Herbs & Spices

Posted by Lynn Smythe

Bread is one of my favorite comfort foods. There’s nothing like the aroma of a freshly baked loaf of bread permeating throughout your house. In my opinion, the taste and texture of a homemade loaf of bread is far superior to a loaf of store bought bread. I love baking a variety of rolls, muffins and quick breads from scratch. Although making bread from scratch takes a bit of time, the results are well worth the effort.

Focaccia bread can be enjoyed on it’s own, sliced in half and made into a sandwich, or used as the basis for a delectable homemade pizza. See the article; Focaccia Bread Three Ways; for a basic focaccia bread recipe. By adding various seasonings and additional ingredients, the basic focaccia recipe can be turned into rosemary focaccia, garlic focaccia or even red onion focaccia. The varieties of focaccia bread you can make with the basic recipe are truly endless.

If you are short on time, the article; Quick Bread Recipes, has recipes for making three easy and delicious varieties of quick breads. Try serving chili cheese cornbread, garlic herb bread or parmesan cheese biscuits at your next lunch or dinner.

For a sweet and spicy treat, see the article Triple Gingerbread Recipe. For a decadent dessert, try serving a slice of the gingerbread on top of a bowl of vanilla ice cream and drizzle it with a bit of caramel sauce - yum!!!

Posted by Lynn Smythe

Pepper King

Check out my latest article, Pepper Vine; King of Spices. It details how four spices; black pepper, white pepper, green pepper and pink pepper, can all be harvested from the same plant.

Although my husband is not a fan of pepper, my kids and I put pepper on just about anything. I used to be the only pepper fan in our household, but a few years ago my son, who just turned 17, started putting it on everything. He now uses pepper more often than salt, to the point where he almost never picks up the salt shaker any more. His favorite spice blend is lemon pepper, which is a blend of black pepper, lemon peel, onion powder and garlic powder mixed in with a tiny bit of salt.

My daughter, who is 12 1/2, just recently started putting pepper on her food. She now loves pepper more than salt on a variety of dishes such as potatoes, scrambled eggs and chicken. I love that my kids are enjoying the taste of pepper on their food. It is certainly much healthier than sprinkling a pile of salt on top of all their food like they used to do. Now if I can just get my husband to make the conversion from salt to pepper. But he's 51, what's that about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks!?!

Additional Resources

The articles Ethnic Spice Blends and Traditional Spice Blends both contain recipes for a variety of spice blends. Many of the spice blends include pepper as part of their ingredients.

Posted by Lynn Smythe

Spring is in the air, and pretty soon you’ll be able to start gardening outdoors. If you have an over abundance of any particular herb, you may want to know how to process the herb for short-term or long-term storage. Freezing herbs is one method of processing fresh herbs for long-term storage.

Read my latest article: How to Freeze Herbs Using Ice Cube Trays for complete details.

Further Resources

To learn about additional methods to harvest and store herbs and spices, take a look at the following articles.

Harvesting and Storing Spices

Short Term Herb Storage; Preserving Fresh Produce in Salt, Oil or Water

How to Store Dried Herbs & Spices; Methods for Long Term Stockpiling

How To Dry Fresh Herbs; Using the Microwave, Air, Food Dehydrators and Ovens to Keep Herbs

Posted by Lynn Smythe

"Speak not - whisper not;

Here blowest thyme and bergamot;

Softly on the evening hour,

Sweet herbs in their spices shower."

Walter de la Mare, The Sunken Garden, 1917

I love creating my own unique herb and spice blends. If you happen to be an avid herb gardener, like I am, you can go outside and pick the ingredients fresh from your garden. I'm spoiled - I live in SE Florida so my herb garden grows year round. I very rarely have to use dried herbal ingredients in any of my seasoning mixes.

Sometimes you can't find the exact seasonings you need in your grocery store so you may want to try making your own seasoning blends. If you are using dried ingredients, you can make up small batches to have on hand whenever a recipe calls for a particular spice or herb blend. Many grocery stores now sell packages of fresh herbs, on a year round basis, in the fresh produce section.

I have even seen tubes of ground, fresh herbs displayed right next to the pacakages of fresh herbs. Some of my friends swear by these herbs in a tube, however, I have never found the tubes of herbs to be very appetizing. They are like some kind of weird astronaut food. I tried the tube of cilantro once - YUCK!!!! Nothing like fresh cilantro, I threw it right into the garbage. Just another reason to support local food producers and use seasonal ingredients whenever possible.

Classic French Herb Blends; Bouquet Garni, Fines Herbes and Herbs de Provence.

Traditional Spice Blends; Cinnamon Sugar, Lemon Pepper, Poultry Seasoning and More.

Ethnic Spice Blends; Harissa, Garam Masala, Curry Powder, Chinese Five Spice Powder and More.

Common Herbal Substitutes; Lemon, Basil and Savory - Replacing One Herb with Another.

Posted by Lynn Smythe

I used to suffer from really bad attacks of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). I finally figured out that my main problem is that I am lactose intolerant. So I have to avoid all dairy products - cheese, ice cream, milk etc... I use vanilla flavored soy or rice milk when I want a bowl of cereal and non-dairy creamer in my coffee.

For awhile I thought I might have celiac disease and started eliminating all wheat and gluten products from my diet. There are really good non-wheat pastas, bread mixes etc. on the market that I was using. I even used to follow the recipes in an IBS cookbook, but I'm married with two children, so it was getting expensive and time consuming to purchase and cook food for me and food for them. So I'm back to eating wheat products in moderation and seem to be doing okay.

The best thing I found to take for my stomach aches/pains is peppermint oil. It helps to relieve the bloating and gas which is usually associated with IBS. I get enteric coated peppermint capsules from my local Vitamin Shoppe. I used to take immodium AD all the time but then ended up constipated a few days latter. So now I only take immodium when I get really bad attacks.

Cinnamon is also supposed to help prevent diarrhea. I take cinnamon daily in capsule form - it is also supposed to help lower cholesterol levels and help keep your blood sugar levels stable.

For additional information on a few of the culinary herbs and spices that can help treat IBS, see my article: Herbal Remedies for IBS; Using Peppermint, Ginger, Cinnamon and Dill for Natural Healing.

Posted by Lynn Smythe

Herb Glossaries

I just wrote a series of 6 glossaries for the Herbs & Spices topic. The article was originally one long article but when I did a word count it was approximately 3,000 words. I broke it down into 6 smaller articles so that I could upload the information to Suite101.

I was going to name my article series Herb & Spice Dictionaries, but I was running out of room in the article title so I switched to Herb Glossaries.

Although the glossaries mainly concentrate on the culinary uses of each herb listed, I also included a few of the medicinal and decorative uses of these natural ingredients.

Here are links to all the glossaries, I hope you find them to be a useful reference.

Herb Glossary: Allspice to Caraway

Herb Glossary: Catmint to Dill

Herb Glossary: Epazote to Kaffir Lime

Herb Glossary: Lavender to Oregano

Herb Glossary: Paprika to Rosemary

Herb Glossary: Saffron to Vanilla

Posted by Lynn Smythe

Love is in the air; Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Here are a few articles on Suite101 that can add a bit of spice to your Valentine’s Day celebration.

Valentine's Day Inspired Recipes; Cinnamon Sugar, Cinnamon Muffins and Cinnamon Almond Biscotti

Valentine's Day Magical Plants; The Folklore Associated with Basil, Bay, Calendula, Lovage & Mint

Aphrodisiacs to Spice Up Your Life; Can Aphrodisiacs Add Something Extra to Your Love Life?

Valentines Day Ideas for Newlyweds; Romantic and Affordable Ways to Celebrate

Sexy Valentines Cocktails; Who doesn't love a little champagne, prosecco or cava?

Valentine's Day Movies; Top 10 Romantic Films: Amelie, Moulin Rouge, Chocolat and More

Posted by Lynn Smythe

What is a Green Witch?

A green witch is someone that utilizes a variety of herbs and plants in order to tap into their natural healing and magical properties. Green witches are in tune with mother nature and feel a great affinity towards the four elements of earth, air, fire and water. The green witch can often be found puttering around in their garden, exploring a forest trail or creating their own lotions and potions which incorporate a variety of natural ingredients.

I enjoy growing my own herbs and vegetables and have been following the path of green witchcraft for a number of years. Here are some articles that can be found on Suite101 that cover a variety of natural, magical herbal topics.

A Kitchen Herbal; Easy Herbalism From Your Own Kitchen!

Make Your Own Herbal Disinfectant; Go Green With Homemade Four Thieves Vinegar Antibacterial Spray

Farmer's Almanacs; Folklore or Authentic Gardening Methods?

Zodiac Gardening; Planting by the Signs of the Moon

Plant Spirits and Elementals; Magical Gardening Techniques for the Natural Witch

Hedge Witch; Witchcraft Practitioner or Natural Healer?

Further Information

If you would additional information on magical herbalism and green witchcraft, here are a few websites that may be of interest.

Herbal Apothecary

I Love Herbs

The Pagan Path

Posted by Lynn Smythe

Well, it’s that time of year. My mailbox is beginning to fill up with a multitude of gardening catalogs. I am fortunate to live in SE Florida, where I can garden year round. However, I remember when I used to live up north, the arrival of the new years garden catalogs was always a welcome break from the dreary winters. The beautiful color photographs of herbs, flowers and vegetables were a sneak peak at how my garden would start to appear in the spring.

Here is a list of the catalogs I currently have piled up on my bedside table. These vendors sell a variety of herb plants, seeds and bulbs. They sell their merchandise either through their mail order catalog, on their website or at their nursery and garden centers.

• W. Atlee Burpee & Co.
• 300 Park AVE
• Warminster, PA 18991
• Website: www.burpee.com

• Johnny’s Selected Seeds
• 955 Benton Avenue
• Winslow, ME 04901
• Website: www.johnnyseeds.com

• J. W. Jung Seed Co.
• 335 S High ST
• Randolph, WI 53957
• Website: www.jungseed.com

• Nicholas Garden Nursery
• 1190 Old Salem Road NE
• Albany, OR 97321
• Website: www.nicholsgardennursery.com

• Park Seed Company
• 1 Parkton Avenue
• Greenwood, SC 29647
• Website: www.parkseed.com

• Pinetree Garden Seeds
• PO Box 300
• New Gloucester, ME 04260
• Website: www.superseeds.com

• Select Seeds
• 180 Stickney Hill RD
• Union, CT 06076
• Website: www.selectseeds.com

• Stokes Seeds, Inc.
• PO Box 548
• Buffalo, NY 14240
• Website: www.stokeseed.com

• Territorial Seed Company
• P.O. Box 158
• Cottage Grove, OR 97424
• Website: www.territorialseed.com

Here are a few articles of interest for the herb gardener:

Propagating Herbs from Stem Cuttings

Zodiac Gardening; Planting by the Signs of the Moon

Farmer’s Almanacs; Folklore or Authentic Gardening Method

Plant Spirits and Elementals

Posted by Lynn Smythe

Online Sites for Buying Herbs & Spices

I use tons of herbs and spices in my culinary creations. I can usually find a good selection of fresh herbs throughout the year at my local grocery stores and farmer’s markets. With the exception of fresh ginger root, which can be found in the produce section of grocery stores, spices are usually only available in their dried form.

I use so many spices that it was getting a bit expensive to buy those little jars of spices from the grocery store. I also like to purchase my spices in their whole, un-ground form and grind them as needed. A few years ago I started buying many of my herbs and spices in bulk quantity from a couple of online vendors.

Another way to use bulk herbs and spices is to put together gift baskets of various seasonings for your foodie friends. I recently had dinner at a friends house and brought along a large basket filled with individual containers of vanilla beans, allspice berries, star anise, and juniper berries for the hostess. Another use for the whole spices is to make your own potpourri blends. Homemade potpourri makes a terrific gift idea at any time of the year.

Online Herb & Spice Vendors

Here are my top 5 favorite online sites to buy bulk herbs, spices, teas and essential oils.

1. Atlantic Spice Co.
2. Mountain Rose Herbs
3. Frontier Natural Products Co-op
4. San Francisco Herb & Natural Food Co.
5. San Francisco Herb Co.

Additional Information

These articles contain additional information and tidbits that you may be interested in.

• Harvesting and Storing Spices
• Traditional Spice Blends
• Ethnic Spice Blends
• Homemade Potpourri
• How to Store Dried Herbs and Spices