It's the time of the rose. For so many herbalists, the rose is special. And I love it too. I make rose pastilles, teas, honeys and syrups. And they're all yummy.
But this year, I veered off track.
My whole homestead is filled with the fragrance of orange blossom right now. I'm not sure there's a headier scent on the planet. So, as I was filling my jars with rose petals and honey, I added an extra jar, this one filled with orange blossoms. And oh my goodness.....
And the result really goes beyond my wildest dreams. This is a very strongly scented honey, (even more so than the lovely rose...). Although litrature suggests that the orange blossom is calming and cooling and used for anxiety and insomnia, I'm finding that there are some aphrodesiac qualities to the brew. I can't decide if I should eat it or just rub it all over someone and lick it off!
It seems like there's a lot more going on there than just....relaxation.
And it's just about the yummiest stuff to come outta my kitchen in a long while!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Livin' in a small town...
Today was my Dad's birthday. I took him flowers and a beer. We have a really old, beautiful cemetary here, and Dad's buried so he can look out over the valley and see the house.
The last three groundskeepers were heavy drinkers, so a lot of 'mistakes', especially of the paperwork sort, got made at the cemetary. My parents original plots got sold to someone else and we had to pick new ones. But occasionally, the mistakes went beyond getting buried in the wrong plot. One of my friends had the remains of their grandmother 'lost' there. We're still lookin' for her.
And someone stole the cup that went with my Dad's headstone. I'm sure it wasn't vindictive. They prolly showed up with fresh flowers and forgot their own vase. But it still irritates me a bit.
Not that we can't be a vindictive bunch. When Ol' Man Dutra died, someone snuck up and put an outhouse on his grave. He was meaner n' a snake though. And there are a few boundaries. You can't deface a headstone...that would be considered bad manners.
Mom always enjoys going out to the cemetary too. Lately she's insisting that she doesn't want to be buried too close to Dad. She says she put up with the old SOB for 60 years and down't wanna spend any more time with him. So I'm hoping she'll change her mind about that. But she likes going out there and walking around. She'll call out 'Oh look! Here's Aunt Alice. I can't believe Uncle Gene hasn't brought her flowers lately." Or 'There's Bob Hinds. His kids need to clean off that stone'. It's sort of like passing judgement on those that have been left behind.
But she walks around, pulls a few weeds, dusts off a few headstones and says 'Hey' to a few old friends.
Pleasant way to spend the afternoon.
The last three groundskeepers were heavy drinkers, so a lot of 'mistakes', especially of the paperwork sort, got made at the cemetary. My parents original plots got sold to someone else and we had to pick new ones. But occasionally, the mistakes went beyond getting buried in the wrong plot. One of my friends had the remains of their grandmother 'lost' there. We're still lookin' for her.
And someone stole the cup that went with my Dad's headstone. I'm sure it wasn't vindictive. They prolly showed up with fresh flowers and forgot their own vase. But it still irritates me a bit.
Not that we can't be a vindictive bunch. When Ol' Man Dutra died, someone snuck up and put an outhouse on his grave. He was meaner n' a snake though. And there are a few boundaries. You can't deface a headstone...that would be considered bad manners.
Mom always enjoys going out to the cemetary too. Lately she's insisting that she doesn't want to be buried too close to Dad. She says she put up with the old SOB for 60 years and down't wanna spend any more time with him. So I'm hoping she'll change her mind about that. But she likes going out there and walking around. She'll call out 'Oh look! Here's Aunt Alice. I can't believe Uncle Gene hasn't brought her flowers lately." Or 'There's Bob Hinds. His kids need to clean off that stone'. It's sort of like passing judgement on those that have been left behind.
But she walks around, pulls a few weeds, dusts off a few headstones and says 'Hey' to a few old friends.
Pleasant way to spend the afternoon.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Got Bud?
We don’t have a lot of redbud here, but you sure can’t miss the few that we do have. Next to the flowering quince,(Chaenomeles speciosa, which is edible too), it’s the most spectacular thing in bloom right now.
Here in the west, we are blessed with the native species (Cercis occidentalis), while folks in the east get its fraternal twin C. canadensis. The beautiful deep pink color of the redbud flower comes from the presence of large amounts of anthocyanins, which are known to be beneficial antioxidants in humans. Green developing seeds contain proanthocyanides, and high concentrations of the fatty acids linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid, (There is evidence that α-linolenic acid is related to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and certain types of epilepsy.)
And luckily, they’re yummy to boot.
Here’s a recipe for redbud-herb muffins for next Sundays brunch.
Redbud-Herb Muffins
2 cups redbuds
2 tablespoons minced fresh sage or rosemary leaves
½ cup sugar or sweetener of your choice.
Minced zest of 1 lemon
1 ½ cups unbleached or all-purpose
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Topping:
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375°
In bowl #1, combine redbuds, herb, sugar, zest. Let sit 30 minutes.
In bowl #2 Sift flour, powder, baking soda, salt large bowl.
In bowl #3 Combine egg, yogurt, milk, oil, lemon juice.
Pour #1 into #2 and toss.
Add #3, stirring just dry ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix.
Fill your muffin tins 3/4 full.
Combine sugar cinnamon the topping sprinkle some each muffin Bake for 25 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched.
Remove form muffin pan and cool on a wire rack.
Here in the west, we are blessed with the native species (Cercis occidentalis), while folks in the east get its fraternal twin C. canadensis. The beautiful deep pink color of the redbud flower comes from the presence of large amounts of anthocyanins, which are known to be beneficial antioxidants in humans. Green developing seeds contain proanthocyanides, and high concentrations of the fatty acids linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid, (There is evidence that α-linolenic acid is related to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and certain types of epilepsy.)
And luckily, they’re yummy to boot.
Here’s a recipe for redbud-herb muffins for next Sundays brunch.
Redbud-Herb Muffins
2 cups redbuds
2 tablespoons minced fresh sage or rosemary leaves
½ cup sugar or sweetener of your choice.
Minced zest of 1 lemon
1 ½ cups unbleached or all-purpose
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Topping:
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375°
In bowl #1, combine redbuds, herb, sugar, zest. Let sit 30 minutes.
In bowl #2 Sift flour, powder, baking soda, salt large bowl.
In bowl #3 Combine egg, yogurt, milk, oil, lemon juice.
Pour #1 into #2 and toss.
Add #3, stirring just dry ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix.
Fill your muffin tins 3/4 full.
Combine sugar cinnamon the topping sprinkle some each muffin Bake for 25 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched.
Remove form muffin pan and cool on a wire rack.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Mock Rhubarb Pie
As much as I complain about being away from my beloved Montana for a few years, I do have to say that California has a coupla' really good things going for it.
Take for example 'early spring'. In Montana, everything would still be under a blanket of snow. And February always seems to get those 2 weeks of 40 degrees below zero.
But here, in California, the beginning of February brings pussy willows, emerging buds and leaves, chickweed, mallows...and the glorious sun. Granted, there's no strength in the sunshine yet, the grass still doesn't hold a lot of nurients for the horses, but still! That's sunshine that's warming my back. (I've been accused of being part lizard, sunning myself on a rock.)
Another plant that's showing her green skirt is Rumex crispus, dock.
Dock leaves have a taste reminiscent of rhubarb. I'm a rhubarb lover and I just can't get past the idea of this being a 'rhubarb' pie. I keep wrinkling my nose and thinking 'this is not rhubarb...'. But if I think of it as 'dock pie', I like it much better. Especially with a big scoop of ice cream. Keep in mind, dock is one of those plants to eat in moderation because of oxalates.
Mock Rhubarb Pie
4.5 cups firmly packed dock leaves and stems
1/8 cup flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 dash of lemon juice
unbaked pie shell and top crust.
Chope dock into 1" pieces and add just enough water to cover. Steam untill leaves wilt. (You should have about 2.5 cups of cooked dock.) Drain and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Pour into shell, cover with top crust and bake at 375 f for about 50 min.
Take for example 'early spring'. In Montana, everything would still be under a blanket of snow. And February always seems to get those 2 weeks of 40 degrees below zero.
But here, in California, the beginning of February brings pussy willows, emerging buds and leaves, chickweed, mallows...and the glorious sun. Granted, there's no strength in the sunshine yet, the grass still doesn't hold a lot of nurients for the horses, but still! That's sunshine that's warming my back. (I've been accused of being part lizard, sunning myself on a rock.)
Another plant that's showing her green skirt is Rumex crispus, dock.
Dock leaves have a taste reminiscent of rhubarb. I'm a rhubarb lover and I just can't get past the idea of this being a 'rhubarb' pie. I keep wrinkling my nose and thinking 'this is not rhubarb...'. But if I think of it as 'dock pie', I like it much better. Especially with a big scoop of ice cream. Keep in mind, dock is one of those plants to eat in moderation because of oxalates.
Mock Rhubarb Pie
4.5 cups firmly packed dock leaves and stems
1/8 cup flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 dash of lemon juice
unbaked pie shell and top crust.
Chope dock into 1" pieces and add just enough water to cover. Steam untill leaves wilt. (You should have about 2.5 cups of cooked dock.) Drain and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Pour into shell, cover with top crust and bake at 375 f for about 50 min.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Unepected Company
Sometimes, I forget that a lot of folks still do 'stuff' on Friday nights. I usually am at home writing or reading, but it's nice to know that people are still out doing what people everywhere do at the beginning of a weekend. Staying up a little later than usual, relishing a few days off, connecting with friends and talking about their week, or just blowing off a 'little steam'.
Last night, a few guests dropped by. It was nice to see them. It provided a break from the monotony of the rain and fog that we've had for the past ten days. I had some good beer in the 'fridge and a fire in the woodstove and it was a very nice evening.
I had planned on having buffalo burgers for dinner, but started worrying that I hadn't thawed enough burger to feed a crowd, so went into 'presto-chango' mode. I added eggs, breadcrubs and herbs to the burger and put them into a sauce made from home made peach jam, sort of like a swedish meatball dish.
I brought up onions from the cellar, sauteed them, threw in a couple of handfuls of chickweed, blended that with eggs, cheese and milk and poured it into a phylo crust that I had in the freezer. (I hate to waste the phylo dough, so I used the rest of the package as a 'top crust'.)
Sliced some elk salami, farmers cheese and some home made herb crackers that I had made on Thursday.
And a homemade no-bake cheesecake thingy with blackberries I had picked last summer, in a pine nut crust.
I think it was one of the best 'on the fly' dinners I have ever made! And there is not a crumb of leftovers today!
Last night, a few guests dropped by. It was nice to see them. It provided a break from the monotony of the rain and fog that we've had for the past ten days. I had some good beer in the 'fridge and a fire in the woodstove and it was a very nice evening.
I had planned on having buffalo burgers for dinner, but started worrying that I hadn't thawed enough burger to feed a crowd, so went into 'presto-chango' mode. I added eggs, breadcrubs and herbs to the burger and put them into a sauce made from home made peach jam, sort of like a swedish meatball dish.
I brought up onions from the cellar, sauteed them, threw in a couple of handfuls of chickweed, blended that with eggs, cheese and milk and poured it into a phylo crust that I had in the freezer. (I hate to waste the phylo dough, so I used the rest of the package as a 'top crust'.)
Sliced some elk salami, farmers cheese and some home made herb crackers that I had made on Thursday.
And a homemade no-bake cheesecake thingy with blackberries I had picked last summer, in a pine nut crust.
I think it was one of the best 'on the fly' dinners I have ever made! And there is not a crumb of leftovers today!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
What Sort of a Blog is This, Anyway?
Huh. This is really turning out to be an herb blog, no? I didn’t intend for it to be. It is suppose to be a blog about caring for a loved one, while living on farm. Why then, is there so much about herbs?
Taking care of a parent is stressful. If you’ve done it, you know what I mean. Although it is an opportunity that I treasure, there are times when I want to pull my hair out. No, really. My mother has dementia coupled with a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Which means that dishes must be stacked in a particular order, coffee cups must be filled in a certain sequence and light bulbs must be rotated so that they all ‘wear evenly’. There’s more, but I don’t want to bore you.
Don’t get me wrong. She has her adorable moments. She gave me a head of broccoli for Christmas. And she lined up all the dogs and gave them lectures on personal hygiene the other day, addressing them as ‘people’.
But I found that the stress was ‘killing me’. Quite literally. My blood pressure was up, my muscles were tense and I really couldn’t get much relief. I tried meditation, exercise, ‘getting out’. But nothing really helped. And then I realized that I had the answer all along.
My family has always been ‘herby’. As a child, I was the recipient of mustard plasters and comfrey tea. My mother told me about soap plant and miner's lettuce when I was four years old. I cooked wild foods for my kids as nature lessons. I’ve always made herb teas, grown gardens and ‘listened to the plants’. So why not see if there was something there that could help with my tension?
And I did. Frankly, my little ‘brew’ was a lifesaver. It’s safer than any pill and cheaper. But my success made me look deeper into the herb world. I have sort of a…er….’lot’ of science in my background. I won’t say it’s easy to sift through all the nonsense about herbs, but it does make it easier to actually look at the compounds that they contain and deduce an expected result.
And it’s fun too. Wintertime on a farm can be pretty…quiet. Well, ok, it does have its moments. Like the bear that came through last fall or living without power for two days during a windstorm. But on the whole, I’m left with a whole lotta research time.
So, that’s why the blog is so ‘herby’. Don’t worry. As spring arrives, it’ll get more ‘farmy’.
Taking care of a parent is stressful. If you’ve done it, you know what I mean. Although it is an opportunity that I treasure, there are times when I want to pull my hair out. No, really. My mother has dementia coupled with a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Which means that dishes must be stacked in a particular order, coffee cups must be filled in a certain sequence and light bulbs must be rotated so that they all ‘wear evenly’. There’s more, but I don’t want to bore you.
Don’t get me wrong. She has her adorable moments. She gave me a head of broccoli for Christmas. And she lined up all the dogs and gave them lectures on personal hygiene the other day, addressing them as ‘people’.
But I found that the stress was ‘killing me’. Quite literally. My blood pressure was up, my muscles were tense and I really couldn’t get much relief. I tried meditation, exercise, ‘getting out’. But nothing really helped. And then I realized that I had the answer all along.
My family has always been ‘herby’. As a child, I was the recipient of mustard plasters and comfrey tea. My mother told me about soap plant and miner's lettuce when I was four years old. I cooked wild foods for my kids as nature lessons. I’ve always made herb teas, grown gardens and ‘listened to the plants’. So why not see if there was something there that could help with my tension?
And I did. Frankly, my little ‘brew’ was a lifesaver. It’s safer than any pill and cheaper. But my success made me look deeper into the herb world. I have sort of a…er….’lot’ of science in my background. I won’t say it’s easy to sift through all the nonsense about herbs, but it does make it easier to actually look at the compounds that they contain and deduce an expected result.
And it’s fun too. Wintertime on a farm can be pretty…quiet. Well, ok, it does have its moments. Like the bear that came through last fall or living without power for two days during a windstorm. But on the whole, I’m left with a whole lotta research time.
So, that’s why the blog is so ‘herby’. Don’t worry. As spring arrives, it’ll get more ‘farmy’.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Dreaming, Plotting, Scheming...
It's blowing hard outside. Really hard. The door has flown off my greenhouse, and the rain is pouring in parallel to the sky. I had planned a walk today to look for ground ivy, but thought I better be prudent and stay inside.
So, instead, I'm sitting here by the fire with a cup of linden tea and a lap full of seed catalogs. As a kid, I would spend hours pouring over the 'Sears and Roebuck' catalog. Today, it's the seed catalogs that hold my attention. I can get lost for hours, plotting and re-plotting my garden. Scheming on how I many new types of plants I can fit in.
It's really a lovely way to spend a rainy afternoon.
As I make my list of 'must haves' I'll make it includes cayenne pepper seeds. Peppers have become an important part of my 'medicine cabinet'.
Cayenne makes a wonderful oil for sore muscles, and a great base for balms. I don't find that it irritates my skin like many of the other capsaicin creams that are available at the store. But do make sure you don't get it in your eyes!
Cayenne Infused oil
Blend 5 tablespoons powdered cayenne with 2 cups of olive oil. Since the pepper 'hotness' will vary between plants, you may adjust to your own preferences. Place in a warm sunny window for 30 days. Strain mixture and rebottle. I mix it with comfry and goldenrod for a sore muscle balm. Other folks that I've talked to add turmeric powder as well.
Yes, I've missed my walk today, but I am so thankful for the rain. The ground is thirsty for it. The trees are thirsty for it. And I'm enjoying an afternoon respite.
I hope you get one too.
So, instead, I'm sitting here by the fire with a cup of linden tea and a lap full of seed catalogs. As a kid, I would spend hours pouring over the 'Sears and Roebuck' catalog. Today, it's the seed catalogs that hold my attention. I can get lost for hours, plotting and re-plotting my garden. Scheming on how I many new types of plants I can fit in.
It's really a lovely way to spend a rainy afternoon.
As I make my list of 'must haves' I'll make it includes cayenne pepper seeds. Peppers have become an important part of my 'medicine cabinet'.
Cayenne makes a wonderful oil for sore muscles, and a great base for balms. I don't find that it irritates my skin like many of the other capsaicin creams that are available at the store. But do make sure you don't get it in your eyes!
Cayenne Infused oil
Blend 5 tablespoons powdered cayenne with 2 cups of olive oil. Since the pepper 'hotness' will vary between plants, you may adjust to your own preferences. Place in a warm sunny window for 30 days. Strain mixture and rebottle. I mix it with comfry and goldenrod for a sore muscle balm. Other folks that I've talked to add turmeric powder as well.
Yes, I've missed my walk today, but I am so thankful for the rain. The ground is thirsty for it. The trees are thirsty for it. And I'm enjoying an afternoon respite.
I hope you get one too.
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