Remodeling House

By the beginning of summer, you should have enough lavender up and ready to make lavender wands. Lavender wands are always popular gifts for birthdays and around the holidays. I make a big batch during the summer, and tie them into my Christmas gift bows. These wands are an aromatic addition to a lingerie or linen drawer, closet, or laundry room. Lavender permeates the area in which a wand is

Cartoon courtesy of Nearing Zero.Happy Gardening!Garden Gnome©2006-2008

Bearded IrisIris germanicaJune 2, 2008Iris is the genus (recall the nomenclature post earlier) of 200 to 300 flowering plants. They are herbaceous perennials that grow from rhizomes or in drier climates bulbs. The have long, erect flowering stems that in our zone bloom from late May to early June. Despite being an herb they are mainly grown as an ornamental plant in the garden. The flowers

Christmas is coming. . . really. I'm sorry to remind you, but it is. One of the many great things about herb gardening is that you have the raw material for some wonderful gifts. If you plan ahead, you can make unique herb offerings quickly and inexpensively. For the next couple of months, I'll be giving you some examples.Here's one: Fabric Wrapped Herb Seeds with Popsicle MarkersThis fall,

Many herbs are well suited to domestic life and thrive indoors. With some attention to their special needs, you can keep an indoor herb garden that will give you fresh herbs year round.Indoor Herb LightingThe biggest challenge to the indoor herb gardener is light. Lighting is critically important to all plants, but herbs seem to be especially sensitive to the right light conditions. If you can

Chef Ming Tsai has quite a presence on the web, and he uses rubs to create some wonderful recipes. One of his signature rub ingredients is tea. Other cooks have picked up the practice of using tea as a flavor base in rubs, artfully incorporating them in anything from mouthwatering BBQ to sea scallops. I don't know where the practice started, but I'm glad it did.If you'd like your next seared tuna

Bay or sweet bay (Laurus nobilis) is the leaf from a tree in the Laurel family. It's an evergreen that originated in the Mediterranean, where it grows to a height of 40 feet. Bay laurel is beautifully appointed with medium sized, glossy, green leaves. It is not winter hardy in areas that experience freezing weather.

Luckily, bay can be cultivated in a container and brought indoors to overwinter

One of the most well known of the crab seasoning blends, Old Bay Seasoning sold by McCormick & Company (and others), is a household staple in many parts of the United States.

It is less dependent on salt than some other popular seasonings – but delivers good flavor. Prepare a shaker full of goodness by creating your own Old Bay Seasoning mixture. Here's how.

Old Bay Seasoning Recipe

6 bay

Try Sage and StrawberrySage has been used as means of whitening discolored teeth for centuries, and it still works today. Together with strawberry, it's a natural solution for treating a yellowed and dingy smile.Make a paste of one large sage leaf, one strawberry, and one teaspoon of baking soda. I blend the ingredients in a mini-food processor. Apply the paste to your teeth for five to ten

Make your own garlic juice and garlic powder. The process takes some time because it involved peeling lots of garlic cloves. You may decide afterward that buying prepared garlic products is easier and just as tasty, but every herb fanatic should try it once.Here's how.Instructions for Making Garlic Juice1 bulb of garlicMesh strainerCoffee FilterPeel one bulb of garlic (this will give you a

Bechamel sauce, white sauce, is one of the most basic sauces used in cooking. It's an easy sauce to make if you remember to keep stirring the ingredients throughout. Never stop stirring, use medium heat, and pick a thick pan that will evenly distribute the heat.Some béchamel recipes call for heavy cream, while others make due with whole milk. Some will even cheat and use milk, but up the butter

My friend Emily's grandmother was Greek and taught her some great Greek dishes which she's shared with me over the years. She's actually partly responsible for my interest in herbs and spices. One of her best recipes is for Moussaka. I've updated some things, grilling the eggplant and using sun dried tomatoes instead of tomato paste, but otherwise it's pretty close to her grandmother's