Herbs and Oil

               

Herbs and oil...What oil should I use and should my herbs and oil be made to last? Yes..I say to me..
Herbs and oil to last..!!
I happened to find on, oooh gosh...lol." Pinterest" it was ..(yes I do love to peruse Pinterest). I found the  idea of putting herbs in oil and freezing then to store them..Here is how I went about this.

                             

 First I chose the herbs I wanted to chop up. Here is my Rosemary on the chopping block...I also chopped up Basil.  

Both the Basil and the Rosemary in this picture, all combined now it is....

I poured Grape seed oil in the small size trays...and then scattered the chopped up herbs over them..but I have to say, next time, I do believe adding the herbs first and then pouring the oil over would be a much better idea..

I am well enamored with parchment paper..so covered I the lot of it with parchment paper and used rubber bands to hold it in place.

My plan after they are frozen, is to pop them from the trays and store in the freezer in a closed container. I think either plastic baggies or a glass bowl with a fitted lid will do. So many people are going to glass as a better food storage tool. Plastics have developed a bad name in some circles..

Herbs de Provence 

Beings I was chopping herbs and having so much fun..and chopped loads...I decided to make a bit of dried herbs as well..adding culinary lavender, which I bought already dried and bagged...

I scattered the chopped up fresh Basil and Rosemary on paper towels and tossed some lavender buds in with them..I now have it all in a bowl. I go by it often to toss it with my hand or  give it all a shake now and again to help them dry all together...

Once they are all dried, the Herbs de Provence will be kept in a special little dark jar I have for it..

I love using Herbs de Provence on Chicken, Fish, Pork...it is lovely on most anything... 

                                    

Staying for the summer mainly here in Newport News,Virginia,USA I have not been able to do gardening away from my very much missed Sir Bear and Garden in Wales, UK. To help my sad mind, I made a little herb garden in three pots..Biggest pot on bottom, Next pot a little smaller and Then a small pot on top..All stacked to one side to make it easier to plant. It has done surprisingly well and I have been so glad to have it for fresh herbs. In the middle photo, I have just given it a trim and I have the herbs on paper towels to dry for a little bit before tying them up for drying fully. Bottom photo is of my pots with its just trimmed look..
 I intend to package my little ..Herbs de Provence and take them home to Wales with me to use in my kitchen there this fall.
In my Herbs de Provence I will have ...Sage, (small amount as it can over power), lavender..(I will want more lavender I am sure), Thyme, Savory and Rosemary. There is a bit of Mint in the photo.I am not sure will include it in the mix. 

Needle Felted Gardener

Here I am in Virginia USA..Yes I am! Since April 28 2012...

Homesick for gardening and my Darling Sir Bear..I found I needed to play in the dirt a bit. I made up an Herb Garden in 3 pots, terracing them one on top of the other. I made my little Garden Girl earlier during some rainy days, with my wool roving and needles. She has been waiting for her Garden to be ready...

Finally here they both are all done up. Garden Girl has been busy as a bee keeping the Herbs and Marigolds tended ever since.

Curried Parsnip, Apple and Fig Soup

Here is another recipe from my "Tyn Y Coed Kitchen"..Tyn Y Coed translation.."House in the Woods".. 

I first tasted this lovely soup at a little cafe..(pronounced caffee)..in the town I live in, in North Wales.

It was Autumn when I first tasted this soup. I have to think Autumn is the perfect time to serve it!

HOWEVER....it is perfect for anytime.... so light and flavorful.. I am sharing it now.

To start I chop..Onions, Parsnips, Celery and Apples, tossing them into my Biggest Pot as I chop.. I pour chicken stock along with extra water to cover and toss in dried chopped figs...I love curry ...yumm along with  the nice hot bite Graham Marsala gives to a dish..salt and you have it..
Boil, covered until the veggies are nice and soft. Al-dente is not a good plan with this dish, the softer the better..I DO NOT peel the Apples..vitamins..vitamins tucked into those skins...I do not peel the Parsnips either.,.
After everything is nicely soft and smelling like heaven. Shut the heat off , take the lid off and let it cool to just warm.

Now get your blender out of where ever you have it hidden.

Pour enough of the boiled veggies to bring  your blender vessel to half full..leave out as much broth as possible, I use a colander to strain the broth off . Save the broth and pour back into your pot to reheat..

                                                                             

I need to purée TWO batches.

Now  Pour the veggie purée back into the pot along with the reserved Broth..

 

Reheat. Season with salt or pepper etc..to taste..and you have it!

I DO have the recipe I have conjured up here for you! :o)

Into my Biggest Pot..I put

4 Good size Parsnips

3 medium Apples

6 Whole dried Figs..chopped or clipped with my kitchen sheers..

1 Cup chopped Celery

1 medium to large whole Yellow Onion or Sweet Onion

1 1/2 pint Chicken Broth 

2 Cups water to just cover

Spices

11/2 Tablespoon Curry Powder

1/4 tsp Graham Marsala

1 tsp or less salt

Let come to a boil..then simmer on a Low Boil until tender and nicely soft.. cool and blend without too much Broth...remember to  Reserve broth ..return to kettle stir broth and veggie purée together..reheat and serve.. 

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A Thought! :o)

I have come to a place in my life where I know clearly, "I am NOT a victim" . I can survive anything, good or bad..and YES...sometimes surviving the "good" that happens to you can be just as hard as surviving the bad that happens to you.

'via Blog this'

A Heron's roost

We had a lovely visitor yesterday afternoon. This heron flew into our Larch tree in our lower garden. He/She did not stay long, long enough to check to make sure that there were no goldfish to have from one of our ponds and then off he/she flew again. 

Winter into Spring

I found this site to be a fun spot to look at what I find comfy to wear and maybe find a few more things that I would like to add to my wardrobe.  :o)

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