Tomato Basil Tart

I cannot believe neither I nor my sister have blogged this recipe. Now, when tomatoes and basil are both so available - this is a perfect way to use them.  W usually make it at least once a year and since it can be eaten at room temp, it is a really good dish to take to a pot luck gathering.
 

Tomato Basil Tart - 8 appetizer or 4 main dish servings
(Picture shows recipe doubled.)

9" frozen pie crust - not deep dish
1/2 C mayonnaise
1-1/2 C shredded mozzarella
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
4 medium tomatoes
1/8 t ground white pepper
1 C loosely packed basil
4 cloves garlic
Fresh basil leaves (optional)

Pre-bake pie crust according to package directions.
Remove from oven. Sprinkle with 1/2 C mozzarella. Cool on wire rack.

Cut tomatoes into wedges; drain on paper towels.
Arrange wedges on melted cheese in the baked pie shell.
In a food processor, combine basil and garlic. Cover and process until well chopped.
Sprinkle over tomatoes.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine remaining mozzarella, mayonnaise, Parmesan and pepper.
Spoon cheese mixture over tomatoes and basil mixture, spreading to evenly cover the top to the edges.
Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35 - 40 minutes or until top is golden and bubbly. Serve warm. If desired, sprinkle with the optional basil leaves.

Treasure these days...

Merry Christmas to all - and best wishes for a wonderful New Year, 2019!

Holidays like this tend to make me reflective. I think back to when we had a houseful of loved ones for the holidays.  We seemed to host most of them and enjoyed it thoroughly.

When my husband and I were first married, I thought it was time for me to take over the job of entertaining.  I was the oldest child of five and our mother never really enjoyed making a big meal and all that it entailed. Our grandmother, in her day had hosted and was not about to retake the job. I, on the other hand, had the time and enjoyed all the hoopla quite a bit.  I was hesitant about cooking the turkey, but got over it with help from a well-timed article in one of the women's magazines that year. It turned out quite well and a new tradition was born...  Once I got the scheduling down, the rest was fun.  Desserts and anything else I could manage was made ahead and the day fell into a rhythm.

Those first years, we were the only married ones of the kids and we would have a great time, eating, drinking, playing games and generally having fun. Sometimes we would extend the circle and invite my in-laws or my uncle's family and the table would swell.  Sometimes, friends would be in town and they would join us. Sometimes we couldn't quite get everyone together for the occasion because of work, other obligations or travel and the group would be a bit smaller.

As time went on, the brothers and sister would bring friends and eventually married and brought spouses.  We were a slow group to reproduce, so we were still a bunch of young adults with Mom and our grandmother, Mimi.   It was just always a good time...  except, as we got older, there just seemed to be something missing.  It was time to start families...  For some of us that was easier said than done.

Slowly, we started adding to the family around the table and it was wonderful. As the family grew, the dinners changed.  We were never quite sure who would show up, but at some point, almost everyone would get here.  The children were the center of attention and the days of leisurely ruminating were gone.  It was exuberant - full of joy...   exhausting!  But we loved every moment of it.  Four generations celebrating together.  That time was brief, but wonderful.  Looking back, to me it was idyllic.

Now, the children have grown and Mom and Mimi are gone.  One brother has passed and another has obligations with his own family.  My sister lives nearby, but her daughter has moved to the west coast and our son is in Colorado this year. 

Our holidays are so different now. We (my husband, my sister and I) tried going out for the meal last year.  It was good, but my husband missed the ensuing days of left-overs and I even missed preparing the sumptuous meal eaten at home.  This year, we decided to make a small turkey and I almost managed to make reasonably sized side dishes, but old habits die hard and there are containers of left-over veggies, turkey, etc filling every space in the fridge.  Parts of two pies (down from 4 or 5) haunt us.

The big tree is still in the field this year and all the many decorations are still in the attic.  We just have a little lit-up ceramic tree as evidence of the day.  Of course, it will easily stow in the hall closet and I won't be swamped with the sadness of putting it all away on New Years' Day as I used to be in the old days.

It was nice and we threw our respective food restrictions to the wind for the day, but those few perfect years when the kids were small make us ache for those days.  How does that quote go from Splendor in the Grass?  "We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind."  So very grateful for the wonderful memories we have and trying to adjust to this new way of celebrating.

Anyhow, what I'm saying is, please, even in the crazy whirl of the holidays, treasure these days with your family.  They are brief and wonderful.

Herbal Cold & Flu Recipes

We're doing a talk today about using herbs to stay comfortable through the winter months. We put together a number of herbal recipes and, rather than print out a bunch of copies, thought we'd post them here for their reference - and yours! 

Elderberry Syrup (Tina Sams)
I make mine a little different each time, depending on what is around.
If using fresh berries, I first squeeze the juice of a lemon into a pan, and then simmer the berries along with some cinnamon chips or a broken stick, slices of ginger and I love a cardamom pod or two. Cardamom is anti-viral, as is cinnamon!  Sometimes if there are some old vanilla beans around, I'll toss one of them in too.
I smoosh it every so often with a potato masher.
After 30 minutes or so, I strain the berries in a mesh strainer, and then pour them into a square of tight knit cloth (I cut up old t-shirts specifically for this job) and squeeze the dickens out of them to get as much juice as possible.

If you're using dried berries, use about 1/2 cup of berries to perhaps 2 cups of water and the juice of a lemon. Continue as above with the fresh.

Measure the juice. Add an equal amount of sugar (I usually add an additional 1/2 cup or so), and bring to a boil for about 3 minutes, skimming off any foam that may rise to the top.

There are alternatives to sugar, such as honey, maple syrup, and/or alcohol in varying amounts. I just find the sugar easiest.

I would like to caution against agave, since it has been found to be produced in the same manor as high fructose corn syrup (from starchy roots) and in fact it is often either adulterated with hfcs or is totally corn syrup!

Chest and Cough Syrup (Tina Sams)
Today I made a syrup specifically for this thing that seems to fluctuate between my head and my chest. I got out some Osha, Licorice root, Elecampane, Wild Cherry bark, Ginger, and Lemon to start a decoction. A decoction is different than an infusion, because roots and barks need to simmer for a period of time, while infusions involve leaves and flowers that are steeped in boiled water for a few minutes. There is another, newer definition of infusions, but for our purposes, this will do.
I filled a small pan with water, and put all ingredients except the lemon in to simmer for 45 minutes. I added the juice of a lemon for the last 5 minutes.After it was done, I

strained it out. You can see here that my favorite method of straining things is with a steel mesh strainer lined with fabric from an old tshirt. As shirts wear out, they are washed and cut into squares for this purpose. They work beautifully.

There was 2/3 of a cup of decoction, so I measured out 2/3 cup of sugar, and added a good dollop of honey. At that point, I also added 1/2 ounce of goldenrod tincture.
It all went back into the pan, and was brought to a boil for a few minutes before being poured into bottles.The decoction alone could be drunk without being made into syrup, and I will make some more for after dinner tonight. It's nice to have it ready to go, though.

Cold & Flu Fighter
(formulated by Brigitte Mars)
This spicy tea relieves swollen nasal passages and calms an upset stomach. Place an inch of the herbs in a quart jar. Fill with hot water and steep for two hours. Strain and refrigerate. Reheat whenever you need relief.
2 parts peppermint leaf
2 parts elder flower
1 part elder berry
1 part ginger root

Respiratory Rescue
(formulated by Sara Martinelli)
Congested lungs will love this aromatic breath of fresh air. Place two teaspoons of the mixture in a strainer, add one cup hot water and steep for 10 to 15 minutes.
2 parts oolong tea
1 part rosemary
1 part chamomile
1 part rose hips

Sore Throat Soother
(formulated by Deborahann Smith)
Steep two teaspoons of this soothing herb blend in a cup of hot water for quick throat relief. Licorice root also adds a sweetening effect.
1 part slippery elm
1 part licorice root
1 part marshmallow root
1 part anise (Pipinella anisum)
1 part wild cherry (Prunus virginiana)

Andrew Weil’s Ginger Tea
For cold relief, Weil suggests steeping a tastier ginger tea. He advises grating a 1/2-inch piece of ginger root and adding it to 2 cups of boiling water. Turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper; simmer another minute. After taking the tea off the stove, add 2 tbsp. lemon juice (fresh) and one to two cloves of mashed garlic. Add honey to taste. Let the tea cool slightly, pour it through a stainer and serve.

Herbal Steam Inhalations
When you're very congested, it is a relief just to breathe in the steam from a hot bath or shower, or put your face over a bowl of steaming hot water. It helps relieve congestion and sinus pressure. It is even more effective when you add herbs to the water. The easiest way to do this is to run some very hot water into your bathroom sink, and add some chamomile, eucalyptus, or thyme to a tea ball or tied up in cheesecloth. Lean over the sink with a towel over your head (to keep the steam in your little "steam tent") and inhale deeply for several minutes.

Echinacea Tincture
To make a tincture, simply fill a quart canning jar about 2/3 of the way with fresh Echinacea blossoms, then pour 80-proof alcohol (or apple cider vinegar -- it won't be as strong as the vodka solution will be, but it will still work) to fill the jar. Let it sit in a cool dark place for two weeks.
To use your Echinacea tincture, strain the mixture and store in a clean jar in the refrigerator. Add a teaspoon of the tincture three times per day to fruit juice, herbal tea, or water.

Essential Oil Vapor Rub
Combine:
10 drops eucalyptus essential oil
10 drops peppermint essential oil
 3 drops thyme essential oil
 1/8 cup olive oil
Once the oils are combined, rub them over your throat and chest, then cover up to help increase the warming effect of the herbs. This is very effective when done right at bedtime, as it helps relieve congestion and allow you fall asleep easier.

Herbal Fever Remedy
1 ounce dried Elder Flowers
1 ounce dried Peppermint Leaves
1/2 pint distilled water
Mix the herbs. Place in a quart saucepan. Pour 1/2 pints of distilled boiling water over it. Cover and allow to steep in a hot place for 10 to 15 minutes (do not boil). When ready, strain into another saucepan. Sweeten with honey if desired.

Basil tea may be helpful in the beginning of a cold, encouraging a sweat to reduce fever - a pinch of ground cloves

Rosemary Gladstar’s Immune Boosting Soup
Ingredients
1 ounce dried astragalus root
4 ounces fresh dandelion root, thinly sliced (or 2 ounces dried)
4 ounces fresh burdock root, thinly sliced (or 2 ounces dried)
1 tablespoon grated fresh gingerroot
1 tablespoon dried kelp, dulse, or other sea vegetable
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium-size onion, chopped
5 to 8 medium-size fresh shiitake mushrooms
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup miso paste, (any variety)
Directions
Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil and reduce heat. Add astragalus, dandelion, burdock, ginger, and sea vegetable; cover and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. Strain, return broth to pot, and keep over medium heat. In a saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat; add onion and mushrooms, and saute until tender. Add garlic; saute for a few more minutes. Add entire mixture to broth. Turn off heat, and stir in miso paste.

FireSider Elixir  - modified from Rosemary Gladstar's Fire Cider
In a quart jar, combine:
1 full head of garlic, cloves peeled and smashed
1 lemon, sliced
1/4 cup grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup grated fresh horseradish
1/4 cup grated fresh turmeric (or 2 T powdered if not available)
1 med. chopped onion
1 chopped fresh cayenne pepper
Cover with raw apple cider vinegar for 2 weeks, shaking occasionally.
Transfer to larger jar, and stir in

1 - 2 cups raw, local honey (depending on taste)

Continue steeping another 2 weeks.
Use by the Tablespoonful at the first sign of a virus.  Also helpful for allergies, indigestion, and sinus stuffiness.  May even increase energy and assist in weight loss.
If you need to take some before the month passes, it should be fine, but leave it to steep as long as you can.

Some optional addtions:
1 tsp. peppercorns. 1/4 cup elderberry. 1/4 cup dried medicinal mushrooms (reishi, oyster, maitake, etc.), Turmeric, Other Citrus fruits and peel

This delicious, spicy vinegar can be mixed with water or juice to cut the vinegar.  We like to use it for a marinade for chicken or pork.  It also can be blended with olive oil for a zippy salad dressing!

Kombucha - a lesson in Timing and Value

I sometimes think my timing is off. Not only that, I apparently don't understand the value of things and tend to undervalue myself.

Witness kombucha. Kombucha is a yeast like organism which is grown in a sweet tea medium to produce a fermented drink that many find to be refreshing and helpful. The drink is now sold in grocery stores in many flavors.

In May 1995, I was given a kombucha starter.  Some of the things I had heard about it were:
1) It may keep hair from turning gray.
2) It may help with sleep and energy issues.
3) It may promote weight loss.
There were other things, but any one of the things mentioned was good enough for me!

I brewed the tea and, along with my sister, started drinking it.  I think it also seems to remove obstacles because, by mid-June, we had signed the lease on a full-time shop that we had not even really considered a possibility until after we started drinking the tea...

The shop, which we named"The Herb Basket," was in a little town with not much else there to draw business, but we were featured in a full page article in our local Sunday paper.  It was a great piece of advertising for us.

You may be wondering how this connects with kombucha. Well, we decided that to draw folks out to our shop, we would offer them kombucha starters - for free.  These things were still rather "fringey," but they were selling on the internet for $25 even though we were under the impression that they should be freely shared.  They reproduced every week, and we had 5 batches brewing, so we figured we'd be fine.  No.

Within a week, we had a waiting list of 150!  We worked our way through the first 150 and went on to give away more than 300 "babies," more properly called scobies.

Seeing the demand for kombucha now in the grocery store is a little galling, especially since most folks don't realize we GAVE them the scobies for free.  Occasionally we'll see someone from the old shop and they will tell us what the tea did for them and thank us for selling it to them.  If only! $7500 would have come in mighty handy during those early days of the shop, but it was only our labor, a little tea, sugar and distilled water.  So many times I have given away things I have made and without charging, the value is negligible. I should have learned by now, but probably not.

We have attended events recently, and listened to speakers from the little local breweries that make the kombucha on the grocery store shelves or in their own little hole in the wall tea rooms.  I feel I need to correct some of the things they say, but figure they are doing things the commercial way and I would just confuse things - after all, they have titles, like "master brewer" or some such and we were just pioneers...

It is a recurring theme though and it becomes somewhat disheartening when we are merely trying to be fair or decent and watch those who have no compunctions about those ideals just flying past us. 

I wouldn't change a thing though.  Over the five years that we had the shop, we heard so many great stories about the tea and how it helped people.  We had some wonderful times and met people we still consider friends because of  that crazy "mushroom."

John Glenn

At 95, a death is not a shock, but the death of John Glenn is certainly an event. As the last living member of the original 7 Mercury Astronauts, it is the end of an era.

The astronauts were all idols in those days, but as the years have gone by, it has become clear that John Glenn was the real deal.  We have so very few real heroes any more.

I remember, as a young girl, when the original 7 Mercury astronauts were announced - heroes for our time. We followed them in the news. The excitement of the space program was a source of national pride and excitement.

I was in junior high school by the time his historic flight was set to go and remember how the launch was rescheduled over and over.  We discussed how nerve-wracking it must have been, getting geared up and ready to go time after time, only to have the flight scrubbed. The day he circled the earth, I was in the school library watching on one of the rare TV's in our school. I believe another TV was set up in the auditorium and many of the students were there trying to watch the tiny screen on the stage.

It was one of those events you never forget. There are a number of those in my lifetime, but this was one that filled me with pride.

So, it may be trite but, "Godspeed, John Glenn."

(Life's a) Beach!

We've talked for some time about making a soap for summer that we would call "Beach Soap."  It would smell fresh and "beachy," and it would be colorful.  We mixed up a great scent and decided to chunk up a bunch of our other colorful soaps and add them to a base of "golden beach" - no sand included!

This was the result:

I have some pieces of our first experimental batch in my shower and every time my eyes fall on them, they make me happy.  I see a golden beach with all the colors added of bright beach towels, umbrellas, pieces of shells and the ocean. Those things make me very happy.

When it came time to name it, we have found that a little goofiness adds to the sales appeal, so we decided on "(Life's a) BEACH!"

Available online (wholesale only) at Lancaster County Soapworks - or for personal use (retail) at The Essential Herbal.

Sliced Tomatoes with Mozzarella & Pesto

As soon as locally grown tomatoes were available, my husband brought some home and asked me to make some sliced tomatoes with "mozzarelli" cheese.  (Yep, that's how he says it and I've finally stopped trying to teach him how it should be pronounced, but it still drives me crazy!)

I always like to add fresh basil pesto to the dish and as his craving lasted for a couple of weeks, it was getting difficult to keep up with the pesto because my basil plants had not matured to the point where I could pick it every day or so.  Eventually, he said he had eaten enough and I didn't have to make it any more and the basil emergency was over and the plants got a chance to really grow now that they had been nicely pruned.

Today, he brought in a box of our own tomatoes and again made the request.  I looked outside and saw that with the combination of really hot weather and lots of rain, our basil plants were quite healthy.  I've actually been aware of it and have been worrying that I should make a batch of pesto, even if it were only to freeze.

I harvested this big bunch of basil - there's plenty left on my 2 big, healthy plants.

I make kind of an abbreviated version of pesto with mostly basil, lots of the garlic we grew over the winter, olive oil and a little parmesan and salt.

Then it all goes in the blender or food processor.  I have a mini food processor that works great for small amounts - or for chopping onions and celery for other recipes.

I prefer the larger food processor, but I used it for something out in the shop and it seems to have taken up residence there.

So, today everything went in the blender.  I think I have to add more oil to it to get the blender to work properly than I would if I were using the big old food processor, but it works.

You can see that I got about a cup of pesto from the basil I brought in.  I would say I used maybe 2 tablespoons of the pesto for this dish.

The tomatoes are sliced and a bit of pesto is spread on each one.  It is so strongly flavored that it only takes a bit for each slice.

Then a Mozzarella slice is placed on each slice and either a bit more pesto is added or, in this case, a small basil leaf.

Back when I was scrounging to find enough basil to keep us in pesto, I purchased one of the basil plants that is sold in our grocery store and have it growing on the kitchen windowsill and when I was trying to decide how to finish this platter, I grabbed a few leaves from that plant.  It needs a lot of pruning too!

The finished platter  - ta da:

Pesto does not keep well, so I will freeze what is left over for later use.  I freeze it in ice cube trays and when it is solid, I dump it into a plastic bag so tat I can just grab a cube to defrost for a pesto dish like shrimp and pasta, or to add to a sauce or soup.  It is a great fresh green taste to have available in winter!

"Flexible" Bran Muffins

This spring, my sister, Tina brought a few of these along to an herb fair where we were vending. I hadn't eaten them for a while and grabbed one mid morning. Oh my!  It was such a nice treat - and quite filling to help get me through until we closed in the afternoon.

The basic recipe was from a diet we followed quite successfully years ago called Maximum Metabolism.  My sister and I have experimented with the original recipe to see, I think, how much we can change it and still have it work!  At any rate, this is basically the original recipe:

Double Bran Gem Muffins     400 º F  14-16 MIN.

1 C. Wheat bran

1 C. Oat bran

1 C. Whole Wheat flour

2 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. cinnamon

2 large (ripe) bananas, mashed

1/2 C. Skim milk

2 egg whites, lightly beaten

2 T. olive oil

squirt of honey

Line muffin pan with paper liners and preheat oven.

Combine all dry ingredients.  In separate bowl, combine liquid ingredients.  Mix all together until just combined.  Scoop by ¼ Cups into pan (Actually, these don't really rise very much, so you can fill the cups.)  Bake 'til toothpick comes out sticky, but clean.  Try adding dried cranberries - substitute orange juice for milk.  (Max Metabolism)

When we are done with them, these are not the muffins my home ec teacher described.  They are heavy and chewy and full of texture.  We add nuts. We add berries. We add chopped fresh fruit. We add granola. We add coconut.  If we could think of anything else we'd probably add that too, but they are a perfect breakfast - and delicious! The recipe will hold a LOT of additions.

The additions to this batch included fresh peach chunks and black raspberries that happened to be in the freezer from last summer.  I also had a bag of sliced almonds and one of English walnuts in the freezer and coarsely chopped a handful of them.  I happen to love finding a piece of nut in a muffin!

A good habit to get into is to peel and throw any over-ripe bananas in the freezer so they are available when you want to make these muffins.

I will say that because of the fresh fruits I used - especially the large chunks of peach (I would cut them smaller next time,) I was uncomfortable leaving these out on the counter, so I froze them in a zip loc bag and just removed one or two at a time.  They can be defrosted quickly in a microwave or on the counter.

When we made these according to the original recipe, I used to love to eat them in the morning with apple butter, but the more we add, it is really unnecessary to use any kind of spread.

Addition 8-10-18 - Still eating the muffins and have found them to be an excellent breakfast for someone with diabetes 2!  (All the fiber cancels out a lot of the carbs.)
Another change we have made is substituting yogurt for the skim milk - I like mango or coconut, and throwing some chopped coconut in with the dry ingredients. I also add a small can of (drained) crushed pineapple. It's like a trip to the islands!

This recipe is very forgiving and by adding a lot of goodies, we wind up with more than 12 muffins - or 12 very large muffins!

Midsummer Magic and Mugwort

My sister has been distilling mugwort and selling the hydrosol.  I was curious how people were using it and assumed, since it is to be distilled during a full moon, that it is probably a magical use.

I remembered that we had long ago acquired a booklet by Adelma Simmons titled, "Midsummer Magic and Mugwort" and went on an all-out hunt for the booklet.  I thought it would be fun to see what she had to say about it before I consulted the internet.

If you don't recognize the name Adelma Simmons, she was one of the first "famous" herbalists in the modern era.  Her farm was named Caprilands and she was well known in the herbal community.

After a relatively short time, I located the booklet:

I was shocked to find there was absolutely NO mention of mugwort in the whole booklet. That Adelma was a quirky one... I can only guess that she liked the title but really had nothing to say about mugwort - or just forgot it was in the title!

After doing a quick search on the trusty internet, I found that probably the reason people want the mugwort hydrosol is for the same reason they want her white sage hydrosol, for protection and cleansing of negativity.

I could have just checked her website - as I did to find the links - and would have found the same answers.

Both are used in a similar manner to smudge.  Smudging usually involves smoldering herbs so that the smoke will cleanse a space, but these lovely, fresh sprays will do the same job without having to burn anything or smoke up the house.

Life After Facebook

After much frustration and soul-searching, I recently made the decision to leave Facebook.

Through the primaries and ensuing craziness of this political year(s!) I have lost respect for people I once held in some esteem. I found myself biting my tongue so many times that it became painful. I do not need to go on about politics. People who know me well know how I feel and I don't believe I will change anyone's mind.

I had become accustomed to reporting on various things in my life - if only for my own enjoyment - and have felt stifled as I composed posts in my mind but had nowhere to put them.

So, the thing that probably is more responsible than any other for causing my lack of posts here, has now brought me back.  I saw someone on TV yesterday who was sharing one of those lists of things that a woman should not do after a certain age. Apparently Facebook and mini-skirts are things we should stop using around the same time.  If this were true, I would be way past my expiration date on FB anyway!

I will say that since leaving FB a couple of weeks ago, I have discovered a number of projects that have languished.  Most recently, the extra time has led me to start cleaning out my closet.  So far, this has resulted in a bonanza for Goodwill - two big garbage bags of clothes along with another of shoes. Things just collect.

This blog was originally started to promote my lamp working and sadly, between the time constraints imposed by operating my soap business and failing eyesight, I have neglected my torch as badly as I have neglected this page.  I suspect cataract surgery may be in my not too distant future so we will see what happens.

Cleaning my jewelry-making/craft room is one of my soon to be accomplished activities and we will see what comes of actually being involved with my beads, etc again...

Anyway - I'm hoping I will be stopping by much more frequently again.  I may just have to comment on a beautiful day or discuss a new project, but I'm back.

I love Spring - Shenk's Ferry Wildflower Preserve

I love spring.  I REALLY love spring.  When people ask what is my favorite season, I usually say "what ever season it is now," but in reality, I have to finally admit, spring is my favorite season.

Watching the happenings around our home is exciting - the miracle that seems to happen almost overnight as we go from dull browns and tans to bright greens, and then the blossoms everywhere we look.

Yesterday, my son was home with his lady and my sister's daughter was off work, so we all piled in my car and went to visit one of our favorite spring places - Shenk's Ferry Wildflower Preserve in the southern part of the county.

The access is not paved and this winter has done its job, eroding and flooding the one-lane road.  It was an adventure just getting in because it was a somewhat popular spot yesterday and we met a few cars coming in the opposite direction.  Water filled, hub-cap deep ruts showed us where not to drive. Have I mentioned how much I love my Rav?

Once inside and on the path, it is like a fairyland, full of wildflower vistas wherever we looked.  One of my favorite spring flowers is Virginia Bluebells and they cover hillsides as we start down the path.

 Looking a little closer, the bluebells are interspersed with white trillium and mayapple leaves.

Trillium up close...

 

Other wonderful ephemerals also inhabit the place including every color of violet, star of Bethlehem, toothwort, putty root and on and on...  I was so enchanted I didn't manage to even take a picture of many of them - except for this squirrel corn - one of my favorite pictures from the day.

Except for this one of our "kids" who scrambled down a deer path into the ravine on the other side of the path.  The kids are now 29 and 24(!) but they managed to remind us of days past as we watched them leaping from rock to rock and climbing all over the giant trees that had fallen cross the creek.

I'm so glad we had this chance to share one of our favorite places with our kids.  Tina and I have visited a couple of times before, but this was really special.

I *think* this place is safe now from the pipeline that had been proposed to cut right through it.  Supposedly the route has been changed.  Can you imagine that all this amazingness had been under the gun?  Oh, yeah - "profit"!

But back to my original thought.  Spring!  Timing is everything when visiting Shenk's Ferry.  The Dutchman's Breeches were already gone, but my favorites were in full splendor.  It will all make way for the next wave very soon, but for now it is perfect.  I love spring!

Black Raspberry Cobbler

No, this is not a cooking blog, although the past few days I have been doing a lot of cooking.

I wanted to pin this recipe, but there was no picture to go with the recipe on Cooks.com, so I needed to post it here along with my own picture!

BLACK RASPBERRY COBBLER

1/2 c. melted butter 3/4 c. milk 1 1/2 c. sugar 1 c. flour 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 2 c. black raspberries Pour the melted butter into the bottom of a 7"x11" baking dish. Mix together the milk, 1 cup sugar, flour and baking powder. Pour this mixture over the butter. DO NOT STIR.Pour the berries over the batter and butter. DO NOT STIR. Pour the remaining sugar over the berries. DO NOT STIR. Bake the cobbler at 350°F for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the crust is browned and set.

This is a very flexible recipe.  I had some raspberries we had picked over the past few days - not quite enough for a pie, but more than called for in this recipe. I added them all.  I read it incorrectly and added all the sugar to the batter, still added some on top. 

It was quite sweet, but we remedied that by serving it with ice cream!

Beautiful Beetle and Orzo Salad!

There are so many things going on in the summer.  Perhaps I should start sharing again! No promises but here we go...

First, since this could be the inspiration for a bead at some point, I will share this picture of a beetle that was crawling around on the gas pump this afternoon when I stopped to fill the tank.  Isn't it beautiful?

But, the real thing I wanted to share today was a recipe.  Years ago, at the Landis Valley Herb Faire, Friday night was a special reception - not really open to the public, just for press and specially invited guests. I forget what food was served, but I do remember the May wine!

The event as a whole was much, much smaller than it is now and there was also a special herbal luncheon served on the day of the event. I believe it was all free to the vendors too.

I was mulling over various salads and other sides to make for our little 4th of July celebration and remembered that I had the recipe for this wonderful zucchini/orzo salad which was one of the most popular things I think they ever served at Landis Valley (except for the wine.)

My basil was ready, so I picked up the ingredients I needed and put it together.  You may want to try it too.

Zucchini & Orzo Salad with Basil

4 Med. Zucchini, coarsely grated
1# Orzo pasta
2 T Salt
8 C Chicken broth
2 C (packed) fresh basil
1/2 C Olive Oil
3 medium garlic cloves
1/4 C fresh Lemon juice
ground black pepper
1 C imported Kalamata olives
Basil sprigs

Drain grated zucchini in colander. Sprinkle with 1 T salt.  Let drain 30 min.  Stir or shake twice. Squeeze dry. Transfer to large bowl. Fluff with hands or fork to separate.
Basil and olive oil in processor 1 minute, drop garlic in and blend.
Add basil mix to zucchini.
Bring chicken broth to oil in medium saucepan.  Stir in 1 T salt and orzo.  Return to oil. Simmer 10-12 minutes until orzo is tender. Drain.
Stir orzo and zucchini mixture together and cool to room temp.
Just before serving, stir in lemon juice and zest (if desired.) Season with pepper. Garnish with olives.
I will cut the olives into halves before adding.

I only made half this recipe and I have shown it in my middle sized casserole dish so you can see how much it makes.  If it turns out as good as I remember, I should have made the full recipe!  The lemon and olives are waiting to be added.

Phenomenal Woman - Maya Angelou

Reading Facebook yesterday afternoon and this morning, it seems everyone has a connection with Maya Angelou.  She touched so many people she never met.  She inspired me and serendipitously led me down a path I had sort of forgotten.

About 12 years ago, I signed up for a soap swap on a Yahoo list I belonged to.  It was a kind of low point in my life and I had decided to get involved with, at least, some people on the internet. The woman in charge of the swap called it the Phenomenal Woman Swap and we were to design soaps and packaging for a soap inspired by that poem by Maya Angelou.

Here is the poem and pictures of the soap (packaging) it inspired:

Soaps all wrapped in gold tissue with label and placed in beaded bags

Phenomenal Woman
by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a model's fashion size But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips
The stride of my steps
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please
And to a man
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees
Then they swarm around me
A hive of honey bees.
I say
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth
The swing of my waist
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me
They try so much
But they can't touch

Individual label

My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back
The sun of my smile
The ride of my breasts
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say
It's in the click of my heels
The bend of my hair
The palm of my hand
The need for my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

I loved the poem.  I repeated parts of the poem in my head as I worked on the project. It not only made me feel good about myself for the first time in a while, but it inspired me to make a phenomenal soap. 

The soap was a dark mauve with veins of gold running through it. It was scented with an exotic combination of oils that I still love.

I decided to bead the bags - they weren't available like this at the time and so I set about to make them special.

The swap was a hit and I received a number of nifty soaps and compliments in return, but the biggest thing that happened was that I got some of my confidence back and was inspired and started beading again...  I bought a number of books about bead weaving and eventually attended Beadfest, just outside Philadelphia. 

At Beadfest, I saw a demonstration of enameled beads made with a hot head torch on copper tubing.  It was inexpensive compared to lampworking and so I bought the kit.

A week later, I realized how limiting the enameled beads were and signed up at a local glass shop to learn lampworking.  A month later, I had bought and set up my minor torch and kiln and was in the bead business!  Well, at least I was learning.

So, you might say that Maya Angelou led me to bead making and jewelry making.  Thank you, Maya - and farewell.

Elderberries and Garnets

In September, I wrote about here about a special project that I took part in.  A group of herbal friends wrote a booklet together about the herb of the year 2013, Elder.

Ever since we finished the book, I've been thinking about making some kind of jewelry with an Elderberry theme.  I had a vague idea of how I would do it, but with the PA Herb and Garden Festival in York, PA coming up this weekend, this seemed like the time to sit down and do it!

This is the result.  The "berries" are 4-5 mm round garnet beads and I love the leaves I found - they sort of have the sword-like shape and droopy habit of the actual leaves.  

I'll have these at the Herb Festival and, if there are any left - on my website next week.

I'm making a special trip to get more garnet beads on Sunday, so I will have more soon!

Something "borrowed"...

There are quite a few recipes attributed to me in an ebook I had nothing to do with (see previous blog entries) - the first one was really mine. I don't think I used this name even if it was oddly appropriate, but the recipe was mine!  The more I look at the recipes, I really don't think that even the ones I actually did share with her were correctly copied.

Back when we had our shop, we were purchasing a liquid soap base that we scented and sold there. I read that the addition of glycerin was all that was necessary to make it into a bubble bath.  My husband happens to love bubble baths - and he also suffered from dry skin, although our soap seems to have solved that problem pretty well. I thought it would be fun to try something special for him and I scented it with his favorite at the time, patchouli. That's probably why it only calls for a few drops of essential or fragrance oil - with patchouli, more than that would have been totally over powering!
The bubbles didn't last at all because of the addition of the oil, but they looked pretty as the bath filled!  Maybe that was why it was called "Disappearing" Bubbling Bath Oil.
If, by chance, you decide to try this recipe, be careful getting in and out of the tub because the oil can make it quite slippery.

Disappearing Bubbling Bath Oil- From Lancaster County Soapworks
1 C. Apricot kernel oil
½ C. glycerin
½ C. liquid soap
Add a few drops of Essential Oil or Fragrance Oil
Shake gently and use ¼ C. into bath under running water

The next recipe is completely unfamiliar to me. If this is your recipe, you can be sure I did not give it to her.  I have never seen this before! The reference to liquid surfactant is interesting - I think that liquid soap IS a liquid surfactant. Also, the recipe calls for 20 drops of fragrance oil, but the instructions only tell you what to do with 5 drops! (I'd add all of it.)
Since I have never worked with this recipe or anything like it, I have no suggestions to add.  Apparently there is a gel type product out there, but it isn't mine and, personally, I find this kind of yucky!  Maybe kids would like it.

Lime Bath Gummy Recipe - From Lancaster County Soapworks, Etc. (Not really!)
2 Packets of unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup of liquid soap
1/2 Cup of water
Green food coloring
5 T liquid surfactant
20 drops Lime Essential Oil
Plastic storage jar with lid
Empty the packet of gelatin into a bowl and set aside.. Boil 1/2 cup of water in a saucepan. Pour the hot water into mixing bowl and mix it with the gelatin powder.Dissolve completely. Next pour the liquid soap into the gelatin mix in the bowl. Add 2 drops of food coloring into the mix and also add your fragrance oil now (about 5 drops) and stir it very gently so the bubbles do not become agitated . Pour the mixture into molds, and refrigerate until set. To use, add one "gummy" to the bath.

There are still more to come...  meanwhile, be sure to visit Tina & Becky who are also sharing their purloined recipes on their own blogs.

More Purloined Recipes

PURLOIN

: to appropriate wrongfully and often by a breach of trust

— pur·loin·er noun 

So, apparently that's what happened.  Our recipes were purloined.  And they were taken under the guise of friendship...  see previous post.

Well, here are two more that I will mostly claim.  I can tell you stories about both of them. That's the difference between someone who just simply lists recipes and someone who has actually worked with them.

(This is a very generic type of salve or ointment.  We made something like this in a class many years ago when we had our herb shop.  One of the attendees called us after the class and raved about the salve.  She told us it had cleared up what she thought was ringworm when nothing else she had tried helped at all.
I actually have a hard time believing that I ever added lanolin to anything because our mom had an allergy to lanolin and I always gave it a wide berth because of her warnings.  I suppose the addition of the fractionated coconut oil could have been a little twist I put in there just to make it different, but it looks more like a way of promoting some more exotic ingredients.
If I were making this now, I would use an 8:1 ratio, liquid oil:beeswax for a nice loose ointment (both measured by weight,) which is more comfortable to apply on damaged skin. The base, or vegetable oil would be really nice if it had been infused with calendula or comfrey - or both! I would not add the lanolin at all, and the coconut is entirely optional.  I would probably use about the same total amount of essential oils, but more like half and half - so 15 drops lavender and 15 drops tea tree.
So mostly, this recipe would be completely different!)  

Healing Ointment - From Lancaster County Soapworks 

This is a good basic recipe. Lavender & Tea Tree are a great healing combination.

1 T Vegetable oil*

.3 oz. Beeswax beads

2 T Coconut Oil, Fractionated

.3 oz. Lanolin, anhydrous

20 drops Lavender EO

5 drops Tea Tree EO

Melt all ingredients together. Allow to cool partially, then add essential oils. Stir well and pour into sterilized container. *Can use Avocado, Apricot Kernel, or your favorite carrier oil. Can add 1 oz. Of Emu oil as a part of the base oils.

(Bay Rum is a pretty common item. You can probably find various recipes for it all over the place and they are all pretty similar.
We did this recipe in a class one year, just before Christmas. As we did sometimes in our classes, we did it for the first time in the class, but this is a pretty straight forward item to make.  The hard part is to gather all the ingredients.
At any rate, during the class we made a couple of bottles of Bay Rum for our own use and put them aside.  I was not terribly impressed when we made this, but a couple of months later, out of curiosity I opened it and was quite taken with the mellow, spicy, citrusy aroma that had developed.
I have no idea where the orange extract came from in this recipe, I would add some fresh orange peel and possibly some lemon peel too.)

Bay Rum - From Lancaster County Soapworks

Combine:

3 oz. Witch Hazel

3 oz. Rum

3 to 4 Bay Leaves

1/4 tsp. Allspice

1 stick Cinnamon

1/4 tsp. Orange Extract

Steep for 1-2 months, strain and bottle. Put a cinnamon stick, a few allspice berries and a bay leaf in the bottle before sealing.

So, I suspect the original recipes were not only purloined, but also changed in some ways.  They are certainly not the recipes in my book nor would I use them in these forms if I were doing this now.

I wonder why she even bothered giving anyone credit for any of the recipes.  Was this to give her publication some kind of credibility since she had none as a formulator, manufacturer or even a crafter in this type of product?  And why change them if she was already planning to credit them?

Be sure to visit Tina & Becky are also sharing their purloined recipes on their own blogs.

If You Are Going to Steal My Recipes, At Least Get Them Right!

I already posted this on my Lancaster Soaps Blog, but thought I might as well post it here too, while I was at it...

About 8 years ago, I briefly met a woman who was promoting a soap and candle gathering.  My sister knew her a bit better and we decided to attend her event and help her promote it.  The woman was, at that time, trying to put a CD together and begged us for some recipes to add, so we helped her out.  There were to be live links involved and proper attribution.  Well, the CD was a bust.  It wasn't produced properly and I thought that was that.

Fast forward to yesterday.  A name we hadn't heard in years was brought to our attention.  Well, actually, not her name, but a pseudonym that I remember seeing somewhere before and knew it was hers.  It seemed she had published an ebook (apparently at least 2 years ago!) which, supposedly contains recipes that I, my sister Tina and another friend, Becky contributed.   Some of the recipes that have my name on them are more or less mine, but I have never even seen some of the others.  I have a file of my recipe collection and I can easily check these things.

For instance, she lists an eczema salve and a scar salve, both of which she attributes to me.  I'm pretty sure I would not have given her a recipe for either of those.  For one thing,  I don't have those recipes in my file. I do have recipes named for eczema and for scarring,  but they belong to someone else who shared them and I would never sell them, but could keep them for my own use.

I resent that she used my recipes in another type of publication without even asking my permission, but even worse, I am concerned that I am being given credit for someone else's stolen recipes.

In researching it, I find (marketing master that she thinks she is) she has posted reviews everywhere on the internet - same reviews under different names - she even has pictures of some of the fictitious reviewers, make of that what you will.

I was planning to share all of my stolen recipes here, but the more I look at them, the more I am sure that many are NOT mine or have been changed - ingredients added that I do not work with.  For what purpose, I do not know.

There are a couple that are ALL mine and those I will share:

(This is something I made for a swap. I wanted to see if it was possible to combine fizzy bath bombs and bath melts... The theme was the Roaring Twenties and I colored them light green and scented them with "Gin Martini" and packed them in a Chinese takeout box covered in old photos with a miniature martini glass tied to the top! )

Fizzie, Sudsy Bath Melts

1/2 cup baking soda

1 T cornstarch

1-1/2 T. Mango Butter

1-1/2 T. Shea Butter

2 T citric acid

2 T. SLS - Sodium laureth sulfate (In the ebook, this was changed to Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate which is incorrect.)

20 drops fragrance or essential oil of your choice

Mix soda and cornstarch together. Melt oil. Add melted oil to the soda/cornstarch. After mixing, add fragrance and coloring, then add citric acid and SLS. Pack into molds, place in freezer for 30 minutes or
until solid. Unmold and set out to dry for several days.

(I came up with this one because I like to take showers, but love the idea of bath oil...  This definitely not something you would want to sell.  When water and oil is mixed, it can and will grow any number of nasties...  A preservative could be added, but I don't add it here, I just use this quickly and make up fresh frequently.)  Also, this may make the shower slippery, so be careful if you apply it while you are still in the shower.

Spray Bath Oil

1-1/2 oz. Oil

2-1/2 oz. Distilled Water

1 ml Polysorbate 20 (to keep spray mixed)

Preservative should be added according to manufacturer's instructions. Place in a spray bottle, shake 

well and spray liberally after shower, before gently drying off. 

There are probably a few more I can salvage in another post...   And Tina &Becky are also sharing their stolen recipes on their own blogs.

How does this happen?  I had all good intentions.

As 2012 ended, my books were up to date.  I even had my inventory done and finished all the dreaded end of year stuff for the accountant.

I was looking forward to the empty days that stretched ahead to organize the shop and give it a good cleaning.  A few soapy experiments were in the works.
There were plans for the house...  with three dogs now in residence, there are always floors to be cleared.
And after all the wild abandon of holiday eating, I could hardly wait to get back on my wheat/sugar free diet.  The diet started well, but that seemed to be all the good intentions I could muster up!  I decided it was just the low energy that comes for a couple of days with no sugar, but the energy (and resolve) didn't return.

I would awaken with thoughts of the things I would do that day - and then I would somehow manage to avoid them...  In my stupor, I did work of a new cuff bracelet and finally finished it a day or two ago.

The focal is a beautiful square hematite cabochon surrounded by silver seed beads and the cuff features silver fresh water pearls, hematite stars and leaves.  I have been imagining this cuff for a long time and was happy to see it turn out the way I imagined.

Meanwhile, we are almost through January and the diet has even fallen by the wayside.  But, today I seem to be seeing some light at the end of this dreadful tunnel.

This issue of the magazine is just about finished and I was trying to decide what to do first....

It seems someone in Spain managed to use my business debit card to make a sizable purchase which my bank has declined to cover.  Because I now find that this is at the discretion of each bank, I need to make a few phone calls to decide who will be getting my business when I switch accounts after 25 years.  We switched to this small local bank all those years ago when our big bank began treating us like a number.  Now they seem to have followed in their footsteps.

I have been putting this off and I think once I get past it, I may have more enthusiasm for the rest.

I may even manage to get back to the torch!

Back into the blog pool

I have thought about it for a while and decided this blog would be one of the things I to which I would like to pay more attention this year.

My glass (I haven't lit the torch in so long, there are spider webs festooning the  glass rods and the desk) is another thing I need to work with again, but today, it will be the blog.

This has always been my blog, not only for jewelry and business, but for talking about things that are important to me, sharing my life.  In the past year or so, I have lost track of this - my personal space - in favor of just blurting out things to the world on Facebook.  I suspect my withdrawal from the blog and glass has more than I suspected to do with my devotion to Facebook.  I've blamed it on the soap business - which, don't get me wrong is booming - but again, it's Facebook!

One of the reoccurring themes that I have seen, pretty much everywhere, but especially on Facebook is exclusion.  Maybe it isn't exclusion, just a terrible divide that leads to and encourages exclusion.

Opinions are stated in very black and white fashion, or a story is taken out of context - and the conclusion always seems to be that if you don't agree with me, you must be an idiot.  I wish I could say I have never posted anything like that, but, I certainly have.  I do have strong opinions, but unfortunately, it seems that these days, if we express them, we are either "hidden" or "unfriended."  Don't get me wrong, I've done my own share of that too!

Is it any wonder we all seem to live these days in a bubble of people who all agree with us?  When all you get in response to the things you write are a bunch of "likes" or other agreement, it is shocking to go to the news posts and read the comments.

I still don't agree with the "other side," but I do feel it is important to at least try to understand their point of view.  I'm not at the place yet where I can bring myself to tune in on the opposing side's "news" channel without experiencing a blood pressure spike, but maybe some day.

Maybe that way we may eventually be able to reach some kind of a mid point.

It isn't just politics, either, this attitude seems to find its way into all sorts of fields of interest.  My sister touched on it in the herbal community in her Dec. 30 blog.  I see all kinds of snippy stuff posted on glass boards and don't participate myself because I am just not aware of all the background stuff swirling around and fear putting my foot wrong as I attempt to enter.

I really don't know the answer, I just see a lot of stuff going on online that I thought we had all left behind in Middle School.

We'll see how this goes...