Aha! The original was most likely made with dark sugar beet syrup, or treacle as the Brits call it. We can get that here, so I will have to try it both ways.
Herb garden in development..
So THAT'S what treacle is! I can probably find that. Next year, I'll try it that way. I made them last night and they're wwwoooonnnnnderful.
Treacle brings to mind (other than treacle tarts from Harry Potter) one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen. Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie did several seasons of "Jeeves and Wooster" and one of them has Wooster (Hugh Laurie, who truly is a comic genius) wrestling with a can of treacle and a piece of paper. It is utterly hilarious. One of those few gems in all of the arts where I'll sit there and laugh out loud all by myself.
ANYWAY!!! The days will start getting longer now! Happy Winter!
My DH and I love Jeeves & Wooster!.....and I know the episode to which you refer. It was great.
I much prefer Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster than Dr. House, although it does make for an interesting contrast in characters.
Yeah, he does have range. But he's fantastic as Bertie. I have the whole set and watch them while I'm knitting. (Good company.) I like House but I'm getting a little weary of it. Generally the British seem to stop making a series before it gets "iffy" and Americans make episode after episode as long as anyone on earth will watch it. If you're familiar with "Fawlty Towers"? John Cleese felt iffy about it after 12 episodes and so we're left with 12 brilliant episodes rather than 178 you might, might not watch.
Have you seen the 101 Dalmatians with Hugh Laurie as one of the crooks? He's hilarious.
Hugh as a dalmantian crook? I'll have to search that one out.
Have you seen Richard Griffiths "Pie in the Sky" series? Cooking, mystery and humour all in one show.
Some of our local PBS stations are playing that one on mystsery night now.
Oh, shoot. Just bought a fresh jar of molasses today, but I don't think I have cardamom. Could have made some tomorrow morning. They sound so good...mmmmm. thanks, brigid
mermaid, I've never tried pignoli. I don't push the boundaries. I am also allergic to buckwheat, which I guess is a grass. I have an extremely long list of foods that are on the forbidden list and it keeps getting longer. And peanuts, which are legumes, right? I'll try to get some recipes together. and get them posted.
Understand about not pushing the boundaries, especially if your reactions tend to be severe (like going into shock and needing a jab of epinephrine). I was just wondering since anise-pignoli cookies are delicious and are sometimes an option when other nuts are out. Peanuts are indeed a legume. The allergen on peanuts is a mold that grows symbiotically with the peanut. Some folks with peanut allergies are able to eat Valencia peanuts as they are grown in a dry climate. It varies with each person. You know your system best.
If you are finding the number of food allergies increasing, you may want to look into some liver herbs, like dandelion root, burdock and milk thistle.
Buckwheat is a broadleaf plant, not a grass.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckwheat
Yummy, more recipes. As for extra molasses......it's good in a cup of coffee, poured on fried mush, good in pumpkin pie and gingerbread.....etc etc etc. Does one REALLY ever have EXTRA molasses.
:D
also have sweet pea allergy (peanut relative, so is that also a mold?). btw, also allergic to anise, so that pretty well blows those cookies, but thanks for trying. tree nuts and anise are severe reactions. I have to ask, mermaid, how do you know so much? are you an allergist?
nutritional therapist & ayurvedic pratictioner
mermaid, you probably know more than most allergists LOL
bridiglily, now we know what you will serve when we have tea in your garden :0)
I have posted my MIL's cookie recipes over in the recipe forum if anybody (besides garden_mermaid) is interested
http://davesgarden.com/place/t/679540/
Thanks for the recipes! My DH was mentioning that he remembers his grandmother making the fig cookies. Looks like a google search is about to begin.
:D
Grampapa, I noticed the pepper in the brown cookies and was laughing. My Mom ( who with 9 kids was a master cookie maker ) said when she married my Dad, she learned to cook and bake. Said she could never make ginger cookies to his satisfaction. He said his Moms' ginger cookies were better. That irritated her to no end but she refused to ask her MIL ( our Gram ). She kept trying, adding more cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg... whatever she tried wasn't good enough. One day, aggravated she added a dose of pepper and Bingo, he was satisfied. She never did tell him the secret. And they were delicious. Thanks for your recipes and the memory!
LOL, podster. that's a cute story.
Loved that story podster!
Many people are surprised at the use of black pepper in sweets, or sweet spices in savouries (like using cinnamon and cloves in a tomato sauce), if they did not grow up with that tradition.
mermaid, I posted a pic of the Italian cookies in the recipe thread. I'll try to get the brown ones in later after I glaze them, if you're interested.
Back from the Christmas holiday, back to internet access! Hope everyone had a good one -- with my 2 grandchildren and my brother and his wife here, it couldn't help being nice.
g_m, I haven't seen "Pie in the Sky" but I'll watch for it.
You can make pepperkakor without cardamom, gram! Just add a little extra cloves. I should have mentioned that, as cardamom is unreasonably expensive anyway. Actually, reading over this thread, using black pepper instead would probably be good.
Cardamom is a lot less expensive if you buy it at an East Indian market rather than a supermarket or natural foods store. Check out the spice section prices if you have an Indian market in your area. For that matter, it may even be cheaper to order it online from an Indian market. I almost fainted when I saw the price for cardamom at the "regular" stores. I suppose I should mention that there are three types of cardamom - green, black and white, the colours refer to the pod, not the seed. For European recipes, you want the green one. The Black one will have a more camphor like flavour.
brigidlily it's going to be lovely when it's done...think you can come light a fire under the DH's fanny to get him to finish up our yard? Pretty sure the neighbors are sick of seeing our sand in the front yard and I'm sick of it running down my walkway!
Boy, do I know that feeling! I've found if you put it something like, "it couldn't be done this way, I'm sure," they'll get in and show you that it can. Or tell him you're tackling it this Saturday, and you're going to mix it with clover seed (or whatever he wouldn't want there).
muah ha ha
Oh I've tried that and his response is "Oh, Ok if that's what you want there" he'll say anything to get out of doing it...*sigh* so now my front yard looks terrible in a neighborhood of yards that have people come in to do them...arrrggghhh. He starts something then lets it go about half done, knowing I can't physically finish it...if you hear of a Orange women going nuts and beating her DH with a gardening hoe it was me...lol
And I won't say a word!!!
My ex's philosophy seemed to be that if he did it slowly enough or badly enough, I'd stop asking him to do it. IT WORKED!
So how did he take it when you found someone handsomer to help you with the job?
Oddly enough, it made ME the bad guy! Go figure!
;p
Okay, finally took a few more pictures.
Here's how it looks from the angle I usually use:
Here is the north/earth quadrant, with a pretty lady in love with a gnome. She'll be sort of hidden behind the lavender as he comes round the pot of goldenseal:
forgot the picture!
Here is the east/air quadrant, with an angel for love and an owl for wisdom, guarding comfrey and aloe:
Here is the south/fire quadrant. Nasturtiums were coming out of the chimenea, but they froze. I'll plant more:
And the west/water quadrant. Rosemary for the star of the sea, a birdbath (almost put that one in the air quad), and scented geraniums which I doubt will survive :(
And the daffs ARE blooming their first year! This is where I usually stand to take a broad picture of the circle:
And Queen Brigid guarding the broccoli. I let one of the plants flower -- I just NEEDED some color back there!
brigid, I just love the way you're putting a little story into it. you've got such pretty statuary. when do the herb plants start to go in? I don't know how your weather is down there.
Her royal majesty is doing a fine job of guarding that broccoli, too. I was going to ask what you had flowering back there. (I'll say this quietly so she can't hear, but how many broccoli thieves are there in Lumberton?)
I'm very tempted to go ahead and put them in, but we have had freezes in March. Maybe I'll put the pots out there where they're to be planted, so I can get them back in if the weather turns on me. I have lots of Spanish lavender seedlings, and vanilla grass, and lots of other pretty things. The roses around the edges (you can barely see them as I've just put them in) hopefully will be enough shelter from the sun. We shall see.
And thanks! I'm glad you like my story.
Well, not as many broccoli thieves here as she's been led to expect. I think Angus here has been having her on about it.
typical feline behavior. I wish I could have Spanish lavender. I have several varieties of English, but we always want what we can't have (sigh).
The English lavender by the lady in the garden is one that I planted over a year ago and is still struggling to become a real plant. I've been told I'd do better to forget the English and grow the Spanish. So, if my seedlings are successful, I'll grow the Spanish for you and you can grow the English for me.
O.K., you baited me again. : ) Looking good there Brigidlily! BTW, I have been amazed at the more winter hardy herbs that actually do well in our heat too. Once you get your gardens established, you may be surprised at what will come back in the spring. I got the new Texas Gardener magazine today and it has an article about one of my favorites, Lemon Balm. Mine is starting to peek out in spite of these nippy night temperatures.
Ugh bad photo but a spot of green and a good smell. Sorry.
pod, I had a tiny pot of lemon balm that I was trying to overwinter in the house, but I think I've lost it. I'll have to get more.