Spice of Life

Spices and herbs play such an important part of our lives.

Beyond just seasoning our foods, some have medicinal values which I will not go into since making any claims of health benefits will get you in trouble with the FDA, sad but true, so I just want you to look into them on your own and see how beneficial herbs are.

I will try to stick with flavors here even though I would love to direct you to sites like http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/herbvit.htm and http://www.advance-health.com/fourthievesvinegar.html

which will bare disclaimers as they should.

I started cooking with herbs more after I started growing them in my garden and because of my garden I became a better cook. Tarragon is chicken's friend! Basil, parsley, lemon balm, mint, dill, oregano, rosemary, thyme and sage fresh from the garden can be a culinary dream.

Baking Soda (is better than toothpaste) and vinegar are great cleaners.

Having a big selection of spices, herbs, cooking wines, vinegars, sauces and oils will provide you with what you need to make small wild game lose a bit of that "gaminess" that turns people away so often. Raw, organic apple cider vinegar is a good thing to have on hand.

There has been so much negative talk about salt that many people are staying away from it even when they shouldn't. The truth is we need salt. I choose sea salt. Soon most people will look at salt as they do raw milk.

Garlic has medicinal properties but since I would prefer it not to be regulated by the FDA as one I can't tell you how to use it for healing .

Like Garlic, onions also have a use in the medical world. If you accidentally put a freshly cut slice of onion on a bee sting you will see what I mean, but stay away from chopped onions at a buffet style salad bar. Never let a sick person near chopped onions that you intend to eat. Do feed a sick person foods with raw onions and/or garlic.

Why? I wish I could tell you. Please try to learn about these things while you still can.

I came back to this post this morning hoping to finish it right, but I honestly can not.

I am sorry that I feel I can not freely give you information on these things that may lead you to better health, but I don't live in a land of free speech anymore. A major food contaminator (GMO) is in deep with the FDA and has been working to silence those with natural knowledge to keep their drug (pharmaceutical) making friends happy.

Okay, now I can't even talk about flavors because thinking about the restrictions has left a bad taste in my mouth. Yes, there are those that want to steal what keeps us cozy. That is why I push to learn how to make things and cook things that are so easily gotten from a store. It may take longer to do and that is fine. I take pride in what I can do and they can't take that away.

Thanks for stopping by.

Dee Dee

My First Recipe Creation from years ago

What drove me to be a better cook was my first real garden. I found this wonderful herb called French Tarragon. It has a flavor similar to anise or liquorice yet quite distinct.

I ordered a few plants for my garden and as it grew I would clip leaves here and there to try in different foods.

I was not much into measuring things at that point and still have a hard time with it now. I mainly put things in on sight measurement which won't help much but I will try to put it out here as best as I can, because when done right this is a really good meal.

On the bottom of a baking pan put a few tablespoons of butter and put in the oven at 350 degrees F until melted. Put boneless skinless chicken breasts in the pan. Let cook for 10 minutes and flip and add equal amounts of soy sauce and honey and half of that of sesame oil to coat and sprinkle ginger and tarragon (about a half teaspoon each depending on how much meat) over top. Turn meat every 10 to 15 minutes until done. Serve meat and sauce over a bed of rice with a side serving of broccoli with julienned carrots that have been steamed and served with butter and lightly salted.

It was a simple, fast and delicious dish that made me want to grow and learn more about herbs and spices.

Watch that you don't use a soy sauce that is high in sodium as it will end up too salty and remember that cooking is an experiment no matter how well you follow directions.

Thanks for stopping by.

Dee Dee