AN HERBAL LIFE

What do you think of when you hear the word herbal? Hippies? Homeopathic remedies? Many things come to my mind when I hear the word herbal: a sense of serenity, fragrant bliss, even romance (some herbs have legends and lore deeply rooted in love).

I LOVE herbs. Maybe because they are so easy to grow, and flourish with the least amount of care. Maybe for their endless culinary uses, or because their scent makes me happy (I'm easily entertained). Whatever the reason, I love herbs. 

When I first moved to the Hill Country of Texas, I discovered a small nursery that was home to a myriad of herbs. I found countless varieties of oregano, sage, thyme, mint, basil, lavender, rosemary, the list goes on. Move over Disneyland, this nursery was now my happiest place on earth. And it still is. I've started incorporating herbs in pots with flowers on my patio. I love the mix of flowers and herbs, and they seem to have a harmonious relationship, growing well together. 

I have several cookbooks centered around herbs, buy my favorite is The Herbfarm Cookbook by Jerry Traunfeld.  For me, cooking with herbs is like icing a cake; it completes the dish. I relish in being able to walk out into your yard, clip a handful of fragrant herbs, and transform an ordinary recipe into an extraordinary one. This recipe, from The Herbfarm Cookbook, makes a wonderful herb infused bread that will show off your herbalness!


Slice a loaf of artisan bread, being careful not to cut all the way through. Brush the inside of the slices with melted garlic butter (In a small pot, melt unsalted butter and add crushed garlic. Heat until  the garlic loses its raw fragrance but does not brown). Tuck handfuls of fresh herbs between the slices (I use a mixture of oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage, and marjoram). Wrap the loaf loosely in foil, leaving the top open. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 12 minutes, or until  heated through. Discard the herbs when serving.

Leftovers in disguise

Great White Hunter is pretty easy to please when it comes to food. I can cook up just about anything and he'll eat it. With one exception: leftovers. He does not like leftovers. Period. I normally don't cross that line with him, but there are exceptions to every rule.

Since we've had house guests FOR THE LAST TWO MONTHS STRAIGHT (I'm fine with it, really), I've been preparing larger meals. The other night I made enough meatloaf to feed 5,000 (wait...that was Jesus with the bread and fish...) 10 people, so needless to say we had leftovers. I am the kind of person who hates to waste, plus I'm always up for an excuse to get out of cooking, so I crossed the leftovers line. Sort of.

"What are we having for dinner?" he asks. "Grilled burger subs with caramelized onions, potato wedges and a salad," I replied (not a lie, just a tiny twist of the truth). He gobbled it up, complimented my effort and was none the wiser about my trick. Or maybe he was and didn't feel the need to call my hand. Whatever. He ate it, and it was good.

Make this: thinly slice one sweet onion and caramelize. Slice leftover meatloaf and grill in fry pan. Spread spicy mustard on whole wheat sub rolls, add grilled meatloaf, top with onions and sliced cheese (I used smoked provolone). Place, open face, under broiler until cheese melts. Add ketchup if desired. Serve under alias of your choice.

Baking for a cause

Sometimes we feel helpless when faced with something we have no control over or cannot change. We want to do something. Something that will make us feel as if we've made a difference. And sometimes the situation just requires us to sit back and deal. You know, accept the things we cannot change and all that mumbo jumbo. I don't do the "deal" part very well. I want to help. My biggest challenge is finding out how.

Recently, I have learned a lot about pediatric cancer. I discovered that only about 30% of children diagnosed with cancer survive. 30%. That's not even half. The reason for such terrible odds is directly related to how little money is being spent on research by both the government and the pharmaceutical industry. Pediatric cancer is the leading cause of death by disease for children under the age of 18. In fact, it kills more children than asthma, AIDS, muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis combined.

Research can make a drastic difference in cancer survival rates. Take breast cancer for example. Due in part to all the research being done and all the organziations that help fund the research, the breast cancer survival rate now averages 90%. I'm not that good at math, but I know 90% is a lot better than 30%.

One day while glancing through a magazine, I came across an ad for Cookies for Kids' Cancer. The ad caught my eye so I jumped on the computer to check it out. Cookiesforkidscancer raises money for pediatric cancer research through local bake sales. I thought to myself, "Seriously? I love to bake. I can do this. I will do this." I mentioned this idea to someone who did not share my enthusiasm. "Why don't you just ask for teddy bear donations and deliver them to the pediatric cancer patients at the hospital?" While a noble thought, it wasn't quite what I was looking for. Teddy bears are nice, but they don't save lives.

So, in a few weeks, we're "doing this." One of my very dear friends is taking on this challenge with me and we are organizing a bake sale. The outpouring of friends willing to help has been overwhelming. So far, we have 20 bakers and counting. We've set a big goal for ourselves, but I accept the fact that whatever we are able to raise will be wonderful. It might be a drop in the bucket, but it's a start. It's something.

In addition to raising money, I hope we are also building awareness. Please visit this site and learn more about how you can throw a bake sale in your area and help fund pediatric cancer research. Or simply make a donation. After all, as the mother/founder of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer says, “If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes the world to fight pediatric cancer.”

Wanna trade?

School's back in session, and many Moms across the country are getting up extra early to pack lunches, me included. Yes, my son's school has a cafeteria. I've seen the food. I'm not impressed. I know the years when I will lose all control over what he eats are fast approaching, so I'm hanging in there while I can. I am trying to be creative with lunches, make them fun to eat and healthy at the same time. You know, stuff that will make other kids say, "Wanna trade?"

When I was young, one of my favorite books was Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell and Lillian Hoban. In this book, Frances liked one thing: bread and jam. She ate this at every meal. Her friend, Albert, however, had the most amazing things in his lunch at school every day. Finally, at the end of the story, Frances catches on and her lunches become amazing, too.

When it comes to packing lunches, most parents are not intentionally being boring, they're just being pragmatic. If your child likes peanut butter and jelly and it's easy to make, your child gets peanut butter and jelly every day. If this sounds boring to you, it probably is to your kids as well. Here are some ideas to help you get creative with your kid's lunches and ditch the brown bag blahs. Variety is the spice of life, so expose your kids early and allow them to try new things. They may take a while to warm up to your culinary experiments, but they will thank you for taking the time to pack a little love in with their food.

• Since sandwich bread every day can get boring, experiment with ciabatta rolls, focaccia, wraps, whole wheat english muffins, mini baguettes, pita pockets, etc.
• Use cookie cutters and cut out the sandwich after you've made it to make fun shapes, or use a circle cutter and make a face with raisin eyes and carrot lips.
• Make different variations of BLTs, like adding sliced avocado or making a turkey BLT. Try spreading cream cheese instead of mayo for nice change.
• Send a healthy stuffed potato. Bake large potatoes in a hot oven for 1 hr. Halve, scoop out the flesh, mix with canned tuna or chicken, broccoli and grated cheese. Pile back in the skins and crisp in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool and, voila, a perfectly packable lunch.
• Make a fruit wrap: thinly slice apples, grapes and strawberries. Spread pineapple or strawberry cream cheese on a honey whole wheat wrap and roll. Inlcude carrot sticks on the side to squeeze in those veggies.
• Pack a cold pasta salad with chunks of ham and peas.
• Try a Mexican Mango Madness lunch: pack a bean and cheese burrito, sliced mangos and a green salad with dressing on the side. Add a chocolate cinnamon pudding for dessert.
• A new twist on PB&J (and good for those allergic): Almond butter and honey and whole grain bread, carrot and celery sticks and applesauce.
• Pack chicken noodle soup in a thermos, include a whole wheat roll and rice pudding for dessert.

Oh yeah, including a little note is also a great way to pack some love in the lunch box. I love these Lunch Grams - cute papers to write your notes on. Find them here.

A Handmade Christmas

I love to to put a handmade touch on my holidays. Whether it's creating decorations or gifts, I'm happy just to be making something (now I know why my Grandmother always said busy hands make happy hearts). Here are just some of the things resulting from our handmade Christmas:

A simple swag wreath for our front door (made from the branches we cut off the bottom of our Christmas tree)

NOEL -cut letters from a sheet of foam, covered them with moss, berries and tiny pine conesNot really handmade, just a good idea. Plant paperwhite bulbs indoors, cover the soil with tiny glass ballsMake a simple pine cone tree by covering a tall foam cone with moss and mini pine cones

My child's favorite: a twig star to top our tree

Lots of handmade gifts this year!

A knit hat and scarf and a baby blanket that I'm still feverishly working on

Matching embellished Mom and Baby tees
I hope you can find time to put a little handmade touch on your holidays. Sometimes it's the simplest things that bring the greatest joy.

Pumpkin Carving

Carving the same old jack-o-lantern face every year can get boring, at least according to my child. We now use templates (you can find a ton of them on the web) that are fun and super easy to do. The pumpkins in these photos were done a couple of years ago. They looked great illuminated at night.

This year, in honor of Marley Lily the Lab, who apparently loves to eat pumpkins although they don't agree with her, we are using the dog template found at this site.

If you plan to do any pumpkin carving, be creative, have fun, and don't forget to roast those yummy seeds for snacking!

Homemade Body Scrub

I am a coffee lover - the smell of fresh brewed coffee gets me out of bed in the morning and I'm not a happy camper until I've had my first few sips. When I learned that caffeine is actually good for your skin (caffeine increases blood flow, which is very beneficial as a topical cellulite treatment and it's proven to revive the look of dull skin) I started making my own body scrub using ground coffee as the main ingredient. I must admit the stuff works. I use it about twice a week and my skin truly does look better. Several people have asked me for the recipe, so, pass the java - it's time to make some body scrub!

Coffee Body Scrub
(this makes enough for about 3-4 uses. You can double the recipe if you'd like)
1/2 cup ground coffee (I use fresh, but you can also recycle your used grounds)
1/4 cup brown sugar (for an extra beneficial exfoliant)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (for aromatherapy)
1/3 cup LIGHT olive oil or sweet almond oil
(I also add a few squirts of Vitamin E oil. If you have the capsules, just pierce a few and squeeze them into your scrub mixture)

Put all ingredients in a bow and combine thoroughly. Transfer to a jar or plastic container and store at room temperature. Use scrub in a hot shower and leave on your skin for a few minutes for maximum benefits.

Put a little lavender in your life

Wednesday is vacuum day around here, so this morning I reluctantly drug out the big Kirby G6 (I have a love/hate relationship with my vacuum) and when I turned it on, my sense of smell was assaulted! I quickly ran to the cupboard and grabbed a bottle of Lavender essential oil, doused a couple of cotton balls and added them to the vacuum bag. Ah, peace was restored.

Here are some other great ways to add a little lavender to your life:

• For a peaceful night's sleep, put a few drops of lavender oil on your pillow (not the pillowcase). Or, wrap a handful of the dried flowers in a cheesecloth sachet, tie and throw in your pillowcase.
• To soothe a sunburn, add a few drops of the essential oil to water in a spray bottle, and mist sunburned skin.
• Add several drops of lavender oil to your bath for a soothing soak, or just add a generous handful of the fresh or dried flowers.
• Sew together some old fabric scraps and fill with dried lavender for drawer sachets.
  
• Wrap a handful of lavender flowers in a square of cheesecloth and tie with a string. Drip a few drops of lavender oil onto the sachet, then throw the sachet in your dryer to make your clothes smell great. This will freshen up to 25 dryer loads!
• Pulverized fresh lavender flowers add a unique flavor to custards, salads, and sugar cookies.
  
• Garnish your desserts by placing a few fresh lavender flowers on top.

tips adapted from healthmad.com