you live ? I looked it up online, and it said that fir or spruce was okay to use also, but spruce are sharp and prickly and not soft like pine and fir needles.
This will have more flavor and scent the longer that you let it sit in the cupboard, and I just checked it every week or so untilit look like it was a nice shade of green, and smelled like pine.

I was reading that this also works great for vinegar that you use for cleaning, not that it is any more effective; but the pine smell is nicer than the plain old smell of vinegar.

http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/pine-needle-vinegar