When I first started studying Traditional East Asian medicine, it felt like if I studied hard enough, I could access the secrets of the universe. I asked myself a lot, how did they ever figure this out?! It seemed like only the most enlightened master could discover how to use plants and the body's own mechanisms so effectively. I still think EAM describes the secrets of the universe, and that deep meditative states have contributed to this and all traditional medicines, but from watching my own kid, I think this information is more accessible to us all than we realize if we just begin to trust it.
The first time I made pears poached in a dash of red wine and cinnamon (recipe to follow), My 5 year old saw me pouring the cooked liquid over the cooked fruit and asked for a glass of it to drink. She took a sip and exclaimed, "I took a drink and it went straight to my heart!" and put her hands over her heart. Red wine is moving to the blood and cinnamon is a key herb for the heart (and blood). I love stewed apples and pears, and lately I've been making this with both fruits. It is nourishing and warming to the digestive system, perfect for this time of year.
Recipe:
pears (not too ripe, or not ripe at all -- I've been using the bosc pears)
apples
a splash of red wine
a stick of cinnamon
Peel, quarter, and seed the fruit. Add an inch or two of water to a large pot, add a splash of red wine, add a stick of cinnamon. Put a steam basket on top of this and fill with your fruit. Steam it until everything is cooked. If you want, you can further reduce the liquid after you've removed the fruit and steam basket, but you don't have to. Eat warm, with or without yoghurt, with the juices spooned over it. Store in the steam liquid and reheat before eating.