The Slow One
This one takes weeks, not minutes — and it's the only recipe in her cabinet with alcohol in it.
Curie's fifth rule: not every preparation is quick. A tincture sits for four to six weeks, slowly pulling everything useful out of a plant into a preservative strong enough to stay stable for years. This one's entirely an adult's project, start to finish — but it's worth knowing that sometimes patience is the actual ingredient.
About Cottage Core Curie
Went and got a real chemistry degree specifically because people kept waving off home-remedy knowledge as "just old wives' tales." She wanted the credentials to say the science was real without needing anyone's permission. Her apron does real work — tool loops, sample pockets, a stain she's stopped bothering to remove — and her mortar and pestle has a personality earned from genuine, decades-long use.