Herbal Cocktails

"Come quickly, I am tasting stars!"  - Dom Perignon

Any evening is a wonderful evening for champagne....

For a refreshing change of pace to a plain glass of champagne, pour a glass of champagne, then pour 1 tablespoon of Lemon Verbena Simple Syrup in the glass, stir and add a leaf of the herb.

Ahh....so... good, yet so simple!

Watch for more herbal cocktail recipes in future blogs.

To make the simple syrup:
Boil 1 cup of water with 1 cup of refined sugar and a handful of fresh bruised lemon verbena leaves. Cool. Refrigerate for future use or use at once.

Herbal Foot Care

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour." - William Blake

"Plants are magnificent. There is not a tree or a flower
That does not radiate beauty. Fragrance from plants,
Has been said to alert the gods to our presence, and act as a
sign that the human mind is focused and receptive to spiritual
guidance. In many cultures sweet-smelling aromas were and still
are associated with divinity - with gods, heavens, angels, and saints
all being attributed with having a delightful fragrance." quoted from
The Fragrant Heavens by Valerie Ann Worwood

If you work in a garden, in an office, retail store, a warehouse or
Are just going about day to day, your feet take a beating, and one of
the best ways to take care of yourself with by taking care of your feet.
Here is an easy  Herbal Foot Bath Recipe:
A small pan or tub that both of your feet can fit comfortably into.
2 Gallons of very warm water
A few good size sprigs of rosemary from the garden
6 drops of rosemary essential oil
6 drops of lavender essential oil
4 drops of junior essential oil
Marbles to roll your feet on in the water
A towel to dry your feet afterwards
Soak your feet for 10 to 15 minutes and towel dry.
Hot water foot baths have been for hndreds of years to treat feet problesms
as well as headaches, colds, abdomen problems, varicose veins, and exhaustion.
We make a wonderful Peppermeint Foot Lotion which we have sold over the years in fine stores around the U.S., and is great to use daily, but also right after drying your feet from the foot bath.Peppermint Foot Lotion

"I don't enjoy public performances and being up on stage. I don't enoy the glamour. Like tonight, I am up on stage and my feet hurt." - Barbara Steisand

Herbal Heat Relief with Lemon Verbena Fizz and Heat Exhaustion Bath

"Humanity will be saved through the flower." - Huvenol, Mayan elder quoting a Mayan prophecy
Today it is over 105 degrees in Fredericksburg, Texas, so all I can try to think about is heat relief!
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Here is a quick refreshing cocktail recipe and a cooling bath recipe. Enjoy and try to stay cool.

Lemon Verbena Heat Escape Fizz
club soda
lemon verbena syrup
lemon slice
fresh lemon verbena sprigs
orange flower water
In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup of water, 1 cup of sugar and a few lemon verbena sgrigs muddled with some of the sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil over moderately high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. About 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool, then transfer to the syrup to a jar and cover. Can refrigerate until ready to use. Will keep for about a month in the frig.
Fill a cocktail glass with ice, a sprig of lemon verbena, a slice of lemon, a tablespoon of orange flower water, 2 tablespoons of the lemon verbena simple syrup, club soda, about 3/4 of the glass and I like to add a shot of gin. Mix well. Now your ready to run a warm bath with a cool blend of essential oils to really cool you off!

Heat Exhaustion Bath Blend   

6 drops of lavender essential oil
6 drops of eucalyptus essentail oil
6 drops of peppermint essentail oil
Add the oil to your warm bath water and relax with your lemon verbena fizz! You can take a shower instead, by blending the oils with two cups of  warm water in a bowl and soaking a bath cloth in the mixture and using it  in the shower.

Making Butter Better with Herbs or Edible Flowers

Making Herb or Edible Flower Butters
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Butters are often an overlooked culinary touch; fresh herbs from the garden are unlimited in decadent flavor combinations, and can supply thousands of possible serving ideas! Since fat carries flavor better than any other medium, just a small pat of herb butter goes a long way toward enhancing not only bread, but also meat, fish, poultry, eggs, steam vegetables, and fresh pasta.
Herb butters can be made with little effort; most herbs are easily creamed into softened butter, while others may require a few minutes in the food processor. They freeze well, too, because the butterfat naturally coats and preserves the ingredients.
Start with unsalted butter to contraol the amount of salt in the finished spread and to retain a more delicate flavor.
As a general rule, use 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh herbs to 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter. After blending the herbs and butter thouroughly, lay a piece of parchment paper, or plastic wrap on the counter, spread the butter to make a log and roll up. Place in the freezer or the refrigerator. Let the flavors sit for at least 3 hours for all the flavors to blend. You can then slice off a section to use and put the remainder back to refrigearate, for later use. Today I made an Edible Flowers Honey Butter. It is great on little toasts, biscuits, waffles, or to use in cake icing.

Edible Flowers Honey Butter
1/2 cup organic rose petals and assorted edible flowers (minced)
1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon natural rose flower water
Combine all of the above ingredients and mix well. Spread onto parchment paper or plastic wrap roll into a log and refrigerate

Here are a few other herb butter blends: Cilanto and toasted pine nuts, parsley, chives, chervil and tarragon, dill and lemon butter, rosemary olive butter. The combinations are endless.

Old Thyme Cook Cheese (Kock Kase) with rosemary, thyme & basil

I always love recipes that have been given to me! Having lived in a german town in Texas for over 25 years, I have collected lots of hand me down recipes, and of course I figure out how to mingle fresh herbs into the mix.

This recipe is so easy to do, you could easily make it for yourself or friends and family on the spur of the moment or make it ahead, put it in the frig and set it out to get to room temperature for use a few days later. Here it is:

Old Thyme Cook Cheese (Kock Kase)

1 pound cottage cheese (large or small curd)
1 teaspoon soda
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh minced rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh minced basil
1 teaspoon fresh thyme

Mix all ingredients in a heavy saucepan, and place in a warm air tight area for one hour.

Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Can be served at once, or cooled down and served later. Great with crackers or homemade bread.

Dog Care with Herbs

Take good care of man's best friend!

"I've seen a look in dog's eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think that humans are nuts." - John Steinbeck

My little "Esparanza" Hope is a lot of fun. Roy has said that we covered all the bases, "She's black, chinese, and has a spanish name." She is also a star! She was featured with me as Mr. March in 2007 in a calender, Hunks and their Huggables." That was when I decided to come out with an herbal dog shampoo and conditioner. They both work really good, and use aloe vera, nettle, pine, burdock, chamomile, rosemary, ivy, arnica, ylang ylang, lavender, eucalyptus, and cedarwood.

Today I have decided to share a simple recipe to use between your dogs baths.

Rosemary Oil Flea Spray

Mix 1 teaspoon rosemary essentail oil, with 1 cup of water, in a small spary bottle. Shake well and spray on your dog and rub in their coat, to help repel fleas.

Here is a link on how to make herbal dog biscuits.

Hope you all have a great day, and enjoy your "hope."

Making Lavender Window Cleaner

Homemade Window Cleaner

This window cleaner is cheap to make and works great!

Ingedients:
16 ounces of water
1/2 cup of white or apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup (70 %) rubbing alcohol
2-4 drops of essential oil of lavender, or any other
essential oil that you would like to use. Suggestions would be orange oil, rosemary oil, lemon oil, or eucalyptus oil.

Blend the water, vinegar, and alcohol together in a spray bottle, add the essential oil, and your done. Ready to clean your windows!