Author Archives: Nancy

ROSEMARY’S COOKIES

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This past weekend I attended an Herb Day Symposium presented by the South Texas Unit of the Herb Society of America.  The theme of this year’s symposium was  “A Bloomin’ Seminar:  Spring Herbs for Use and for Delight.”  Although I don’t have much of a yard, I’m able to grow a variety of herbs in pots set on a rack on my driveway, and I thought the seminar might be interesting.

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Nice rack, huh?

This annual event is always a sellout, and I can see why.  The Herb Society pulled out all the stops for their symposium.  Before the program started and during breaks, we were treated to refreshments prepared by some of the members.  They were beautifully presented, and included large containers of herbal tea and flavored waters, herbed biscuits and muffins, muesli, loquat honey, elderberry jam, herbed butters and spreads, and fresh fruit:

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Naturally, herbs were everywhere!  There were dozens of herb bouquets and whimsical arrangments:

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A reminder, lest we forget why we were there:

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There were three speakers.  The first speaker was Lynn Herbert, who authored and edited the most recent revision of the River Oaks Garden Club’s A Garden Book for Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast.  A whopping 672 pages, this book is full of useful information and gorgeous photos.

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Next up was “For Use and Delight–Stunning and Aromatic Arrangements from the Herb Garden,” presented by Jay White, an organic gardener from Brenham, Texas.  (He has a popular blog — The Masters of Horticulture.)  He was an engaging speaker, and everyone enjoyed seeing him create an arrangement with the variety of herbs and flowers he brought from his garden.  (It also made me wish I had a real yard.)

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 Jay White waving around yarrow

There was a wonderful box lunch from Canopy, that included tabouli, a corn and green bean salad, a petite sandwich on nut bread with a goat cheese, cranberry, pecan, and spinach filling, half of a very tasty wrap, and a citrus-glazed pastry (not sure on that one, actually –it had us all guessing).

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During the lunch break, there was a tour of the Garden Center’s rose garden, which was in full bloom:

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026Had to include a yellow rose — this is Texas, after all 

The final speaker of the day was Master Gardener Marian Buchanan, who talked about identifying and using edible flowers.  I got a few ideas from her that I am looking forward to trying.

Everyone left with a goodie bag, a seed packet or two from among the table decorations, a basil plant, and a bay leaf branch.  The gentleman next to me also managed to persuade Jay White to give him a few stalks of pink honeysuckle, which he hopes to root (and he promised to let me know if he is successful so I can hopefully get one).  There were lots of great door prizes, but it was not my lucky day.  But I did manage to score a cardamom ginger, Mexican mint marigold, and variegated scented geranium at the shop they set up, along with a pamphlet on making flavored vinegars, a few copies of the Houston Garden Book (for myself and for gifts), and a few packets of culinary herb blends.

The blend that intrigued me the most was one called Rosemary’s Cookies, and it consisted of dried rosemary, ground ginger, and ground cloves.

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According to the package, “Baking these cookies, filled with ginger, cloves and molasses, will bring forth memories of your own grandmother’s kitchen.  However, it’s the lingering flavor of rosemary that will set your recipe apart for your own children, grandchildren or dearest friends.  After all, rosemary is the ‘herb of remembrance,’ and you are sure to be remembered for this recipe.”  Hey, I like to be remembered, so I whipped up a batch of Rosemary’s Cookies, using the recipe provided.  The cookies were a big hit here, even with the kids, although my husband advised that they are even better once you know that there’s rosemary in them and can stop wondering what it is that’s different about them.

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ROSEMARY'S COOKIES
Author: 
Recipe type: Cookies
 
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup molasses or Steen's cane syrup
  • 2-3/4 teaspoons Rosemary's Cookies blend (see Note)
  • 1-3/4 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Place butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses. Stir in remaining ingredients.
  3. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes, until golden, and browned on bottoms. Allow to cool briefly on cookie sheet, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
  4. Note: If you are not lucky enough to be able to attend an Herb Society function and purchase their Rosemary's Cookies blend, similar recipes call for 2 teaspoons dried rosemary, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves. I haven't tried this blend, but it sounds about right.

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Ready for the oven

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Have to resist eating them until they are cool

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Hope I’m remembered for these

SLOPPY JOES

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I found this cheery birthday postcard on ebay.  What a thoughtful person the sender must have been.  It was sent 99 years ago!

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I don’t know when birthday postcards fell out of favor, but I vote to bring them back.  Today the sender would probably go on Facebook and write “Happy Birthday!  Hope it’s a great one!  <3 <3 <3.”  Or maybe send a text message, like “HAPPY B-DAY 2U, HOPE UR DAY IS GR8T! :)”  Although I appreciate the electronic sentiments, I’m still touched when someone goes to the trouble to send me a birthday card.  Same for invitations, birth announcements, etc. — the electronic versions aren’t nearly as nice.

Following the trench warfare during WWI that took place in the poppy fields of Flanders in Belgium, poppies became a symbol of remembrance of soldiers who have died in war.  Wearing a poppy on Memorial Day has been a tradition in the U.S. since 1924.  Remember the crepe paper poppies that the American Legion used to sell?

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The opium poppy, papaver somniferum, is the plant from which opium is derived.  The Latin name means “sleep-bringing properties,” and thus, poppies are often associated with sleep.  Remember Dorothy snoozing in the field of poppies?

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So maybe the poppies on the birthday postcard symbolized that someone was being remembered on their birthday.  Or maybe it was just to wish the person a sleep-filled day.  Speaking of birthdays, mine was this week.  I look forward to this day all year, because after all, I get a bunch of presents, and I get to go out to eat at my favorite restaurant, and I get a new party outfit, and several hundred people wish me happy birthday on Facebook, and I get a party with a petting zoo and a fancy cake, and, oh yeah, that’s my kids’ birthdays, not mine.  Over the years, as we got busier with work and kids and life in general, and our calendars overflowed with commitments of all sorts, I grew to expect less and less each year on my birthday.

Two years ago, I discovered that although the birthday bar is low for me, it does exist.  My husband had been in California for four months working day and night on a trial.  It was the longest he’d ever been away from us.  I didn’t expect much, given how hard he’d been working, but I thought for sure he’d call on my birthday.  I didn’t hear from him before I left for work, but didn’t think too much about it.  He’d sent flowers for our anniversary the month before, and I thought maybe there would be flowers waiting for me at the office.  Nope.  Around noon I called him, and he answered the phone with “WHAT?”  I said, “I thought you might want to wish me Happy Birthday,” and he said, “Your birthday is tomorrow.”  I corrected him, and then listened to him curse himself for a few minutes before telling him not to worry about it and hanging up.

So the burden of celebrating my birthday fell on my teenagers, who failed to rise to the occasion.  Maybe they muttered “happy birthday,” I’m not sure.  They quit making cards years ago.  We had a Boy Scout meeting that night that we couldn’t skip, which meant no birthday dinner with the kids.  We got home around 9 p.m. and settled in to watch a little TV before bed.  I woke up on the couch around 1 a.m. — the kids had gone up to bed and just left me there asleep on the couch.  Thank heavens for the dog that kept me company.  Like I said, I don’t expect much, but it has to be something more than nothing.

This year I didn’t want another sleep-filled birthday, so I didn’t leave anything to chance.  I arranged lunch with friends at a new restaurant, and had dinner with other friends at another new restaurant.  My daughter was babysitting that night, and my husband and son were camping all weekend, so we agreed in advance that we would celebrate later.  I brought my own birthday cake to work, because I’ve only been there 6 months and wasn’t sure if they knew or cared it was my birthday.  It turned out they did know and were planning to order a cake.  🙂  I went to an herb symposium, which I really enjoyed.  There was an unexpected surprise from the Texas Supreme Court in a case I’ve been working on, and that made the day extra special.  I had a great birthday, and am looking forward to wrapping it up with dinner with my family tonight.

One final note about poppies.  When my son was in grade school, he came home one day and told us that he had “sloppy poppies” for lunch.  Of course, he meant Sloppy Joes, but as his parents, it cracked us up, much like everyone thinks “sketti” is hilarious the first time their kid blurts that out.  Inspired by the cheery poppy birthday postcard, I made homemade Sloppy Poppies Sloppy Joes.  They are so good and easy, and I have sent them many times as part of a compassion meal (with big hamburger buns, chips, cookies, and fruit salad), to let the recipient know that they are in our thoughts.  The recipe is adapted from The New Basics by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins.

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SLOPPY JOES
Author: 
Recipe type: Beef, Main Course
 
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 stalk celery, minced
  • ½ green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • ½ cup ketchup
  • ½ cup tomato sauce
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Pepper, to taste
  • 4 hamburger buns, split
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, and oregano, and saute until vegetables are tender. Add ground beef and cook until meat is browned, breaking the meat up with a spoon as necessary. Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. Spoon over split hamburger buns and serve hot.

 

sloppy joes

 My love upon your Birthday, dear

A happy day, a happy year,

And think of me this morning, too

Because I always think of you.

<3 <3 <3