Volume 8, Issue 6, November 1999
The Black Swamp Herb Socity, with Gardens at the Wood County Historical Center
“What is a Christmas herb?”
The raffle is going to be big this year, featuring a member-made Amish Nativity Scene and a hanging quilt by Harriet Rosebrock. (Tickets – $1 each or 6 for $5.) Having a Nativity scene write up that would be specially right for the Black Swamp Herb society seemed a logical thing to do, so off to the Net searching out “Herbs of Christmas” and “Herbs and the Nativity” and the like.
One site spit out a conventional list, with poor photographs. Frankly Marge Clark did better in her book Christmas Thyme at Oak Hill Farm. For the forgetful the standard list is as follows:
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) – the herb of remembrance -closely associated with Mary. (We will have a topiary or a wreath.)
Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) – The symbol of bravery of the child. (We will strew the scene with thyme.)
Sage (Saliria officinalis) – Immortality. (A sheaf by Joseph’s feet.)
Lavender (Lavandula) – Purity and virtue. (Our child will lie on a mattress of lavender.
Rue (Ruta graveolens) Grace and sorrow.
Costmaiy (Chrysanthemum balsamita) Everlasting life. (A few leaves in the manger.)
Horehound (Marrubium vulgare) Good health. ( Cough drops tucked in the shepherd’s shawl?)
Another site, icanarden.com, astonished by listing sage, basil and thyme as the true Christmas herbs. It seems they were referring to COOKING. All their uses were Medicinal and Magical. A silly site.
A thymely thought for a good friend
The web is run by men. Nowhere can mention of our good friend and sensible herbal companion, Marge Clark, be found. Sadly, she died in an automobile accident this summer. More than her cookbooks I remember stories of her sons, her wonderful uses of all the rooms of her big farmhouse (I felt close to envy). She was the good daughter, using her mother’s small legacy to self publish cookbooks marked throughout with a rolling pin – symbolizing “Mother’s Recipe.” Her latest book found her with a national publisher and a marvelous organizational scheme. May blankets of purple thyme rest over her.
Next meeting: Multi-station Christmas workshop, Monday, November 15, 7 p.m at the Wood County Historical Center. Hostesses: Wendy Vaughn and Jean Coffield.
Cooking with Herbs
From the kitchens of Sandy Hayden and Marlene Long
ORANGE BASIL COOKIES (Lemon- basil)
1/4 cup margarine (1/2 stick), softened
3 3 oz. packages cream cheese (I use one 8 oz.)
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange peel (I use fresh)
1 box orange (or lemon) cake mix
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped nut meats (walnuts)
3 tablespoon dried basil
Mix together margarine, cheese, yolk, juice.
Add dry cake mix.
Stir in raisins, nuts, peel and basil.
Chill dough. (I do not chill dough).
Form into balls the size of a walnut. Yes dough is sticky. The following was not in the original recipe. I roll the sticky balls in granulated sugar so the fork doesn’t stick.
Place on buttered cookie sheet. Flatten each ball with a fork.
Bake at 350 degrees for fifteen minutes. Leave on cookie sheet briefly when they come out of oven.
Note: Since some people are allergic to nuts I leave them out when taking to a group function. For a bake sale, put in nuts, but label.
– Sandy Hayden
SPICED APPLE JUICE
2 quarts apple juice
2 cups water
1 cup orange juice
1 cup brown sugar
2 sticks cinnamon
6 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Combine all ingredients in a large pot and heat together. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 5 to 10 minutes.
Strain mixture into a large pitcher or container.
Cover and refrigerate if serving cold. If serving hot, after straining mixture, place back in pot and keep warm.
Serves 12 or more.
– Sandy Hayden
The following is the result of a visit to the Erie Street Market and the purchase of some really outstanding raspberry preserve. Marlene brought it to the wreath workshop at Sandy Dewyer’s. Heavenly.
Cheddar Ring
4 cups shredded cheddar
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
Combine ingredients.
Firmly pack into greased mold.
Turn onto plate, cover and chill for 1 hour. Fill center with raspberry preserves or orange marmalade. (I combined both)
Decorate outer edge with greens or edible flowers.
(In the interest of our mental health I did not analyze nutrients of above delicacies. Tis the season…The Editor.)
Study in autumn blues (right): Marlene Long, Perovskia atriplicfolia, Sandy Hayden and the Fragrance Garden.
Autumn Blue in the Garden
Autumn is not all browns, golds, oranges and reds. Putting the gardens to bed on a warm October Saturday the Fragrance Garden gave lie to the old color ideas of fall. The Russian Sage was a multi-twigged glory of purple. The Sweet Alyssum, which had refused to bloom all summer was a carpet of purple and white. The Lemon Verbena had crowned its leaves with tiny white and lavender flowers. The Mignonette leaves were startling in their intense green-purple. The Pineapple Sage was covered with red flowers that spoke of vigorous life, not a dying plant. Regrettably the Pineapple Sage, our favorite tender perennial, was so vigorous that nobody had room to house it. Still, there is time to take cuttings to nurture over winter.
Sages not always sage
The Pineapple Sage, Salvia elegans, bears its name honestly – it is a salvia. The Russian Sage, Perovskia atriplicfolia, on the other hand, is an impostor. It is a mint from the Himalayas, moving west through Afghanistan and Baluchistan. Perovskia was a Russian official under the czars.
It is a pushy plant, as is to be expected from a member of the mint family, and needs lots of room to show the glory of the tiny blue-lavender flowers that are so massed in fall they appear to be solid color on white stems. Another name is Azure Sage. The stems and leaves deceive too, long downy white hairs disguise gray-green leaves. Perovskia is a staple for any large Fragrance Garden, providing tangy whiffs to the air, and height and contrast to the whole.
Olde Home Christmas
Chairperson Kathy Hicks would appreciate phone calls from members who are busily working on projects at home. We are in pretty good shape, and always there are surprises as members bring in special projects they have been working on. No one is being secretive and surprises are lovely, but it helps planning to know what is coming. Kathy is making inserts for mug rugs and has potpourri to fill them next Monday or beyond. Let her know what you need.
November 15 is a working meeting with many different stations for all levels of talent and energy. This is when we pull it together, sign up for two hour shifts, take home what needs to be finished, and make final plans for the November 28 set up.
Old Home Christmas Schedule Wednesday, December 1, 7-9 p.m. Members Preview and reception. ($20)
Thursday, December 2, 3 p.m. & 7 p.m. Holiday Tea and Tour. ($5)
Friday, Saturday, Sunday, December 3, 4, 5. 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. (Donation)
Indian Summer
These are the days when the birds come back,
A veiy few, a bird or two,
To take a backward look.
These are the days when skies put on
The old, old sophistries of June, –
A blue and gold mistake.
Oh, fraud that cannot cheat the bee,
Almost thy plausibility
Induces my belief.
Till ranks of seeds their witness bear,
And softly through the altered air
Hurried a timid leaf!
Oh, sacrament of summer days,
Oh, last communion in the haze,
Permit a child to join,
Thy sacred emblems to partake,
Thy consecrated bread to break,
Taste thine immortal wine.
– Emily Dickinson
A rosemary Christmas
A few legends:
During the flight to Egypt, Mary rested her blue cloak on a rosemary bush with white flowers. From then on, rosemary bore blossoms of heavenly blue in symbolic remembrance.
Rosemary’s strong aromatic oils and mysterious power to strengthen memory were given to the bush when the swaddling clothes of the baby Jesus were hung on it to dry.
In sorrow over the crucifixion, rosemary never grows taller than man, 5 to 6 feet.
Rosemary ideas:
Simmer the needlelike leaves in water for whole house fragrance.
Burn rosemary wood in the fireplace.
Decorate a rosemary topiary with tiny balls and bows.
Line your creche with rosemary.
Make a moth protector sachet by mixing 1 cup of rosemary, 1 cup of lavender and 1 cup of crushed cinnamon bark. Makes a dozen sachets.
Pet lovers – to condition fur place a few drops of essential oil of rosemary on your pet’s brush
– Authenticated by Morgan M. Brent
