What I did on my summer vacation

Does the time get away from you like it does for me? People say "what have you been up to?" and I never know what to answer - just puttering around, in my own little universe, would be the proper answer I suppose. I guess I could say I became fascinated by tincturing bitters last year after a herb walk led by Jim McDonald last fall at the Ecology Center in Oxford. Then I could tell about how I made a large herbal wall hanging after Robin Mickiewicz demonstrated the craft at Crossroads Village this summer. I made a nice wreath from Silver King Artemisia and Costmary blossoms which was sold at the GCHS tea. And how I began collecting and gluing together junque glass into garden totems after seeing some at a craft show. I need to post a few more photos of them.
But as to what I've been up to? I dunno ... puttering around, as usual. How about You?

I'm posting the following overly long list of my 2010 herbal adventures which I began keeping track of as of June 22, although some of it was remembered and added from earlier this year (and which I may add to as the year goes on, just to keep it all in one place):

Over the summer I made 2 versions herbal tea, which I like to drink sweetened with a little of my home grown stevia or some local honey from the farmers' market:
1. "summer" blossoms:
red clover, german chamomile, primrose, thyme, oregano, savory, ironweed, Baikal scullcap
2. Lemon herbs and flowers for digestive, sedative, headache relief, tonic and nervine
rose petals, lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemon basil, lemon thyme, calendula, rosemary, mint

I made a bug repellent  tincture which I'll dilute with witch hazel:
Catnip (fresh) flowers and leaves, pennyroyal (fresh) tops, a few (fresh) tansy leaves, and dry yarrow leaves.
This, after reading the label of a verry expensive ($9.00 for 2 ounces) "natural" insect repellent that Herb bought for golfing. Its list of ingredients: lemongrass, patchouli, peppermint, catnip, and Neem, in witch hazel.

I've been harvesting like crazy:
dandelion roots and crowns (screen dry and zipbagged)
kale leaves (dehydrated and zipbagged)
hawthorn leaves (May) and fruit (Sept-Oct) (screen dry, zipbagged leaves)
mugwort leaves (screen dry) (made sleep pillow with hops) (may still make tincture, oil, moxa floss)
hops "cones" (screen dry) (see mugwort)
monarda flowers and top leaves (hang dry and zipbagged)
Greek oregano leaves (hang dry, screened and bottled)
sage leaves (hang dry and bottled)
thyme leaves (screen dry and bottled)
bay leaves (screen dry)
lavender stems with blossoms (hang dry, zipbagged and bundled)
blue vervain "Simpler's Joy" tops (hang dry and zipbagged)
oenothera (evening primrose) (hang drying whole plant)
lythrum (loosestrife) tops (hang dry)
calendula tops and petals (screen dry)
veronica tops (hang dry)
motherwort leaves (screen dry)
heal-all leaves and flowers (screen dry)
borage leaves and flowers (screen dry, bottled)
southernwood branches, Silver King artemisia tops (hang dry)
red clover flowers (screen dry)
goldenrod tops (hang dry)
purple aster tops (screen dry)
sweet annie (Artemisia annua) branches, hang dry
sassafras leaves (from Ludington), hang dry, zipbagged
castor beans
pineapple sage leaves
mullein root and leaves from first year plant dug in October, hang dry
violet jelly (picked flowers with Aubrey) (gave some to Theresa, Ashley on Mother's Day, and Lois M. )

rose petal jelly (Tuscany and Mme Isaac Periere? check FB) (gave some to Tree and Ash on Father's Day) (gave some to Norma, Ulrike, and Lois)
rose petal honey (some for me, and tiny jars with Kayla and Aubrey) Red/Pinks Tuscany, Mundi, and Mme. I.P.
rose petal elixir ( a.k.a.preFB "rose petal cordial") Red/Pinks
rose petal infused oil - Red/Pinks - Mundi and Mme IP
rose petal vinegar - Reds/Pinks - in homemade organic cider vinegar
rose petal beads - You can use pale pink and white blossoms - it will turn black anyways! (still in progress)
rose petals (screen dry and bottled) for tea and other uses

(March) honey sweetened rose hip tincture with ginger honey from '09 dried rose hips, and (September '10) rose hip tincture from R. eglantina
and tinctured purchased dried elderberries with honey to make cough syrup

elderflowers (4 from my 3 2 yr old plants), fresh, tinctured
StJW tops, fresh, tinctured (began collecting on summer Solstice)
St. J's Wort tops, fresh, oil
holy basil tops, fresh, tinctured
Solomon's seal root, fresh, tinctured
purple aster tops, fresh, tinctured
juniper berries (from beach lot), fresh, tinctured in gin (what the heck?)
quince fruit, fresh. tinctured (for "ratatifa"?)

meadowsweet - dried 2 flower heads in full color (they dry out in the yard as the beetles attack them and they go to seed) as an experiment. Next year I will fresh tincture some.
peonies and sea oats -dried for arrangements

FRESH USE:
mixed flower bouquets, of course!
dandelion greens - cooked
rhubarb
asparagus
strawberries and alpine strawberries
chives
mixed lettuce salads spring and fall
basil leaves fresh as sandwich greens, cooked in pasta sauce, in tomato salad, in bruschetta, in pesto, froze pesto cubes (trying to be more conservative this year, I planted Genovese, regular sweet, lemon, holy, and 'Siam Queen' Thai)
parsley, part of my pesto recipe
dillweed in dill sauce on fish
lemon balm, purple aster herbal teas
garlic scapes - green dip
rosemary, oregano, marjoram, used cooked in pasta sauce, chili, oven roasted veggies, and so on
tomatoes, peppers (Herb made lots of fresh salsa),the freezer is full
garlic and shallots: dug on July 26 (big this year), replanted 30 cloves on September 30
Jerusalem artichokes to roast with a roast beef

I have Plans for:
comfrey - oil? dry some

marshmallow root and maybe the leaves
always more thyme!
anise hyssop - just planted a new one after having been without for a few years
feverfew? angelica? (there weren't as many seedlings this year as usual)

southernwood, absinthe (wormwood)
ginkgo leaves
Solomon's seal root, and false solomon's seal
rose hips

European betony (Stachys betonica or Stachys officinalis)
Baikal skullcap (the Chinese plant, not the native that all the herbalists are talking about)

and, when the plants are ready:
gogi berries (or wolfberry) from the plant I started from seed last year
elderberries from the plants I started last year
New Jersey  tea from the seedling I transplanted this year.


What I missed so far and will try to use/make next year:
hawthorn flowers, lily of the valley flowers, lilac flowers, dianthus and apple blossoms, meadowsweet blossoms, and chamomile (pick with Aubrey to make Peter Rabbit Tea)
Rosa englatina leaf for tinctures
chervil, sweet cicely, valerian blossoms

If Your Garlic Chives Look Like This...!

Get out your clippers and clip those seed heads off quick!  I have zillions (OK, just millions) of garlic chives!  I already have tons of garlic chives.  So if your seed heads are like the ones above, get busy!  I got most of my mine cut yesterday.  Yes, I become herbally obsessed!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be!  Remnants of Nicole are giving us a gentle rain.  Not like on the east coast!  Hope there is not too much flooding with Nicole.  Going to see the new Wall Street movie.  Talk to you later!

A Quick Update for Becca and Anonymous  Garlic chives are similar to chives but have flat leaves not round that can be added to stir fries  and other dishes that you need to add a garlic taste.  They have white flowers in August and September.  The seed heads need to be cut vigorously to make sure they do not take over.  I'm going to be spending a lot of my gardening season next year getting rid of my volunteer garlic chives!  Becca and Anonymous, you can plant garlic in about two weeks.  You can buy a bulb in the grocery store and separate the cloves and plant them in the ground.  Supposedly the bulbs in the stores are sprayed so they will not grow, but I have grown garlic from grocery store cloves.  I know Becca is in the south and maybe Anonymous as well, you can actually plant it now, but here in the north we plant it around Columbus Day.  It is usually dug up in mid to late July, depending on the weather. 

Wall Street, the movie was very good.  Great cast, well acted!  Talk to you later!

Herbal Moving Day!

I don't usually move plants around this late in the year.  OK, OK, you know me too well!  When the frost warnings come, we are running around trying to dig up plants to bring in!  So we moved this linear leaf thyme out of its old container.  It was falling apart literally!

Here is the new container and the thyme took up every nook and cranny of it!  I forgot to get a new photo!  I will post it tomorrow!  Hope you had a good day wherever you may be.   I've added a whole bunch of stuff to my blog.  Hope you enjoy it!  Here is the container newly planted!  It is getting a good drink right now from remnants of Nicole!

Big Doin's in the Country

Every year, I serve as honorary goal-tender at a very interesting wholesale show, helping my sister gather orders for her soap company. Anyone who creates their own product knows how difficult it can be to tell people how wonderful their stuff is, while it is much easier to talk up things in which one is not so personally invested. In fact on occasion, Maryanne and I will switch sides of the table when we show side-by-side, with her hawking my magazine and books while I sing the praises of her soap or lampwork.
A major local farm and garden supply company holds a combination wholesale show and customer appreciation expo, where many of their suppliers set up to talk face to face with the customers, allowing them to see new products and reps up-close, and place orders for the coming months.
Farmers come from the entire Mid-Atlantic region, and the vast majority arrive by Amish taxi - vans with hired drivers (many of whom look eerily similar to Yosemite Sam) - giving the horses a day off. The air is filled with excitement as people who rarely get to see each other catch up and visit. New babies to show off, young people shyly flirting, and groups of men and women (mostly separate) shooting the breeze, all while an enormous amount of shopping goes on. There are 2 main meals served during the show, and they are smorgasbords featuring traditional PA Deutsch dishes that are reminiscent of our childhood, just as the whole scene reminds us of family reunions of long ago. We are quite certain that we are related to a number of the people we talk to each year.
As with many of the most fortuitous events in life, we stumbled into this show several years ago, not even knowing beforehand that such a thing existed. We love it.
Even in just the past few years, we've noticed an expansion of organic options, as well as heirloom seeds. The non-organic products are still there, but the focus is quickly turning.
Some of the sights....
The company across the aisle from us had these great outdoor flames, sort of a miniature fire for the city dweller to use on a patio, or perhaps even a country deck. They were, unfortunately scented in citronella, jasmine, and (I think) vanilla. We suggested unscented and cedar as options we'd prefer, and the rep thought they were great ideas, although they were selling like hotcakes.
Next to him were gazing globes made in Altoona. Some looked like giant soap bubbles, and of course we liked them the best.
There were lots of garden tools - and a good bit of whimsy...
Yellow jacket and wasp traps that were actually pretty cool looking...
I loved the rainbarrels and outdoor sinks and pumps.
A seller of water garden supplies had some spectacular plants. I snapped these pitcher plants just after the lights were turned on in the morning, so they aren't open yet.
Outside in the lobby, a row of tables was set up to hold the hats and bonnets of attendees.
It was a lot of fun, and each year we win a few more farm markets over to trying handmade soap.
Between customers, we did some proofing and editing on the Nov/Dec issue of the magazine so that we can get it to the printer before the end of the month, and that should get finished up today. Maryanne's husband made another 8 molds while we were gone so that she is able to double daily production with not a lot of hassle.
Off to the next great adventure!

Never Too Much Tarragon!

A pile of tarragon for use in jelly and vinegar

Spent the afternoon making three recipes of white grape tarragon jelly.  I think it turned out well.  I will share the recipe if I like the end result.  I saw the combination in the Emelie Tolley and Chris Mead book, The Herbal Pantry.  I made up the recipe.  The photo of the book is below.  I did have a bunch of tarragon left and just put it in a sterilized quart jar and filled the jar with white wine vinegar.  Will check it in about two weeks or so.  I learned from Jim Long's Making Herb Vinegars booklet this past weekend that it is better to put vinegar in a cupboard and not on a windowsill in the sun.  Hope you have had a great day wherever you may be!  Talk to you later!

A Box of Good and Plenty Candy!

Oh, I meant to say just like a box of Good and Plenty candy in the title!  As you can see, I'm in my garden trying to tidy up before the big W sets in!  This was last week because this week has been rainy.  This is anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum).  It is one of my favorite edible flowers because it tastes just Good and Plenty candy.  I am sure I'm dating myself now!  I think they must have Good and Plenty in those vintage candy boxes they sell!  You can also use the leaves in tea both fresh and dried.  Some gardeners find this plant invasive, but I have never had too much anise hyssop.  In fact sometimes I wish I had a bit more.  I need to gather some leaves and dry them for my tea blends this fall.  I have not been drying enough.  I have provided a link from The Herb Companion magazine on anise hyssop for you to browse.  Hope you are enjoying your day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

My Mistake Was. . .

Ok, Becca from A Southern Garden by Becca for your birthday, I am going to teach you how to make up a page for your blog.  I was making the mistake of going to Design and clicking on Add Gadget and then adding a page that way.  Maybe you can do it that way, but I found an easier way.  You simply go like you would to do a New Post and just under Settings it says "Edit Pages".  You click that and then it gives you a big blue button that says "New Page".  Click on that and it looks just like when you do a post for your blog.  You can add links and pictures just like in a post.  You can do all kinds of pages, but you can only do ten for the time being.  Hope this has been clear.  If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them.  See if my directions help you.  I think you can figure it out.  If not, maybe a trip to Alabama would help!  You all have to go and wish Becca a very happy birthday, because it's tomorrow!  Happy Birthday, Becca!  May you have many more! 

New Pages on My Blog!

Well, I finally got some help from the Blogger help pages.  I put together a couple of new pages that you will see across the top of my homepage just beneath my banner photo!  It's about time!  Most of you have these pages.  I'm still very bad at new technology!  Hopefully, I will add a few more in the coming days and I will change them up every so often so there will be something new for you to learn.  Right now they are about my favorite, lemon verbena and I may keep these two as a fixture and try to add to them periodically.  Met a woman at the Fair on Saturday who hates the internet and I needed to put together some information on lemon verbena for her and mail it to her.  Still using the good old mail!  So I have given it to you as well.  The growing tips are for this region, because there are some of you lucky people that lemon verbena is a small shrub or tree and can grow year round!  You know who you are!  Lucky, lucky!  Well, it is a wet, dreary, cool day here and I'm off to blanch some beans and then make some jelly or may be go to the movies to see Wall Street.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

quote

"Yon hanging woods, that touched by Autumn seem

As they were blossoming hues of fire and gold;

The flower-like woods, most lovely in decay..."

- Samuel Taylor coleridge

The Herbal Husband Wanted You to See This!

These are 'Musica' beans from Renee's Garden Seeds in California.  Renee Shepherd has been a well-known and consistent force in the seed business for many years and in 1997 started Renee's Garden Seeds which is a web based business and they do have businesses that sell her seeds as well.  She just doesn't have a paper catalog any more.  I think I found 'Musica' at Longwood Gardens outside Philadelphia one year and have almost always grown them in our garden.  Musica because The Herbal Husband is Peruvian.  Although these are more of an Italian flat bean.  Do the Spanish have flat beans as well?  Duh, they are 'Musica'!  These two were sort of like the zucchini that you missed that turned into baseball bats!  The lower one I think is around 11" long!  Better call Guinness!  No, it will be long gone for dinner before that happens.  Well, I've got to go exercise!  Been a bit of a slug.  Although we did walk a bit yesterday at Seven Springs!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be!  Talk to you later!

A Beautiful Day at the Mother Earth News Fair at Seven Springs!

The Hotel at Seven Springs

Jim Long Talking About Growing and Using Herbs

Lemon Verbena Lady Meets Jim Long

K.C. Compton and Fall in Love with Flavor

Lemon Verbena Lady Meets K.C.

Lily of the Valley's Booth

Companion Plant's Booth

A Belgium Draft Horse That's 17.3 Hands High!

Momma and Baby Alpacas

Overview of Outside Exhibitors Area

Well, I hope you get an idea of what you may have missed if you weren't up at Seven Springs in southwestern Pennsylvania.  It was a beautiful day and lots of people from all over the country (We were behind a license plate from California!) were at the Mother Earth News Fair.  You still have a day to pack up the kids and go!  There was so much traffic at the beginning that we missed most of Jim Long's talk on herbs.  Sorry, Jim!  We did have a brief meeting and I gave him some cinnamon basil jelly!  You have inspired me for years, Jim!  Thanks for all of the good information.  We did get to hear the editor-in-chief of The Herb Companion magazine, K.C. Compton speaking about herbs and flavors.  You were very informative, K.C. and I'm not just saying that because I blog for you!

My American Herbal Companion and I had to try out the crab cake sandwich for lunch.  It was hit.  Two of our favorite herb sellers were there, Lily of the Valley in Minerva, Ohio and Companion Plants in Athens, Ohio.  Then we moved outside and looked at the farm animals, the Belgium draft horses were huge, 17.3 hands high!  The alpacas, momma and baby were beautiful.  The last photo is an over view of the outside area.  We had a fun day.  You will too if you go!  I'm going to be in the garden tomorrow.  Got to attack those stray and pesky ornamental grasses and garlic chives!    Hope you had a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Slim Pickin's

We've had a hot dry summer, and the things I'd typically forage at this time of the year show a lot of stress. One way to look at it might be that they've been through the same challenges we've been through, so if I want to use them medicinally, maybe they are just perfect. Usually we try to find robust, plump specimens, but just maybe these stubborn fighters will be as good or better. Most of the things I use medicinally over the winter were gathered weeks ago, but I'm going to do a little experimentation this year to check this theory on myself. If you don't hear from me.... heh heh.
The calendula is going to seed. I picked the dry parts from the plant and threw them back into the garden where it would be nice if they came up next year (instead of all through the yard). The seedheads are often included when one purchases dried calendula as whole flowers. The first time you see the little seeds floating in oil, you'll think they are curvy little worms. Don't panic, they're just seeds. It is possible to purchase just the petals, but the resinous buds and flowers are most useful for salves and balms.

We have several patches of various mints in the field beside my house. My brother-in-law gives them a wide berth because he knows I use them for tea blends. Sometime in early July I asked him to mow them so they'd start fresh. He must have thought I said DON'T mow them, so it was only a few weeks ago that they were mowed. They are finally to a point where I can gather the tender leaves that make up a little rosette. I like to pick that part so there isn't really any stem to deal with after they're dry.

I gathered a small amount of passionflower to dry and send to a friend across the country. The tendrils of the passionflower plant fascinate me, and I always add lots of them to the mix, going on the Doctrine of Signatures - this batch is specifically for circular thinking that is keeping her awake at night, so the curly tendrils make sense. There were also a few nice figs begging to be lunch, so who am I to say no?

On the way back up the hill, I stopped and thought how pretty the chicory and the goldenrod look together. Behind them is a spectacular sage plant, and above them a still-bearing elderberry. The sunshine on them was perfectly autumnal.
The Sweet Annie is in just the right stage for wreath-making. It is also the stage that makes allergy sufferers miserable. Ah, but it smells sweet!

It's still hot out. The leaves are trying to turn, but the dry weather is just not helping. They may just give up and fall off.
Soon it will be time to dig some roots!
Beauty Berries - couldn't be more aptly named. The color is so unusual and... beautiful! They can be made into jelly, too.
1 1/2 qts beauty berries
2 qts water
Boil 20 minutes and strain
To 3 cups infusion, add 1 envelope Sure Jell and 4 1/2 cups sugar
Boil for 2 minutes.
Remove from burner and allow to stand until foam forms
Skim off foam
Pour into sterilized jars and cap

Early Morning Herb Garden Views!

The Pineapple Sage Finally in Bloom!

The 'Nazareth' Sage Back to Its Silver Color!

The Nasturtiums Are Still Blooming!

The 'Berggarten' Sage Looking Good!

 

 

The good thing about coming back from England is that I have been walking early in the morning.  It gives me a very good start for the day and it is still hot here!  What's up with that?  It is going to abruptly end tonight and be more autumnal tomorrow for the Mother Earth News Fair at Seven Springs Mountain Resort.  I will be there tomorrow to meet my editor-in-chief, K.C. Compton from The Herb Companion magazine and one of my favorite herbal authors, Jim Long!   It's about an hour southeast from Pittsburgh.  Check out the schedule in the link above for ticket pricing and schedules.  Saw Ben Affleck in The Town yesterday.  Very intense, but very well written and acted.  Don't usually go to these kind of movies, but the cast was excellent.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Guest Blogging for The Herb Companion Magazine!

I finally got to meet the Queen of Herbs in England, Jekka McVicar and she gave me a new title.  My English Herbal Companion and I visited Jekka's Herb Farm outside of Bristol, England.  I even had another driving experience in England and survived!  So my latest guest post for The Herb Companion magazine is about our visit.  Here is the link Jekka McVicar: Queen of the Herbs.  The visit was so wonderful that I'm taking a couple of posts to describe my visit.

Jekka's passion is herbs and at her herb farm it is all about the plants!  My passion as well.  This is a small sales area where Jekka's seeds, notecards and books, particularly her new cookbook was sold! 

Hope you enjoy my guest posts in England and that you have had a wonderful day wherever you may be!  Talk to you later!

One of My Favorites This Time of Year and the Bees Too!

I have written about this flower before.  It is a Rudbeckia herbstsonne.  The bees are happily enjoying it now.  It is at least eight feet tall and gives quite a presence in the garden.  Will be talking about my trip again.  Thought my Herb Companion post would be up, but they are getting ready to come east to the Mother Earth News Fair at Seven Springs over the weekend.  I'm going to be meeting KC Compton, Editor in Chief of The Herb Companion magazine and Jim Long, a long time favorite herbal author of mine!  Got to run.  Decanting vinegar and making some new.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Going with the flow

It's been an odd week around here, and not your usual odd, either.
First, it's been the week of, "uh-oh, check the fuses." The list (so far, don't want to get too cocky, here) is: one running toilet, one broken water heater, one slurring stereo system, two empty propane cannisters (in the middle of a picnic), and an engine light glowing amber. Oh and when I switched the heat on the other night to take the chill out of the house, nothing happened.
There was a time that each and every one of these things would have thrown me into a tizzy. Having them all happen in one week might have sent me either to my bed or to packing my bags (and at one point there, I did speculate on both options), but instead, I'm thinking about how smoothly it is all going.
My brother-in-law Bob took on the challenges of the toilet and water heater in good humor, replacing parts in both of them within a day or two.
The stereo was old, and I just pulled out a portable cd player, slapped in some heavy blues, and went about my work in the kitchen - that always goes better with music.
I expected the one propane cannister to be empty, but it was a shock to find the second one was also empty. Still can't figure that one out, but while the chatter and laughter on the deck continued, I moved the food to a giant skillet in the kitchen to finish.
The engine light is something I've had checked before. It happens every time the car gets a new tank of gas - which is once every month or two. Eventually I'll wander down to the service place and they'll look at it, and reset it. Someday I'll just get it fixed, but it's hard to hand over the cash for something that isn't important.
The guy is coming over this morning to check the furnace. It's only a couple of years old, so it's probably something like a spider web or a reset button. Either way, it hasn't gotten cold enough yet to be a major problem, so I'm grateful to have found it now, because everyone knows these things usually happen on weekends in the middle of a blizzard.

The flip side of all this, is that the lid blew off my sister's wholesale soap business a couple or three weeks ago, and it's been a rare day without a couple of nice orders coming in. We've been making soap, cutting soap, trimming soap, wrapping soap, and delivering soap.
In there somewhere, I was invited to work on a project that is truly beyond my wildest dreams, and so far that's been great fun.
We're working on the Nov/Dec issue of The Essential Herbal, and it is coming along nicely (when, you might ask? oh... here and there), and By the Hearth is in the computer in great need of massage. The printer is going to love me! Subcriptions are up and show no sign of stopping, and sales of books, etc. (where you can also buy these soaps) have kept me hopping, too.
We have two shows in the next week - the only ones we kept on the calendar this fall - and we'll be ready for them.
And then it will be October - the busy season begins :-).

They say that it's all about perspective. This month, I'm learning a lot about perspective. It looks good from here!

Harvesting More Basil!

PeggyR from My Affairs with Art & Daily Life asked what I was doing with my basil.  Well, Peggy, I make jelly with lemon basil and cinnamon basil.  Here is the recipe I use, Carol.  It is from Renee's Garden.  I have both of her cookbooks.  I noticed in the above link it says two cups of basil or herbs.  In the cookbook it says 1-1/2 cups of basil.  It works just fine.  So 2 cups or 1-1/2 cups of scented basil for 2 cups of water.  I don't think it matters much.  I use the 1-1/2 cups (you don't use all of 2 cups) of liquid, 2 T. of vinegar and 3-1/2 cups of sugar as the basis for other jelly recipes.  I did a batch of raspberry jam and 3 batches of cinnamon basil jelly today.  Sort of tired!

Little Messy Missy, here is my favorite pesto recipe:

Presto it's Pesto
Cheap Thrills Cuisine by Lombardo & Bui
1993/Washington Post Writers Group

You'll need a food processor or a blender.  Pick 4 cups of fresh basil leaves.  (If you don't like all basil, try a combination of parsley or spinach and basil.)  Put 2 cups of basil (or a combination) in processor with 1/2 cup of olive oil.  Puree on pulse speed.  Add 6 (I use 2 or 3 at most) large peeled garlic cloves and  puree again.  Stir in 1/2 cup of pine nuts (walnuts are also a good choice).  Puree.  Add the remaining basil leaves.  Pulse until it forms a runny paste.  Season with 1 tsp. salt and 1 Tbsp. of Parmesan cheese.  Recipe makes one cup of spicy pesto sauce.  Try on garlic bread.  Use as a base for cheese pizzas.  Pesto is great as a flavor enhancer for sauces.  I sometimes freeze this recipe in ice cube trays.  If you do that, I would leave out the Parmesan cheese and add a little to the cubes once they are thawed.

Here is a link to find more Cheap Thrills Cuisine recipes on comics.com.  You can't find recipes by type just date.  It is fun to click through the different days.  I like the recipes because they are quick and easy and sometimes for a big group, but a lot are low fat or low carb or just for 2.
 
The 'Boxwood' basil in the photo above will be made into vinegar.  Just sterilize a quart canning jar by putting boiling water in it for 10 minutes.  Then you want to clip the basil and wash it and dry it very well and then place it in the jar and then cover with red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.  Put some plastic wrap between the jar and the lid and put it on a sunny windowsill for at least two weeks and start testing for taste.  Well, I hope you have had a really great day!  Mine has been very busy.  Glad I found the pesto recipe.  I was using it as a bookmark in my garlic cookbook!  Just where I thought it would be!  Ha!  Talk to you later!

Four and One-Half Cups Exactly!

The Herbal Husband is always asking how much of an herb do you need for a recipe of jelly.  I need one cup and a half for most recipes.  What is that though?  Until you strip the leaves from the stems, you have no idea how much of an herb it will take to make one recipe.  Well, this pile of lemon basil is three recipes exactly!  It will never happen again.  Tomorrow I'll cut the rest of the cinnamon basil.  It is starting to get cool at night and basil doesn't like it in the 40's!  Hope you enjoyed your day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Sometimes It's All About the Food!-English Style

This was my first dinner on the first night at the Ramada Grange Hotel.  It was chicken, green beans and a potato cake.  I enjoyed it a little too much.  I even had dessert!  You'll have to take my word for it.  Didn't get a photo of that!  My English Herbal Companion had salmon with noodles.

Food is always an enjoyable part of a vacation.  Since I have lost weight, I have worked to change my eating habits.  Some times it worked, some times I just indulged!  I have been working to walk off the extra calories!  Hope you are having a good day.  Speaking of food, I'm off to make lunch.  Talk to you later.

Syrup for Coughs and Congestion

It's been about a week of sneezing and coughing, so I got pretty fed up with the whole thing today. Time to pull out the big guns. Oddly, elderberry just didn't do the trick this time. I shudder to think how nasty this could have gotten without it, though.
Today I made a syrup specifically for this thing that seems to fluctuate between my head and my chest. I got out some Osha, Licorice root, Elecampane, Wild Cherry bark, Ginger, and Lemon to start a decoction. A decoction is different than an infusion, because roots and barks need to simmer for a period of time, while infusions involve leaves and flowers that are steeped in boiled water for a few minutes. There is another, newer definition of infusions, but for our purposes, this will do.
I filled a small pan with water, and put all ingredients except the lemon in to simmer for 45 minutes. I added the juice of a lemon for the last 5 minutes.After it was done, I strained it out. You can see here that my favorite method of straining things is with a steel mesh strainer lined with fabric from an old tshirt. As shirts wear out, they are washed and cut into squares for this purpose. They work beautifully.
There was 2/3 of a cup of decoction, so I measured out 2/3 cup of sugar, and added a good dollop of honey. At that point, I also added 1/2 ounce of goldenrod tincture.
It all went back into the pan, and was brought to a boil for a few minutes before being poured into bottles.The decoction alone could be drunk without being made into syrup, and I will make some more for after dinner tonight. It's nice to have it ready to go, though.

Interested in making medicines for yourself and family? Look here:
http://woodwifesjournal.blogspot.com/p/herbal-medicine-chest.html for a gathering of recipes and methods.