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How to Eat Your Leftover Christmas Tree: For Real! · Family Tree Food Stories

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  Nancy May: What do you do with a leftover Christmas tree?
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  While you eat it, of course.
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  Stay tuned, there's a lot more in store in this next episode
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  of Family Tree Food and Stories.
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  Have you ever thought of creating a new tradition of eating a Christmas tree?
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  My husband and I had our annual tradition of hiking through the freezing cold
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  snowy fields of New England, be it sunny, sleeting, or snowing, to chop down a fresh
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  Christmas tree early December each year.
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  Once the absolutely perfect tree was selected and tightly tied onto the roof
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  of our car, We'd head out to our favorite 60's style diner, the Sycamore Diner.
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  For a steaming hot cup of cocoa, with extra whipped cream, of course.
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  But I often wondered if it was possible to take those pine cones on that perfect tree
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  and harvest the little nuts from them.
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  You know, like pignoli nuts that are often used for cookies, or if there was
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  any other part of the tree that could be used for decoration or something
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  more delicious, Other than the homemade cookie cutter sheep cookies I'd always
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  place on our Christmas tree branches.
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  So, okay, my co host Sylvia Lovely has often said that
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  my tastes are a little weird.
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  However, in this case, although it may sound odd, guess what?
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  It turns out you can eat your leftover Christmas tree with a
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  side of extra turkey or stuffing.
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  and perhaps digging into this year's tree might spur a new eco friendly holiday
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  tradition with your family and friends.
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  Now before you decide to chow down on the beloved and bedazzled Christmas tree
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  standing in your living room and pulling out your fork and knife and getting ready
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  to sit down at the table, it's important to make sure that it's the right species.
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  Yes, there are actually some quite delicious trees out there.
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  however, there are other varietals that can cause you a good bellyache a few
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  extra unwelcome trips to the bathroom.
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  I will let you know that I have tested and tried these recipes and am
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  obviously still here to talk about them.
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  And yes, or maybe no, I have not made an extra unwanted trip to the loo.
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  Okay.
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  Maybe that's a little TMI, but I digress to get you going on your new
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  gastronomic feast, You want to use a pine tree for the Piney tree family.
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  These include the white pine, the eastern pine, and Jeffrey Pine.
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  some fur and spruce species are safe too.
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  But please make sure you don't eat any type of cedar, cypress, or yew tree.
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  These are toxic and can make you sick.
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  After all, we do want you around for next Christmas.
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  So how do you actually start eating a Christmas tree?
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  Alright, so I can't resist the bait on that one.
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  One bite at a time.
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  so it's a bad dad joke.
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  but seriously, Here are several ways to create a new gourmet
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  treat with your holiday wonder.
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  But first, let's take a quick break before I actually start digging into this one.
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  So let's dig in to how to actually eat your Christmas tree.
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  Let's start with something simple.
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  Alright, that's a little bit of a pun or play on words, because we're
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  starting with sweet pine syrup.
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  This isn't like your traditional maple syrup that's been boiled down
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  for hours to make a golden liquid that you pour over your pancakes.
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  Instead, you make this pine syrup kind of like a simple syrup.
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  Hence the pun, here's how it's done.
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  Take as many pine needles off your tree as possible.
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  You can do this by cutting off the branches and running your hand
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  down each branch in the opposite directions that the needles grow.
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  I do suggest you wear gloves to protect your hands from the tree
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  sap and the prickly needles though.
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  They get a little stingy.
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  Oh, and you might also want to do this over a large bucket or plastic bag because
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  it's going to make it easier to scoop up the needles and they're not going to
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  be sitting in the dirt And perhaps your living room rug, yeah, maybe with the
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  dog hair, yuck, next, rinse your piled collection really well, To Make Sure
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  That The Tinsel And Extra Ornament Pieces Haven't Accidentally Been Forgotten.
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  Then, In A Saucepan, Combine One Part Sugar With One Part Water.
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  For Example, One Cup Of Water And One Cup Of Sugar Is Actually The One To One Part.
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  You can double that or triple it if you want to make a little bit more syrup.
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  so that would be two cups sugar, two cups water, three cups sugar, three cups
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  water, 20 cups sugar, 20 cups water.
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  Depends on whether you make a gallon or so, but that's up to you.
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  And it's also up to how big your pot is.
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  then stir the water and the sugar until it's all nice and mixed together and
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  starting to kind of dissolve and melt.
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  Take your bunch of pine needles, the ones that you've just washed and
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  cleaned, And place them in the pot on your stove or an open fire pit
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  if you prefer to do this outside.
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  That could be kind of cool too.
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  once your pot comes to a rolling boil, let it sit there and boil for just a few
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  minutes and then turn the heat down and let it simmer till it becomes a thick and
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  sticky Typically about 25 minutes or so.
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  If you have a lot of water, You might need to make it a little bit longer.
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  so if you're beyond the one cup of water to one cup of sugar,
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  just watch it and make sure it's kind of hit that sticky point.
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  You'll know when you see it.
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  If it's not too hot, take a little spoonful, blow on it, cool
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  it, and see if it tastes good.
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  If you want a more pungent tasting syrup, I suggest just letting it simmer
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  for a bit longer till your mixture gets even more thick and syrupy.
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  Now at this point, you might want to add some interesting flavors, like orange
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  for a little bit more tang, or rosemary.
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  Or even lavender.
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  those are delicious additions and make it even more interesting later on.
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  when your concoction has it just the right point, take it off the
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  stove and let it cool slightly.
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  Strain out your pine needles and pour your creation into a clean jar or bottle.
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  If you have fancy bottles, it makes it even more fun to eat later on.
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  can be to give away as gifts.
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  simple syrup in your favorite herbal tea, over your pancakes, Or even cranberry
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  juice mixed with a little sparkling water.
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  Here's recipe number two, Pine Needle Tea.
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  I actually like this one.
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  I like the simple syrup too.
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  But to do this, you follow the same kind of directions, but without the sugar.
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  boil a big bunch of pine needles in a pot of water and let it simmer till it becomes
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  just the right flavor that you want.
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  the longer you boil and steep, the stronger the flavor will be.
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  if you want a more delicate flavor, only simmer it for about 15 20
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  minutes, and then let it cool just to the point where it's drinkable.
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  and of course, don't forget to strain out your pine needles.
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  If you like a little sweeter tea, other than just plain raw pine
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  needle tea, add your simple syrup.
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  I guarantee you're going to like this one.
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  Oh, and by the way, Pine needle tea is extremely rich in vitamin C, which
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  is perfect for winter cold season.
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  If you've got leftover tea, put it in a jug, store it in the refrigerator,
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  or maybe put some remaining part of it into ice cube trays and freeze them.
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  You can add them to other drinks or just melt them when you're
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  ready to drink them later on.
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  Perhaps a cool tea.
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  Add a little lemon, a little simple syrup, And voila, you've just consumed
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  another portion of your Christmas tree.
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  Next is pine bark flour for baking.
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  No, I haven't lost my mind, and you heard me correctly.
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  I did say pine bark flour.
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  You can use this for baking cookies, or cakes, or even bread.
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  And here's how you do it.
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  First off, you peel the bark off your Christmas tree.
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  It's the inner portion of the bark that you want, that softer part.
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  It's called the camabium.
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  I think that's how you pronounce it.
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  It's not the rough outer edges that you want.
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  it's that soft white portion of the inside of the bark.
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  Once you've scraped that part out, rinse it.
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  So it's clean and pat it dry with a paper towel.
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  Make sure it's nice and dry.
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  So it doesn't get lumpy.
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  Once it's dry, put it into your food processor or use a mortar and
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  pestle and grind it down until it's in a fine powder like substance.
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  Now, here's how you use this.
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  You don't use it straight as flour.
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  for a recipe that requires flour, Take one third of the amount of
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  flour that you need, take that out of the recipe, and substitute one
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  third of your pine bark baking flour.
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  most recipes will actually tolerate a substitution of about a third,
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  or maybe a little bit more.
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  That includes muffins, cookies, or even breads.
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  And what happens is it gets just a little nutty flavor to them.
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  A little bit more earthiness, shall we say.
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  And that's totally in these days.
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  So how cool is that?
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  now if you're not up for baking, how about a little pine infused ice cream?
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  And who doesn't like ice cream, right?
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  ice cream, you scream, we all scream for pine ice cream?
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  That's right.
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  Here's how you make it.
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  First of all, use your standard ice cream recipe.
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  It could be out of Betty Crocker, it could be out of the Joy of Cooking, it
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  could be, I don't know, I think Julia actually has a recipe for ice cream,
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  but you might have to check her book.
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  I haven't looked at it lately, but I do enjoy her Art of French Cooking Cookbook.
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  has cream, thick, heavy cream, right?
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  The fatter, the better.
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  You're going to want to infuse your Now You're going to want to take
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  a bunch of your pine needles, and put them into some cheesecloth.
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  I suggest just one layer of cheesecloth versus two just so that the flavors
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  of the milk get in there really well and so it's also easier to strain out.
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  put the amount of cream that you're going to need for your recipe into a pot and
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  then dip or I'll just say place your cheesecloth of pine needles into the
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  cream and let it sit there and warm up.
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  You don't want it to boil, you just want it to steep and get warm So
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  that those flavors get nice and infused into your ice cream cream.
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  Once that's done, take it off the oven and follow your standard
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  ice cream recipe instructions.
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  For a little extra flavor on top.
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  Who doesn't like whipped cream?
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  In that case, you can take your simple syrup and add it to fresh
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  cream, whip it up, And now you have a double dip Christmas tree ice cream.
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  I think that's a double dip.
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  Finally, if this all sounds just a little too complicated, and I know, the holidays
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  are rough, there's always something going on, and I don't know about you, but I'm
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  pretty exhausted come New Year's, and barely make it to that midnight hour.
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  make a pine needle old fashioned.
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  You can do that by adding a dash of your original simple syrup to your
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  drink, sit down by the fire with your favorite family member or loved
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  one, and just chill for the night.
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  So you see, there's actually a lot of ways to create a new and yes,
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  even delicious family tradition
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  and fun food story.
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  I'm pretty sure that if you try eating your Christmas tree, this
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  is a family tree, literally, food story, that will be passed down
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  for at least a few generations.
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  I bet they'll say, Crazy Aunt Nancy gave me that one.
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  Yeah, right?
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  but it's really good.
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  You gotta try it.
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  At least until you get the Artificial Christmas Tree.
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  P.
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  S.
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  Don't try this with one of those.
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  on that note, folks, Sylvie and I hope that you've enjoyed this New Family Food
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  Tradition, Eating Your Christmas Tree.
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  Stay tuned, there's a lot more in store in the year 2025.
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  Both fun, delicious, and yes, filled with laughter and joy,
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  and new and old traditions.
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  Take care, we'll hear you soon, and we'll see you soon.
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  Bye bye.