Editor’s Note: This excerpt is from I LOVE YOU, the debut cookbook by actor, bestselling author, and vegan activist Pamela Anderson. Featuring 80 of her favorite plant-based recipes, the vibrant book includes personal photos from her Vancouver Island home and reflections on life, love, and family. While not entirely oil-free, the recipes emphasize whole, minimally processed ingredients. Here, Anderson shares her four favorite flower tea blends.
Teas have grown on me. I feel a real connection to the earth and its medicinal gifts. I love to dry my own herbs from my own organic garden (to be sure they have not been sprayed with pesticides) or you can find food-grade dried herbs and flowers easily online or in specialty stores. If you forage them, clean them well. I love these tisanes hot and cold, or in between. And I also like to mix up batches of these teas to give to friends as gifts, wrapped up in jars with pretty fabric. The sensual blend is my personal favorite. On cold days I keep it in a thermos and sip on it all day long.
Sensual Blend
- ¼ cup (8 grams) dried spearmint
- 3 tablespoons dried lavender
- 3 tablespoons dried rose petals
- 2 tablespoons dried elderflowers
- 2 tablespoons dried red clover
Longevity Blend
- 1 tablespoon dried dandelion
- 1 tablespoon dried nettle
- 1 tablespoon dried ginger root pieces
Beauty Blend
- ¼ cup (8 grams) mixed white and green tea leaves
- ¼ cup (8 grams) rooibos
- ¼ cup (8 grams) dried calendula
- 3 tablespoons dried lemon balm
- 3 tablespoons dried lavender
- 2 tablespoons dried peppermint
- 2 tablespoons dried citrus peels
- 1 tablespoon dried lemongrass
Calming Sleepy Tea
- ½ cup (16 grams) dried chamomile flowers
- ¼ cup (8 grams) dried lavender
- ¼ cup (10 grams) dried orange peel
- 2 tablespoons dried rose petals
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients together gently and store in a glass jar. (Don’t forget to label. I use an old-school labeler or just masking tape—easy to read and comes off the jars cleanly when you want to reuse them.)
- To brew, heat water to boiling and pour over the herbs. Use about 2 teaspoons of the dried tea mixture for every 1 cup (240 ml) of water. Let steep for 3 to 5 minutes. Strain (or use a tea ball) and serve.
Excerpted from I LOVE YOU by Pamela Anderson with Maria Zizka. Copyright © 2024 by Anderson Media Company, LLC. Photographs by Ditte Isager. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.
