Herbalicious

Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food.”  He wasn’t speaking solely of herbs, but they formed a major part of his pharmacological studies.  Herbalism began its culinary career in ancient times as remedy for common food-borne pathogens.  The hotter, more tropical the climate, the stronger the herbs and spices used to counter the higher incidence of food-borne illness.  Herbaceous properties include antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, anti-depressant, and antimicrobial.  Some herbs aid digestion, some ease insomnia, and herbs are used topically for their “drawing” ability, and others for burn-soothing qualities.  Summer, when annual herbs mature and perennials are at their peak, has some of the year’s best cuisine simply due to herbal additions.

Recent culinary trends have brought a wide variety of fresh herbs  into grocery stores.  Depending on where you live in relation to the supplying source, your options may only be those little plastic packages of herbs which, price per ounce, can be very expensive.  Farmers markets offer tremendous savings on herbs – they sell them in greater quantities, at lower prices, without plastic wrapping, and are a very thrifty option.  We live in a desert, though, so many herbs aren’t grown locally.  However, our Farmers Markets does exchange products  with other markets in the region, so there are opportunities to buy fresh herbs when seasonal in neighbouring farm areas.  Some of the annual herbs like parsley, cilantro, and garlic can be found in most stores, in any season, generally in reasonable quantities and at fair prices.  These common herbs add plenty of flavour and food value but, if you’re looking for more variety and peak freshness, you might try growing your own.  Herbs are particularly susceptible to losing phytochemical values once picked, so it’s best to eat them soon after harvesting.

Summer need not be the only season when you have access to a thrifty source of good quality herbs.  Perennials like bay, lavender, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage tarragon, and thyme make attractive and fragrant houseplants, though they’ll need special care and climate control – much like any houseplant would.  Annuals like arugula, basil, chervil, cilantro, dill, garlic and savoury, can also be grown indoors and make a eye-catching additions to any kitchen where they’re handy for quick pruning.  Most herbs require good drainage so you’ll want to choose containers with that in mind.  Some herbs need full sun for long hours and that’s just not possible in northern climes, or in homes with limited or north-facing windows.  Grow-lights can help you sustain both perennial and annual herbs, even through the darkest winter months, and their cost of operation is negligible when you figure in the savings and health benefits you realize with a year-round supply of fresh herbs.

At some point you’ll either have to harvest your annual plants, or prune back the perennials.  It’s good to be prepared, have all the supplies you’ll need at the ready, and a warm, dry, well-ventilated space available.  If you don’t have space for air-drying, you might consider other methods like freezer-, oven- or microwave-drying.  A dehydrator works best for soft-leaf herbs like basil and sage.  I’ve read conflicting opinions on how much, if any, of the essential oils are retained after drying.  However, there’s no argument where taste is concerned:  hands-down, all accounts stated the home-dried herbs had greater flavour than the store-bought counter-part.  Since it’s the essential oils providing the flavour, colour, and odour of dried herbs, those taste-tests tell me essential oils are retained, and the home-dried herbs, lacking the warehouse “aging,” had retained more because they were used sooner.

Summer is definitely an herbal  season.  If you’re planning to grow herbs indoors, now is the time to buy seed, while it’s still available. If you’re using natural foods as beauty products, the summer months offers a wide variety of herbs (and other plants) that work best when seasonally fresh.  If you’re growing herbs in the garden, they’ll not only provide you with healthful additions to summer cuisine, they’ll also help control pests in the vegetable patch.  Summer, known for food-bourne stomach upset, is a good time to take a page from history and dose meals with plenty of herbs and spices to give the stomach some delicious defence...or relief, as the case may be.  To quote Hippocrates again, “Leave your drugs in the chemist's pot if you can heal the patient with food.”  If any food can do that, herbs surely can!  And they’re much tastier.  So tasty its possible to reduce or eliminate the use of high-risk flavourings (e.g. mayonnaise or cream-based dressings)  by substituting herb and heart-healthy oil mixtures, instead.

How about you:  are your summers herbalicious?  Do you grow herbs indoors, outdoors, neither or both?  Which herbs do you use for their healthful properties?  If you had to choose only one herb for the rest of your days, which ONE would you choose?  If you’re a herb-lover like me and Hippocrates, that last one  is just too nasty to ponder!

Atmospheric Disturbances

Winter stinks. Literally. Cooking aromas, body odours, and laundry pong have nowhere to go so they just hang around. Often times the weather is just too foul to open windows and doors to get fresh air introduced and moving through the home. In colder climes, houseplants would be risked!

There are numerous brands of air fresheners on the market but, for me, their cloying scent is overwhelming. If the intense and artificial fragrance weren't choking enough, most leave an airborne slick of chemicals that, if you have the misfortune to inhale, leaves a bitter taste that lasts hours. Most are worse, even, than the winter reek they're meant to cover up. So, how to keep the home smelling fresh in those closed-home months? There are a few common household products that not only work well, they're thrifty to use, too.

First on my list are houseplants. Depending on the type of plant and its size, they scrub the home's air through the process of photosynthesis (Wikipedia: Photosynthesis.) Plants consume water and carbon dioxide (CO₂) and produce oxygen as waste. Their waste is our gain. Not only is the home cleaned of excessive carbon dioxide – which results from merely breathing – they convert that gas into clean air. The more plants you have, the more square footage of household atmosphere they'll clean. Dispersing plants around the home ensures odours have no hiding places.

Lingering food aromas can be the worst offenders. Rather than mask cabbage or fish smells with spray bursts of chemical lavender or citrus, consider using vinegar. Simmering a few ounces of vinegar on the stovetop for 20-30 minutes will clear the air. If you have a piece of cookware (stainless steel or brushed aluminum) which is blue-stained from cooking alkaline foods, you can serve two purposes by using it to simmer the vinegar. The pot will sparkle, and so will the air quality! After a party, a few small bowls of vinegar, strategically placed, will neutralize any funky remains.

Carpets and rugs tend to absorb odours and, when people tread on them, they're released back into the air. An easy solution is to sprinkle carpets and rugs, liberally, with baking soda and let stand for a half hour before vacuuming thoroughly.

Soda is also great for cleaning and refreshing the refrigerator. A tablespoon or two of this common kitchen ingredient in the wash water and fridge odours disappear. Then, leave the remainder of the box open in the fridge to collect odours until the next cleaning. If objectionable smells happen between cleaning, try adding a teaspoon of vanilla extract to couple tablespoons of water, in a small bowl, and put that in the fridge overnight.

For many years, my mother used charcoal to keep her refrigerator smelling sweet. In my opinion, it worked even better than soda. That type of charcoal (small chunk) is hard to find. Some Garden centers or Nurseries may sell it. If you are lucky enough to find this charcoal – I, so far, haven't been – you'll need about a cup of it in a mason jar with a perforated lid. When it no longer cleans the fridge air (usually about twice a year,) spread the charcoal on a baking sheet and heat it in a low oven (approximately 200 F degrees,) for about half an hour or until odours were purged. Then, cool the charcoal, replaced in its jar and back into the fridge. Used, heated, and re-used, time and again, this fridge freshener lasts years.

There are a number of ways to sweeten the air in closets and drawers, as well. I like to store fragrant guest soaps in with clothing to lend them a fresh scent. Cedar chips, balls, and bars, can be used in closets, and won't add intrusive odours to the garments. Homemade sachets, using common herbs and spices, are another easy way to freshen closed spaces. I buy these spices in bulk for much less cost that pre-packaged brands.

If you wish to create ambiance with scent, try simmering your favourite whole spice (most herbs will not work as well in this application,) combined with a cup of water, in a small pot on the stovetop, and simmer off and on throughout the day, adding water as needed. My favourite combination is cinnamon bark and whole clove, which lends a very nice holiday fragrance to the home. At other times, I use fennel seed, whole cardamom, bay leaves, or star anise. Use your imagination. The aromas you'll create will smell – and taste – so much sweeter than any chemical spray. It's a bonus they're thrifty as well!