China Bayles' Book of Days
Page 51
With the decorating, there is music, of course—our favorite carols, old recordings played on an old phonograph. And hot mulled cider and plenty of Christmas treats to munch and share with anyone who happens to drop in. Here are two of our favorite recipes.
HOLIDAY MINI-FRITATAS
1 medium zucchini, sliced in -inch thick rounds
6 button mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
16 large eggs
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons Savory Blend (August 29) or salt
½ cup finely grated Swiss or Gruyère cheese
Heat oven to 400°. Spray two 24-cup mini muffin tins with cooking spray. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix eggs, rosemary, Savory Blend or salt. Distribute the zucchini, mushrooms, and peppers in each muffin cup. Pour egg mixture into each cup, filling to the rim. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake until set, about 8-10 minutes. Serve warm, on platters decorated with rosemary sprigs. (May be refrigerated and reheated for serving at 325°.)
ROSEMARY WALNUTS
1 pound shelled walnuts
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
2 teaspoons paprika
½ to 1 teaspoon salt or Zippy Blend (August 29)
Preheat over to 325°. Place all ingredients in a bowl and toss to mix. Spread on a baking sheet large enough to hold the nuts in a single layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring once or twice, or until the nuts are golden but not browned and the scent of rosemary fills the room. Remove and cool. May be eaten when warm or stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Makes 2 cups. (Thanks to Madeline Wajda, of Willow Pond Farm Herbs, for sharing this recipe.)
DECEMBER 25
Today is Christmas.
Now Christmas is come
Let’s beat up the drum,
And call all our neighbors together,
And when they appear
Let us make them such cheer
As will keep out the wind and the weather.
—WASHINGTON IRVING
A Great Bowl of Stuffing
I don’t know which is more important at our house, the turkey or the stuffing. And because none of us can ever agree on exactly which stuffing is best, we usually have at least two kinds: the traditional sage stuffing and Bill’s definitely nontraditional favorite South-of-the-Border Stuffing, hot and spicy, with his home-grown chiles. The sage stuffing goes into the turkey and the spicy is baked separately. Your mother probably gave you her sage stuffing recipe, so here is Bill’s favorite. Merry Christmas!
BILL’S SOUTH-OF-THE-BORDER STUFFING
¼ pound chorizo (spicy Mexican sausage)
1 cup chopped onions
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped roasted poblano chiles
2 ancho chiles, chopped
1-2 habanero chiles, chopped (These are the really hot
ones. Use less for less fire-power. Wear gloves or put
sandwich bags over your hands when handling.)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1½ teaspoons powdered cumin
4 cups cubed corn bread, slightly dry
¼ cup minced parsley
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
chicken or turkey stock
Crumble chorizo into a skillet and begin to brown. Add the onions, celery, chiles, garlic, and cumin. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 12 minutes, or until chiles are soft. In a large bowl, combine the corn bread, parsley, and grated cheese with the pepper mixture. Add stock to moisten and mix well. Turn into greased casserole dish. Bake, covered, at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes longer.
I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the world seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses.
—TAYLOR CALDWELL
DECEMBER 26
Today is the beginning of the celebration of Kwanzaa.
The word Kwanzaa is derived from the Swahili phrase Matunda ya Kwanza, which means “first fruits of the harvest.” The additional “a” in distinguishes the African American Kwanzaa from the African Kwanza.
Kwanzaa and Abelmoschus esculentus
The foods of Kwanzaa reflect the enormous variety of cuisines that are part of the African American culinary heritage. A wide range of herbs are used, many of them hot and spicy, but most cuisines have one important herb in common: Abelmoschus esculentus, a native of Ethiopia, now used worldwide. The muscilagenous fruits of this valuable plant are used in soups and stews and as a thickening agent. The leaves, buds, and flowers are cooked as greens, or dried and used as a seasoning. The seeds are ground into flour for bread, roasted and ground as a coffee substitute, and pressed to produce a nutritious oil, low in saturated fat. Medicinally, Abelmoschus is used as a poultice to reduce swellings and inflammations. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, it helps to lower homocysteine levels, related to higher risk of heart disease. Recent research also demonstrates that it can inhibit the growth of the bacteria that can cause stomach ulcers and cancer.
If the Latin name of this herb doesn’t ring a bell with you, you’re bound to be familiar with its English name: okra. And if you are looking for a way to commemorate Kwanzaa, consider this simple side dish of golden sautéed okra, accented with turmeric and sesame seeds.
SAUTÉED OKRA
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon butter
3 onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 pound fresh young okra, sliced in -inch pieces
1 ½ teaspoons ground turmeric
In a skillet, toast seeds until golden brown (about 2 minutes) stirring frequently. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Melt butter in the skillet and sauté onion and garlic until translucent. Stir in okra and turmeric. Reduce heat to low and cook 15 minutes, or until tender. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Serves 6.
Learn more about celebrating Kwanzaa:
Complete Kwanzaa, by Dorothy Winbush Riley
DECEMBER 27
Why do we like it so much? We only want it for its bite—and we will go to India to get it! Who was the first to try it with food? Who was so anxious to develop an appetite that hunger would not do the trick? Pepper and ginger both grow wild in their native countries, and yet we value them in terms of gold and silver.
—PLINY, NATURAL HISTORY, FIRST CENTURY CE
Peppercorns
Some people say that if there’s only one spice in your kitchen, it should be pepper, for it adds the greatest flavor to the greatest variety of dishes. And they may be right. After all, Rome was ransomed with pepper (Attila demanded 3,000 pounds), people have died for pepper, and oceans were crossed in pursuit of pepper—a highly valued spice.
PEPPER TIMES THREE
There is only one pepper (Piper nigrum), native to India but now grown widely throughout the tropics. Three different peppercorns are produced from this plant.
• Black peppercorns have been valued for centuries as a medicine: a treatment for impotence, an appetite stimulant and digestive, a cure for nausea and flatulence, and an antidote to poison. They are harvested green and left to dry for a week or more, shriveling and hardening. Black peppercorns have the strongest flavor, and are best when freshly ground. Also used whole in pickling spices and soup stocks.
• Green peppercorns are picked green and freeze-dried. They have a fresh, clean flavor, suited to poultry, vegetables, and seafood.
• White peppercorns are allowed to ripen on the vine, producing a large berry with a loose outer shell, which is removed. White pepper is regarded as having a richer, more complex flavor; it is used in light-colored dishes, in sauces, and on grilled poultry.
Here’s an easy recipe that will introduce you to the variety of pepper
flavors. Super with vegetables, great with fish and poultry.
PEPPER BUTTER
½ cup butter, softened
3 teaspoons freshly ground peppercorns, black, green, OR
white (if mixing, 1 teaspoon of each)
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons fresh minced parsley
Grind the peppercorns to a medium coarseness (easy in a mortar and pestle). Add to softened butter. Add garlic and parsley and mix. Place in a small dish, cover, and refrigerate at least one hour before using.
[Pepper] doth assuage the fits that ague make
If that you use thereof before you shake.
—ENGLISH LORE
DECEMBER 28
If a man beareth with him one twig of this wort, he will not be terrified with any awe, nor will a wild beast hurt him; or any evil come near.
—THE HERBARIUM OF APULEIUS PLANTONICUS
Wortcunning
Wortcunning is an Anglo-Saxon compound: wort means plant or herb; cunning means knowledgeable or wise. Hence, someone who has wortcunning is wise in the way of worts, which are grown in a wortyerd—literally, herb-yard.
And what are the worts? Those who have studied the leechbooks (the healing manuals), tell us that the Anglo-Saxons had names for, and used, at least 500 plants. More than a hundred of these were specifically called worts, although they were all worts, technically speaking. Here are a few, selected, with their descriptions and a few quotations, from that rich bouquet of herbal lore: The Englishman’s Flora.
• Motherwort, Leonurus cardiaca. Also known as “womb plant,” used in difficult childbirth.
• Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris. Magical herb, used to keep off the powers of evil. “Whosoever goeth any distance and he bear this herb with him he shall not be weary in his going.”—Agnus Castus, 1425
• Sneezewort, Achillea ptarmica. Tastes hot and sharp, causes a flow of saliva.
• Soapwort, Saponaria officinalis. Used as a cleansing herb.
• Figwort or pilewort, Scrophularia nodosa. Used to treat “figs” or piles.
• Bairnwort, daisy, Bellis perennis. Known to all children, or “bairns.”
• Woundwort, yarrow, Achillea millefolium. Used to heal wounds made with iron.
• Birthwort, Aristolochia clematitis. Resists poison, encourages conception, helps delivery.
• Bishopwort, water mint, Mentha aquatica. Strewn where feasts and banquets are made.
• Casewort, Shepherd’s purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris. Its seed cases are easily broken.
• Lousewort, Pedicularis sylvatica. Thought to be the source of intestinal parasites in animals.
• Pennywort or naval wort, Umbilicus rupestris. The leaves look like pennies.
• Saint-John’s-wort, Hypericum perforatum. “If it be putte in a mannes house there shall come no wycked spryte therein.”—Banckes’ Herbal, 1525
More Reading:
The Englishman’s Flora, by Geoffrey Grigson
St. John’s wort, St. John’s wort,
I envy whosoever has thee,
I will pluck thee with my right hand,
I will preserve thee with my left hand,
Whoso findeth thee in the cattlefold,
Shall never be without kine. [cattle]
—GAELIC WORT CHARM
DECEMBER 29
The Popular Poppy-Seed
For millennia, poppies (Papaver somniferum) have been cultivated for their black, nutty seeds. (This is the same species that yields opium, but the seeds are non-narcotic.) While it’s easier to buy the seeds in the grocery, it’s more fun to harvest them yourself, from your garden—and have the flowers to enjoy, as well. A 5-foot row of plants will yield about a half-cup of seeds.7 Harvest the seed capsules as they ripen and keep them in a paper box (a shoebox will work). When they’ve dried, pour the seeds into a shallow pan and pick out the debris. Store the cleaned seeds in a lidded jar in the refrigerator. Wonderful as a sprinkle on baked goods, delightful on fruit salads.
ORANGE POPPY-SEED FRUIT SALAD DRESSING
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream or yogurt
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons poppy seed
½ teaspoon finely grated orange peel
1-2 tablespoons orange juice
Fresh fruits, cut up: your choice of pineapple, orange,
mango, melon, strawberries, grapes
In a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, sour cream, honey, poppy seed, and orange peel. Stir in enough orange juice for the consistency you want. Spoon over fresh fruit in stemmed glasses. Makes 1 cup dressing.
Seeds must be gathered in fair weather, at the wane of the Moon, and kept some in Boxes of Wood, some in bags of Leather, and some in Vessels of Earthenware, and well cleansed and dried in shadow. Others, as Onions and Leeks, must be kept in their husks.
—GERVASE MARKHAM, THE ENGLISH HOUSEWIFE, 1615
DECEMBER 30
After the day I’d had, I was ready to pamper myself. I lit a vanilla-scented candle, added lavender oil to a tub full of warm water, and climbed in. I leaned back and closed my eyes, letting the thoughts go, letting my body soak in the lavender-scented silence. After a long while I scrubbed with rosemary soap and a luffa, relishing its gentle rasping. When I toweled off, I pulled on a pair of silky pink pajamas—how long had it been since I’d worn anything but a ratty old tee shirt to sleep in?—and climbed into bed with an Agatha Christie mystery. . . .
—RUEFUL DEATH: A CHINA BAYLES MYSTERY
Indulge Yourself in an Herbal Bath
What a busy week! It’s been just as hectic as the week before Christmas, if that’s possible—and the upcoming weekend doesn’t look a bit relaxing. This evening, pamper yourself in a long, leisurely bath. With music, a scented candle, fresh flowers, and a plush towel, you’ll feel like a completely new person when you step out of the bath.
SKIN-SOFTENING MILK BATH BAGS
You can purchase exotic softening products or you can make your own and have the satisfaction of enjoying something you’ve crafted yourself. Sunflower seeds provide enriching oil; oatmeal softens; and milk makes your skin feel deliciously smooth. Indulge yourself!
MILK BATH BAGS
½ cup raw shelled sunflower seeds
½ cup oatmeal
½ cup cornstarch
1 cup dried nonfat milk powder
vitamin E oil capsules
In a food processor or coffee grinder, grind the sunflower seeds and oatmeal together until you have a smooth powder about the consistency of cornmeal. Stir in the cornstarch and milk powder. Divide into five single-bath portions (½ cup). To each, add your favorite essential oil or oil combinations and mix. When the scent pleases you, put the mixture into a snack-size zipper-top plastic bag, or in a reusable muslin bag. To use, add the milk bath as you fill your tub.
SOME AROMATIC COMBINATIONS
• For a relaxing bath: lavender and rose
• For a sensual bath: ylang ylang, patchouli, orange
• For a spirit-lifting bath: rosemary, bergamot, eucalyptus
• For an energizing bath: mint
Read more about bath pleasures:
Rituals for the Bath, by Kathy Corey and Lynne Black-man
DECEMBER 31
A winter evening is the best of times to muse on plans for a garden, for like Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, gardening is then carried on “under the similitude of a dream.” The things we mean to have stand as we mean to have them, thrifty, beautiful, and a pretty tribute to our skill as gardeners; the things we have had, successes and less-than-successes, are something to go on from, are a part of garden history and our lives.
—HENRY BESTON, HERBS AND THE EARTH
New Year, Next Year
What could be better than planning next year’s garden on the last day of the old year? And if you’ve read all through this Book of Days and you still don’t have a garden, it is certainly the right time to begin! Of course, if you
’ve gardened before, you will plan from experience. If you haven’t, here are some suggestions.
• Space. You don’t need a football field—a plot about 6 × 10 feet will give you room for 18-24 plants. Think small. You can always add on later.
• Outlook. Most garden herbs don’t enjoy shade. Give your plants a place in the sun.
• Soil and drainage. Ordinary garden soil is fine; you don’t need to add compost or amendments. If the soil is heavy or clayey, sand and small rocks will improve the drainage. Consider creating a raised bed with landscape timbers, bricks, or blocks. Most herbs don’t like wet feet.
• Plan to put the taller plants in the back or the center (if yours is a peninsula bed), with the shorter, more compact plants in front and at the edges. Give them plenty of elbow room so they don’t crowd their neighbors.