There’s always a question of what you do with your old Christmas tree when Christmas is over. According to Capital Gardens, you could turn it into mulch or compost, turn it into a bird feeder, or even replant it. But Gastro Obscura has another idea—use it to make a cocktail:
In the winter of 2015, I spent a considerable amount of time trying to extend the short shelf life of a Christmas tree. I drove around London’s leafy periphery, pilfering Christmas tree branches. It was odd behavior on my part, but this foraging exercise was rooted in a deep hatred of waste: My goal was to figure out how to eat and drink them.
Soon enough, I was serving dishes such as zesty Christmas tree-cured fish, spruce and ginger ice cream, tart Christmas tree pickles, and sweet apple and fir membrillo. I experimented with cocktails, too: spruce-infused gin, herby pine vodka, and fir cordial. Last year, I published a cookbook, How to Eat Your Christmas Tree, to encourage home cooks to have a good think about wastefulness and sustainability over Christmas time.
Oh yeah, and you can use a Christmas tree to make food, as you do. Sarcasm aside, this is a great sustainable Christmas idea and it involves nice food and cocktails (although I’m sure these festive ingredients would work just as well in non-alcoholic alternatives).
But a word of caution from the writer, Julia Georgallis:
3. Christmas tree needles are a bit like fish bones—they’re often sharp. So avoid eating any uncooked, unchopped needles.
I wouldn’t want anyone to end up at the dentist or hospital because they accidentally ate their Christmas tree so be careful. And make sure you pick the right tree: Spruce, fir, and pine are extremely edible but yew and cedar as extremely poisonous.
Update: Another Christmas cocktail via my friend Cass – spicy pomegranate Moscow mule recipe by Tieghan Gerard
