#Lemon and Garden Herb Asparagus recipe

[askwhatsforlunch]

Lemon and Garden Herb Asparagus

These bright, fragrant and delightfully buttery Lemon and Garden Herb Asparagus make a delicious May Day lunch! Have a good one!

Ingredients (serves 2):

about 2 dozens green asparagus, rinsed

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1 lemon

3 fluffy sprigs Garden Chervil 

a small bunch Garden Chives 

half a dozen leaves fresh mint

a pinch of fleur de sel or sea salt flakes

Chervil Hollandaise Sauce, warmed, to serve

Trim the bottoms of the asparagus.

Bring a large, deep pan of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in coarse salt, and add the asparagus. Cook, 5 minutes.

Once cooked, immediately plunge the asparagus in a bowl of ice water, to stop cooking. Drain thoroughly.

In a large frying pan, melt butter with olive oil over a medium flame. Once the butter is just foaming, grate in the zest of the whole lemon. Cook, 1 minute.

Finely chop Chervil, Chives and mint, and add half of the chopped herbs to the pan. Cook, 1 minute more.

Add asparagus to the pan, shaking gently to coat them in herbs and butter. Cook, shaking often, about 5 to 7 minutes until just browning. Sprinkle with fleur de sel. Add remaining chopped Chervil, Chives and mint, and toss, to coat.

Serve Lemon and Garden Herb Asparagus immediately, with warm Chervil Hollandaise Sauce, buttered Sourdough toasts and chilled dry white wine, like a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

[smudgingpumpkins]

Ostara

In celebration of the fertility Goddess Eostre

When is Ostara?

It is celebrated on the day of the spring equinox, which is either March 19th, 20th, or 21st.

What does Ostara mean?

It is a celebration of the beginning of the spring season, with days becoming brighter, warmer, and longer once again. Nature is reborn as the soils become fertile, the animals emerge from hibernation, and flowers and trees bloom beautifully.

Who does Ostara celebrate?

Ostara is primarily the celebration of the Goddess Eostre, who is the goddess of fertility, dawn, and renewal. Eostre is of Anglo-Saxon origin.

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OSTARA TRADITIONS

Work with stones that harness growth, prosperity, and new beginnings, such as aventurine, citrine, moss agate, blue kyanite, and aquamarine.

Utilize herbs and aromatic flowers such as mints, lemongrass, retama, tulips, daisies, lilac, and jasmines, which symbolize joy, fidelity, and renewal, and are associated with the beginning signs of spring. Some are also known to treat digestive issues and promote relaxation.

Eat all assortments of fruits, like apples, oranges, and lemons. Fruits are essentially ripened ovaries after all. Consume seeds and eggs (however so) as well, which symbolize fertility and birth.

Wear or decorate with pastel colors, such as pink, light blue, white, yellow, and green.

Incorporate animal imagery (e.g., drawings, photographs, figurines, et cetera) of rabbits, bees, butterflies, and chicks, which represents the Goddess Eostre's spiritual connection between humans, animals, and the earth. These animals are known to be pollinators and heavy procreators.

OSTARA ACTIVITIES

Water, fertilize the soil, and plant seeds in your garden. Take time to appreciate nature and the beauty of the blooming flowers and greening plants and trees.

Take a ritual bath: add bath salt, spearmint, drops of jasmine essential oil, and petals of a flower of your choice in the bath.

Make a flower crown. Use pastel-colored flowers and adorn the crown on your head!

Paint or dye eggs. You can boil them beforehand or paint them raw. Chicken eggs are traditionally used but you can use any sort of egg, even if all you have is decorative or plastic ones.

Make an Ostara altar. Center the altar with an image or statue of the Goddess Eostre and decorate around it with pale colors, spring flowers, seeds, grains, and/or eggs.

Get creative with recipes! Carlota Santos, who is the author of Magika, recommends crafting a grasshopper cocktail alongside scrambled eggs with asparagus. Grasshopper cocktails are made with crushed ice, 1 ounce of creme de cacao, 1 ounce of creme de menthe, and a couple ounces of heavy cream.

[natalehr]

the spring chef-up roundup

1. My remake of Lighthouse Bakery’s California salad (we added chicken🤭). Butter lettuce and romaine from the garden, spring mix, cucumber, tomato, red onion, avocado, walnuts, feta - not pictured: dill dressing.

2. Drew & I occasionally do a week where we each make a surprise dinner. Mine was a pesto tortellini pasta

3. Moroccan inspired bowls - chicken, quinoa, kale from the garden, roasted cauliflower and chickpeas, avocado tahini, shit ton of herbs

4. Trader Joe’s pizza tik tok recipe lol .. anything with burrata slaps to me idk

5. Chipotle leftovers breakfast “migas”

6. Lil dinner bowl: chicken, potatoes, chickpeas, asparagus, salad from the garden

7. 🤌🏻 lemon chicken bucatini with burrata

8. Cobb Salad with the avocado tahini again bc cannot get enough 🥑🥗

9. The garden 🥬🌿🍓

[awesomeforever]

When I think of mint, I think of summers spent running around my grandparents’ backyard, grass tickling bare feet as I chased my little cousins (or, rather, they chased me). On the patio table there was an ever-present jug of freshly made lemonade, not too sweet and always infused with fresh mint. Something about the addition of the herb transformed what was an otherwise plain beverage into something special. To me, mint is the quintessential summer herb. It cools, it refreshes, it enlivens. If mint is overtaking your garden, as it tends to do, try it in these sweet and savory recipes from our Recipe Finder. Crispy Chickpeas With Fried Shallots and Cilantro-Mint Chutney, above. Liven up the dinner table with this delicious chickpea dish featuring a bright, minty sauce. This satisfying vegetarian main can also be made plant-based by using vegan yogurt. Beans are good for the planet, for you and for your dinner table. Here’s how to cook them right. Fresh Pasta With Artichokes, Asparagus and Lemon-Mint Ricotta. Fresh flavors are abundant in this pasta dish. Store-bought fresh pasta works like a charm here, but if you’re feeling adventurous, you could always make your own. Basic pasta dough recipe Mint Julep. You don’t have to wait for the Kentucky Derby to enjoy this classic cocktail from the South. Muddled mint leaves and simple syrup add an herbal sweetness to the bourbon-based drink. Serving in a silver julep cup is fun, but optional. Sheet Pan Salmon With Minty Peas, Oranges and Fennel. This one-pan meal is a lifesaver on busy weeknights without sacrificing taste. The use of frozen peas means this zesty dish can be enjoyed year round. Sheet-pan suppers are the easy and adaptable way to get dinner on the table fast Cashew Mint Dressing. This dressing gets its creaminess from the cashews rather than dairy or eggs. Pair with crudité for a beautiful, earthy green appetizer. Salad dressings 101: Two formulas to get your ideal flavor every time Melon Salad With Chiles and Mint. This is fruit salad with a zing. You can turn up the heat by including the seeds and ribs of the chiles. How to take your fruit salad from boring to brilliant Pea, Ricotta and Mint Gazpacho. A creamy, green take on a classic. Mint makes this chilled soup even cooler. 5 cold soups for sweltering summer days Minty Lemon Soda. This DIY soda is an effervescent twist on my favorite mint lemonade. source

[whumpster-fire]

Top 11 Vegetables That Are Better For You When Cooked

Welcome to Cooking With Whumpster-Fire. For your daily cooking tip, here is a list of eleven delicious vegetables that are tastier and better for you when cooked.

1. Potatoes. Potatoes are not really edible raw and might even be poisonous, but believe it or not they can make a delicious treat if sliced into thin strips or discs and deep fried.

2. Asparagus. Bitch who the fuck eats asparagus raw?

3. Broccoli. Broccoli tastes okay raw, but if steamed, sauteed, or deep fried it releases more nutrients.

4. Kale. Kale is best booked using your oven’s self-clean cycle. This will result in heavy charring, improving the mental health of everyone at your dinner table by giving them an excuse to not eat kale.

5. Pineapple. Listen, if tomatoes and eggplants can be vegetables so can pineapple. Pineapples are not only acidic but contain protein-digesting enzymes called bromelain. Cooking it denatures the bromelain, allowing you to enjoy that delicious pineapple flavor without dissolving your tongue.

6. Eggs. Most eggs that you buy in the grocery store are unfertilized, so they’re free of cancer-causing artificial chemicals, making them an excellent vegetable for a natural, holistic diet. However, like many root vegetables, eggs can contain harmful bacteria such as salmonella and tetanus, so they should always be thoroughly cooked before serving. Eggs are a bit like squash, with a tough, inedible rind, but the rind is brittle and can be broken without using a knife. Crack the rind against a counter and pour out the watery flesh and seeds, which can be fried in one piece, whisked while pan-frying to make a delicious stir fry dish called “scrambled eggs,” and prepared in many other ways. They can also be boiled whole and the rind peeled off later.

7. Mtn Dew Baja Blast (TM) Flavor Summer Squash. This GMO vegetable is not available in most grocery stores yet, but I assume it would be good if roasted just like other summer squash. This is one of those rare blue foods, so a bit of reddish paprika can really improve the presentation.

8. Haggis. Many Americans believe that Haggis is an animal, but my Scottish friend assured me that this is just a running joke like the existence of drop bears: Haggis is actually a vegetable and completely vegan. Fresh off the vine it is firm and inedible, and should be boiled or deep-fried for best flavor.

9. Bacon. Listen, I know what you’re going to say. But food groups are a conspiracy made up by the FDA and big agriculture to sell more wheat and corn products. They aren’t real. A vegetable can be whatever you want it to be. Again: tomatoes, eggplants, and pineapples are culinary vegetables even though they’re botanical fruits: the same is true of bacon. While it may technically be a fruit, it can substitute for many true vegetables like cucumber, turnips, and parsnip in most recipes as a healthier and more flavorful alternative.

10. Weed. Bitch who the fuck eats marijuana leaves raw? Worst side salad I’ve ever been served. I normally avoid leaving one star yelp reviews as a matter of principle, but the guy running a food truck whose name I will not mention is an exception. Well, it wasn’t a food truck, it was more of just a guy selling salads on the corner. In hindsight I shouldn’t have expected a fine dining experience, but I was fooled by the high prices.

11. Colored Pencils. I know, I know, it can be tempting to grab a handful of fresh colored pencils right out of the bucket as a snack, or even cut them fresh from your herb garden, but they taste much better when grilled or roasted in lemon juice and vinegar. They’re also much less splintery and contain over 50% more absorbable Vitamin C when cooked.

[downtoearthmarkets]

Attention please: the strawberries are coming in! Maybe this week, maybe next. But before we all get excited by the symbolic start of summer and carried away on wave after wave of sweet fruit and summer vegetables, we want to turn your attention to the humble herb. Early to sprout and persistent through the summer, these flavor bombs will be there for you from the first asparagus salad in spring through the heart of grilling season and into the first hearty roasts of fall. Some of our farms are offering potted herb plants for your garden or windowsill. That's a good way to ensure that you can grab a fistful of your favorite fresh seasonings any day of the week. It's also a hedge against forgetting a beautiful bouquet of herbs in the crisper drawer until it's too late. But it's not the only way. If you leave the farmers market this weekend with arms full of fragrant mint, oregano, chive and parsley bunches, then follow these tips for making sure you get the most out of them. 1) Treat herbs like you would flowers. Green stemmed herbs should rest in a jar with a little water in the bottom - basil on the counter so it doesn't turn black, mint, parsley and cilantro in the fridge with a baggie over the top. Woody-stemmed herbs like oregano, thyme and rosemary should be wrapped in a damp towel and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. 2) Use up extra herbs with a scalable recipe. If you buy fresh herbs to make a particular dish but have extra, a simple recipe like herb butter can be adjusted to use up the excess. Mash together room temperature salted butter, minced fresh herbs, minced garlic and some lemon zest. You should use about half as much butter by volume as herbs (e.g., half a cup of butter to one cup of chopped herbs). The herb butter can be frozen into blocks in an ice cube tray and used later to top steaks, fish and roasted chicken or stirred into pasta or rice. 3) Freeze fresh herbs you know you won't get to right away. One option is to clean, dry and chop the herbs and loosely pack them into the wells of an ice cube tray, topping each well with a neutral-flavor oil. Herb leaves and whole chives can also be frozen by laying them, cleaned and dried, in a single layer on a pan. Once frozen the herbs can be transferred to a lidded storage container. Be sure to label the frozen herbs for future reference.

[askwhatsforlunch]

The Easter Table

Jules will not come home until next week, when we shall have a proper Easter Feast. In the meantime, I am having a Pink Blossom in the sun, reading in the garden and a delightful dessert to celebrate the holiday; and I’m sharing Easter recipes I’ve cooked and baked over the years (this blog just turned nine, to quote a favourite comedian of mine, Cal Wilson, about turning forty: “How the fuck did that happen?”)... Happy Easter, friends!

Cocktails

Gold Rush

Pink Blossom

Blossom

Ladybird

Bee’s Knees

Citrus-Pear Sangria

Hot Cross Buns and Flavoured Butters

Brandy, Chocolate and Fig Hot Cross Buns

Whisky Cranberry and Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Rum Apricot and Kiwifruit Hot Cross Buns

Honey Butter

Rum Butter

Tropical Hot Cross Buns

Cranberry and Apricot Maple Hot Cross Buns

Hot Cross Buns

Appetizers and Entrées 

Poached Egg Aspargus Salad (Vegetarian)

Pea and Cilantro Cream Toasts (Vegetarian)

Salmon and Beetroot Tartare

Prawn Cocktails

Main

Rosemary and Honey Roast Lamb

Herb Roast Lamb

Cider and Ginger Chicken

Sides

Rosemary and Thyme Butter Broad Beans, Asparagus and Gnoccchi

Buttered Peas, Broad Beans and Asparagus

Bay Leaf and Oregano Roasted Potatoes

Desserts and Cakes

Balsamic Strawberries and White Chocolate Eclairs 

Raspberry and Chocolate Eclairs 

Springtime Garden Pavlova

Passionfruit Chocolate Teacups 

Lime and Passionfruit Battenberg

Raspberry Chocolate Mousse Tarts

Mango and Lime Tarts

Mango and Passionfruit Pavlova

Italian Lemon Mousse

Maple, Cinnamon and Chocolate Brioche Crescent

Lemon Drizzle Cake

Easter Lemon Pavlova Nest

Lime, Vanilla and Basil Marzipan Strawberry Tart

Strawberry Meringue Cake

Biscuits and Chocolates

Hazelnut and Lemon Biscuits

Passionfruit Chocolates

Tangy Berry Chocolates

Salted Caramel Chocolates

Praliné Chocolates

Peanut Praliné Chocolates

Pecan Shortbread Easter Cookies

[justanothercookery]

Shavuot

Persian herbed rice, jewelled rice, herbed lentil salad, pea and asparagus salad with avocado, green salad, pickled cucumber, and beetroot and feta salad (Gabi), followed by a selection of cheesecakes for Shavuot lunch on Saturday 22 May 2021

For the first time in months, we were able to have our family to our house. We had to sit in the garden wearing our coats, but there were 14 of us and it was fabulous. I have missed this so very much. All it needed was my brother and sister-in-law.

Given it was Shavuot (or thereabouts, it was actually on Monday 17 May), I made a heap of different salads and two cheesecakes, while Gabi brought with her favourite salad and Auntie Jacquie made salad dressing and brought with a lime cheesecake, too.

Salad-wise, the herbed lentil salad was essentially this one, but I cooked the lentils with perpetual onions and garlic, red wine, and stock. I dressed them with herbs, lemon juice, yoghurt, pomegranate molasses, and pomegranate seeds.

The pickled cucumber was my usual one.

The pea, asparagus, and avocado salad featured roasted asparagus with a lemon and mint dressing. (Add shaved parmigiano, too, if you want.)

I loved the jewelled rice, but the Persian herbed rice, taken from Sabrina Ghayour’s Persiana, was heavenly. I made it differently to the recipe mostly through error, although I omitted the butter to accommodate one of my cousins who is vegan. Still, everyone loved it. And I cannot wait to find an excuse to make it again.

Serves 4 when accompanying fish and vegetables as a main course; more when part of a buffet

250 grams basmati rice

50 grams coriander, leaves picked

50 grams parsley, leaves picked

20 grams dill fronds

20 grams chives

4 perpetual onions, chopped finely (or use spring onions)

Vegetable oil (and butter, if you’re not vegan or serving with meat)

Salt

Soak the rice for at least 30 minutes, preferably several hours and change the water to rinse it.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and salt it well. Tip in the rice, cover the pan, and when the water returns to the boil, set a timer for four minutes. The rice should be al dente.

Drain it and rinse it carefully with cold water to stop it from cooking. (I say to be careful: you do not want to damage the grains.)

In a food processor, chop the coriander and parsley, followed by the chives and dill. Tip it into a large bowl together with the minced onions.

Carefully tip in the rice, and fold it through the herbs. Again, be careful not to break up the grains of rice.

Take a large non-stick pan and cover the base generously with oil and (if you can) butter, and season well with salt. Make sure that the heat is high. Scatter over the herbed rice, doing it lightly and airily to prevent it from compacting. It will spit a bit as it hits the hot fat. Pile the rice to a point in the centre. Add a little more salt and another knob of butter. (Also a sprinkling of water if the rice has dried out significantly, but just a sprinkling.)

Wrap the lid of the pan in a tea towel and cover the pan. Reduce the heat to as low as possible after five minutes and cook for another 25 minutes.

When the rice has cooked through and is bright white and each grain is separate, swap the lid for a warmed serving bowl and tip out the rice. You should have a wonderful crispy tahdig, too. Eat with gusto. 

[jeninthegarden]

Seed List 2021

I want them NOW.

The seed catalogues, the “garden porn”, has begun to arrive.  I always have to complete my review of the prior year before I can begin to think about what I want to plant this year.  I get interested in different cultivars from season to season; I swear off some, fixate on others, swear off some and then buy lots of seeds anyway because they are inexpensive or just include really pretty pictures, discover some new hybrids that I just have to try, succeed gloriously and re-order the same.   But first, there is the momentous decision of whether to order seeds or just order the plants, or hedge my bets and order both, or risk it and order neither in hopes of picking it up locally.   And then there are the plants other than vegetables.  Since I am now a member of the pollinator pathway and a 3rd year bee-keeper, there are native, blooming plants to be considered, and some non-native, invasive plants that have to be dug out and replaced with something.  I also have an orchard, and although I’m full up on fruit trees and berries, there is a lot of space in the fenced, groundhog-proofed orchard that needs companion planting or temporary cultivation.  We completed our great hugel – more space for planting native species and anything the deer don’t eat (asparagus, artichokes..).  And the lavender patch is thriving, not just with lavender but wildflowers, some of which are perennial and need to be relocated.  Now we are contemplating not one, but two rain gardens, one in the front yard and one in the back yard.

The following seed list is comprised of just the edibles I am ordering. For full disclosure, I’ve added the list of seeds I still have in inventory from the past few years. Not all of those seeds will be viable but I’m going to be germinating them because I have extra space.  The perennials, herbs, flowers, shrubs, trees, natives, exotics, hardscaping, bee-keeping and chicken-keeping are all detailed in my garden review.  Not here.  

Beans were a bust, so my fixation has not been fixed! And, as usual when I am thwarted by the elements, I double-down.   I’m totally over the squash and gourd bonanza, except that I saved seeds from all the squash I successfully grew, so now I am stuck with the dilemma of either giving the seeds away or planting them. I’m disappointed in the potato crop but the Japanese Yams were soooo delicious I’m going to try those again, and a couple other varieties that are just click-bait.  Super aggravated that none of the brassica flourished – doubling down.  And tired of waiting for fruiting, so I invested in some quirky, fast-maturing varieties and paid particular attention to standard varieties advertised for abundance and temperature range tolerance.  

I was surprised and worried to note, however, that some variety of seeds have already sold out, in January!  So, I panicked and ordered somewhat hurriedly, from multiple seed companies, some staples, repeats and favorites.  And then, in a more leisurely but not more methodical fashion, ordered everything else.  

Legumes:

Peas –  The pea crop was lousy last year!  And I used all my saved seeds trying for a fall crop, that failed. So, back to the drawing board.  Going by the descriptions, I ordered “Easy Peasy” from Burpee (11 peas per pod/2 pods per node -200 seeds) and “Maestro” (9 peas per pod, multiple pickings – 150 seeds).  I think I’ve ordered both of these in the past and was satisfied.  I also ordered “Alaska Early” (Extra early, 6 peas per pod, multiple pickings – 300 seeds) from Terratorial Seeds and “Knight Pea” (Extra early, 10 peas per pod – 150 seeds) from Pinetree.

Snap Peas: For my first ever attempt at sugar snap peas (no shelling required – but not as thin as snow peas), I ordered “Sugar Magnolia” snap peas from Pinetree Seeds, which have violet pods, and “Sugar Lace II”, the semi-leafless and prolific snap pea.  

Runner beans: Last year I ordered Territorial Seeds “Scarlet Emperor” with red blossoms, and Pinetree Seeds “Painted Lady” with red and white blossoms, “Sunset” with pale pink blossoms. And Park Seeds “Stardust”, with white blossoms. I have some of each left in inventory, so this year I am ordering “Black Coat” an ancient heirloom from Pinetree which is a red-blossomed, black bean.  

Bush beans: Park Seeds “Velour” which is a proven winner, in sold out already.  A compact, bush-habit plant, very heavy-bearing bright purple, stringless pods over a long season. I ordered it this time from Territorial Seed “Velour”.

Pole beans-I  want to try the Territoral Seeds “Rattlesnake” beans again since the groundhog and the drought got all the ones I planted last year. Pinetree Seeds “Winged Bean” yielded just two pods so I saved the seeds to try again, but also ordered a fresh pack. I still have a lot of “Violetto” purple pole beans left.  They do well climbing cornstalks or sunflowers.

Noodle beans – Never even made it into the ground, so I still have Pinetree Seeds “Red Noodle” and “Mosaic” left over. However, at this point germination is not going to be great.

Soybeans-  They are already sold out of Park Seeds “Midori Giant”. So I have ordered their organic “Chiba Green Organic” instead.

Fava beans- Pinetree Seeds “Varoma” was hearty and tasted superb.  I made the happy discovery that the stems and blossoms taste as good as the beans.  So this is absolutely a spring and fall crop I need to plant a lot more of. I doubled my order.  I may also order the bulk, cover crop variety to sew in the fall.

 Fruits:

Corn – The “Kandy Korn” from Burpee was delicious, or so say the squirrels!  It was a perfect appetizer to all the squash they demolished in the fall.  This year I need to regroup on corn.  I’m not going to have the space for it for much longer, so seems a shame to give up. I ordered “Blue Jade” a dwarf heirloom sweet corn from Hudson Valley Seeds, to plant in planters on the patio.  And I ordered “Dakota Black” popcorn from Territorial Seed to use for the 3 Sisters planting in the orchard.  I have grown Dakota Black previously.  

Cucumber- Cucumbers didn’t get enough heat last summer.  So this time I went with a quick growing slicer variety from Totally Tomatoes called “Green Light”. And a prolific pickling variety “Pick-a-bushel” from Burpee.  I have some “Bushy” and “Pickle Bush” (both bush, pickle cucumbers) left, as well as “Marketer” and “Market-More” thin skinned, slicing varieties left over.  But I was not impressed with any of these varieties.  And then there is “Barese” (from Totally Tomatoes): an “Italian heirloom novelty” that can be eaten young as a traditional cucumber, or allowed to mature into a melon..?

Eggplant – I did so well in the orchard I decided to go with Park Seeds “Black Beauty” large standard, and “Mixed Fingerling” purple, white and green (again).  Dan has really perfected his eggplant caponata recipe, and we grill eggplant and stir-fry it, or roast it for babaganoush often enough that we will eat all I can grow. I also have “Hari” (long green of India, but the seeds are several years old), and “Millionaire” (the classic long, purple of Japan, but also several years old) in inventory.

Gourds- I’m done with gourds.  We won’t talk about the stack of bushel, bottle, dipper, swan-neck gourds that are rotting on my front porch.  No, I said we’re not going to talk about it. The only gourd I want to try again is the Luffa gourd because I still have not grown a single luffa.

Melon- I bought Burpee “Mango Melon” seeds again, for the description of its taste alone because the seeds from last year did germinate but did not produce any fruit.  And I also bought “Jenny Lind” heirloom, green melon, and “Sakatas Sweet” a super sweet green with very thin rind, from Pinetree (which is located in Maine, so most of their seed offerings grow well in the Northeast).

Okra – like fava beans, I discovered that the entire okra plant is edible.  Leaves can be cooked like collards, and the flowers can be battered and fried like zucchini blossoms.  I saved seeds from Pinetree Seeds, giant “Cow Horn” and “Red Burgungy”.   I ordered Park Seeds “Rainbow Fiesta” ivory, green and pink okra again because it did not fruit.  The “Unicorn” which, although it is eaten like okra, is actually “devil’s claw”, a member of the sesame family and a medicinal herb, also did not germinate.  So I bought it again!  And then I saw that Territorial Seed had “Simpson”, which is more cold-hardy, and Burpee has “Baby Buda” which is a small, early maturing and cold tolerant variety of okra; so, I ordered those as well.

Pepper – I am trying an interesting experiment of over-wintering my pepper plants that did not fruit their first season.  Unfortunately, when I dug them up, I did not label them so, I don’t know if they are hot or sweet. I suspect they are mostly hot.  I ordered “Yellow Calwonder” from Totally Tomatoes, a fast growing sweet yellow bell, and “Chablis”, also a fast growing sweet bell that grows from white to orange to red, and “Sheepnose Pimento”, a sweet red cherry pepper, and “Sweet Banana” a long, sweet yellow.  Then I got distracted and ordered Pinetree “Tobasco Pepper”.  In inventory I have the following hot peppers:  Dragon Tongue; Cayenne; Paper Lantern; Habanero; Lemon drop; Chiltepin (fire flea); Portuguese hot red (Portuguese dagger); Early Jalapeno; and Pastilles Bajio.  And sweet: Big Red and Corno Di Toro.  I promise not to peruse the pepper plant sections of the rest of the incoming seed catalogues.  But a member of our local plant swap has a pepper propagating propensity, so I absolutely promise that some of the peppers I am planning to propagate will be proffered in exchange for some of the pepper plants she has propagated!  

Tomatoes – Here, COVID fatigue (boredom, tired of waiting) hit me and I started to ask myself why I have to wait until August for ripe tomatoes.  Then there was the timely arrival of the seed catalogue from Totally Tomatoes.  So I got a little off the rails and ordered “Quedlinburger Fruhe Liebe” that matures in only 40 days! I also ordered “Anna Russian” a red heirloom, “Old German” a yellow striped heirloom, “Black Krim” a purple heirloom, “Independence Day” another very early tomato.  And then the Burpee catalogue arrived…They have a 2 lb seedless paste tomato called “Super Paste” and a 3 lb beefsteak called “Steakhouse”, and the bronze colored plum tomato called “Shimmer” I grew a few years ago, and a French beefsteak called “Mama Marmalade” that I’ve been eyeing for a couple years.  So I ordered 1 plant of each, except for the Super Paste of which I ordered 30 seeds. I have a lot of seeds left in inventory: Pink Beefsteak; San Marzano; Green Zebra; Big Rainbow; Mr. Stripy; Brandywine; Giant Garden Paste; Mortgage Lifter, Black Russian, Black Seaman and Cherokee Purple.

Watermelon:  I chose “Faerie Hybrid” an early maturing (just 60 days), yellow rind with red inside.

Winter Squash and pumpkins: I’m sort of over my fixation, except that I saved a lot of seeds and am still mad about the squirrels eating all my squash and pumpkins.  So, although I am not buying any squash or pumpkin seeds, I have the following in inventory: Japanese black pumpkin; Honeyboat; Dumpling; No-ID other than “small winter”; Cheese pumpkin; Queensland Blue pumpkin; Butternut; Honeynut; Spaghetti squash; Giant pumpkin; Jester squash; Cherokee bush pumpkin.

Zucchini- Burpee fordhook heirloom is an excellent staple, but the Burpee’s Sure Thing variety really does well with less sun, and is very resistant to powdery mildew so I’m going with that one because last summer was just not hot enough for zucchini.  

Roots:

Beets: Pinetree “Beet Mix”

Carrot: Territorial Seed “Giants of Colmar”, large winter harvest carrots for stew. Park Seed’s “Rainbow Blend” purple-red-orange. Pinetree  “Culinary Blend” yellow-white-orange.

Radish:  Not interested! So, of course, I ordered some radishes that don’t look like radishes or even have the same growing season as regular radishes:  “Minowasa Summer Cross No.3 Diakon” from Territorial Seeds, which looks like a white carrot and grows in the summer.  

Potatoes:  Pinetree “Pinto Gold”, a medium sized gold potato with violet patches, and “Blackberry” small, jet black potato from Territorial Seed.

Sweet Potatoes: “Japanese Marasaki” from Territorial Seed. Purple skin with white interior that is sweet and pecan nutty, but with a firm, dry texture of a russet potato.

Turnips: “Hinona Kabu Japanese” from Pinetree, these look like pink carrots and are specifically for pickling.

No celeriac, rutabaga, parsnips, radishes, burdock, scorzonera, salsify, milk thistle….until I end up planting them anyway.  

Greens:

Arugula:  Pinetree Seeds “Astro” quick growing for clipping.

Chard: Pinetree “Peppermint Stick” Swiss chard. I don’t like red or yellow chard because chard is closely related to beets and the red/yellow coloring makes Swiss chard taste like beet greens.  I like beet greens but I also like chard that does not taste identical to beet greens.  So maybe peppermint stick will be a good, colorful choice that won’t taste too much like beets.

Claytonia: It is a succulent green that looks like a bouquet of little lily pads. Terrirotial Seeds “Miner’s Lettuce”.

Escarole: Burpee “Sugarloaf” This is a very tight-headed, upright variety that looks like a pointy cabbage.

Lettuce:  Burpee “Four Seasons Blend”, “Heatwave Blend” and “All Season Romaine Blend”.

Mache:  “Marcholong Mache” a super early corn mache from PineTree.

Nettles: “Stinging Nettle” from Hudson Valley Seed Company.

Orach: a violet red, velvet leafed spinach that grows on an 18 inch, upright stalk. Pinetree “Double Rose”.

Spinach: Park Seeds “Space”heat and mildew resistant.  “Renegade”a high yielding, weather indifferent variety is sold out! So I ordered “Imperial Star” very cold hardy.  And I’m going with “Lakeside”, a failure-proof, everything hardy, spinach from Territorial Seed.

Purslane: Pinetree “Goldberger Purslane”a larger, paler and more succulent variety, with a lovely golden bloom.

“Salad Burnett” a cucumber-tasting salad green from Pinetree

“Saltwort”, a succulent green from Pinetree

“Upland Cress” , a spicy, mountain cress from Pinetree.

Brassica:

Asian Greens: Park Seed “Li Ren Choy” pak choi;   Pinetree “Purple Pak Choi” and “Tatsoi Greens” and “Misome”; “Green coin” tatsoi and “Yum Choi Sum” Asian chard, from Territorial Seeds; “Rainbow Tatsoi” and “Komatsuna” tender green, from Hudson Valley Seed Company.

Broccoli:  Territorial Seed’s: “Aspabroc” and “Emerald Crown”, I have two rows of winter/spring broccoli mulched with straw in the garden that I am trying to overwinter.  And I have plenty of “Homegrown” broccoli mix seed in inventory.

Cabbage: Not a single cabbage succeeded last year.  So this year we start earlier and we start fresh. Territorial Seed “Kalibos” a pointy red cabbage, and “Wa Wa Tsai” an early, mini Napa cabbage, Burpee’s “Red Dragon” open leaf, red, napa cabbage.  Pinetree’s “Point One” green head super early (48 days) cabbage. I have some “Round Dutch” green cabbage left in inventory.

Cauliflower:  Park Seeds “Veronica” which is that weird, green pyramidal Romanesco – Sold Out!, so Pinetree “Romanesco”, and “Snow Crown” - 53 Days to maturity. I have some “Fioretto” open head cauliflower and “Burgundy” purple cauliflower seeds in inventory still.

Collards: I did not order any seeds, yet.  I have a row of seedlings mulched with straw that I am trying to overwinter.  I have “Champion” collard seeds leftover from several years ago.

Kale: “Portuguese Kale” from Burpee.  I have often described it as looking like giant green roses. It tastes more like cabbage than kale.  “Amara Ethiopian Kale” (looks like shiny, kohlrabi leaves, and matures in 40 days) and “Kosmic” perennial kale, from Territorial Seed.  I have 2 surviving Sea Kale (perennial) seedlings in the orchard. We’ll see if they survive the winter. And “Organic Kale Garden Blend” from Park seeds.  I also have a lot of Red Russian Kale seedlings I mulched with straw to see if they will overwinter. And I left some Portuguese Kale standing to see if it will re-sprout (if only to give me some more seed to plant in the fall).  I have lots of very old curly blue kale seeds leftover.

And, because they seem to go with the brassicas in planting rotations, the alums:

Leek: Territorial Seeds “Succession Planting” threesome of Zermatt, Tadorna and Bandit (seeds).

Onion: Burpee’s “Sweet mix” for shorter days.

Scallions: Park Seed “Warrior”.

Garlic:  I planted garlic in the fall, and it developed green shoots and roots.  I mulched it with straw and hope it will sprout in another 6-8 weeks.

[luckymortal]

In-season garden recipes: Mediterranean/Forager Spring Potatoes, with milkweed shoots, and oregano garlic lemon pesto. This is a mashup of two favorite very traditional recipes. Potatoes with oregano, garlic, and lemon pesto is a very traditional Greek thing. Spring potatoes with wilted greens and wild asparagus in a garlic butter sauce is a very traditional forager thing. MASHUP! Start boiling potatoes, if you’re using spring potatoes they boil in about 5 minutes. First Spring potatoes will start showing in a couple weeks. Dig around the plants to find gold, being careful not to harm actual roots. Drizzle olive oil in a pan (especially a buttery Greek oil) just under smoking temp, add a few cloves of sliced garlic (and maybe a couple walking onion topsets.) Add asparagus or HEY IT’S MILKWEED SHOOT SEASON! Put some brown on that. Drain potatoes when you can get a fork in ‘em. Throw them in the pan and put some brown on those, too, just here and there. Add a whole cup of fresh oregano, fresh herbs you can use a LOT of. Wilt that until it forms a rustic pesto with the potatoes. A traditional rustic pesto like this is made with chopped herbs, not blended. If you’ve got an ol’ mezzaluna, even better, now’s you’re chance to use it and feel like a witchy medieval herbalist. Remove potatoes. Add a pat of butter to the pan, and greens: mustard, arugula is best, chard, or any wild greens available That aren’t too bitter yet (NETTLES, YO!.) Add 1/2 up of water until greens are steamed and wilted. Toss with potatoes and sprinkle the whole thing with lemon, salt and pepper to taste. I try to serve the greens around the side in a pool of that nice buttery, lemony, olive oil garlic sauce from the pan and keep the potatoes a bit high and dry in the center, so they keep some crispness to them. #inseasonrecipes #permacookery #foragerfood #gardenmeals https://www.instagram.com/p/CBCAvaGMSnC/?igshid=1n20f8cleqr6i

[recipesmadenew]

Today’s dinner was tricolor orzo pasta with asparagus and fresh garden herbs. I’m so excited my garden is thriving this year! This dish is creamy and fresh. Perfect taste of spring in one dish! Recipe: 1/2 cup white onion Bunch of asparagus 2 cups of orzo 1 stick of butter 1/2 cup Greek yogurt 1 cup of spinach Salt, pepper Fresh herbs (dill, oregano, lemon mint, lemon grass, parsley) 2 lemons 5 garlic cloves Cooked chicken breast I cooked the chicken with 1 lemon, water and some garlic cloves in the crockpot last night. I chopped it up and put it aside to add to the pasta later. Cook the orzo to al dente. Chop and Cook the white onions in a pan with butter until translucent. Chop asparagus into bite size pieces. Cook the asparagus with butter and salt for 10 mins on the stove on medium with the onions. Combine veggies with the pasta and stir in yogurt and remaining butter. Add herbs, spinach and stir until spinach is wilted. Pepper and salt to taste. Squeeze lemon juice over it. This tastes good hot or cold! https://instagr.am/p/B__Vd7ghbTn/

[tastebotanical]

Asparagus Quiche

Asparagus Quiche with Fresh Herbs

This Asparagus Quiche with Fresh Herbs is the perfect early summer lunch or supper recipe. In May and early June, bunches of seasonal fresh asparagus start to appear in the shops and it is time to look up recipes that make the most of it. It is the time of year when the weather becomes warmer and having a picnic or eating outside in the garden become more realistic prospects. It is also the time of year when outdoor concerts or plays, village fetes and sporting events start to take place. If you are looking for the perfect dish to take along to any of these, something easy, seasonal but luxurious, look no further than home-made Asparagus Quiche.

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What you need to know about Asparagus Quiche with Fresh Herbs

I generally make my own pastry. It took me many years to realise how easy it is and I do think it tastes better than ready-made pastry. However, if making pastry is not your thing, or you have limited time, you can use ready-made shortcrust pastry. This will make this quiche even quicker and easier to make.

Make sure you use fresh asparagus. There are lots of different varieties, particularly if you go to a farmers market or farm shop, and any would be good in this recipe.

A great technique when you are preparing asparagus is to remove the base of each spear by bending it until it snaps. It will naturally break at the point where the woody and unpalatable stem meets the edible part of the spear.

Make sure you do not overcook the asparagus. This is the basic rule of cooking asparagus. You need to make sure it has a little “bite” and retains its unique flavour.

I generally flavour this quiche with a combination of dill and chives. However, you can choose any non-woody herbs that you prefer. Tarragon and lemon balm would also be excellent choices.

Mature cheddar is my cheese of choice in this quiche as I think it adds a bit of oomph to the asparagus without overpowering it. You can try other cheeses but I would steer clear of blue cheese.

You can eat this quiche either hot, warm or at room temperature. We will sometimes eat it hot with buttery boiled new potatoes for supper. It also is great at room temperature as part of a summer buffet or in a lunch box. If you are making it ahead of time, you can keep it in the fridge for a couple of days. Make sure that you bring it out of the fridge at least half an hour before you plan to eat it as it is not at its best if it is icy cold.

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Other asparagus recipes

Every year, I look forward to early summer when fresh asparagus is in season. Nowadays, you can buy it all year round but I am a strong believer in eating seasonal, local food. This means that early summer is the time when I get to indulge my love of fresh asparagus. It is great treated simply, just steamed for a few minutes and then either eaten hot with butter or at room temperature with a simple olive oil and vinegar dressing.

However, it is also a fantastic basis for quiches and savoury tarts. In addition to this Asparagus Quiche, I also make an Asparagus Tart, using ready-made puff pastry, which is fantastic quick and easy lunch or supper dish. I also make a cold Asparagus and Pea Soup with Chervil which is great on a hot summer day either as a light lunch or as a starter for a dinner party.

There are many different types of asparagus with variation in colour, the most common is green asparagus but you can get purple and white, and also the thickness of the stems. If you look in your local farmers’ market or farm-shop at this time of year, you might be lucky and find a variety of different types.

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Other quiche and tart recipes

Savoury tarts and quiches are a fantastic, cook-ahead simple supper or lunch. They are easy to make and are great either hot or at room temperature. They can also be easily divided into portions if you are feeding a large number of people. Easily transportable, they also make a good addition to lunch-boxes or basis for a picnic. Some of my favourites are listed below.

I have a very simple Asparagus and Herb Cheese Tart which uses ready-made puff pastry and is quite different from this Asparagus Quiche.

Two kinds of onion tart – Caramelised Onion Tart which is based on sweet, slow-cooked onions and another version, Onion Tart with Wild Garlic, which has the addition of fresh herbs. I also have an easy Shallot Tart with Thyme and Anchovy which uses ready-made puff pastry.

I also have two very different carrot-based tarts. Carrot and Coriander Tart combines these two classic flavours in a simple quiche-style savoury tart. Carrot Tart uses ready-made puff pastry and combines large pieces of carrot with orange and soft cheese.

Beetroot Tart is deliciously sweet and earthy.  Tomato Tart is also sweet but has a lighter and fresher flavour.

Spinach Tart combines leaf green spinach with feta and crunchy pine-nuts.

Butternut Squash Tart with Chilli and Sage also has a sweetness to it but this is off-set by the addition of a little hot chilli.

Feta Quiche with Roasted Peppers is a fantastic comination of rich, smoky roasted peppers with salty feta cheese.

If you love garlic, you will like my Garlic Tart which is a celebration of one of my favourite flavours!

I also have a couple of fish-based recipes. My Crab and Prawn Tart has Asian-inspired flavours of coriander, lime and chilli. My Smoked Salmon Tart with Prawns is easy to make and is perfect for a celebratory meal or party.

In addition to larger quiches and tarts, I also have a recipe for individual Herb Tartlets which are great as canapes or snacks.

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Asparagus Quiche with Fresh Herbs recipe

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Asparagus Quiche

★★★★★ 5 from 3 reviews

Author: Tastebotanical

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 30

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: Serves 6–8 1x

Category: Quiche

Method: Baking

Cuisine: English

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Description

Asparagus Quiche with Fresh Herbs is the perfect early summer lunch, supper or picnic recipe – easy, seasonal, luxurious and great eaten hot or cold. 

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

For the pastry:

275 g (10 oz) plain flour

125 g fat (5 oz) I use a mix of half butter and half Trex as I think this makes the lightest pastry)

Salt

A little water

For the filling:

15 asparagus spears

a large bunch of fresh dill or herb fennel (2 tablespoons when chopped)

a large bunch of fresh chives (2 tablespoons when chopped)

Salt and pepper

100 ml (4 fl oz) double cream

2 eggs

75 g (3 oz) Cheddar or other full-flavoured cheese

Instructions

Set your oven to 180 C, 350 F or Gas Mark 4.

Make the pastry. Put the flour in a bowl.  Add the fat and combine –  either by “rubbing in” by hand or processing – until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add a little cold water (2-3 tbsp) and shape the mixture into a dough.

Roll out your pastry and use it to line a 25 cm quiche or flan dish.   Bake for 15 minutes in the oven to allow the pastry to “set”.  This will stop the filling making it soggy and ensure that the base is crisp.

 Next, prepare the asparagus spears.  Remove the base of each spear by bending it until it snaps.  It will naturally snap at the point where the thicker, less palatable base section starts. 

Either steam the asparagus spears for three minutes or plunge them into boiling water for the same amount of time.  This will partially cook the spears but retain their crunch and flavour.

 Place the part-cooked asparagus spears in the pastry case. 

Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl, add the cream, and beat until combined.  Grate the cheese and add to the mixture.  Then finely chop the dill (or herb fennel) and chives and also add to the bowl.  Season with salt and pepper and then pour it into the pastry case.  

Place your quiche or flan dish in the oven and cook for 25 minutes.

Notes

This Asparagus Quiche can be eaten hot, warm or at room temperature.

Keywords: asparagus, quiche, dill, chives

Did you make this recipe?

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This recipe has been shared on #CookBlogShare with the Peachicks Bakery and #Fiesta Friday with Fiesta Friday 

Loved this recipe? Checkout the Recipe Index.

[tipsycad147]

Many Uses of Mint for Health and Home!

Mint leaves for tea, food, health, home, and garden!

By Margaret Boyles

Pixabay

What do you know about the mint family, Lamiaceae, the sixth- or seventh-largest of the flowering plant families. There are so many benefits of mint leaves: in food, drink, health, home, and garden!

Meet the Mints

There’s a lot to admire about the family of plants that provides most of our common culinary herbs (e.g., basil, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, sage, thyme, summer and winter savouries), many of our favourite tea herbs, and dozens (perhaps hundreds) of traditional medicinal herbs, not to mention many aromatics for use in flavourings, perfumes, and cosmetics.

You’ll also find some of them among our favourite landscaping plants. Think salvias, agastaches, and lavenders, bee-balms, hyssop, and Russian sage. All summer, they produce nectar-rich blossoms, which attract bees and beneficial pollinators along with an occasional hummingbird.

Many, if not most mint-family members contain strongly aromatic oils (think lavender, rosemary, basil, thyme, and sage), which account for their many uses as seasoning, flavouring, and perfuming agents.

Most of the mints that I grow also have telltale square stems and delicate pinkish, lavender, or blue flowers. One outlier that’s become a favourite in my summer herb garden: the bright red bee-balm that seeds itself all over the place, makes a great cut flower, and serves as a tasty tea to boot.

I grow most of the annual and perennial culinary species, plus bee-balm, lemon-balm, and hyssop in my garden (or, cold-sensitive species such as rosemary and lavender) in my greenhouse year-round.

Wild Mint Varieties

Out of curiosity, I started researching this plant family a couple of weeks ago because of the numbers of wild, invasive mint species that sprawl impressively, though uninvited, over my lawns and gardens. These perennials spread through underground stems (rhizomes) as well as seeds.

The spearmint, especially nasty, has woven an enormous network of tough, quarter-inch-thick rhizomes under an entire flower bed, spilling out into a large section of lawn, sending up a new plant every inch or two from the underground nodes. I’ve pulled up yards and yards and yards of the ropey invaders, but they still keep coming.

Wild catnip has invaded my biggest vegetable garden, seeding itself especially thick around the edges of the asparagus bed. We haven’t had cats for a couple of years to enjoy rolling around in the fresh leaves, though I’ve pulled many of the small plants to dry for winter tea. But the catnip I’ve pulled and disposed of would make a cup or two of soothing nighttime tea for every resident of Merrimack County.

The ground-ivy comes up all over the lawn, but especially enjoys wandering into tilled soil. Once the snow melts and the spring rains come, it spreads rapidly into the vegetable garden beside our pond, turning into a thick mat sporting delicate purple flowers.

Although I find it annoying, it’s nowhere near as difficult to eradicate as spearmint. I’ve learned I can pull up a large mat of it using a spading fork stuck in at a shallow angle. During one of these digging exercises, I had an epiphany: What if I tilled up the poor, weedy soil around our septic system clean-outs and planted a few of these ground-ivy mats to grow as a ground cover in the unsightly spot? I plan to do just that right after our regularly scheduled septic-system maintenance this week.

Medicinal Use of Mint Plants: Use Caution

One thing I’ve learned from my research is that most Lamiaceae have been used for centuries in traditional medicine. Many, perhaps most, are currently under investigation for potential uses in human and veterinary medicine, as insecticides or insect repellents, and as antifungal or antibacterial protection for crop plants.

These are potent plants, full of phytocompounds that plants manufacture to protect themselves against harmful bacteria, viruses, and other assaults from the environments they evolved in.

If herbal medicine interests you, please approach the mints, especially their essential oils, tinctures, and concentrated extracts, with care. This goes for both over-the-counter and homemade remedies.

Although many have been used by traditional healers around the world for centuries, most herbs haven’t undergone rigorous testing for safety and efficacy, especially in pregnant/nursing women, children, elders, and people with chronic illnesses.

Seek out as much information as you can from books, online sources, and experienced herbalists in your area. Inform your healthcare practitioner whenever you begin using an herbal remedy.

Most herbalists recommend staying away from ingesting essential oils as medicines unless under the care and observation of a medical provider experienced with herbal medicines. Out of an abundance of caution, herbalists also urge pregnant and breastfeeding moms, as well as people with serious chronic diseases to avoid even using mint-family essential oils in massage oils.

Many mint-family species contain potent phytocompounds that affect the endocrine system, sometimes dramatically. For example, sage and peppermint, even as tea or food flavourings, can reduce the milk supply in breastfeeding women. The essential oil of pennyroyal, historically used to induce menstruation or as an abortifacient, can be lethal if ingested in a large enough dose to accomplish those purposes.

Some mints contain strongly psychoactive compounds. Among the most potent: the hallucinogenic Salvia divinorum, whose use and/or sale has been banned in many nations, as well as half of U.S. states.

But there are many safe uses for mint-family herbs besides beautifying your gardens.

Safe Uses of Mint Plants

Tea: What we usually call the “mints” (peppermint, spearmint, apple mint, etc., in the genus mentha, and catnip, in the genus nepeta) are traditional tea herbs. They’re beloved not only for their delicious taste and invigorating aromas, but also for easing queasy stomachs, calming anxiety, and promoting restful sleep.

Flavor cubes: Freeze a few trays of strong mint tea, then use the ice cubes for cooling summer drinks.

Hair rinse: Add one part strong mint (especially rosemary) tea to one part cider vinegar for a conditioning rinse you can either leave in or rinse out. The vinegary smell dissipates after drying.

Facial astringent: Add a few finely minced leaves of fresh peppermint or other mint to a cup of witch hazel. Store in a glass jar for a week or more, shaking occasionally. Strain the herbs from the mixture after a week.

Mouthwash: Chop a quarter cup of fresh mint, bee-balm, lemon balm, basil, thyme, or oregano leaves and infuse in a quart of boiling water. When cool, strain the herbs and store in the refrigerator.

Breath freshener: Just chew on a few mint leaves. Sage teas and extracts have been used for centuries as a mouthwash for oral infections. Don’t use chew mint-family herbs if you’re breastfeeding, as even small amounts or sage and peppermint may reduce milk supply.

Scent up a space: Use the essential oil of your favourite mint-family plant in a diffuser, or using a cotton ball, spread a few drops on a light bulb.

Moth repellent/scented sachet: Tie a few branches of strongly scented mint (peppermint, sage, lavender, rosemary, bee-balm) together, or pull off a handful of leaves, and stuff them into the leg of an old nylon stocking. Suspend by a string inside a garment bag, tuck into bags of stored woollen clothing, or just place in your drawers to let your clothes soak up the scent. Refresh periodically to keep the scent fresh.

Dream pillows and nighttime face masks: Lavender is such a well-known relaxant, many folks buy or make their own pillows or face masks to lull them to sleep. To make your own, crumble a few dried lavender flowers into the flax seed you’ll use for the pillow stuffing.

Lavender mist: An easier way to use lavender to help you off to dreamland: Mix a few drops of lavender essential oil with a cup of vodka in a spray bottle. No, don’t drink it! Just mist your pillowcase, your sleep mask, or even your nightshirt lightly before turning in. It may take a bit of experimentation to get this whole thing right.

Ant Repellent: A few stems of mint, gently crushed and placed near suspected entry points really does deter ants, though you need to replace the mint with fresh material every few days. Some gardeners clip bits of mint over mulch beneath veggies of interest to insects, which may confuse pests in search of host plants.

"Living Naturally" is all about living a naturally healthy lifestyle. Margaret Boyles covers health tips, ways to avoid illness, natural remedies, food that's good for body and soul, recipes for homemade beauty products, ideas to make your home a healthy and safe haven, and the latest news on health. Our goal is also to encourage self-sufficiency, whether it's relearning some age-old skills or getting informed on modern improvements that help us live better, healthier lives.

Goddess Bless! GrannyMoon

★☽✪☾★ http://GoddessSchool.com https://twitter.com/GrannyMooninVA https://grannymoon.wordpress.com/

[suckitsurveys]

1. What’s the last thing you ate? Overnight oats with peanut butter and banana.

2. What’s your favourite cheese? Goat and cheddar.

3. What’s your favourite fish? Catfish, if crab doesn’t count as a fish.

4. What’s your favourite fruit? Pomegranates, watermelon, pineapple, bananas.

5. When, if ever, did you start liking olives? I don’t remember? I never liked the Kalamamamamama olives they have in greek salads, but I love black olives and green olives with pimento. That was always on my dad’s go-to tray of appetizers when we’d have Christmas at our house. 3 kinds of olives, some cheese, and salami or whatever. I always ate the green and black olives from there. I also like green olives stuffed with other things too, like bleu cheese or garlic.

6. When, if ever, did you start liking beer? I only like some beers really. I think I’ve been conditioned to like it at baseball games because my dad does, haha.

7. When, if ever, did you start liking shellfish? My whole life dude. When my parents would go out to dinner with us when we were little, they always just gave us stuff from there plates to eat. So if someone had lobster or crab legs or shrimp I would too.

8. What was the best thing your mom/dad/guardian used to make? My dad makes KILLER bleu cheese dressing. I could eat that shit with a spoon it’s SO GOOD. He also makes amazing spaghetti sauce and is pretty good at getting popcorn perfect everytime. My mom used to make really good beef stew, and her famous potatoes and eggs fr dinner. She also made the BEST potato salad, and that recipe has been handed down to me. Everyone claims it’s amazing, but I still think she made it better.

9. What’s the native specialty of your hometown? Deep dish pizza, hot dogs, beef sandwiches, caramel and cheese popcorn.

10. What’s your comfort food? Everything.

11. What’s your favourite type of chocolate? Milk chocolate. With caramel. 12. How do you like your steak? Medium rare.

13. How do you like your burger? Medium rare.

14. How do you like your eggs? In omelet form.

15. How do you like your potatoes? I ain’t got no type.

16. How do you take your coffee? I don‘t, really.

17. How do you take your tea? Green.

18. What’s your favourite mug? The one I use most often is just a plain red one that I got from Home Goods because it came with a tea infuser.

19. What’s your biscuit or cookie of choice? Sugar cookies. My favorite ones are actually those Pillsbury pre-made-dough ones you break off and bake. I also love Oreos.

20. What’s your ideal breakfast? Lox and bagels.

21. What’s your ideal sandwich? ^. Or tuna on any bread.

22. What’s your ideal pizza: Very saucy, lightly cheesy, with pepperoni and black olives.

23. What’s your ideal pie (sweet or savoury)? Cheesecake. <– Same, and it’s been waaaay too long since I last had a good piece of cheesecake. <----CHEESECAKE IS NOT PIE YOU HEATHENS, IT’S CAKE. Anyway, pumpkin pie has been my go to since I was a baby.

24. What’s your ideal salad? I don’t really have an “ideal” salad, but I like spinach salads with various toppings.

25. What food do you always like to have in the fridge? Hmm. Eggs, soy milk, condiments and marinades, sriracha, pickles, olives, cheese, water.

26. What food do you always like to have in the freezer? Ice. :P And frozen dinners for Mark. We don’t buy a ton of frozen stuff.

27. What food do you always like to have in the cupboard? Oatmeal, Ramen and other soups, pasta, rice, flour, breadcrumbs, olive oil and other oils, tea.

28. What spices can you not live without? Celery salt, red pepper, and cilantro. And of course salt and pepper.

29. What sauces can you not live without? Sriracha.

30. Where do you buy most of your food? Jewel-Osco. We might start shopping at Aldi for boxed and bagged goods. I don’t trust meat and produce from there though.

31. How often do you go food shopping? Twice a week. Once on Sunday to get lunch things and snacks for the week and dinners for that night, Monday, and Tuesday, and then Wednesday just for dinner things for that night, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

33. What’s the most expensive piece of kitchen equipment you own? I mean, probably the fridge or stove? We don’t really own those though? Sooooo the food processor?

34. What’s the last piece of equipment you bought for your kitchen? It’s been a while since we’ve actuall bought something for the kitchen. A lot of our stuff is hand-me-downs or wedding gifts. So probably something from when we first moved in and needed basic things like plates and silverware.

35. What piece of kitchen equipment could you not live without? Probably most of them? Like we need the fridge and stove for obvious reasons, so I guess next to that, the microwave?

36. How many times a week/month do you cook from raw ingredients? We try to almost every night.

37. What’s the last thing you cooked from raw ingredients? Chicken and spinach last night, unless overnight oats count, which I made shortly after that to eat this morning.

38. What meats have you eaten besides cow, pig and poultry? I’ve had lamb, duck, goat, alligator, buffalo, and ostrich. Well I guess duck and ostrich are poultry?? Oh and a shit ton of seafood too since that wasn’t listed in the question. Way too much to name.

39. What’s the last time you ate something that had fallen on the floor? Yesterday. I ate a chip that fell in sand oops. Haha.

40. What’s the last time you ate something you’d picked in the wild? Uh, I mean, we have a veggie and herb garden in our yard. I packed some cucumbers and tomatoes from there for lunch today.

41. Arrange the following in order of preference: Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Sushi – Sushi, Thai, and Mexican are tied for first. Then Italian, Indian, Chinese.

42. Arrange the following in order of preference: Vodka, Whiskey, Brandy, Rum – Rum, Vodka, Whiskey, Brandy.

43. Arrange the following in order of preference: Garlic, Basil, Caramel, Lime, Mint, Ginger, Aniseed – I have no idea what aniseed is, but the rest are all tied.

44. Arrange the following in order of preference: Pineapple, Orange, Apple, Strawberry, Cherry, Watermelon, Banana. – Watermelon, pineapple, banana, strawberry, orange, apple, cherry.

45. Bread and spread: Um. My favorite bread is garlic bread, if that’s what you’re asking.

46. What’s your fast food restaurant of choice, and what do you usually order? Popeye’s. I get chicken strips and Cajun fries. If they are having some promotional thing with the strips I’ll probably get that.

47. Pick a city. What are the best dining experiences you’ve had in that city? Any city and any restaurant that has crab legs is a good dinning experience in my mind.

48. What’s your choice of tipple at the end of a long day? What the hell is a tipple?

49. What’s the next thing you’ll eat? Lunch. I made tuna and have cucumbers and tomatoes to eat with it. I brought bread too but I probably wont end up eating that.

50. Are you hungry now? I’m a little hungry.

51. Do you eat your breakfast everyday? Yes. I have oatmeal or cereal every day.

52. At what time do you have breakfast? When I work, it’s sometime after 7am. On weekends, it’s whenever I get up.

53. At what time do you have lunch? 11:30am on weekdays, whenever on weekened.

54. What do you have for lunch? I mentioned this above.

55. At what time do you have dinner? around 7.

56. What do you have for dinner? Obviously different things every night? Tonight’s dinner is up in the air because my cousin is coming in from Hawaii and we are staying with my dad so my he will most likely order takeout.

57. Do you light candles during dinner? No.

58. How many chairs are there in your dining room and who sits in the main chair? We don’t have a dining room in our apartment. We have a kick ass coffee table that pulls up to dining-table height and we eat on the couch at that.

59. Do you eat and drink using your right hand or the left one? I eat with my right and I don’t have a hand preference with my drinks.

61. Mention the veggies that you like most: Spinach, asparagus, zucchini, butternut squash.

62. What fruit and vegetable do you like the least? Apparently fennel is a vegetable, so that. And water chestnuts if that’s a veggie too. My least favorite fruit is blackberries and raspberries.

63. You like your fruit salad to have more: Watermelon.

64. You prefer your vegetable salad to contain more: Uh. Cucumbers, I guess? Is a vegetable salad just raw veggies thrown together?

65. What’s your favourite sandwich spread? Peanut butter, I guess?

66. What’s your favourite chocolate bar? Butterfingers.

67. What’s your favourite dessert? Brownies or cheesecake.

68. What’s your favourite drink? Root beer. Preferably Barq’s.

69. What’s your favourite snack? Chips and guac or salsa, popcorn, Goldfish crackers, Cheez-its, Chex mix.

70. What’s your favourite bubble gum flavour? WATERMELON BUBBLICIOUS. I haven’t had that in a hot minute.

71. What’s your favourite ice cream flavour? Salted Caramel Butter Pecan. Only one brand makes it. I haven’t seen it in a while though.

72. What’s your favourite potato chip flavour? Sour cream and cheddar.

73. What’s your favourite soup? Potato. Egg lemon. Lobster bisque.

74. What’s your favourite pizza? Deep dish from Lou’s, thin crust from Marie’s, and 8-corner pan pizza from Jet’s.

75. What’s your favourite type of dish? Seafood dishes.

76. What food do you hate? I’ve kinda mentioned these throughout this survey. There’s not much I dislike.

77. What’s your favourite restaurant? Any place with crab legs.

78. Do you eat homemade food, food delivered from outside? Both.

80. Who cooks at home? Mark usually.

81. What kind of diet (e.g. low-fat, high-fiber, high-carbohydrate, balanced diet etc.) do you have? I try to balance it.

82. How do you keep yourself fit? I work out every day. I’m by no means “fit” yet, but I am getting there.

[askwhatsforlunch]

Summer Sunday Brunch Table

And today’s recipe collections is a bunch of seasonal Brunch favourites, both savoury and sweet, indulgent and healthy! Happy Sunday!!

Peach, Pomegranate and Elderflower Yoghurt

Maple Brazil Nut and Chocolate Granola (Vegan)

Nettle and Spinach Pancakes (Vegetarian)

Primavera Quiche (Vegetarian)

Lemon and Berry Skyr

Sourdough Loaf

Croissants and Chocolate Croissants

Spinach Muffins (Vegetarian)

Damson Plum and Honey Compote (Vegetarian)

Garden Herb Bacon and Parmesan Quiche

Mrs Truebody’s Devilled Kidneys

Blueberry Banana Oats (Vegan)

Asparagus Frittata  

Nettle and Herb Pancakes (Vegetarian)

Asparagus and Ham Turnovers

Blueberry Bread and Butter Pudding

Honey Chia Pudding (Vegetarian)

Pepper and Cheese Omelet (Vegetarian)

Chocolate and Hazelnut Spread

Summer Fruit Salad (Vegan)

Strawberry Smoothie Bowl (Vegan)

Sill Senap (Herring in Mustard Sauce)

Queenscliff Apricot Jam

Feta and Mint Avocado Toasts (Vegetarian)

Maple Bacon, Cheddar and Scallion Waffles

[paulistfathers]

This week's #FoodFriday will appeal to all those who love a good brunch. These recipes are courtesy of The Cookbook According to St. Paul's by the Paulist Women's Club at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Community in LA. Enjoy trying these delicious dishes! Garden Medley Salad Ingredients: 2 cups celery 2 cups carrots 1 cup zucchini 1 cup radishes 1 cup jicama 1 cup scallions 1 cup asparagus tips 1 cup red bell peppers 1 tbsp. of Italian herbs ¼ cup lemon juice Italian dressing to taste 1 tbsp. of Lawry’s seasoned salt Instructions: Chop all raw vegetable to the size of a kidney bean. Combine in large bowl and toss with seasonings notes above. Serves ten. Note: Will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Crustless Quiche Ingredients: ½ lb. bacon, diced 2 cups onion, chopped 8 eggs, beaten 1 tsp. salt ½ tsp. pepper ½ tsp. nutmeg 3 cups of milk 1 lb. swiss cheese, grated Instructions: Sauté bacon until partially cooked. Add onion and cook until transparent. Pour off most of the fat. In a bowl, add milk to beaten eggs and blend well. Spread onion mixture onto bottom on 3 x 13 inch Pyrex baking pan. Sprinkle evenly with grated cheese. Pour mixture over cheese. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 35- 45 minutes, or until fork comes out clean. Note: Recipe can be doubled, or tripled easily and successfully. Quiche can be baked the day before and warmed for serving. (We recently discovered this 1979 cookbook, which was compiled by the Paulist Women's Club in Los Angeles, now known as Parents Working for Children.)