Bye, Bye 2009! Happy New Year to You All!

What a last day of 2009!  Woke up to wet, heavy snow.  We felt it in the air yesterday even before it fell.  Really beautiful to see in the garden!  Have had a great year of traveling.  The gardening year was a little strange, but because of you dear readers, The Herbal Husband and I have enjoyed our lives to the fullest!  We are blessed to have you all in our lives and hope that 2010 will be an even better year for us all!

Auld Lang Syne

Grocery shopping has taken on a whole new meaning since Herb retired.
We spend twice as long, we move twice as slowly, we spend more.
My friend Jan warned me, "Never let (him) take over pushing the cart."
I think that is a good general all around warning for new retirees' wives.

Anyhow, this week, near the end of our seemingly endless trek, Herb slowed down to an interminable snail's pace. I'm not kiddin'. I thought maybe The Old Timers was kicking in.
After a few minutes, I figured out he was searching for something near the front of the store check-out aisles. Every s-i-n-g-l-e lane.

The new year's The Old Farmer's Almanac is a tradition in our house, and I'd forgotten. No wonder he was spending so much time in the magazine department while I was picking up mouthwash and aspirin in the next department over. We bought a copy. Mission accomplished.



(An oldie but goodie, eh? I just tripped across it while Googling for the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne. The grocery store reference was totally coincidental with my vignette above. Wooo.
Speaking of coincidences AND oldies but goodies, Herb brought home a season of Northern Exposure on dvd, from the library, the very day I posted that Solstice clip below. He doesn't read the blog - and we hadn't been talking about N/Ex either. Let me repeat, Wooo - I'm beginning to think Googling is the new Tarot, or tea leaves. )

Modern old gal that I am, I get free weekly updates in my email. "Wit and Wisdom delivered to your email box from The Old Farmer's Almanac," a.k.a. the Almanac Companion Newsletter. You can subscribe (link) http://www.almanac.com/

Here's a sample of Almanac-ky type information/trivia that I love to read, from this week's newsletter (slightly edited):

New Year’s Eve—December 31
Among the various superstitions surrounding the advent of the New Year is the nearly mandatory practice of noisemaking at midnight.
Now looked upon as mere revelry, it was once meant to drive out the old year and banish evil spirits, who would be scared off by the noise.
Many end-of-year practices actually date from ancient times. As early as 2600 B.C., Babylonians celebrated the new year with 11-day-long feasts and originated the noisemaking habit.
• In ancient Thailand, guns were fired to frighten off demons.
• In China, firecrackers routed the forces of darkness.
• In the early American colonies, the sounds of pistol shots rang through the air.
Today, Italians let their church bells peal, the Swiss beat drums and pots and pans, and North Americans sound sirens, car horns, boat whistles, and party horns—as well as set off fireworks—to bid the old year farewell.

Hogmanay—December 31
The Scottish celebrate Hogmanay, the word children use to ask for their traditional present of an oatmeal cake.

The custom of first-footing is also an important part of the celebration. The first person to cross the threshold into one's home, called the first footer, is an indication of the year to come. Although the tradition varies, if the first footer is tall and dark, the year will be a good one.

December 31—the Full Moon is blue
The 31st brings a second full Moon this month—a so-called “blue Moon”—to adorn the final night of the year. When there are two full Moons in a single month, the second is often called a “blue Moon.” On average, a "blue Moon" occurs once every 2-1/2 to 3 years.

This full Moon is called the Long Nights Moon by some Native American tribes.

What’s “NEW”?
The beginning of a new year has always been a matter of preference!
• Ancient Egypt believed that it occurred when the Nile overflowed its banks.
• Some Native Americans waited for the ripening of acorns.
• The Romans, in 153 B.C., were the first to use January 1, but this date wasn’t accepted by the American colonists until 1752.
Today, Orthodox Eastern churches celebrate on January 14; the Chinese New Year falls between January 21 and February 20; and the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, arrives between September 6 and October 5.

What’s “AULD”?
“Auld Lang Syne” is sung at the stroke of midnight on December 31 in almost every English-speaking country in the world.
Written by Robert Burns in 1788, it was first published in 1796 after Burns’s death. “Auld Lang Syne” literally means “old long ago” or, simply, “the good old days.”

Don't forget to pick up your copy of of the 2010 The Old Farmer's Almanac. Happy New Year!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year Goes On!

Well, I only received one additional seed catalog, but it is a good one.  Park Seed has been around since 1868 for heaven sake!  Their operation is out of Greenwood, SC.  I haven't had their catalog for a while, but it's like an old friend.  Looking forward to that cup of tea!

Finding the spice of life: Cinnamon

The following blogpost is part of a blog party on warming herbs, graciously hosted by Yael Grauer. You can see the whole party here.

Intro: For the past two years at HerbMentor.com we have studied one herb a month. This gives us a chance to really experience each plant and learn about it in many ways. Members of HerbMentor.com have the option of filling out monthly study sheets to both increase their learning and record their experiences. Throughout each month new videos, recipes, how to articles, interviews with innovative herbalists, and other herbal content is posted. In the community forums members are encouraged to post questions, share stories and recipes, and offer general guidance. Every other month, John and I host an Herb Circle Gathering where members can call in and we can interact on a more personal level. For the month of January 2010 we will be studying the sweet, warming, and intoxicating spice, cinnamon. This article was originally posted on HerbMentor.com as the welcoming overview of our studies.


Scientific Name: Cinnamomum aromaticum, Cinnamomum cassia, Cinnamomum zeylanicum

Family: Lauraceae

Parts used: Bark (prepared as sticks, chips, powder, or essential oil), twigs, dried flowers.

Properties: Aromatic stimulant, warming, demulcent, sweet, astringent, anodyne, hypoglycemic, anti-oxidant.

Many of us in the northern hemisphere are shrouded in the darkness of winter. Herbaceous plants hibernate in the Earth as we stay cozy in our homes. At HerbMentor.com we chose to study cinnamon this time of year, not only because everyone will have access to it, but also because it is a warming tonic perfect for this cold time of year.

Cinnamon bark by any other name would certainly taste as sweet… Or so the saying goes.

There is some confusion concerning cinnamon as the common name refers to several different species of cinnamon that are similar, but not the same.

In the United States if you buy ground cinnamon from the store you are most likely buying Cinnamomum cassia (cassia cinnamon). This cinnamon is native to Indonesia and now grows in tropical climates all around the world.

In other parts of the world, Cinnamomum zeylanicum is considered the “true cinnamon” and is also called ceylon cinnamon.

Ceylon cinnamon is considered to have sweeter and lighter flavor, while cassia cinnamon is considered to be spicier and more pungent. Ceylon cinnamon is native to Sri Lanka or Ceylon. Referring to the difference in tastes between these two spices, chefs prefer cassia cinnamon in savory dishes such as meats and soups and prefer the sweeter Ceylon cinnamon in dessert dishes.

There are actually over a 100 different varieties of cinnamon trees out in the world, but these two are the most commercially available. When it’s necessary to distinguish between these two kinds of cinnamon, I’ll refer to them as either cassia cinnamon or ceylon cinnamon. You can buy both of these varieties at Mountain Rose Herbs.





This aromatic spice has a rich history that reaches at least as far back as 2700 BC where it was first written about in Chinese texts. The Chinese continue to use cinnamon extensively and distinguish uses between the bark (rou gui) and twigs (gui zhi). According to Lesley Tierra, among the many uses of cinnamon the twigs are used for fevers with an absence of sweating while the bark is used when there is copious sweating.

We find cinnamon in the Bible when Moses is told to make holy anointing oil using two different kinds of cinnamon. The ancient Egyptians also used cinnamon not only to flavor food but also in the embalming process.

Cinnamon was a highly regarded spice worth an incredible amount. In the 1st century C.E., Pliny the Elder described in writings that cinnamon was 15 times the value of silver per weight. For centuries the Arabs controlled the cinnamon trade and there were many fantastical stories about where cinnamon came from and how it was cultivated in order to enhance the magic surrounding this sweet foreign spice and keep prices high.

Battles were fought over cinnamon. During the 1500s the Portuguese colonized Sri Lanka and began to control the cinnamon spice trade. By 1658 the Dutch East India Company had taken over operations. Finally, by the late 1700s the English defeated the Dutch and took control of the island, but by this time the cinnamon trade was declining due to the introduction of the more abundant cassia cinnamon cultivation in other parts of the world.

Cinnamon trees are in the Laurel family. Although they can grow up to 60 feet tall, the trees under cultivation are heavily pruned in order to encourage the tree to generate small shoots.

They produce leaves that are ovate-oblong in shape and are about 3 to 7 inches long.


The flowers have a distinct aroma and when in bloom bees and other pollinating insects swarm the air, irresistibly attracted to the sweet scent. They are arranged in panicles (similar to lilac flowers) and have a greenish color.


The fruit is a small purple berry containing a single seed. Sometimes these flowers are dried and also used as a spice.


Cultivation of cinnamon is a long, arduous process requiring hard work. This traditional method has been passed down for centuries and remains mainly unchanged.

Trees are grown on plantations and are heavily pruned when they are two years old. This creates a lot of bushy shoots at the base of the tree.

These shoots are harvested after a monsoon, which makes them easier to process. Then the hard work begins by separating the inner bark from the rest of the tree. Layers of these inner barks are pressed together and then laid out to dry whereby the bark curls together to form the cinnamon “sticks” also called cinnamon quills. After they are properly dried, they are then cut to a specific size and shipped around the world.

Although we are most familiar with cinnamon as a culinary spice that really goes well with apples and pastries, cinnamon has a long list of medicinal attributes.

Its pleasing, spicy, aromatic, and sweet taste combined with its warming attributes can ease digestive woes by increasing circulation and moving along stagnate digestion. This makes it useful for a variety of digestive complaints including indigestion, gas, and cramping.

Physiomedicalist William Cook reports, “Cinnamon bark is one of the pleasantest of the spices, warming, diffusibly stimulating, and leaving behind a gentle astringent influence. It acts upon the stomach, and through it upon the whole sympathetic system–also promoting assimilation, and stimulating the entire nervous and arterial organisms to a moderate extent.”

It can be used to increase general circulation of the body in cases where there are chronically cold hands and feet. Or, it can be used in more acute situations like colds and the flu in which the person feels shivery and cold. Herbalist Lesley Tierra says, “Cinnamon bark also leads the body’s metabolic fires back to their source, alleviating symptoms of a hot upper body and cold lower body.”

In the HerbMentor Radio show of December 2009, jim mcdonald gives an almost two-hour lesson on Vitalist treatments of fevers. During that session he discusses using cinnamon for fevers in cases in which the body externally feels cold and clammy but there is copious sweating, as well as diarrhea. In this way you can warm the exterior, astringe copious sweating, and tone loose bowels to avoid dehydration.

In the simple remedies section of HerbMentor.com, John has posted a cinnamon spiced milk recipe. This is a nutritive beverage that warms the body, supports digestion, and can help tone the lower digestive tract to relieve loose or runny bowels.

Cinnamon has an affinity for the mouth and teeth. As an anodyne, cinnamon has been used to alleviate toothaches. You can even use cinnamon powder to brush your teeth for a whiter, brighter smile and fresh breath. The astringent and anti-microbial properties of cinnamon will help support oral health that goes beyond cosmetic improvements.

Cinnamon is a common ingredient in chai teas. A chai spiced tea can be a great base for administering other herbs, especially those to alleviate cold symptoms or that don’t taste as pleasing. You can find Kimberly’s awesome Immune Building Chai recipe in the HerbMentor news section.

Studies have shown cinnamon to be effective in relieving arthritic pain. In a study at Copenhagen University, patients were given a mixture of half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder along with one tablespoon of honey every morning before breakfast. After one week they had significant relief in arthritis pain and could walk without pain within one month.

Helping to warm the interior and clear stagnation also makes cinnamon a great ally for menstrual cramping. You can make a basic chai tea for this purpose while also adding crampbark (Viburnum opulus) to the mix for increased anti-spasmodic properties. You can see my blog post on this here. Cinnamon not only relieves cramping, but according to Felter and Lloyd’s Kings American Dispensory cinnamon is specifically indicated for “Post-partum and other uterine hemorrhage, with profuse flow, cold extremities, and pallid surface.”

Cinnamon has been making headline news lately for its ability to decrease insulin resistance and lower blood sugar levels in diabetics. Most of these studies involve cassia cinnamon. People with insulin-dependent diabetes need to consult their doctor about taking cinnamon so that injected insulin levels can be adjusted as necessary.

Effective against Candida overgrowth, cinnamon can be used to stop yeast infections that are resistant to western anti-yeast drugs. High blood sugar levels can be a contributing cause of chronic yeast infections and I find it interesting that cinnamon can help in that arena as well.

Cinnamon is such an effective blood thinner that if you are taking blood thinning medications it is not advised to take therapeutic doses of cinnamon at the same time.

Cinnamon offers nutrient benefits as well. It is high in manganese and a good source of calcium and iron.

For the next two months we’ll be focusing on learning all that we can from cinnamon and this spice offers a myriad of ways in which to do that.

You can use it in cooking, not only for sweet desserts, but in rich savory dishes as well. The Herbalpedia (an extensive digital encyclopedia of herbs) entry for cinnamon offers many different recipes. Add it to a variety of tea blends for a sweet spicy addition.

You can tincture cinnamon, use it as a liniment or massage oil, brush your teeth with the powder, try it in warmed milk or hot cocoa, or simply mixed with honey.

If you’ve never had a cinnamon shrub before, I highly recommend Kimberly’s incredible recipe for the delicious beverage.

Please note that cinnamon is contra-indicated during pregnancy. Culinary amounts are fine but it is best to avoid it in extremely large doses.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year Continued!

The fun continues!   The mail brought these two favorite catalogs today!  The one on the left is one of my favorite old fashioned flower seed catalogs, Select Seeds.  They are located in Connecticut.  The second catalog is Nichols Garden Nursery.  They are located in Oregon and are celebrating their 60th year!  I have ordered from both of these catalogs with great success.  Please keep your local and these smaller businesses going!  They have lots of unusual choices at reasonable prices.  Wonder what tomorrow's mail will bring?  Stay tuned!

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Craft: Firestarters for the depth of winter

November was so busy (wasn't it?) I'm only finally getting a chance to catch up now ... so today I want to shed a little light on a simple craft that I contributed to a craft sale/open house that the Herb Society participates in every fall at our local historical tourist attraction, Crossroads Village.

Marketed to deer widows, Ladies' Night Out is a lot of fun - the weather is a factor, but by early November the lovely Christmas lights are up at the Village, and women who attend get a preview showing, as well as all the other goodies the Village marketers and supporting organizations brew up. The Herb Society last year ran out of our complementary make-it-and-take-it heat sealed tea bags filled with lavender, and this year, we ran out of bags for our fill-your-own potpourri bags. The event gets bigger every year! and selling our crafts and baked goods helps fill our 'ways and means' coffer to spend on our programs and projects.

That said, my friend Ulrike gave me a bag of pine cones when she was clearing out her excess craft stores last summer, so I Googled around and found some recipes for good old fashioned waxed pine cone fire-starters, like the ones we made in Girl Scouts when I was a kid. This is what I came up with:


Craft Recipe: Waxed Pine Cone Fire Starters

In a double boiler, or better yet, in a Pyrex measuring cup placed in hot water in a controlled heating pot such as my dedicated former Fry Daddy, melt old candle stubs and/or canning paraffin until just liquified. Fish out the old candle wicks and discard them.
(Let me mention, melted wax is dangerous, flammable. Watch it carefully and keep the temp low - just enough to melt your wax.)

Place candy or mini-muffin sized paper cupcake liners in a mini-muffin pan. Smoosh a wad of cotton dryer lint in each cup. Carefully fill each lint/liner with some melted paraffin and set aside to dry.
Meanwhile, wrap a length of candle wicking around the bottom of each pine cone, leaving a bit to light sticking out. Dip these pine cones in the melted wax, using a tongs. While still soft, place each dipped pine cone in turn on it's own wax and lint-filled cupcake liner to dry. The melted wax dripping from the pine cones will stick the cones to the lint.

When thoroughly dry, take the whole waxed cone/lint/paper with the tongs, and dip the whole thing again in colored, scented wax. For the second, colored, dipping, I used old red, then green, candle stubs from Christmases Past. (To add depth of color, add some peeled Crayola crayons.) For a Christmas-y scent, I added a swig of cinnamon oil (find it in the candy/frosting making aisle) to the red wax, and peppermint oil to the green wax.
Allow to dry thoroughly in the mini-muffin cups. Voila!



Package for gift giving by filling the bottom of clean recycled baskets (re-gifted, thrifted, or garage sale rejects) with holiday tissue paper. Arrange the fire starters in a single layer. Add a bow or some greenery - they can be dressed quite prettily. They cost practically nothing to make, except your time.


Finally, I printed "Use and Safety" inserts to package in each basket, (you always hope that people act like adults around fire. But You Never Know!) Here is the text:

Caution: These are fire starters, NOT candles! They burn hot -with a flame- for about 20 minutes.
Use ONLY for starting fires in fireplaces and fire pits.
Expect about 2 Tablespoons (1/8th cup) of wax to melt from them, so plan accordingly. If using in a fireplace, place on a small fireproof pan to protect your firebrick from melted wax.

To use: Lay one starter on its side with the wick underneath. Light wick and edges of paper liner.
Add tinder or fatwood, larger sticks, then larger wood and logs in sequence.
Always use safety precautions around fires.
Never leave fire unattended.
Douse ashes completely when finished.

Note: Anxiety ridden mother that I am, I did a test run on the patio, so I could write with authority on the safety and use concerns ...

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

We are getting lake effect snow at the moment!  So it was good that in the mail today came these two seed catalogs.  Love it!  I have not ordered from either one, but intend to order something this year for next!  Harris Seeds is out of Rochester, New York.  Chock full of vegetable and flower seeds, plants, bulbs and tubers.  Territorial Seed Company is located in Cottage Grove, Oregon.  Doesn't that sound quaint?  Their catalog is full of veggie seeds and plants, flower seeds, herb seeds and plants and something called the Gardener's Tool Shed.  Both have new varieties for 2010!  This is my kind of shopping! 

The Handfasting

A few months ago, dear friends asked my sister and me to prepare a handfasting for them. They would be having a church wedding as well. The handfasting was a more personal choice for them. We'd all met years ago at the Renaissance Faire, and are fond of archaic, ancient rituals that have been left behind. The symbolic binding of a couple's hands is the basis for the terms we've come to know as "the bonds of holy matrimony" and "tying the knot". During the Middle Ages, public hand-holding signified exclusivity in a relationship. Handfastings were considered to be valid for a year and a day - or as long as the couple chose to commit to one another. Rings were only for the very rich, so a ceremony involving a cord sufficed.
The cord signifies that the couple has chosen to pledge to share their higher selves and all that is divine within them. It is tied loosely and removed without being untied so that it remains as a circle.
There are many circles in a handfasting. Most couples choose to wear circles of flowers and greens upon their heads, and for Laura and Robbie, the celebrants encircled us, holding hands. The circle represents the infinite love that knows no boundaries or restrictions.

Because our ceremony was planned across many miles while the couple was working hard on the larger wedding - and because we've known them so well for so long - we put together instruction and vows that we knew they'd like.
The final symbolism in the handfasting is for the couple to jump over a broom. The broom sweeps away any remnants of the past which no longer serve us. They jump together into their common future. In this case, we did not have "Cakes and Ale" because the wedding feast was yet to come.
It was really delightful to be able to share in their love and commitment to one another. They have been together through some very thick and thin times. Robbie is a force of nature, and Laura is a an amazing woman filled with talent and empathy. The circle of friends that gathered to be with them were wonderful, warm, and witty. It was the best party I've been to in a very long time. The solid fog that socked in the mountainside was almost a welcome sight, because it meant that we rented a room, allowing us to partake of all the more merrymaking!

My version of Elderberry Cough Syrup

It's really pretty tasty! And I think it's working during this germ-y season... I'll let you know.

I made some elderberry tincture last winter after taking a class by Jim McDonald that turned me on to tincturing, and then finding dehydrated berries for sale at a reliable beer-making supply shop.

Oh! BTW, a little news: Herb just learned this week that he won a third Silver Medal in the 2009 Great Lakes International Cider & Perry Competition, for his locally sourced, homemade (non-commercial) spiced apple wine. It really is good!

Back. Anyway, my tincture seemed nice, but I never really had a need to use it. I seem to be awfully healthy for such a broken down old gal (knocking on wood).
The only elderberries I've been able to find 'growing wild' are so near to roads that I don't trust their safety. This spring I planted a couple of tiny shrubs from the Conservation District in my backyard, but of course they need some time to grow.

Elderberry has been talked about by so many herbalists, especially during the recent season of flu scare, that I thought I'd try my hand at making and using 'it'. Most of the cough syrup recipes I've seen seem similar enough, so I thought I'd do my own riff and let you know how it turned out.

What I did
In a large saucepan combine:
1/2 cup dried elderberries
2 cups hot water
Bring to a boil while stirring constantly, then lower the heat and simmer about an hour, mashing berries occasionally.
(If you used fresh berries, you would only need a little water to keep from burning the berries initially, and you could simmer just long enough to juice the berries, but that's another recipe.)

Keep the lid on while simmering, and don't boil. If you can smell the berries in clouds of steam, then valuable essential nutrients are escaping into the air.
Remember, mash occasionally.

Pour it all into a cheesecloth lined 4-cup measuring cup to strain. Let sit to drain thoroughly.

Squeeze gently and discard berry pulp. (I set it aside to feed to my worm bin.)

Measure liquid and pour back in saucepan. To 1 1/2 cups juice stir in one generous cup of honey, heating briefly to blend well.

Remove from heat. For enhanced keeping quality, stir in 4 oz.* vodka, brandy or tincture.

Here is my innovation: I added that Elderberry tincture that I had made last fall. Double the berry, double the fun!

*By volume 8 + 12= 20 oz. : 20%= 4 oz.

I bottled mine in a quart canning jar with a plastic lid. It's pretty nice syrup - it's be good over ice cream or cake, or for an aperitif or a nightcap.
But to use 'medicinally' in the folk tradition, an adult dose would be a teaspoon a day. But look at the ingredients - a Tablespoon wouldn't hurt either, or stirring a teaspoon into a cuppa tea more often than once a day wouldn't hurt, might help build your resistance to cold and flu.

Let Me Spend Some of Your Christmas Cash for You!

It didn't get a chance to tell you my favorite herbal purchases ahead of time.  So here they are now that you might have gotten some extra cash for Christmas!  One of my favorite herbal authors is Sharon Lovejoy and she has a new book coming out in a few weeks called Toad Cottage & Shooting Stars.  If you have children in your life, Sharon's early books and this latest one will appeal to the young and old alike.  My favorite books of hers are A Blessing of Toads, her columns for one of my favorite gardening magazines, Country Living Gardener.  Also, Trowel & Error which gives you over 700 shortcuts, tips & remedies for the Gardener.  These are the days when I love to get a cup of tea and curl up with a good book and you will love Sharon's wisdom and illustrations.  She's a gem.  My second choice of herbal authors is Susan Belsinger.  Her latest book is called the creative herbal home co-written with Tina Marie Wilcox chock full of tips and recipes for the herbal home.  Susan has co-authored many books on herbs and the other favorite of mine is Basil An Herb Lover's Guide co-authored with Tom DeBaggio.  It has great information on basil and a lot of delicious and easy recipes.

On to my favorite magazines, The Herb Companion and The Herb Quarterly, they have kept me company for many years and I can read them over and over and always find something new in the herbal world.  So a subscription to either magazine is always a good investment for your Christmas cash.

Finally, my favorite herb and spice company, Penzeys.  We are lucky to have a Penzeys store in Pittsburgh, but the online version is a great way to get recipes and single herbs and spices or combination of herbs and spices in gift boxes.  Hope you had a great holiday and some leftover cash to splurge on a great herbal gift for you!

Cwaazy Cwis-mas

It was a Great Party!



At least we had one adult in the house...

"Look deep into nature, and you will understand everything better."
- Albert Einstein

Every Christmas is the same, but different

We put our tree in the great room this year, a good plan because Patrick slept on the fold out couch in the living room. It is a smallish tree this year, but the lights are reflected in the glass corner windows.



Where the tree was last year, the nativity set is center front. The girls loved being able to rearrange the scene. One minute Baby Jesus is in the loft, the next minute, K puts all of the sheep in my slipper to keep them warm through the night.
These ceramic pieces have been well loved by children through the years - ears missing, a horn chipped off, multiple glued fractures. That's Okay with this grandmother.



Peace on Earth, Good Will to All.

Internets, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Every so often it hits me that the young'uns around here don't remember the days before the internet. That just floors me. My daughter has no recollection of a day before email. By the time she was 6 or 7, computers were a part of our lives.
Does anyone even remember DOS? I still have nightmares about the UniVac mainframe that was part of my job as a police dispatcher back in the late 70's. It was a blank screen with a blinking cursor. The Home key, and the Escape key were very important. I still distinctly remember the day that I spent 6 hours entering a stolen car with a boat and boat trailer - only to recieve a call that it had been found. Then having to remove it.
It isn't like it was all that long ago, and yet in a handful of years, everything changed. It's remarkable, really.
When my sister and I started in business during the early 90's, I can remember spending a day or two sitting and writing notes to different suppliers, requesting catalogs and sales sheets. Some we phoned. In order to find new suppliers, we needed to go to the New York Gift Show, and comb through the bazillion booths in order to find a few that were relevant to our business. It was grueling - and fun. We got to meet some amazing people. But everything was slower. Much slower. Orders were placed over the telephone, or later the fax.

Staying in touch with friends was also more deliberate and it took more time. Sometimes it was phone calls, sometimes letters - and sometimes we just lost track of each other, tossed around by the winds like seeds from a maple tree.

Without the internet, it would be impossible for an independent magazine to exist and prosper (at least for me). How would the word get out? How would the articles arrive? Oh, the typing involved, and then I couldn't even email the file to the printer!

Now I will run into friends and they will tell me that they keep up with me by reading the blog (HI!). I am always aware of that as I write, and sometimes picture a myriad of faces while tapping away on the keys. Some are faces that I've never seen, and only make up to match the personality I've come to know as a cyber friend. Seriously, folks... would you have believed that 20 years ago? Certainly in the beginning there was a dearth of civility, as people tore into each other on forums and established pecking orders. It seemed that the internet would be a harsh place, and yet we've learned to use it more gently over the years. Looking at that evolution, we progressed very rapidly, thank goodness!

I've finally gotten a cellphone, but can never remember to take it with me anywhere. I've never sent a text message. Dragging my feet, I just don't know how many sea changes I can handle in a decade. I mean, I still remember telephones that were on party-lines. Oh oh... before I wind up sounding WAY too much like Andy Rooney, I will wrap this up!

Merry Christmas from Our House to Yours!

Can't believe we're only two days away!  Hasn't this year flown by?  Hope you have a great holiday and I'll be blogging again soon!  Talk to you later.

"One kind word can warm three winter months."
- Japanese Proverb

Home.

Safe, and well hugged by his mother, for two, no three days. Verifiably healthy and whole. The best gift.



And he brought his dear friend. Makes it easier to say goodbye again.



What did we do? We watched movies that Pat brought (District 9, Up (which I loved!), and Lost season 5) we ate too much, he read and rested, we talked and opened presents, we looked at phone photos of his kitten, we went out to dinner at his favorite Italian restaurant with Tony and the girls, Mom took his picture, we hugged goodbye.

Perhaps December should be renamed Zippy

I am well aware of the fact that time passes much more quickly as we age. At 4, I can recall wanting to go to school so badly, and the wait went on forever. In school, I couldn't imagine ever graduating. In my 20's, all of the seasons seemed to last forever. Now in my 50's, it would seem that each month is but a day or two, with the occasional bad month lasting an eternity.
But what the heck happened to December? I mean, really! Last night I went to bed and it was mid-November. Suddenly the Solstice has passed and we are on the doorstep of Christmas rushing headlong into 2010! Truth be told, I don't even think I got used to writing 2009 yet (or even 20 anything, for that matter).
So yes, this may be a bit of exaggeration, but not much. I keep thinking of that Steve Miller song, "Time keeps on slippin', slippin, slippin, into the future..."
The upside of this of course, is that next time I wake up it will just about be spring. The seed catalogs are arriving now. They are so beautiful! Most of them have an old-timey feel (there's that theme again), and the one I got from Landreths' today is just breathtaking. This is their 225th year celebration, and the catalog has some truly frame worthy artwork inside. The cover is from their 1884 catalog, for instance.
I suppose I'd better hurry and plan the garden before fall is upon me once more.
This month has flown by so quickly. Between holding classes, getting the newest issue of the magazine out, shipping orders (the jar is 3/4's full that holds the entries for the vessel pendant!) and helping with Maryanne's soap, it seemed impossible for it to be time for Molly to be home for college already. Yet last night, she and friend Lisa were upstairs, just like the old days, whooping and laughing. The Balms and Salves making DVD is grinding along at a pretty slow pace, but once we get a good chunk of time to really sit down and work on it, that will go very quickly.
Anyhow, this is just to let you know that I'm still alive. Just hopping and skipping along. Probably see you in the new year if not before, so HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Decorated All Year Round!

I completely forgot!!  I'm sort of decorated all year round!  I got this snowman when I went to an herbal fair down in southwestern Ohio several years ago.  Sadly there is no more herb fair, but the snowman has survived.  I had every intention of putting it on our front door that year, but he didn't quite make it!  The Herbal Husband took a liking to him and didn't want him to fade with all of the sun we have this time of year!  The white stuff on his cap isn't snow.  It's good old dust!

The Last Bright Day of Fall?

Yesterday was the last day of fall!  There was such a beautiful sky though and remember we are in our gray period now.  So we treasure these beautiful blue sky days and nights!

Recipe: (Roll and Cut Out) Sugar Cookies

Our little baker's helpers made Christmas cookies for Santa. 'A' wouldn't sit still enough for a photo, confirming the effect of too much sugar on 2-year olds, but 'K' seems to be enjoying herself as she shows off her handiwork.



The girls took home gingerbread cookies and sugar cut outs for their daddy and mommy, and to leave a few for Santa on The Big Night. Mission accomplished.
This is my new favorite recipe for a rich, short-but still soft- Christmas cookie.

RECIPE: Christmas Sugar Cut Outs

Sift together into a bowl and set aside:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a stand mixer bowl, combine thoroughly:
1 cup butter, softened
1 three-ounce package Philly cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar

Beat in:
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla

Then gradually stir in the dry ingredients, at medium speed, until incorporated. By hand, form the dough into two balls, wrap and refrigerate for an hour or so.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Roll dough 1/8 to 1/4" thick.
Cut out shapes and place on parchment-lined baking sheets.
Bake about 7 minutes, until the bottoms just begin to show color.
Cool pans a minute on racks, then remove cookies to rack and cool.

When thoroughly cool, decorate with icing as desired.
Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Recipe: Gingerbread Cut-out Cookies

I made the sugar cut out dough (above) and this dough for gingerbread boys on Friday, and refrigerated it so we'd have it ready for the girls to cut, bake and decorate.
The MOST fun about being a grandmother is when K comes over and tells me she wants to do a 'project'.

This recipe for Gingerbread Boys has been our favorite for 33 or so years.
Now A grabs one in her little fist, runs around the table, and chants,
"Run, run, run, as fast as you can!
You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!"

Gingerbread Boys

Sift together, and set aside:
3 cups flour (you can go 2:1 A.P. to whole wheat)
2 t. cinnamon
2 t. ground ginger
1 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda

In a stand mixer bowl, cream together:
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark molasses
1 egg
1 t. vanilla extract

Stir in dry ingredients until well incorporated. Form dough into two flattened balls, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll dough on a lightly floured board, to 1/4". Cut shapes and place on parchment.
Reroll and cut rest of dough.
Bake 8-10 minutes.
Cool 2 minutes on sheet before removing to rack to cool.
Makes about 8 big Gingerbread Men and a lot of small ones.

A Minimalist Christmas!

I mentioned that the minimalist Christmas decorating is happening this year!  The one decoration on this grapevine wreath is a cardinal bell.  We love our cardinals!  We have at least five couples who come and dine with us each day.  I love that both the males and females sing!  Hope your decorating is going well.  Talk to you later.

Just in Time for Christmas!

Well, we finally have some real snow.  Our friends up and down and eastern seaboard are getting hammered.  Even though it is technically still the fall season, it is more like winter.  Hope the snow stays for Christmas!  Working on my minimalist decorating this afternoon and listening to Tony Bennett (he is the best) and Andrea Bocelli.  Andrea Bocelli makes me weepy!  When he sings Somos Novios (It's Impossible) with Christina Aguilera.  WOW!  It is just amazing!  Well, got to finish my mini decorating!  Talk to you later.

Guest Blogging for The Herb Companion Magazine!

Can you believe it!  We are nearly at the end of the year.  This is my last post of the year for The Herb Companion magazine.  I have done 17 posts this year and have enjoyed every one of them.  Hope you enjoy this one!  It celebrates the holidays and the 2009 herb of the year, bay laurel.

The Herbal Husband's Holiday Decorating!

We went to one of our favorite restaurants the other night, Aladdin's Eatery.  The Herbal Husband loves their dessert and got their baklava sampler to take home.  It had this ribbon around it.  Bingo, instant decorating The Herbal Husband way!  Here is the full holiday effect!  I promise we are doing more holiday decorating!  Really!

The Ornaments are Multiplying!

Foxy has found a friend!  Got to run!  Talk to you later!

We had to do something crafty for Christmas

I've seen this one everywhere on the web this year. I first learned to make Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments from the Herb Society, when we made homey decorations one year for decorating the 1880's Eldridge House at Crossroads Village. If you want to make some, they add a non-caloric but delicious scent to the seasonal festivities, here's a thrifty tip: buy your cinnamon, cloves, white glue and applesauce at the dollar store.

Recipe: Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments
(not edible)

1 c. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. ground cloves
2/3- 3/4 c. applesauce
2 tbsp. thick white craft glue

Combine ingredients, drizzling a little glue at a time until dough reaches the right consistency for rolling, not too wet, or crumbly. Work 2 to 3 minutes (knead) or until smooth. If it is too dry, add applesauce, if too wet, add more cinnamon. Knead ball on cinnamon-sprinkled surface until it holds together well.

Roll out (with cinnamon sprinkled rolling pin on cinnamon sprinkled surface) to 1/4 inch thickness, do not roll any thinner. Cut shapes with cookie cutters.

Use a drinking straw to cut a hanging hole. Using spatula, place on parchment lined baking sheet. Let air dry for 24-48 hours, turning ornaments occasionally to prevent warping, or dry in a dehydrator, or, in a low oven bake at 170-200 degrees for a couple of hours until dried out. Place on rack to cool.

Sand rough edges with an emory board if needed.

If desired, paint with acrylics after completely dry. For fake frosting, use a white fabric paint.

When you pack the ornaments away, cushion them to keep them from breaking. And, if they start to lose their scent over the years, add a drop of cinnamon oil to bring back the scent.

You can use these in a myriad of ways from gift package tie-ons to tree ornaments. This year, the girls strung them on 1/8" red ribbon and used them like a garland on the front of the old dresser where we keep their books.

Nature's Ornaments (UPDATED)

If you are lucky enough to have a sweet gum tree in your yard or neighborhood, you have nature's ornaments.  They have a perfect little crook in the stem and you can spray them silver, gold or leave them as they are.  Nature is pretty clever I would say!

I was reading old issues of The Herb Companion magazine last night and learned that the American Sweet Gum (Liquidambar styraciflua) is an herbal tree.  It not only produces timber but an aromatic balsam or resin called storax or styrax which is used in medicines, perfumery and in commercial bakery supplies.  It has brilliant fall color and a pleasing shape.  Who knew!  I didn't, but now you do too!

Aromatic Laundry in More Ways Than One!

Never a dull moment in our house especially in the fall/winter when you are trying to do the laundry!  There are strategic moves that have to be made so that I can use both the washer and dryer at the same time!  The kaffir lime that has dangerous spikes was guarding the detergent and dryer sheets!   Whew!  Glad that's over!

Just One More Donation, Please!

Yesterday was a beautiful day to do some Christmas decorating.  Instead I was doing laundry and minding my own business.  Even though the bike pictured above brings many happy memories of the Jersey shore, I thought it was time that someone else enjoy it.  Also I did not take this bike from the beach, it was purchased many years later at a garage sale.  This bike is great on the boardwalk, on hills, not so much!  I was also a little too tall to ride it comfortably!

Since 2004 Kraynick's Bike Shop has had a bike drive at Christmas and recruits local police stations to collect gently used bikes which they clean up and distribute to needy children.  I called the local police station and they said they were not accepting any more bikes this year!  So to make a long story shorter, we called Kraynick's and the owner told Herbal Husband he would only take it if it were really clean and ready to go!  Well, Herbal Husband spent an hour cleaning and shining and away we went.

The bike shop is not in a great neighborhood and Herbal Husband went to see what was happening.  The shop was jammed with bikes!  Herbal Husband described it as packed.  Jerry told Herbal Husband that he would either give it to a child, he would use it for parts or he would sell it to a collector and use the money for the work he does.  So Herbal Husband and I conferred in the car and decided to leave it with Jerry.  When Herbal Husband took it inside Jerry's eyes lit up and he exclaimed, "It's a Breeze!"  He knew right away.  He was pleased with its condition and it could be given immediately!  Herbal Husband was pleased!  We made Jerry and a deserving child happy for Christmas!  Hope you can donate to help this Christmas!  Makes us feel good!

Random Thoughts on a Rainy Day...

#1 - It is important to pay attention when removing a pizza from the oven. On the other hand, when the business side of said pizza smacks against the drawers and cabinets, A) try not to mention it until AFTER it has been consumed, and B) know that it may take several days to find all of the cheesy grease.

#2 - It is appallingly stunning to realize how quickly a beautiful, well planned Christmas tree farm can turn into a mud bog of mythical proportions. It is also amazing how quickly cold weather can fix that.

#3 - I still remember and long for the day when the engine light would go on in the car and you could turn into the closest gas station where they'd pop the hood and have a look as part of the normal service. Sigh....

#4 - If you have a chronically ill person in the house, NEVER say or post anything about how well they have been getting along. Doing so is asking for trouble.

#5 - and perhaps most important - when preparing for a tea class, do not assume that even half of the participants will be able to eat scones. Have some gluten-free offerings available.

#6 - If there is a spectacular meteor shower going on, it will inevitably rain.

Guest Blogging for The Herb Companion Magazine!

I found these holiday ornaments in my basement workspace the other day.  Thought it would be the perfect guest blog for The Herb Companion magazine.  Here's the link hope you enjoy it!

It's the most _____ time of the year!

Everyone experiences this time - we'll just say December - differently. For some of us it is full of hope and cheer, and I remember visiting a friend as a child where their tree must have been 12 feet tall and covered with handmade beaded ornaments that the mother had made to resemble faberge eggs. It must have taken her all year! It still boggles my mind. For some it is a good deal more challenging.

My Christmas memories have to do more with the charming way that my grandfather attempted to inspire wonder in the 5 children and his daughter who all landed unceremoniously in the little house he'd been sharing with my grandmother.

Poppy strung the lights every year. Those big bulbs lined the rooftop, and he usually tried to do it when we were in town doing some shopping, so that we'd arrive home to the light show. He got all the good jobs... it was also his assignment to take the kids out looking at lights so that Mom and Mimi could get some wrapping done. In the meantime, we'd all be begging for a tree because all the kids at school had theirs up weeks ago. But no, ours was delivered by Santa - code for: Poppy went out on Christmas Eve and purchased a leftover tree on a lot, dragging it in after we went to sleep. The adults then decorated it with glass balls, lights, and that leaden tinsel of olden times. Sometimes Poppy would get up on the roof and stomp around with a set of sleighbells. Of all my relatives, Poppy was the most magical. That man had some crazy whimsy about him, but most people never knew it. A carpenter by day, he must have spent a lot of time thinking about how he would enchant us. He died a long time ago. I was only 14, and still miss him now.

For my mom, Christmas was an accusation of sorts. It didn't really show when we were kids. She was a great actress. But as we got older, it would throw her into despair, as if all the lights and love and cheerful greetings taunted her with the things that didn't turn out as she'd hoped. Every year she would try so hard to make things right, and every year she saw herself falling short of expectations only she had. Poor Momma never knew that her happiness would have meant more than anything money could buy.

Because we live in this loose commune, there are at least 4 businesses running between 3 adults. One of them is a Christmas tree farm, and we add a shop for the month of December, just to showcase the soap, books, teas, etc., that we do all year long. We have classes (although the last one of the year is today). We do lots of stuff, and the danger is in losing the fun of the season - I'm sure MANY self-employed people can share that sentiment. Last year we celebrated the holiday in mid-January! We won't do that again, though. Anyhow, if we aren't careful, we can lose sight of everything good that's going on. Nose to the grindstone, it's hard to see beyond the spray of grit.

In the long run, I'd have to say that I've finally learned to enjoy this time and let the expectations go. Maybe some old friends will pass through town while visiting family, and we'll get together. The kid will be home from college and the house will fill with young voices and the tempo of youth. We'll all let each other know in one way or another that we love each other - in spite of transgressions and hurts.

Whatever you wind up doing this December, enjoy the people you love.

IT'S FREEZING!

It may not be global warming, but something is weird with the weather.  One minute it is 50 degrees and sunny and the next we have tornado warnings in a county north of us.  Then we have thunder, lightning and rain and finally a little snow!  Thank goodness not like Erie to the north of us.  I think they have three feet or more!  Could not do that kind of winter.  Hope you are warm wherever you may be.  Going to see "A Christmas Carol" in 3D this afternoon.  I'll let you know how it is.  More holiday decorating tomorrow!

The Return of Travel Thursday-Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden!

It is just sooo cold out!  I thought you would like to be where it is nice and toasty!  A friend and I went to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.  It was a beautiful garden.  I had last seen it nine years ago and it has matured nicely and has a wonderful gift shop and cafe.
 

We got there late in the day so we were whisked around on the tram.  The garden is 83 acres so the tram was a great way to see most of the garden quickly.  Another drive-by experience!  What was really funny was that the iguanas were mating so there were orange (The males turn orange to get noticed!) iguanas running around everywhere!

So if you are in the Miami Beach/Coral Gables area, stop by Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, you will not be disappointed.