Cilantro

... you either love it, or hate it.

I happen to be in the 'love it' camp.  Last summer, I had a ton of it in the garden.  It over-winters here, which means fresh cilantro for most of the year.  Unfortunately, it doesn't like the heat, so come the beginning of June, all of my plants had bolted... just in time for tomato (and salsa-making) season.  BOO-HISS.

This year, I am determined to have cilantro for salsa!  Last fall, I planted a slow-bolt variety that is more heat resistant.  A few weeks ago, I planted sunflowers around the patch, in hopes of providing some shade to convince them not to bolt as fast.

Now that the warmer weather has arrived, the cilantro has started to take off.  I knew I had to do something soon, because in a few weeks from now I'll be battling the Black Swallowtail caterpillars (cilantro is a member of the carrot family, so the butterflies lay their eggs on the leaves, and the caterpillars can completely decimate the plants).  Unfortunately, I didn't know WHAT to do... common wisdom says you can't really preserve cilantro because it doesn't dry OR freeze well.

Then, I saw THIS TIMELY POST on Pinterest and decided I had absolutely nothing to lose.  So this morning, I cut back all the plants and tried to remove as much of the stems as possible.

I added a couple of gluggs of olive oil and stirred until the leaves were coated (see how shiny they are!)

Then, I put them all into a freezer bag and crossed my fingers.  Salsa or bust!

Finally!

I've tried to make homemade crackers several times before, and haven't really loved any of the recipes.  Either they tasted like cardboard, or I couldn't get them to roll thin enough, or they were too greasy... you name it.  Today I decided to try THIS RECIPE for Homemade Rosemary Crackers that I pinned awhile back on Pinterest.  We have two beautiful Rosemary plants out in the garden.

I don't usually cook with it.  So I've been at a loss as to how to use it.  A few weeks ago, I made some great potato chips and the kids loved them... which told me they wouldn't complain about the Rosemary in the crackers.

The dough was really easy to mix up with the dough-hook of my mixer.  And better yet, it was also really easy to roll out on the cookie sheet.  Next time, I'll be a little more liberal with the salt.  I played it very safe this time because I didn't want to ruin them!  Also, I used half whole wheat pastry flour.

I am here to tell you that the Rosemary is not at all overpowering (it does get stronger the next day), and these babies are GREAT with cream cheese and homemade pepper jelly!

This is less that half the batch so it does make a decent amount.  Definitely a keeper.

Spearmint!

One of the things the previous owners left us out in the garden was a container of dead spearmint. I knew it was spearmint because the marker was still in it. And I knew they planted it in a container because otherwise, it could take over the entire garden. My first instinct was to throw the lifeless thing away. But then that practical little voice said "Wait! It could come back. Keep it for awhile and see."

While out in the garden today, I happened to notice some green among the dead branches in the spearmint container. It didn't take but a pinch to ascertain that the spearmint was indeed coming back. I promptly removed most of the dead stuff and immediately started thinking about what I was going to do with SPEARMINT!!!! I would never choose to grow it... there are many other things I'd use more... but since I have it,  I need to put it to use.

Martha has a recipe for Fresh Mint Truffles that would be great for the holidays. Or her Fresh Spearmint Ice Cream sounds fantastic.

I can't wait to get back to making soap again... this recipe calls for spearmint AND rosemary, which I also have growing.  

Taste of Home has this easy Spearmint Tea recipe. One of the things I found most interesting is that 2 cups a day for 5 days has been found to reduce a type of testosterone that is linked to unwanted hair in women. This may be first on the list of things I try! (hey, just keepin' it real here!)