China Bayles' Book of Days (52 page)

Read more about vanilla:

Vanilla: The Cultural History of the World’s Favorite Flavor and Fragrance
, by Patricia Rain

Vanilla: Travels in Search of the Ice Cream Orchid,
by Tim Ecott

Ah, you flavor everything; you are the vanilla of society.

—SYDNEY SMITH, 1771-1845

SEPTEMBER 9

Roses to be used for potpourri should be the most fragrant ones. First in choice is the old cabbage or Provence rose (
Rosa centifolia
), large and, true to its name, has at least a hundred petals of a rich pink hue.

—ROSEMARY E. CLARKSON, MAGIC GARDENS

The Sweet Pot

There are two ways of making potpourri: the “moist” method and the “dry” method. Dry potpourri is a quick, easy way to create a pretty bowl of fragrant dried floral buds, petals, and other pretties. The moist method is the true potpourri, however, for the word
pourri
literally means “rotted” or “fermented”: hence, a pot of fermented flowers, sometimes called a “sweet pot.” This traditional method takes more time and the result isn’t pretty enough to display. So it is usually kept in an opaque container, with the lid removed to allow the fragrance to diffuse. The fragrance is more subtle, however, and it lasts longer.

TO MAKE A SWEET POT

What you need:

a half-gallon wide-mouthed glass jar or crock with a lid

a wooden spoon

about a cup of coarse salt (kosher or sea salt, mixed half-and-half with noniodized table salt)

6 cups of fragrant flower petals, dried until leathery ¼ cup vodka

essential oil of rose, lavender, orange (if the flowers are not sufficiently fragrant)

3-4 tablespoons of mixed spices: nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, allspice, crushed anise, coriander, or cardamom seeds, crushed vanilla bean, orange or lemon curls

How to do it: Put a ½-inch layer of petals in the bottom of the jar and cover with 1-2 tablespoons of salt. Over this, sprinkle a teaspoon of vodka and a drop or two of essential oil (if desired). Repeat. With the wooden spoon, press down the mass and put on the lid. Set aside to cure for 10 days, stirring daily. At the end of the 10 days, add the spices and stir thoroughly. Put the lid back on and set aside for six weeks. To use, put into pretty china or an earthenware pot with a lid; remove the lid to scent the room with the fragrance of your summer garden.

Read more about using the fragrance of flowers:

Potpourri and Fragrant Crafts
, by Betsy Williams

Take a glassful of Rose Water, Cloves well beaten to a powder, a penny weight; then take the fire panne and make it red hot in the fyre, and put thereon of the said Rose water with the sayd powder of Cloves making it so as to consume little by little, but the rose water must be muskt [musk], and you shall make a parfume of excellent good odour.

—A QUEEN’S DELIGHT, 1665

SEPTEMBER 10

The Merryweathers Pick a Peck of Pestos!

At their September meeting every year, the Merryweathers set out a big basket of mini-crostini, line up their pots of pestos, and have a pesto-tasting, with each one voting for her favorite. This is always an exciting event, because nobody can predict what fantastic new recipes people are likely to come up with. “Pesto isn’t just for pasta,” Patsy Pride always says.

“And basil is definitely not the only pesto herb.” To which Fannie Couch always adds: “Whoever said ‘The soul of pesto may be basil, but its heart is garlic’ has a limited number of taste buds!”

In Italian, the word
pesto
simply means “paste”—and many herbs can be “pasted.” For the classic basil pesto, check out Marge Clark’s recipe in the July 31 entry. But there are many other pesto possibilities. The Merryweathers picked three pestos as top of the pack:

First place: Felicity Firestone’s Fennel and Tomato Pesto (recipe below)

Second place: Ethel Gramling’s Caraway Thyme Pesto

Third place: Sandy Kinky’s Pistachio Mint Pesto

Voted too hot to handle: Cilantro Habanero Sunflower Seed Pesto

FENNEL AND TOMATO PESTO

2 tablespoons fennel seeds
1 cup hot water
1 large fennel bulb, chopped
1 cup fresh parsley
2 medium cloves garlic
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup pecans
½ cup olive oil
freshly ground pepper and salt or Savory Blend (August
29)
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped

Cover fennel seeds with hot water and set aside. Steam chopped fennel bulb 4-5 minutes, or microwave 3 minutes. Put into food processor with drained fennel seeds, parsley, garlic, cheese, and nuts. Process to mix. With machine running, slowly add olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add chopped tomatoes and let stand for 10 minutes before serving. If serving over pasta, add a little hot pasta water or milk to thin.

Pesto isn’t just for pasta. Learn how to use it:

Pestos! Cooking with Herb Pastes
, by Dorothy Rankin

He who eats pesto never leaves Genoa.

—ITALIAN PROVERB

SEPTEMBER 11

I should like to enjoy this summer flower by flower, as if it were to be the last one for me.

—ANDRÉ GIDE

Forever Herbs and Flowers

The garden is in full flower, the herbs are lush and fragrant, and you’d love to capture and hold those delightful shapes and colors forever. You can, simply by picking and pressing the plants in a phone directory or other large book and using them for flower crafts. (For ideas, see December 20.)

PRESSING HERBS

Pick the herbs on a dry morning, at their peak. Arrange them on a sheet of paper, giving some thought to how they will look when they’ve been pressed. Place a second sheet over the first and insert the sandwich into a large book (the phone book is traditional), stack more books on top, and do something else for a week or so. If you’re in a hurry, try the microwave method. Place the plant-paper sandwich between the pages of a hardcover book. (Avoid books that contain metallic materials.) Put the book in the microwave and weight with another book or heavy glass dish. Set at medium-high for two minutes. Repeat as necessary, letting the book cool before removing the herbs.

THE PRESSED FLOWER GARDEN

You’ll have your own favorite garden and wayside plants. These are some of the flowering herbs I enjoy growing and using in pressed flower projects. Parsley, dill, and fern are indispensable.

Read more about pressing herbs and flowers:

Pressed Flowers
, by Pamela Le Bailly

Forever Flowers: A Flower Lover’s Guide to Selecting, Pressing, and Designing,
by Bernice Peitzer

In this month the Gardener has great variety of Business and must employ his Head as well as his Hands toward furnishing his Kitchen Garden with everything necessary for Winter Use.

—THE GENTLEMAN’S AND GARDENER’S KALENDAR, 1724

SEPTEMBER 12

“Guess it’s time to make some more vinegar,” I said. Making and bottling herb vinegars is one of my favorite evening tasks, and I love looking at the rows of sparkling bottles. It must be the same satisfaction that country women have when they look at the rows of canned green beans on the cellar shelves.

—THYME OF DEATH: A CHINA BAYLES MYSTERY

Herb Vinegars

If you’ve made fruit vinegars, you’ll find that making herb vinegars is even easier. Start now, and in the next two or three weeks, you’ll be able to present each of your friends with a unique handmade gift.

What you need:

purchased vinegars: red-wine, white-wine, sherry, cider

herbs: choose among basil, garlic, tarragon, dill, chives, fennel, salad burnet, borage, mint, sage, lavender, nasturtium flowers and leaves, thyme, rosemary, parsley, chervil, marjoram, chiles

recycled, sterilized wide-mouthed jars (quart, half-gallon, gallon), with lids

glass or plastic measuring cups
plastic funnels
coffee filters
cheesecloth
plastic and wooden spoons

labels
pretty bottles with caps or corks

How to do it:

Put the fresh, clean herbs into a jar (1 cup fresh herbs to 1 quart vinegar) and add vinegar. Label the jar and place on a sunny windowsill, where the heat of the sun will help extract the oils from the herbs. Turn frequently, and test for flavor in two weeks. Strain herbs, then filter the vinegar through a coffee filter into a pretty bottle. Add a sprig or two of fresh herbs, cap or cork, and a label. For gift-giving, use raffia or ribbon to tie on a gift card made with pressed herbs.

Some zesty combinations:

• Red-wine vinegar with basil, garlic, and savory; rosemary, sage, bay, and garlic; cilantro, rosemary, bay, and chile peppers; thyme, rosemary, oregano, and basil.

• White-wine vinegar with dill, lemon basil, lemon balm; orange mint, orange zest, cardamom seeds, and garlic; chives, chive blossoms, elder flowers, lemon balm.

• Sherry vinegar with allspice berries, cloves, cinnamon, rosemary; basil, tarragon, and garlic.

• Cider vinegar with horseradish, garlic, and chile peppers; garlic, dill, pickling spices.

More Reading:

Herbal Vinegar: Flavored Vinegars, Mustards, Chutneys, Preserves, Conserves, Salsas, Cosmetic Uses, Household Tips,
by Maggie Oster

SEPTEMBER 13

Going Places: Long Creek Herb Farm, Blue Eye, Missouri

It takes a little doing to get to Jim Long’s herbal homestead, hidden away in the oak-and-hickory woods along the Missouri-Arkansas border, but the people who make their way there know that it’s worth the effort. The gardens are lovely, the woods are delightful, and a sweet, fragrant silence lies over all. The place is so beautiful that it has been featured in such national magazines as
Southern Living
,
Country Living Gardener,
and
Gourmet.

Jim Long worked as a landscape architect before he bought Long Creek and retired to the life of an herb farmer, but “retired” is not a word you’d use to describe him. Throughout the warm season, he and his partner, Josh Young, welcome guests (individually and in groups) to the gardens where they grow the herbs that they transform into soaps, insect repellents, dream pillows, herbal seasoning blends, pet products, and much more. When you visit the farm, you’ll find these in the rustic Herb Shop, where herbs hang from the ceiling and fill the shelves (you can also find them on the farm’s web site, at
www.longcreekherbs.com
) Jim and Josh are always busy tending their Ozark farmstead, cultivating and working with herbs, and enjoying every minute of every day.

But Jim is also a talented speaker and writer, and many people consider themselves friends of the farm because they know it through his lectures, numerous books (some 28 to date), and magazine and syndicated newspaper columns. He’s also an herbal historian. Among his books, three are my personal favorites:
Herbal Medicines of the Civil War
;
Herbal Medicines on the Santa Fe Trail
; and
“It will do no harm to try it”: The Home Remedies Diary of Elias Slagle, 1859
. Jim found Slagle’s diary in a museum and has spent six years studying it. He writes: