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From: baker.325@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (gwen baker)
Chop the herbs into the desired size and place into a ice cube tray.
You can fit a premeasured amount in so you know how much in each
segment (I use a tblsp). Then add just enough water to cover the
chopped leaf and freeze. You can pop out the cubes and store in bags
and have the flavor of fresh herbs year round.
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From: mrooney@mrooney.pn.com (Michael Rooney)
Another great way is to make them into pesto. Try different herbs with
pignoli nuts, pecans (dill and pecan is one of my favorites),
walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, etc. until you find the combinations you
like. We freeze the pestos by putting saran wrap over a pint ice
cream top (yes, the plastic one from a Dutch sounding one made really
in NJ :-)), forcing in as much pesto as we can, and putting the saran
wrap over the top. Then we wrap it in aluminium foil and label it
and put it in the freezer. The best part is we have it all winter
long and it tastes great on many things, especially pasta, chicken,
pork, shrimp, fish, etc.
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4.6 Jelly, syrup and other sweet stuff
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4.6.1 Flower / herb jelly
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Basic flower jelly recipe - can also be used for herbs
From: bhaile@leo.vsla.edu (Bess Haile):
2 cups flower infusion:
steep 2+ cups moderately packed flowers in 2 cups boiling water
at least 30 minutes
1/4 cup lemon juice (E. Toley says not to use bottled, but I do)
4 cups sugar
3 oz of liquid pectin (this will be 1/2 box of liquid Certo)
Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil you can't stir down. Add pectin
and boil 2 minutes. Ladle into hot sterile jars. Seal in preferred
manner.
Note (Bess Haile): I prefer the liquid certo to the powdered. It seems
to jell better with flowers. Also, I find the extra minute of
boiling helps to create a stiffer jelly, though 1 minute will create
a clear jam-like texture. I always use the 4 oz canning jars because
I can give away some of the jellies without running out of all my
stock. Not everyone likes jelly from flowers. My own family HATES
rose jelly which is one of my favorites. Also, note, rose petals
have a bitter white bit where the petals join the flower. Cut these
off. I do this by holding the flower, step up, and cutting around
the flower, leaving all the bitter bits on the flower. I've used
Rose, Honeysuckle, Lavender, and many herbs too. Rosemary makes a
good jelly for a glaze on roast pork (and probably lamb). Lemon
verbena and spearmint are great too!
Rose petal jelly
From: Baker.325@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Gwen Baker)
1 1/2 c rose petals
1 1/2 c white grape juice
1/2 water
3 1/2 c sugar
1 pkg liquid fruit pectin
Trim away white part of rose petals, wash petals thoroughly, and drain.
Combine rose petals and grape juice in a sauce pan. Bring to a
rolling boil, stirring constantly; cook 1 min, stirring frequently.
Add fruit pectin; cook stirring constantly, until mixture returns to
a rolling boil. Continue boiling 1 min, stirring frequently. Remove
from heat, and skim off foam with a metal spoon. Quickly pour jelly
into hot sterilized jar leaving 1/4 in headspace; cover with metal
lids and screw tight. Process in boiling water bath for 5 min.
Makes 3 pints.
For fun leave the rose petals in and you can tell folks you are eating
roses - they end up with the funniest looks on their faces.
Rose petal jelly II
From: Baker.325@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Gwen Baker)
2 quarts fresh rose petals, loosely packed (about 3 dozen roses)
1 quart boiling water
4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Place petals in a large bowl. Add boiling water. Cover and steep for 20
minutes, or until all color is out of the petals. Strain liquid into
a shallow pan. Add sugar and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat,
stirring constantly until sugar has dissolved, and mixture comes to a
rolling boil. Maintain boil until mixture gives a jelly test (2 drops
form on side of spoon, then flow together). Skim. Pour into hot
sterile jars. Cover with melted parafin (or use your prefered sealing
method). Makes 8 x 6-ounce jars.
Note (Gwen Baker): The rose petal jelly I have had used added pectin.
This recipe thinks rose petals have enough of their own.
Violet flower jelly
From: Baker.325@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Gwen Baker)
Violet infusion:
2 cups violet blossoms (don't have to pack tightly, just nicely
full cups will do)
2 cups boiling water
Pour boiling water on blossoms and cover 12-24 hours (If you can't get
to the cooking within 24 hours, store in the refrigerator).
Jelly recipe:
2 cups infusion
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 pkg. powdered pectin
4 cups sugar
Bring first 3 ingredients to a rolling boil (one you can't stir down).
Add sugar all at once and bring back to rolling boil. Boil for 1
minute. Remove from heat and let boiling die down. Skim off foam
with large spoon. Pour immediately into hot sterilized jars and
seal. Makes 4-5 cups of jelly. I use the half cup jars so I can give
away samples without giving away everything.
Note (Gwen Baker): I've made two batches of this jelly and it is
delicious! The lemon juice turns the blue infusion the most glorious
amethyst color. No fruit jelly I've ever made has this color. It is
tart and lemony, but does not taste exactly like lemon. My violets
are not parma violets, just plain old Virginia weeds.
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4.6.2 Syrup
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Rose petal syrup
From: Baker.325@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Gwen Baker):
1 c rose petals
1 c water
1 1/2 c sugar
3 whole cloves
Trim away white part of rose petals was and drain thoroughly. Combine
rose petals and water in a sauce pan bring to boil. Then simmer for
5 min. Add sugar and cloves. Simmer until sugar dissolved(do not
reboil) strain petals refrigerate. Makes 1 2/3 cup.
Use this for
Rose cooler:
1/2 c rose syrup
2 c club soda
fresh rose petals.
Combine soda and syrup garnish with rose petals. Makes 2 1/2 cups.
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4.7 Potpourris and other uses for dried herbs / flowers
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Meaning non-culinary uses, in this culinary herbfaq. ;)
From: baker.325@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (gwen baker)
Dried herbs can also go into herb pillows and sleep pillows.
=====
4.7.1 Stovetop potpourri
----- on rec.gardens June 1995:
From: clayton2@ix.netcom.com (Jeffrey Clayton):
My favorite potpourri recipe is:
dried orange peel, dried pine needles, dried mint, cinnamon sticks
(broken into pieces), cloves
This is a stove top potpourri -- the kind you put in water and simmer.
Aromatherapy says this combination of scents is supposed to keep
colds away.
=====
4.7.2 Dry potpourri
----- on rec.gardens June 1995:
From: hag@aisb.ed.ac.uk (Mandy Haggith):
I've been making pot-pourri since I was about 7 and still use the same
method I used then - shoe boxes under the bed. I find that the number
one ingredient is rose petals, best of all from wild dog roses, but
any smelly rose will do. You'll need MASSES of rose petals. Lavender
is also wonderful. Pick the flowers (and herb leaves) when they're
warm and dry and smelly, stick them loosely in the shoe boxes (either
mixed up or not, depending on what you want to do with them) and stir
them with a warm dry hand a couple of times a day (or more). The
petals will gradually dry out and you can use them in pot-pourri
recipes after a few weeks. Under the bed is a good place because it
is usually pretty dry, it's dark (so the petals keep some of their
colour) and the smell of the drying petals gives you sweet dreams! I
find the airing cupboard is too hot and dries the leaves out too fast
leaving them shrivelled and not so sweet smelling.
=====
4.7.3 Drying flowers whole for potpourri
-----
From: diana.politika@tenforward.com (Diana Politika):
If you want to dry the peony intact, either bury it in silica gel or
use a 50/50 mixture of borax and cornmeal. Leave it buried for about
2 weeks and then tilt the container to get the mix to shift off the
flower. Silica works best, but the other is alot cheaper. If using
the borax mix, use a small soft paintbrush to get all the dust off.
I've used many of these in arrangments and everyone goes nuts over
them.
From: baker.325@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (gwen baker)
When drying flowers using silica be careful. It can speed the drying
process, but it can also cause discoloration and leave a residue
behind. In about the same amount of time the flowers can be dried
naturally. Silica does allow you to keep a flower whole or to
preserve a shape. There is also a liquid ( I think it is a
glycerine) that will preserve greenery and keep it soft and flexible.
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4.8 Alcoholic beverages
=====
4.8.1 Rose petal wine
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From: Baker.325@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Gwen Baker)
(who got it from Terry Pelley on rec.winemaking)
One day before you prepare the must you should make a yeast starter:
For one gallon of wine:
4 oz. Water
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp nutrient
Pinch of citric acid
1/4 tsp yeast
For five gallons of wine:
2 cups water
2 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp nutrient
1/4 tsp citric acid
1 package of yeast
Mix all the ingredients in an appropriate size bottle and shake to
combine. Loosely cover the bottle, do not seal it tight; a cloth
held in place with a rubber band will work fine. After sitting for a
day this mixture should be fermenting and can be added to the must.
The must:
6 cups rose petals (fresh) whites removed
1/4 lb chopped white raisins
5 3/4 cups sugar
2 tsp yeast nutrient
2 tsp acid blend
1 Campden Tablet (crushed)
Yeast - All purpose or Rhinewine
Boil one gallon of water and combine with rose petals, raisings, and
sugar in your primary fermenter. Allow the mixture to cool to around
75 degrees and add yeast nutrient, acid blend and campden tablet.
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5 Sites to see
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Sorry, folks. This one is in the wishlist, and is a construction site
besides.
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5.1 FTP sites
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5.2 WWW pages
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THE END.
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From: "Mary Ellen Curtin" <p01353@psilink.com>
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Deer-defeating plants
Date: Mon, 30 May 94 00:04:43 -0500
There have been a number of questions from time to time about plants
that deer _don't_ like to eat; as in, are there any? I picked up the
following list at a local wildflower preserve, it being a reprint from
a New Jersey magazine. The emphasis is thus on plants suitable for the
mid-atlantic states, but these genera are likely to be good places to
start for much of the rest of the country, too.
As usual, this list comes without any kind of warranty: if deer (or
other critters) get hungry enough, they will eat ANYTHING. Last year
some mammal (possibly a deer) ate the entire flower spike off one of my
digitalis plants, which should be not merely distasteful but poisonous.
But who knows, maybe the creature was suffering from a heart condition.
So here's the list, titled: "Best Choices for Gardening with Deer." I
have marked shade-tolerant species with *.
Perennials:
Achillea (yarrow)
Aconitum (monkshood)*
Allium (garlic, chives, etc.)
Anaphalis (pearly everlasting)
Anchusa (bugloss)
Anemome -- Japanese and grape-leafed only*
Aquilegia canadensis (native columbine)*
Artemisia
Aruncus (goatsbeard)*
Asclepias (butterfly weed -- _not_ butterfly bush)
Astilbe*
Borage
Caltha (marsh marigold)*
Centaurea montana (mountain bluet)
Clematis
Convallaria (lily-of-the-valley)*
Convolvulus (morning glory?)
Delphinium
Dicentra (bleeding heart)*
Digitalis (foxglove) [self-seeding biennial]*
Echinacea (purple coneflower)
Erigeron (fleabane)
Euphorbia (spurge)
Geranium (cranesbill -- _not_ common geranium)
Gysophila (baby's breath)
Helianthus (sunflower)
herbs, various
Lavandula (true lavender)
Lunaria (money plant/honesty)[self-seeding biennial]
Lychnis (maltese cross)
Mertensia (virgina bluebells)*
Monarda (bee balm)
Myosotis (forget-me-not) [self-seeding biennial]*
Physostegia (obedient plant)
Papaver (oriental poppy)
Pulmonaria (lungwort)
Ranunculus (buttercup)
Rudbeckia gloriosa (coneflower; aka R. hirta -- _not_ Goldstrum)
Salvia (sage)
Stachys (lamb's ear)
Stokesia (stoke's aster)
Thalictrum (meadow rue)
Tradescantia (spiderwort)*
Trillium*
Trollius (globeflower)
Vinca major (periwinkle)*
Annuals:
Ageratum
Calendula (pot marigold)
Centaurea rutifola (dusty miller)
Cosmos
Helichrysum (strawflower)
herbs, various
Lantana (trailing lantana)
Salvia (sage)
Bulbs:
Canna lily
Gladiola
Hyacinth
Narcissus (daffodils and jonquils)
Good gardening.
Mary Ellen
internet: <p01353@psilink.com>
postal: 9 Titus Mill Rd., Pennington, NJ 08534, USA
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: cl27111@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Christopher Lindsey)
Subject: Re: Question on deer proof plants
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1993 06:45:30 GMT
Here's a list of plants that deer don't like that I posted a while
back:
Acanthus Kniphofia
Aconitum Leucojum
Agave Lirioe
Allium Lychnis coronaria
Amaryllis Melianthus
Artemisia Melissa
Arum Melittis
Arundo Mentha
Astilbe Mirabilis
Campanula Myosotis
Carex Nepeta
Centaurea Origanum
Ceratostigma Paeonia
Chrysanthemum maximum Papaver
Cortaderia Phormium
Crinum Polygonatum
Crocosmia Potentilla
Dicentra Pulmonaria
Digitalis Romneya
Epimedium Rudbeckia
Euphorbia Saliva
Ferns Satureja
Festuca glauca Scabiosa
Filipendula Sisyrinchium
Gaillardia Tellima
Geranium Thalictrum
Gerbera Tiarella
Gunnera Trillium
Helianthus Veratrum
Helichrysum Vinca
Hosta Iris
Hope it helps!
Chris
Christopher Lindsey -- Dept. of Landscape Architecture, Univ. of Illinois