The Garden of Herbs (see a few spooky tips...) hahaha

Hello and Happy Halloween from our herb garden and herb shop!

"Only a witch can grow parsley" - Finnish Saying

Does this sound like witchcraft?

A few great herbs to grow in the Fall in the South are Parsley Parsley, Petroselinum sativum

Rosemary...a different use!

and Rosemary Rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis    

PARSLEY & ROSEMARY ALL WINTER!

Autumn is the best season in which to sniff, and to sniff for pleasure, for this is the season of universal pungency. Pumkins, Apples, pies, pickling, fruits, and of course lots of herbs!




Test your herbal knowledge?
For thousands of years, herbalists have been extracting the essences of various herbs for medicinal, culinary, and other uses. WHat do you call the process that involves soaking or fermenting the herb in alcohol?
a. an infusion
b. a decoction
c. an extract
d. a distillation

The answer....go to URBANherbal's facebook page to see the answer Urban Herbal Facebook

Well, gardening is always a tough choice...I was discouraged again this weekend, when I was in the garden early yesterday morning to find out that we had a hard enough freeze to destroy most of by basils and hoja santos and other tenders about 2-3 weeks ahead of our normal first freeze.

Wishing everyone a great day.
Herbs, Health and Happiness,
Bill

Flowerpot Bread

Baking Bread in Clay Flowerpots
For me it is not enough enjoy to gardening outside with clay pots, I like to use them inside for cooking and decorating. I hope you enjoy baking in clay flowerpots too. Please let me know your thoughts.


Flowerpot Bread in the oven

 Why bake bread in a flowerpot? The baked clay that flowerpots are made of is a perfect mold for bread, ensuring a crust that metal pans never quite achieve. But you must season the pots so that the dough won't stick to them.

Treating the Flowerpots: Use very clean flowerpot and generously rub the insides all over with vegetable oil. Place the pots in a 450 degree F. oven and let them bake for one hour(do this, if possible, alongside something else that may be baking, so as not to waste fuel).

After this treatment the pots need simply to be washed in warm water after you've baked in them. (Avoid soap:it can absorb into the porous clay, leaving a soapy residue.) If you notice any sticking, repeat the treatment.

Recipe for Flowerpot Bread:

1 1/2 packages of dry active yeast
2 cups warm water(105 to 115 degrees)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
6 to 7 cups all purpose flour(I like to use King Arthur Flour)
1 cup of finely minced fresh herbs(I used a melange of these rosemary, thyme, basil, mexican mint marigold, chives, flat leafed Italian parsley), I also did another batch of edible flowers bread that I used the following (johnny-jump-up petals, snapdragons, rose petals, mexican mint marigold flowers and lavender, as well as the zest of 1 lemon)

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and add the salt and the sugar. Stir thoroughly. Set aside for 10 to 20 minutes until foamy.

Using a wooden spoon stir in the flour, one cup at a time, and add the finely minced herbs or edible flowers combination with the lemon zest, until a smooth dough forms. Flour a board or your counter and turn out the dough and let it rest a few minutes. Now knead until the dough is elastic. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, and cover with a towel and let set in a warm draft free place for about an hour and thirty minutes.

Turn the dough onto the floured board or counter, punch it down and knead it again. Divide the dough into how many clay flower pots you have. (The recipe makes to regular size loaves) So it depends on the size of your pots.

Place each piece of dough into each oiled clay pot, making sure not to put dough more than halfway up, as it will rise. Clay pots dough expand more readily, so if they are more than half full, the bread with mushroom over the top so much that it will fall over to one side.Let the dough rise another 5 to 10 minutes.

Place a pan of boiling water in the bottom of  a cold oven, turn the oven on to 400 degrees and bake the flowerpot bread for about 30 to 40 minutes, until browned. Place on a rack to cool.  The bread will just slide out of the flowerpots.

The flowerpots make a great presentaion to gardening friends, or cooks or just for fun.


Flowerpot Herb Bread Cooling



Edible Flowers for Flowerpot Bread

                                         


Fresh Herbs For Bread

Hope you have a glorious day, gardening, baking and having a glass of wine.

Bill Varney

"A loaf a bread, a jug of wine, and thou." Omar Khayyam

Edible Flowers

With the beautiful Fall weather, everything is starting to grow again! Even our roses are blooming again here in Fredericksburg, Texas. 

Edible Flowers are far from being a new concept: traditions of flower cookery come to us from the Victorian era and go back as far as the Roman Empire.
We have been cooking and experimenting with edible flowers since 1987 and have been excited about their potential as seasonings and garnishes.  We use them under butter pats, on top of cakes, and in salads, soups, ice cream, breads, and in cocktails. Like all herbs, and vegetables, flowers blossoms must be well washed and pesticide free. Make sure you onely use organically raised flowers.

To the left I have put a copy of our Edible Flower Chart to help Guide you with a few suggestions.

Here are a few other tips for using edible flowers:

* Use lavender or roses to flavor jams and jellies

* Decorate the top of an iced cake with mild-flavored fresh flowers like pansies, roses, dianthus or Johnny-jump-ups, or calenduls

*Freshen up your plain tossed green salad with rosemary blossoms, chives blossoms, borage blossoms, nasturtiums, Johnny-jump-ups, or calendulas.

*Freeze borage blossoms, dianthus, or Johnny-jump-ups into ice cubes for a beautiful accent to party punches or just plain ice water!

Johnny-jumps-ups

Mexican Mint Marigold

Here is a fun recipe for a
Rosy Cooler
www.urbanherbal.com/recipes/index-16.htm#rosey-cooler

We would love to hear from you with some of your favorite edible flower recipes.

Wishing you Herbs, Health and Happiness,

Bill & Roy Varney

Herbs to Compliment Foods

No matter what you are preparing in your kitchen, herbs help to bring out the best flavor in the foods!
Yesterday evening I was happt to go the the San Antonio Herb Society Meeting to hear and meet Susan Belsinger. She is a noted culinary herbalist, food writer and photographer and has authored over 20 books.

Susan Belsinger & Bill Varney

Her lecture and demo was, "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Herbs" She told how to make a basic Herb Syrup, Herbal Pastes, Herb Sugar Scrubs for the body, Herbal Salves, and a homemade Ginger Ale, that you could also add rum and called it a Humdinger Rum Zinger.You can visit her website at http://www.susanbelsinger.com/ A few of the books I bought years ago by Susan are out print now, but she has new titles out and writes for various magazines and writes the Herb of the Year book for the International Herb Association each year. So nice to meet you in person Susan!

Here are some of my suggestions for herbs to pair with different foods:

Soups

Anise, Basil, Bay, Caraway, Chervil, Chives, Coriander, Dill Weed, Marjoram, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Summer Savory, Tarragon, Thyme

Breads

Anise, Basil, Caraway, Coriander, Dill Weed, Fennel,Lavender, Marjoram, Parsley, Poppy Seed, Summer Savory, Thyme

Fish

Basil, Bay, Dill Weed, Lavender, Marjoram, Rosemary, Sage, Summer Savory, Tarragon, Thyme

Eggs

Basil, Bay, Chervil, Chives, Dill Weed, Fennel, Garlic, Marjoram, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Summer Savory, Tarragon, Thyme

Poultry

Basil, Bay, Caraway, Dill Weed, Lavender, Marjoram, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Summer Savory, Tarragon, Thyme

Lamb

Basil, Bay, Dill Weed, Oregano, Mint, Rosemary, Sage, Summer Savory, Tarragon, Thyme

Pork

Basil, Caraway, Corriander, Dill Weed, Fennel, Marjoram, Rosemary, Sage, Tarragon, Thyme

Beef

Basil, Bay, Chervil, Dill Weed, Marjoram, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Summer Savory, Tarragon, Thyme

Vegetables

Anise, Basil, Bay, Chervil, Coriander, Dill Weed,Lavender, Marjoram, Mint, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Summer Savory, Tarragon, Thyme

Desserts

Anise, Bay, Cinnamon Basil, Lemon Basil, Caraway, Coriander,Lavender, Mint, Fennel,Rosemary, Thyme

For more recipe ideas go to www.urbanherbal.com/recipes/index.htm

Hoping everyone is enjoying the beautiful Fall weather. I wanted to share this quote from Bertha Reppert who founded The Rosemary House.
"To grow them is to know them,
To know them is to use them,
To use them is to love them,
And then-happily-Herbs
besome your Way of Life." Bertha Reppert
http://www.therosemaryhouse.com/

Here's to Herbs, Health and Happiness,

Bill Varney

Bill Varney & Rene Bajeux

A day in the life at URBANherbal

Hello Friends and Family,
After the most difficult drought and heat we have ever experienced, I am leaning toward succulents, cactus and herbs! http://www.debraleebaldwin.com/
Here are a few offerings that I have at URBANherbal.

We have been given the gift of rain the past few days, and cooler weather. I have taken advantage it with lots of weeding in my gardens.

Cooler weather also means harvesting, and taking the time to enjoy friends at the table...

I am busy making a melange of herbal sachets, toilet waters, lotions and bath gels for the shop, so please be sure to stop by if you have the chance.

Wishing to herbs, health and happiness!

http://www.urbanherbal.com/herb_gardening/fall_herbs.html

Apple surprise!

Hello Friends,
Now that October is here it is no doubt Fall and with the Fall season we think about Apples. I think about my Apple i-phone and Apple i-pad all the time, but the fresh fruit is in season now, so my thoughts are on fresh Apples.

An Apple & Apple i-pad

The old saying,"An apple a day keeps the doctor away," always come to mind, but I had never thought about why until I looked into it. Here are a few benefits to apples:

Weight Loss
Diabetes Management
Helps lower Cholesterol
Alzheimer's Prevention
Asthma Help
Bone Protection

I love the smell of fresh apples, and even more the smell of apples baking in the oven. I started my creative herbal juices and came out with an unusual recipe that I made and shared with friends, that I have have nice comments on so I will share it with everyone here.

An Apple, Apple i-pad and Cinnamon Basil

The recipe I came up with uses Granny Smith Apples, Figs, Hibicus Flowers and Cinnamon Basil.

Apple Fig Tart

For the tart crust blend the following:

4 cups of unbleached whole wheat flour(I prefer King Arthur), 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2/3 cup softened unsalted butter, 4 teaspoons baking powder, 3/4 cups ice water.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Blend in the butter with large spoon or your hands until a dough consistency. Add the ice water and form the dough into a large ball. Divide into small balls and sprinkle some flour on your kitchen counter. Roll each small ball with a rolling pin to about 1/16 inch thick circles.

Set aside whole making the filling.

For the filling blend the following:

1 cup of figs, mashed, 1/2 stick of butter, 1 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 8 Granny Smith Apples, skinned and seeded, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1/4 teaspon nutmeg, 2 drops of almond extract, 1/4 cup of Hibiscus Flower Syrup. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the figs and half of the apples, diced. Add the other ingredients and simmer for about 15- 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

For the Hibiscus Syrup

In a small saucepan, blend a cup of water, simmer, add 1/2 cup hibiscus flowers and 1 cup sugar. Continue to simmer until the sugar is dissolved and well blended. Use a strainer to strain out the hibicus flowers, and set aside in a bowl for the filling.

In eight small tart pans, lay the dough, and press down, with the pans well greased or buttered.

In a food processor, blend 1 cup fresh cinnamon basil leaves, rinsed and patted dry, with 1/2 cup of sugar. Then in a small saucepan use 1/2 stick of butter melted and add the basil sugar and simmer for a couple of minutes. Set aside.

Fill your tart pans with the apples that you have not used in the filling. Then add the filling on top. Now add another dough layer on top, and press around the edges. Using a pastry brush, brush the cinnamon basil butter blend on top of the top crust.

Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees, and bake the tarts for about 45 minutes or until browned around the edges. Let cool for about 15 minutes, and take out of pans. Serve with a sprig of cinnamon basil. I hope everyone is off to a wonderful Fall. Herbs, Health and Happiness, Bill Varney

Apple Tart with Figs, Hibiscus Flower Syrup and Cinnamon Basil