Last week a good friend of mine posted a recipe for homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte's .
While fairly intriguing, the recipe had a bit too much white sugar in it for my liking. However, my husband loves Starbucks Pumpkin Latte's and looks forward to them all year, so I was determined to take a stab at creating one that might be a wee bit healthier. This is the result and judging from his truly satisfied expression I succeeded! Happy Husband..Happy Life..Happy Life..Happy Wife! This is even more luscious on a chilly autumn night with a warming jigger of single malt stirred into it (nothing too peaty) , a crackling fire and a piece of pumpkin pie! Ingredients 3 Tbsp unpacked brown sugar 2 tsp ground cinnamon 3 Tbsp maple syrup 2 Tbsp light whipping cream 1/2 teaspoon of unsalted butter 2/3 cup(s) canned pumpkin 1 1/2 cup(s) black coffee or strong Chai Tea 1 1/2 cup Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Milk Alternative For the evening a wee dram of single malt, something a bit sweet like Macallan, Glenfiddich or Glenmorangie! Instructions: Brew the coffee/tea and in a saucepan, whisk together the other ingredients. Heat until boiling and stir gently. Pour the heated milk, pumpkin and spice mixture into a vitamix or blender along with the coffee. Blend until smooth and pour into mugs. Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon and enjoy!
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“Jamie disappeared for a few minutes. He came back with a handful of dark green oblate leaves, chewing something. He spat a glob of macerated green into the palm of his hand, stuffed another wad of leaves into his mouth and turned me away from him. He rubbed the chewed leaves gently over my back, and the stinging eased considerably.
“What is that?” I asked, making an effort to control myself. I was still shaky and snuffling, but the helpless tears were beginning to ebb. “Watercress,” he answered, voice slightly muffled by the leaves in his mouth. He spat them out and applied them to my back. “You’re no the only one knows a bit about grass-cures, Sassenach,” he said, a bit clearer.” Excerpt From: Gabaldon, Diana. “Outlander. Many people over the years have asked me about my involvement with alternative medicine, most specifically my use of herbal remedies to address the various maladies that periodically plague me, my friends or my family. As we find out with increasing frequency about the corruption of the large pharmaceutical companies as well as the continuing dangers of the untested drugs that they create, I think that it's natural to have become more curious about holistic methodologies and their effectiveness. The overuse of antibiotics in America has created some of the scariest and most resistant strains of Staphylococcus and other superbugs that we've ever seen and having had a 3 year fight with one of them (a strain of Klebsiella that only 2 antibiotics could fight, one of which would have knocked out his kidneys within 6 months)that eventually killed my father, I do believe that there is cause for alarm. I've seen a dramatic rise in the number of people turning to alternative remedies for self healing and daily I'm asked for suggestions to increase immunity. Although there has been much improvement, health insurance (or lack of effective coverage) is still at the forefront of the current political debate. It's clear that it's become time for a powerful paradigm shift relating to the way that we deal with illness. I became familiar with herbal medicine very early in my life, because as a child I had an Irish riding instructor from County Galway who hardly ever used veterinary medicine to treat her beloved Welsh ponies. Colic , which is a horrible impaction of the gut was never an issue with our horses. Every morning she would boil flax seed on her stove and create a jelly to be given in the mornings feed. We rarely wormed our horses with the fancy new paste wormer filled with chemicals, but kept them parasite free with the pine and spruce that she kept in the pasture for them to eat. She constantly rotated her pastures and I noticed that our horses were eating all kinds of different plants that were growing with rarely any ill effects and they ate them readily. Horses that seemed a bit lackluster ate certain plants and when I pointed them out to her she was always able to tell me what was ailing them because of what they were eating. One day, one of the horses went straight for a patch of yellow dock which she told me indicated a weakness in his stomach. After a day or two he brightened and was much happier and far stronger than he'd been several days before. Not a miracle cure at all, he was just an animal who trusting his natural instincts to choose the plants that would help him heal. It was pretty amazing stuff for an impressionable 12 year old to see. We used tinctures of chamomile and beer in the bran mashes that we made to help promote calmness and vitality before horse shows. We rarely used chemical liniments, relying on herbal vinegars that we made with saltpeter, sage , fresh mints and comfrey leaves. I use poultices of comfrey to draw out abscesses and instead of relying on injections to help keep my thoroughbred stallions sperm count up during breeding season I added artichokes and Guinness stout everyday to his feed until the season was over. I think that it was only natural for me to question the amounts of medicine that were being used by my family Doctors to "promote health" , because I had been exposed to something so different in my very early years which made complete and total sense to me. In my early 20's after a tangle with birth control pills, antibiotics and the ensuing amount of damage that they did to my body, I really swore off of the convenience of modern medicine as the last resort when I fell ill, always the last. In my mid 20's (I'm 55 now!) I was fortunate to find a wonderful teacher named LaWanna Rine who is a very experienced herbalist and healer. I still work with her to this day, she's always got something new and wonderful to teach me! LaWanna has been a practicing herbalist and aromatherapist for decades and graciously taught me by example. I spent many hours with her helping her to prepare teas,salves and tinctures and walking through her woods while we gathered the plants that we would use. Her herbal practice is a very complete example of a whole body system for healing. She is is totally vegan and she practices her yoga and meditation everyday. She uses herbs from her property and water from her spring to create her healing teas. She uses aromatherapy in the wonderful treatments that she gives and her powerful medical intuition as well as her vast knowledge of the body's systems are her most profound diagnostic tool. She is to this day, the only herbalist that I've ever met who I would trust with the dosage of the more poisonous herbs such as poke root, foxglove or celandine because she knows how to use them with the safety and precision that we wish that our Doctors practiced with their candy box of pharmaceuticals. I was very lucky to find her and she taught me that the practice of herbalism is everyones birthright, something to be shared and not hoarded. LaWanna encouraged everyone in her circle to learn as much as possible so that you could live well wherever you found yourself and not be at the mercy of a medical system that she felt had betrayed our humanity. She also was very firm about her belief that eating with the seasons ,harvesting and growing your own foods as well as wildcrafting your own herbs provided the most potent medicine for body, mind and spirit. She taught me to use fasting, whole foods and mini cleanses as tools to promote a healthy digestive system thereby creating a strong immune system. She's also 86 years old, still teaching and wildcrafting in her woods. She's really quite a remarkable woman! Now that so many natural herbal preparations can be found in our local Whole Foods store and even in grocery stores that are not traditionally "Health Food " stores, it's more important than ever to learn as much as you can about this old and wise tradition of healing. Herbs are indeed natural, but they are powerful medicines. There are many wonderful books available by herbal legends such as Susan Weed or the late Juliette De Baricli Levy as well as home study courses that you can purchase and enjoy at your own pace. I still use holistic remedies on all of my animals and the vet when I find something that I cannot treat myself. By the way in case anyone is wondering, I always vaccinate all of my animals for Parvo and Rabies. Herbal remedies in most of their forms are very gentle yet powerful and effective. They should not be taken carelessly because they can be as toxic as the drugs we are trying to avoid. Take the time to do the research and always remember to consult your pharmacist if you are taking any other prescription drugs. Herbs can mix poorly with many pharmaceuticals, so it pays to proceed with with caution. No herbalist in this country can legally prescribe herbs , so be very careful if you run across one that tells you to take something and prescribes a dosage for a certain illness as it's a pretty sure sign of either immaturity or arrogance on the part of the practitioner. What I strive to do instead is what my friend LaWanna taught me to do,I suggest and educate and try as much as possible to empower people to create their own template for their healing journey. Use your own good judgment and learn as much as you can. You'll have a lot of fun doing it..I promise! In this age of global uncertainty and instability , I truly believe as LaWanna does that it is so very important to be able care for yourself and your family with as much self sufficiency as possible. We are fortunate to live in a world where so much is readily available to us including excellent chiropractors, massage therapists and acupuncturists. However, the tradition of herbal medicine for healing has been passed down from generation to generation and it belongs to everyone, not just a chosen few. Thankfully,it is a traditional, yet sophisticated and effective folk medicine that can be readily utilized by anyone who cares enough to truly take the time to learn about , respect and understand fully the properties of the many herbs that are so readily available to us all. Photo courtesy of http://pencoedwelshponies.webs.com/ I think that this is a first. I've actually never written a recap of a show before, probably because I tend to get so swept away by the story that I still find myself physically and emotionally unable to remove myself from it. After I read Outlander for the first time I spent days in the afterglow. I lost myself completely in their story. I, like all of you watched The Wedding with the same anticipation that I've watched every other episode. I truly loved this part of the book so don't get me wrong. It's just after a weekend of reading some fairly entertaining previews and recaps that were generally all about the sex , I just found myself fairly bored with the whole thing...it's a little too teenage boy for my liking and ladies... just pointing out the obvious! I think that I read one review from a TV site somewhere referring to Sam's"Side Peen" and the fact that they were finally going to fuck. There was alot of stuff going around about Jamie's "package". Mystery and romance were instantly bludgeoned by that sentence! Consider this the recap for middle aged women I suppose! I want the whole man! The package? If you've seen one...... A little background might be in order....I'm a 50 plus year year old woman who's been married to the same amazing guy for 32 years...a real love story that I treasure and yes he does own a kilt...double blessings! Before anyone begins to think that I'm just a prudish middle aged woman, I want to set that record straight! I'm a product of the late 60's so frankly, I lost count of the men I um.. "knew in the biblical sense" (to quote Lord John!), years ago. I'm no stranger to some really raunchy,lovely carnal knowledge, most of it with my very randy husband who I still find totally hot after all of these years. I've enjoyed the occasional menage a trois in my single years. I'm not a good girl and I know my way around a good arse when I see it. (and yes, Sam's is mighty fine and I'm quite sure that I'd know what to do with it!) I'm definitely a feminist. I'm also a life-coach who spends hour every week helping my clients put the zing and sizzle back into their love lives and I think that this is what left me disoriented after the last weekend, where I spent the entire time reading lots of things penned by woman that I would have sworn had been penned by men and truthfully? Guess what? Women do not make good men! For me, the Wedding scene from Outlander was just one small part of a magnificent and unexpected love story. I felt that it was staged beautifully and the events leading up to it were perfect. Black Jack Randall and his treachery were beautifully pitted against Jamie's earnestness. The "bridesmaids", putting together the perfect wedding the Jamie wanted for Claire were spectacular. (Loved Ned Gowan in the brothel!) The anger on Dougal's face as he realizes what he's done for love (and yes I think that Dougal loves Claire in the strange way that only he can.) The sheer beauty of Claire in her dress that transforms her emotionally even amidst her reservations and yes...the gloriousness of one James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser in green velvet, lace and tartan...a moment that made me gasp and my husband laugh because he was just so innocent, honorable and beautiful. The wedding scene and the blood vows, which were Jamie's first opportunity to show his valor and courage, he being no stranger to blood and violence and yes, the sex which was fun in the blushing sort of way that only cable tv sex can be! I thought that the bedroom chamber scene was glorious and Claire's hesitation beautifully evoked. I loved the look on Jamies face when he realized how frightened she actually was and the tremor in his own voice as he tried to calm her amidst his growing desire for her. Both of them were virgins in the truest sense of the word. One of the oldest definitions of the word virgin means "One who is of themselves" in other words, one who knows themself and is content in that knowledge. They brought that to their marriage bed, shattered their own illusions and birthed something new and so magnificent that we won't begin to realize it for a few more episodes. The sex was absolutely lovely and what I expected (I thought that the obvious blow job was hilarious..a bit "Harold and Maude" ) and the vulnerability of Jamie's back left me with an ache in my heart. So young and already so much pain, both physical and emotional that he put through the forge and tempered into sheer courage and honor. Besides the role models that he had in his parents, it has never surprised me that what he desired more than anything was stability. It has never surprised me that the love of Claire brought him back to Lallybroch once he knew that she'd truly chosen him. Love is what makes us larger than our petty grievances with each other. Devotion to something greater than who we know ourselves to be is often our salvation. I guess that what I'm trying to say here and perhaps very clumsily, is that many of my clients are young women, single and married who wonder often "Is this all there is?" I had a mother who was gorgeous and glamorous , who married my father during the war. She was mysterious too and what she did know how to do was keep to her own counsel before she let loose with her thoughts. She was intriguing, much like Claire. She loved my father and they were married for 67 years. He absolutely worshipped her and never got over her death... I know that they had amazing sex, but I didn't know the extent of their passion until after my father died and the young man who bought their house showed up one day with three bags. They were filled with years worth of love letters, hidden in the attic that we'd never seen and he found when they went to put in new insulation. They were remarkable, loving and private. I read about 4 of them and put them down knowing that they hadn't been and still weren't for my eyes. One of them was even signed by him to her as "Your slave forever" . I stopped reading then and there but not before I'd learned a lot about my mother! I tell my clients to bring to their relationships what they want....envision the end result. If you want great sex, that's simple enough, sex being one of the easiest things in the world to find and if you're a woman chances are you'll never have to pay for it. Love on the other hand? Provided you've decided to love the right man, that sort of passion comes with time, effort, selflessness and more than a little mysteriousness. Don't give away all of your secrets up front. Keep some for yourself and let him discover them over time. That's what builds a fertile bed for lasting love to grow in. What's gorgeous to me about Outlander, both the book and the Starz tv series is the obvious mystery of the evolving passion and love between Jamie and Claire... Ero's at play , you might call it. They don't even know what's hit them yet and in the "Wedding" we have only seen the tip of the iceberg! Even though I know the end of the story,I just can't wait for the rest of the season! “I didn’t say anything, but laid my hand over his and sat beside him. Fallen grapes littered the ground under the arbor, the pungent scent of their fermentation promising the forgetfulness of wine. The cloud-streaked sun was setting, and a blur of gold silhouetted the respectful form of Hugo, looming black in the entrance to the arbor. “Your pardon, Madame,” he said. “My mistress wishes to know—will le seigneur be staying for supper?” I looked at Jamie. He sat still, waiting, the sun through the grape leaves streaking his hair with a tiger’s blaze, shadows falling across his face. “I think you’d better,” I said. “You’re awfully thin.” He looked me over with a half-smile. “So are you, Sassenach.” He rose and offered me his arm. I took it and we went in together to supper, leaving the grape leaves to their muted conversation.” Excerpt From: Diana Gabaldon. “Dragonfly in Amber.” Is there anything more fragrant and lovely in the fall than an arbor full of Concord grapes? Some of my fondest childhood memories revolve around the picking of them first with my sister at a lovely farm in Hunting Valley and then in the old abandoned orchard in the back behind my store where the vines tangoed wildly with the overgrown honeysuckle and lilac bushes that had been allowed to flourish for years without interference. Some of the best memories that I share with my son Alex are of the many Neota days that we spent together. There was never any question about what we'd do. As soon as that first free friday in October rolled around we'd head off to one of the many "pick your own" orchards in the area and we'd go hunting for indian corn, pumpkins, apples and grapes. We'd take along a picnic and stuff more grapes then we could possibly eat at once into our mouths. There is nothing like the smell of fresh straight off of the vine, ripened Concord grapes. They are sweet and fruity, but manage to be musky and sensual, all at the same time.You can be walking in the woods and smell them about 1000 feet before you ever come upon them . They are truly remarkable. Alex was a home-schooled kid,born in late August so the year he got his temporary license, we drove out to the farm to pick grapes together,but then we went to Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland which is where I taught him to drive. Lakeview is one of the oldest cemeteries in the midwest and is a vast swath of acreage filled with magnificent old gravestones, many of the famous and hundreds of tombs and mausoleums. It is also home to a well established arboretum so the seasonal displays are gorgeous. It is also the best place in Cleveland to teach a kid to drive; filled with hills and steep turns everywhere there's no better spot. Accompanied by our fresh grapes, cheese sandwiches, cameras and Anne Rice's "The Vampire Lestat" , we spent one entire autumn perfecting the art of of driving. By the time the leaves had all fallen and the first snow was dusting the headstones Alex had turned into a very dashing young motorist. My son is 27 , grown now and life has taken him to Southern California. We still share the love of those grapes and that gorgeous cemetery. It may seem weird , but it's our place. When he's back east, if he's got something he's thinking about we'll meet up there on the hill that overlooks the entire city to talk. He grabbed my heart when he texted me last week from San Diego..."Mom, I just bought some Concord grapes and they made me think of you and Anne Rice...I'm glad she's not crazy any more". Those of you who are diehard Anne Rice fans will know what he means.....Not to divert from Outlander, but Annes newest novel "Prince Lestat" will be arriving on a bookshelf near you on October the 28th, just in time for Samhain! So when last week I came across a recipe for Concord Grape Sorbet I immediately thought of Alex. I can't wait to serve him this sorbet. True to form and because I can't leave anything alone, I completely changed the recipe. It's absolutely luscious, full of grape-iness and my sister the Goddess of Chocolate who's making her own batch using the original recipe has suggested that we enhance it with crushed Reeses peanut butter cups. At first I thought she was nuts, but now I can't get the thought of that out of my mind. She's such a bad influence! Then I remembered our Jamie (Sam Heughan) and his love of anything with peanut butter in it. Her addition started sounding better and better..... All that I did to make this sorbet was take two dry quarts of fresh Concord grapes off of their stems and put them into my vitamix with the juice of one lemon, about 1 cup of beautifully fragrant fresh anise hyssop (flowers and leaves) and 1/2 cup of honey ,a pinch of sea salt and 1/4 of a cup of agave nectar. Then I added 1 and a half cups of spring water and blended on high for about 1 minute until everything was completely pulverized and lusciously purple. At that point I put in the refrigerator and let it steep overnight! In the morning I strained the whole thing through a chinoise and put the remaining juice mixture (about 4 cups) into my ice cream maker. 25 minutes later I had the most incredibly fragrant and delicious grape sorbet. I wish that I could say that I slaved over the whole thing for hours but I didn't. The grapes are so perfect right now that it doesn't take much to bring out their flavor. The lovelyAnise Hyssop has a wonderfully sweet licorice and mint flavor that just blends beautifully with the muskiness of the grapes. If you don't have hyssop then try toasted fennel seed and fennel pollen like my sister uses. It will be wonderful whichever you use! All pictures and writings are owned by Beth Schreibman Gehring and are protected under my copyright except for the picture of the anise hyssop. I do not know who to attribute that picture too. Please don't use them in any form without my permission. “Who are you at the moment?” I asked. “I heard Madame Jeanne call you ‘Monsieur Fraser’—are you Fraser in public, though?” He shook his head and broke a bannock into his soup bowl. “No, at the moment, I’m Sawney Malcolm, Printer and Publisher.” “Sawney? That’s a nickname for Alexander, is it? I should have thought ‘Sandy’ was more like it, especially considering your hair.” Not that his hair was sandy-colored in the least, I reflected, looking at it. It was like Bree’s hair—very thick, with a slight wave to it, and all the colors of red and gold mixed; copper and cinnamon, auburn and amber, red and roan and rufous, all mingled together. I felt a sudden wave of longing for Bree; at the same time, I longed to untie Jamie’s hair from its formal plait and run my hands up under it, to feel the solid curve of his skull, and the soft strands tangled in my fingers. I could still recall the tickle of it, spilling loose and rich across my breasts in the morning light. My breath coming a little short, I bent my head to my oyster stew.” Excerpt From: Gabaldon, Diana. “Voyager.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For me, one of the truest joys of the Outlander series are the evenings spent in the company of Jamie, Jenny, Ian ,Claire, Bree , Roger et al...on Frasers Ridge, at Lallybroch, in Edinburgh, actually anywhere that they gather around a table.I'm always so moved by the simplest scenes of domesticity in the series probably because in my life some of the best things about being alive have everything to do with food and its preparation. I still count feeding my family among the best moments of life whether it's for a simple dinner or a feast day. Gathering around the table, breaking bread and simply enjoying one another's company is the easiest way of saying at the end of the day..."we made it...we're all here together and no matter what we have this moment so let's feast and reconnect because who knows what tomorrow might bring." In this respect, we're really no different that the characters here whose lives move us so much. A glass of wine by the fire and a good bit of cheese holds the same comfort now as it did several hundred years ago, especially when it's shared with the ones that you hold the dearest. Pot au Feu literally means " pot on the fire" and it is a technique of cooking that I love and mastered many years ago. It's a simple technique.You make a pot of soup or a stew, enjoy it and next day put the leftovers back on the stove. When you get close to the end of the pot you'll add new ingredients to it and keep it simmering. It's a constant supply of savory deliciousness! A traditional Pot au feu is a beef and vegetable stew, but depending upon which French housewife I've spoken to, this definition works as well. Another name for this sort of slow cooked ongoing meal is "Perpetual soup" but I like "Pot au feu" better! It's the romantic in me! In the winter when I'm writing daily , at the beginning of the week soup always starts out in the crockpot simmering all day long. I love the way that it makes the house feel so lovely and smelling utterly wonderful. The next day any leftovers left go straight into the pot pictured above and over the next weeks the ingredients changes every few days reflecting what's left in my refrigerator. For example, my pot au feu last week started out as a vegan white chili and has slowly morphed into a spicy vegetable soup with the addition of lots more broth, several squashes, corn, peas and sweet potatoes. Tonight I will take the pot out of the refrigerator and add beets, tomato, lots of onion, fresh herbs, red wine or ale, more chicken stock and several short ribs creating a vegetable beef soup that will last into the weekend. By Monday , I'll take what is left , simmer it some more, add lots of apple, vegetables , curry , shredded chicken , butter and coconut milk to turn it into a curried chicken soup. By then I'll probably start another pot of something simmering in the slow cooker so that I have even more to enjoy for the next few weeks! As long as you refrigerate it every night it's completely safe and the flavor just gets better and better! The beauty of this "recipe" is that it builds layer upon layer of rich flavor while wasting nothing so it's a great technique for a family on a budget, whether that's a budget of time, money or both! I don't think that there is anything as satisfying as a steaming bowl of soup, unless it is a steaming bowl of soup that is accompanied by a fresh loaf of crusty bread , ripe cheese an simple salad and a tankard of hard cider. A kilted man dusting my knuckles with his teeth? Must anything else be said? Bon Appetit" . Last week when I posted the article about my birthday cake, many of you asked for the recipe. I broke out my copy of The Settlement Cookbook (much more legible than my mothers as the Aunt who gave it to me did not bake!) so that I could share it with you!
If you're not baking it as a birthday cake it makes a fabulous Bouche Noel at Yule time. Just bake a couple of them in varying sizes and cut different pieces to look like tree branches . Cover with frosting and decorate with powdered sugar , meringue mushrooms, sugared violets, sugared chestnuts,crystallized ginger and other bits of confectionary flora and fauna! This yummy dessert is called a Cocoa Roll and it's relatively simple to make and completely wonderful to eat! You'll need: 5 Eggs Separated 1 cup of sugar 1/4 cup of cocoa 1/4 cup of flour 1 teaspoon of vanilla 1 cup of whipping cream Confectioners sugar Beat the yolks slightly, add sugar and beat very well. Add the cocoa, flour and vanilla and lastly fold in the whites, beaten stiff. Grease a 10/16 shallow pan well. Spread the batter into the pan and let bake 10-15 minutes in a moderately hot oven at 350 degrees F. Turn out onto towel sprinkled with confectioners sugar, roll while hot and cover with a damp cloth. Let cool and before serving unroll, spread with sweetened whipped cream or with ice cream and roll over to form a roll. Place on platter, cover with fudge frosting and serve in slices. Fudge Frosting 1 and a half cups of sugar 2 ounces of bitter chocolate 1/2 a cup of cream 2 tablespoons of butter Melt chocolate over a slow fire and add cream and sugar, boil until a few drops form a soft ball in cold water. Add butter and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Let stand undisturbed for a few minutes, then beat until cool enough to spread. If too thick, stir in a little more cream. We're at summers end and as the temperatures start to fluctuate so do the tempers of our good friends the bees! When it's warm you'll see them flying lazily from flower to flower, but on the cooler days you see them almost swarming as they try to keep warm and still do their job! The chubby bumblebee shown in the beautiful pink rose lay there enfolded in the petals for over an hour the other day before emerging. Today as the cooler breezes blow in I'm sharing the last of my anise hyssop with a frantic group of honeybees! Remember, you needn't be afraid of bees. They really don't want to sting you because they die if they do! Just respect their space , give them a wide berth if possible when you see a group of them darting around on one bush. Right now they're finishing up gathering what's left of the pollen and nectar that they'll need to get them through the chill of fall and the long cold winter. That being said now more than usual is the time that you might worry more about getting stung and if that's the case you'll want this good old fashioned remedy in hand. I have no idea where it originated but I do know that it's quite old and it works! All you need are a couple of tablespoons of wheat germ and enough raw honey to make a good sticky paste. Put a good dab of this right on the sting, and extend it about an inch around the sting site. That's it..as it begins to harden it will draw the venom and relieve the itching quickly! Til next time , Bee Well! Milady Yesterday was my 55 birthday. I woke up to wonderful greetings on Facebook, phone calls , emails, presents and the promise of a wonderful trip to Paris in the spring from my husband. I spent the morning working in the Western Reserve Herb gardens and the afternoon enjoying lattes and lunch with Jim . My day felt so blessed . Later that evening we went out to dinner with my sister, her husband and my niece and nephew to my favorite restaurant in town. I drank Sazerac's and enjoyed a wonderful meal and phone calls and pictures from my son and his beautiful girlfriend who had just arrived on Southern California after a week long trip across the country... More blessings.. More gratitude for what has been and continues to be an unbelievably abundant and happy life. One of the things about birthdays though is that when both of your parents are gone there is a missing that can't be denied. My mother was a wonderful baker and every year would bake me my favorite cake that she called a Reese Roll. It is a Texas sheet cake flavored with cocoa and rolled up jelly roll style with whipped cream and covered with chocolate frosting. When my sister asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told her that actually the only thing that I wanted was to taste that cake again. When mom died and I broke apart the house I gave Ellen the copy of our moms favorite cookbook as she's the baker and I thought she'd love it. So unbeknownst to me she cracked it open yesterday and she and Molly ( my nephews lovely wife) baked my birthday cake. We returned home from dinner and they proudly brought me the cake festooned with candles. I bit into it and swooned...it was absolutely as wonderful as I'd remembered. Then with a little impish grin my sister walked into the kitchen and brought out the old cookbook. " you need to see this Beth... The pages are all covered in chocolate" and she set it down in front of me. Right there, tucked into pages of the cookbook was a little note written by my mom to me so very long ago... So long ago that I don't even remember ever seeing it. Ellen said that the instructions left in the note were literally the things that helped her and Molly bake the cake and that it had been wonderful, as if mom had been there the whole time with them. For me, seeing my moms words..."Dear Beth....Love, Mom" was such an extraordinary gift. I really had no words. I touched the little paper for awhile , kissed it and tucked it back into the book. My sister offered it to me but it needed to stay there folded into the pages where it had been hidden for so long. Just knowing that it's there is for me the most precious secret gift of all. My mother was wonderful and she was with me on my birthday. The gratitude for having known her never stops.... Some flowers you grow for the sheer beauty of their presence. If you've never grown this one, the glorious Night scented Tobacco, I hope that you'll try it next year. This is a flower that has absolutely no virtue other than it's beauty and incredibly romantic aroma. Truthfully...I would have to say that there is almost nothing lovelier than coming upon this flower late at night. Scraggly and wilted by day, as soon as night falls this Scented Tobacco releases it's sweet and sticky jasmine scent. That's how you'll know it... You'll walk around the garden and you'll follow your nose . Take a glass of chilled white wine with you and your lover for this may not be a medicinal herb but it is aromatherapeutic . There is nothing as wonderful as an evening spent in a beautiful moonlit garden with a glorious patch of these wonderful white flowers. The energy that the Night Scented Tobacco emits is narcotic and relaxing without any nasty side effects. To utilize it just sit with them and breathe in and out peacefully. Ask for their help... Let them work their magic on your frayed nerves. Keep your eyes gently closedt and relax... Let the scent take you into your center. Then ask if the plant has any guidance for you. Then listen carefully... I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. In my practice I utilize aroma for healing as much, if not more than actual supplementing. The living energies of all plants are powerful and can be called upon to promote healing from the aroma of the flower ( think Claire's conjuring of Black Jack Randall with lavender, opium and valerian in the Abbey) as easily and sometimes even more effectively than if you ingested the plant or even used the essential oils . Have fun experimenting and please feel free to let me know what you come up with! Xoxo, Milady |
Beth Schreibman GehringI am obsessed Outlander fan who is also a Freelance Writer,Lover, Foodie, Gardener, Herbalist, Mystic, Aromatherapist, Healer, Blogger and Lover of all things Fragrant.... Archives
October 2014
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