I am hoping to make some Christmas gifts this year using some of my herbs from my garden. Have any suggestions or ideas?? This is what I have:
mountain mint
pineapple sage
mint
spearmint
rosemary
chocolate mint
lemon balm
marjoram
thai basil
basil
cinnamon basil
oregano
greek oregano
lavender
chives
garlic chives
Help me come up with some herb gifts!
Well - anything with Rosemary would be appropriate, as rosemary is closely associated with Xmas. The popular story is that Rosemary got it's name as well as it's blue flowers from the Virgin Mary laying her blue cloak over a Rosemary bush to dry during their journey to Bethlehem.
Oh I have never heard of that. Thanks for sharing!
You'd probably have to add some essential oils as well, but I think dried herbs are great add-ins to glycerine soaps. Crushed lavender blossoms are nice in a bar (they add texture for exfoliating as well as fragrance), but from experience I can tell you they just look nasty if you try to suspend them in a pump bottle of hand soap. :-)
What about making herbal tea mixtures, or sachets for scenting drawers or closets? Mint, rosemary, or lavender might be nice for filling little "dream pillows" too.
Herbal vinegars are very nice, also. You probably want to avoid herbal infused oils, as botulism seems to be a risk... from what I've read, it's necessary to store oil in fridge for safety, and there's no way to be sure your recipient will do so. Stuff a jar with a combination of herbs, fill with vinegar (preferably not the harsh distilled white vinegar... white wine vinegar works well, red wine vine vinegar is nice with rosemary & garlic, my DH loves balsamic vinegar with oregano, garlic & peppercorns), and allow to steep for several weeks. Strain out the herbs, and put the vinegar into clean bottles. You can add a couple of sprigs of fresh herbs for "looks" if you like. If you can find some purple basil, it will turn the vinegar the most beautiful rosy shade.
If you can find this book in print, it's very useful for recipes and crafts in addition to growing-herbs how-to -- The Pleasure of Herbs, A Month-by-Month Guide to Growing, Using and Enjoying Herbs by Phillis Shaudys.
Peppermint candy and dried mint tea leaves and mint jelly, pillows or sachets filled with lavender (see below), and seasoning mixtures in the kitchen come to mind. Also, you could root cuttings, especially of the rosemary, basils, oregano, and present them as potted gifts for the kitchen.
If your garlic chives bloom as late as ours did (yes, they're banished - too freely selfsowing for us), you could probably cut and airdry the stalks now for the blooms to dry for decorating wreaths later on. Dried branches of sage and lavender are great in wreaths, too (thyme, santolina and artemisias would be nice to add to your garden for this and other things).
Here's a "sweet pillow" recipe the author provides using some of your herbs: "Equal parts peppermint, sage, lavender and lemon balm (or lemon verbena). Add generous supply of ground dried lemon or orange peel. OPTIONAL: Lemon or lavender oil with orris root."
The author's "Basic Lavender Potpourri" is:
"Add 1 qt lavender blossoms (I might try lavender leaves instead) to 3 T orris (Florentine iris - I'm sure the necessary qualities must vary from iris rhizome to rhizome, but in a pinch, I would use what I have). [The orris root is] premixed with 10 drops lavender oil." She goes on with variations. (I must warn you that when I deviate from directions, the results are sometimes very unfortunate.)
Her pot pourri recipes (nice for filling sachets etc) call for oils and fixatives, plus some herbal ingredients not included in your list of herbs. It's been a long time since I have worked with these, but if you don't know where to find a source for these, it might be helpful to research the classified sections of herb-oriented magazines. What am I saying? The internet! Still not used to it.
Oops - Critter, our posts crossed in cyberspace. You've certainly increased my Xmas options. Thank you. Breezy, these traditions would be so empty without their lore, wouldn't they?
oooh! I hadn't thought about drying sprigs of sage for wreaths -- what a lovely idea!
I think Bassetmom posted recipes somewhere that use "lavender sugar," made by layering lavender blossoms with sugar... nice to sprinkle on top of lemon cookies, etc.
I just looked for my recipe for lavendar sugar and couldn't find it, but I'll keep looking and try to post it for you. You can also make herb balls by rolling a styrofoam ball in glue and then in finely chopped herbs. Hang with a ribbon. They smell good and look terrific.
Edited to add: I have a friend that covers those paper mache type deer from the craft stores with herbs. She spreads on the glue and then the herbs. She puts beads, ribbon, more herbs or pine sprigs around their necks to give them a finished look. I've not done any of those, but it seems like you'd need a lot of finely chopped herbs. Maybe some combinations would be nice.
This message was edited Sep 18, 2005 6:46 AM
What a nifty idea! Much quicker than sticking in individual herb sprigs or cloves! Do you apply the herbs fresh, or dried? I'm thinking that dried herbs crumble pretty easily, so no need for fine chopping. If you're using fresh, you could utilize a food processor.
For larger projects, like the deer, you could think about buying herbs in bulk. Penzey's has good prices and excellent product, http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html?id=rhXb2cUu
wow alot of great Ideas for such lovely gifts
I wanted to clean up herbs and i gotta get to work thanks for the posts Robin
You have to send pictures, you know.
I have dried my culinary herbs and put them in little baby food jars. Spray painted the cap gold or silver , tied a ribbon and added a decorative label that told which herb was inside. Put a bunch together nestled in moss or straw in a little box. Very nice.
If you have cloth and rice kicking around the house, sew up the fabric with the raw riceinside like you were making largish bean bags. Add heavily scented herbs like lavender. The recipient can micowave the bag (or freeze) and use it as a hot compress for muscles pain or the like. The heat will release the scent.
I second the herbed vinegars! I love those! If you dissolve a little sugar or salt in them too, they're even better.
Really good ideas, renwing.
One more idea - for any of you who sew & also grow catnip, it is fairly easy to make cloth snowmen/gingerbread men, Xmas trees, stars, etc., & stuff them with the dried herb for the family cat.
Good ideas! I have a big bag of dried catnip, so I will be making catnip toys for sure. I'm also going to try something similar to renwing's suggestion, except that I'm adding some lavender essential oil to the dried blossoms for a stronger scent. I'm also using flaxseed rather than rice, which I've been told will start to break down after a while. I'm going to make some little rectangle ones to use for headache or sinus/eye pain... they can go in the freezer as well as in the microwave.
Flax seed might be a good idea. A coworker made me a large one with rice for wrap-around neck spaces and after a few one-minute heatings in the microwave it started to smell like burned rice. Had to throw it away.
WOW! Gardengram, you must have a powerful microwave. I have never had that problem.
Not really. I just have a small little one-person type microwave. Maybe it was just me. I liked the way it felt, but couldn't stand the smell after those first few times. Maybe she stuffed it with used rice. ;^)
This recipe came from a book from Sunset called "The Edible Garden"
Linda Dowling's Lavender Lemonade
Makes 6 cups, about 6 servings
"Hidcote" Lavender turns lemonade a rosy pink. Other varieties turn it a paler color. Avoid piney-smelling lavenders, such as spike.
Combine 1 cup sugar with 2 1/2 cups water in amedium pan. Bring to boil over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add 3/4 cup ( a generous handful of) fresh lavender blossoms or 1 tbls. dried lavender blooms stripped from stems. Cover, remove from heat, and let stand at least 20 minutes (and up to several hours). Strain and discard the lavender. Pour into a glass pitcher. Add 1 cup freshly squeezed strained lemon juice and 2 1/2 cups water. Stir well. Pour into tall glasses half-filled with ice, or refridgerate until ready to use. Garnish with fresh lavender sprigs. per serv.: 139 cal. fat 0, 37G carbohydrate (0.2 G fiber), 0.7 MG sodium, 0mg cholesterol
-Juli
One more recipe with lavender sorry the posts are long.
Lavender Scented Creme Brulee
Serves - 6 i n g r e d i e n t s
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons dried lavender flowers
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup plus 8 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
d i r e c t i o n s
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Combine the cream and the lavender leaves in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture stand for 10 minutes.
Whisk egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar and the vanilla in a medium sized bowl until well blended. Slowly add the cream mixture and whisk constantly until it is blended. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve then divide the mixture between 4 6-oz ramekins. Place the ramekins in a baking pan and add enough hot water come half way up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake until the custards are just set, approximately 40 minutes. Do not overcook or the custard will be "tough".
Two hours before serving:
Preheat broiler. Sprinkle 2 teaspoon sugar atop each custard. Place dishes on small baking sheet. Broil until sugar just starts to caramelize, rotating sheet for even browning, about 2 minutes. Chill until caramelized sugar hardens, about 2 hours.
-Juli
Why not think
Salt & Herbs - Salt & Herbs - Salt & Herbs - Salt & Herbs
1] Epsom Salts & Lavender
Epsom Salts with a few sprigs of Lavender, blossoms and leaves.
Fill a pretty jar 1/2 full of Epsom salts.
Next tuck the sprigs of lavender blossoms and leaves along the edge of the glass.
Fill the jar the rest of the way with more Epsom Salts.
It's best to use sprigs rather than individual leaves & flowers because it's pretty easy to fish a "sprig of something" out of the bath than it a couple of dozen tiny flower heads.
2] Coarse Sea Salt & Herbs (Koshure salt will also work)
Herbal Salt Rub for Roasting & BBQing meats.
Use a really cool (old fashioned looking) Mason Jar.
Mixed together Salt & Herbs at a ratio of 80% salt - 20% herbs up to a 50-50 mix.
Percentages are all a matter of taste and visual appeal.
Mix any combination of your dried herbs with salt.
Coarsely cracked black pepper would be a good addition
A list of the traditional herbs for a Provence Rub
Marjoram
Savory
Thyme
Rosemary
Basil
Fennel
Sage
Lavender
Provence herbs are great for Poultry & Fish dishes.
(It's the lavender that makes the flavours really pop)
Rosemary & Garlic Chive Rub
Rosemary
Garlic Chive
Coarsely ground black pepper
I like the idea of making labels for the rubs out of brown wrapping paper or a brown paper bag.
If you want to print the label on your PC just cut the wrapping paper or paper bag into 8.5x11 sheets and feed it thought your printer.
I prefer something a little less rustic for the bath salts.
Cheers
Dovey
I love to make kitchen wreaths with my herbs... with a little paper that has a piece of each affixed and suggested uses for it.
Make them while the herbs are fresh, and then when they dry (and even fresh) they are there at the kitchen door or window (with a little hook and suction cup) to snip and use while cooking...
Or pot some up in little pots or larger pots and give little herb gardens as gifts. Mints are especially good for this as they thrive as long as they have water. Also thyme and rosemary may do well depending on the recipient's diligence in watering.
Let us know what you end up doing.
Plain, dried herbs in a small bottle are always nice, especially if you are a cook.
Sachets or sprigs are wonderful little gifts, too.
If you are someone who loves to do crafts, why not try your hand at making paper and use small snippets of selected herbs sprinkled into the liquid pulp while the sheets of paper dry? (Liquid paper pulp is used to make many papers and it is very easy to do.) This will enable your herbs to become art ! You can give away several sheets of paper, make labels or gift cards to give away, too.
And also, depending upon the herb, press the herb, then when dry, arrange and mount on a backing paper, add a matt and frame w/ glass. Voila! A small framed "picture".
If you have long stalks of dried herbs & don't want to do wreaths, something easier is a simple swag. Just bunch long-stemmed herbs &/or edible herb/flowers like Calendula together in a flattish fashion & tie with a decorative bow.
I made little bags of scented rice for my kids, I warm them up and they sleep with the "snugglies" every chilly night.