HERBS Growing & Using the Plants of Romance

ROSE FLOWER WATER POUND CAKE
http://www.urbanherbal.com/recipes/index-10.htm#rosewater_pound_cake

DEAR Friends & Family,

Almost 2,000 years ago Ovid  lamented, “Alas, there are no herbs to cure love.” This may well have been true, but the addition of herbs certainly enhances many sweet pleasures that are important to a well-lived life.

On a personal level that I have reached an understanding of herbs that reflects my changing relationship with other people-in who we once were, who we are and who we will become. I call herbs the plants of romance. As I’ve come to know herbs, they have twined around my hearts’ qualities and preferences. Herbs grow up close and personal. They are not just flowers, but calendulas, nasturtiums and roses. They are not garnishes, but cinnamon and lemon basil, apple mint and chocolate mint, parsley, lavender and thyme. They are not bulbs, but garlic and chives, dill and fennel. That is why I encourage you to trying your hand at growing savory, reputed to have earned its name from satyrs who found it essential to their amorous activities. Consider too, the advice of Nicholas Culpeper, herbalist of the 17^th century, who suggested a garden of mustard, onion and prickly asparagus for sparking an enchanted evening. Even earlier, the Greek physician, Dioscorides in A.D. 40 counseled that a species of sage, Salvia-horminum, “doth revoke to conjunction.” Cumin retained love along with basil and vervain. Partial to roses? Their sweet breath and delicate petals have long been considered the essence of romantic encounters. And small wonder that a secret garden aids and abets our romantic impulses so effectively.

Growing the plants of romance will be different for every individual, a distinction that’s important to recognize. That’s because it’s easy to become limited in our thinking about what is romantic. Many people define romance as hearts and flowers, only pink satin and lace. Others may think only of physical love. A person who dares to try something new, who makes the choice to work at an herb garden that he or she loves, who makes time for little sprigs and blossoms of beauty and grace, I believe speaks my language. I hope that you will discover, as I have ways to use herbs to make your meals more flavorful, your work more enjoyable and your life more pleasurable.

In Hortulus,A.D. 840, Walafrid Strabo wrote, “ And I offer this, that as you read what I gladly dedicate to you, you may know of my labors. And, please, as you read, prune the faults and approve what is good.”

I encourage you to do the same.

William “Bill” Varney, URBANherbal   

 Did you know that the Rose is the herb of the year for 2012? Here is my link to growing and using Roses:http://www.urbanherbal.com/herb_gardening/rose.html

More Rose ideas: http://www.urbanherbal.com/recipes/index-16.htm#rosy_cooler

Rosey Wine Cooler

Alliums, Onions, Chives, Garlic, Leeks

"He who bears chives on his breath is safe from being kissed to death." - Martise, Roman Poet

Like Garlic and Leeks, onions have been a staple of man's diet since prehistoric times.

Hello Friends,
It is the time of year that I always plant onions, and other alliums in my garden.

Allium Allium spp. Amaryllidaceae / Perennials  Alliums: The Flavoring Herbs

Symbol – The Universe – Grow from seeds or plants, increase by division, bulbs multiply rapidly

Use in salads, omelettes, cheese spreads, soups, and potatoes, salads, butters  and many other foods. Today onions unite all cooks!

Allium is the enormous onion genus, which includes onions, leeks, shallots and scallions, as well as the chives, garlic and garlic chives that we usually claim as herbs. All 400 or so alliums have the characteristically strong odor when plant parts are bruised. Most are rhizomatous or bulbous perennials. Hey are easy to grow.

The ancient Israelites had been shepherds and herdsmen with little opportunity to grow vegetables and herbs, so it was not until they were in Egypt that they learned to eat and savor leeks, onions and garlic, which had been cultivated there since 3000 B.C.  They remembered the pungent alliums during their forty years of wandering in the desert when they tired of the manna God sent them: “There is nothing at all but this manna to look at “(Numbers 11:6): So, though the alliums are mentioned only once in the Bible, this reference emphasizes just how important this food was to the Israelites.

After they returned to Israel and settled in Canaan, farmers began to grow lentils, beans and other crops as well as the leeks, onions, garlic and cucumbers they had enjoyed in Egypt.

Alliums are valued for their savory, medicinal and aromatic values. They have many healing powers and add zest and lots of flavor to recipes. The Greeks thought they increased strength and bravery, the Romans relied on them as a cure for snakebite-a belief that remained until the middle ages when they applied onions to warts and aching ears! Did you know there is even songs about onions? The Onion Song One of our favorite recipes is French Onion Soup.

French Onion Soup with Rosemary & Thyme

Ingredients:

·         6 large onions-julienne

·         2 cloves of minced garlic

·         2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

·         1 cup dry sherry

·         1/4 cup brandy

·         1 quart chicken stock

·         2 quarts beef stock

·         2 TBSP  flour

·         white pepper

·         kosher salt

·         3 sprigs fresh rosemary(finely minced)

·         2 sprigs of thyme( with stems removed)

·         2 Bay Leaves

·         8 TBSP. unsalted butter

·         1 TBSP. Worcestershire sauce

·         Swiss cheese or Dofina Fontina

·         Crackers or bread slices

Melt butter in large soup pot and sauté onions  and garlic until golden brown. Add white wine, flour, mustard and brandy. After it thickens add beef stock, chicken stock, rosemary, thyme and bay leaves. Add Worcestershire sauce, and season with salt and pepper.Bring to a boil, then simmer for 25 minutes. Then put in bowls, add a homemade toasted cracker or bread slice on top of the bowl of soup, and a slice of  cheese, and broil in the oven for 2 to 5 minutes until the cheese is melted over the toasted bread slice and serve.

I love onions, garlic, leeks, chives, shallots and other alliums. And they have so many  health benefits, it is a good thing! Please let me know what are some of your favorite uses for onions and other alliums! I would love to hear from you.

Wishing you herbs, health and happiness on thsi cold winter day.

William "Bill" Varney