• HOME
    • MY HERBAL ROOTS
    • HERBAL ROOTS
  • ME
    • ABOUT ME
    • CLASSES AND EVENTS
    • CALENDAR
    • SERVICES
    • MEDIA
    • CONNECT
  • SEASONS
    • ALL SEASONS
    • SPRING
    • SUMMER
    • FALL
    • WINTER
  • HERBS
    • ALL HERBS
    • ARUGULA
    • BASIL
    • BAY LEAF
    • CHERVIL
    • CHIVES
    • CHOCOLATE MINT
    • CILANTRO (CORRIANDER)
    • DILL
    • EDIBLE FLOWERS
    • EPAZOTE
    • GRAPEFRUIT MINT
    • HYSSOP
    • LAVENDER
    • LEMON BALM
    • LEMON GRASS
    • LEMON THYME
    • LEMON VERBENA
    • MARJORAM
    • OREGANO
    • ORANGE MINT
    • PARSLEY
    • PEPPERMINT
    • PINEAPPLE MINT
    • PINEAPPLE SAGE
    • PURSLANE
    • RED BASIL
    • ROSEMARY
    • SAGE
    • SAVORY
    • SORREL
    • SPEARMINT
    • SPECIALITY HERBS
    • TARRAGON
    • THAI BASIL
    • THYME
  • WANDERINGS
    • MAP
    • ASIA
    • AUSTRALIA
    • CANADA
    • CARRIBEAN
    • CENTRAL AMERICA
    • EUROPE
    • MEXICO
    • SOUTH AMERICA
    • USA
  • RECIPES
    • SEARCH
    • SEASONS
    • HERBS
    • PLACES
    • VIDEOS
    • BLOG POSTS
  • HOME
    • MY HERBAL ROOTS
    • HERBAL ROOTS
  • ME
    • ABOUT ME
    • CLASSES AND EVENTS
    • CALENDAR
    • SERVICES
    • MEDIA
    • CONNECT
  • SEASONS
    • ALL SEASONS
    • SPRING
    • SUMMER
    • FALL
    • WINTER
  • HERBS
    • ALL HERBS
    • ARUGULA
    • BASIL
    • BAY LEAF
    • CHERVIL
    • CHIVES
    • CHOCOLATE MINT
    • CILANTRO (CORRIANDER)
    • DILL
    • EDIBLE FLOWERS
    • EPAZOTE
    • GRAPEFRUIT MINT
    • HYSSOP
    • LAVENDER
    • LEMON BALM
    • LEMON GRASS
    • LEMON THYME
    • LEMON VERBENA
    • MARJORAM
    • OREGANO
    • ORANGE MINT
    • PARSLEY
    • PEPPERMINT
    • PINEAPPLE MINT
    • PINEAPPLE SAGE
    • PURSLANE
    • RED BASIL
    • ROSEMARY
    • SAGE
    • SAVORY
    • SORREL
    • SPEARMINT
    • SPECIALITY HERBS
    • TARRAGON
    • THAI BASIL
    • THYME
  • WANDERINGS
    • MAP
    • ASIA
    • AUSTRALIA
    • CANADA
    • CARRIBEAN
    • CENTRAL AMERICA
    • EUROPE
    • MEXICO
    • SOUTH AMERICA
    • USA
  • RECIPES
    • SEARCH
    • SEASONS
    • HERBS
    • PLACES
    • VIDEOS
    • BLOG POSTS
Blog Posts Edible Flowers Fall Pineapple Sage Rosemary Sage

Falling Back Into Myself

November 4, 2021

Falling Back Into Myself

NOVEMBER 4TH 2021

Fall is not my favorite season. It’s full of mystery, significant change and its sense of loss tends to rile and agitate me. So, as I descend into fall, I always feel trepidation and fear in my blood. As a human being, the fear of the unknown is omnipresent. Habitually I have always tried to control that which is unrevealed, to fight my way through what I don’t know. Lately I wonder if I should stop fighting and just fall back into myself, hold on and let it pass through me? Letting that which is mysterious reveal itself, in its own time, as nature intended. I think this is what autumn is about, getting comfortable with stillness. It feels natural. I think human beings, like wild deer, know when to be still and when to move. Humans (I) must learn to listen in the stillness better in order to hear what’s happening inside us (me).

All the seasons signal transition and summon us, alongside nature, to change. Autumn is a more mysterious transition. Regardless of whether one migrates or hunkers down to grow a thick coat, major change is inevitable in autumn. It begins sweetly as a time to celebrate the end of a long growing season, harvesting and festively celebrating the last days of warmth. Then suddenly out of no where the leaves drop and we must all move into preservation mode, focusing on the basic necessities and protection. It pounds us with the quick and constant reminder that all wonderful things loose vibrancy and vigor; they dwindle, suffer, and eventually perish.

I often feel out of sorts when I enter fall. This year was the same but different. As I prepared myself like a little squirrel for the heavy season, slacking off on most of my duties for Crespo and Herbal Roots and even things I enjoy doing.  I felt more relaxed in my disobedience of my duties.  And as explored my direction, and really studied my movements, I noticed I was actually doing the one duty I needed to do- I’ve simply been preparing for winter, arranging life to be more comfortable for the difficult months ahead.

I’ve been tirelessly painting, cleaning and organizing my home. I’m laying soft, velvety blankets on my beds and letting warm, soft air into my home. (Note: I just got a whole house humidifying system put in so I can avoid the dry, hot cracked skin that makes me miserable in the cold months.) I’m filling the pantry with whole grains, legumes and pasta and the freezer with bones and broth. I’m in overdrive when it comes to making my herbal salts, utilizing falls warmer notes. I’m buying books and saving podcasts, rummaging through my gigantic cookbook collections preparing to learn to bake breads. I’m doing all this with what feels to be deep intuition, yet it all still feels new.

I’m doing my very best to gather all that will make my own hibernation bearable. There is less action and movement. There is no more lake swimming or suntanning. My body has signaled that it’s too fragile to be submerged into the water. It wants nothing more than the reflection of the sun to bounce  upon my face from the ripples in the water when Inca swims for his stick.

As I hurl into autumn and prepare to turn back my clocks, and live in more darkness, I find myself able to let go and oddly prepared for it all, maybe even prepared enough to enjoy it.

It hasn’t been easy for me here in Missouri, but I’m starting to feel like myself again. I know that as I see more beauty in where I live and amongst who, as I feel more love for where I am, as I accept it all openly, I feel happier.

Letting go (exemplified by the leaves falling from trees) or falling back into myself – relaxing with all that is – softening, not fighting or trying to control the changes has brought a pleasure I wasn’t expecting and a deeper connection with parts of myself I seldom spend time with. In this season I feel ready to think less, feel more and cultivate a home that gives powerful comfort and care to not just myself but anyone who chooses to pass through. A soft and sweet cocoon to just lie in and let the body do its work.

I feel a bizarre new wisdom brewing inside me. It may be the first time ever that I’m feeling solidly connected to my soft side and that I see its necessity in helping nurture me. I feel less panic, less reaction, more acceptance and less of a need to control things.

There has been a lot happening that is really painful and difficult in my family and personal life. But I can feel the powerful resilience I have stronger lately. I am discovering how beautiful and natural resilience feels without the fight.

I have a deeper knowing in trust and how it is born in softness. I can see that past the fall and looming cold winter (yikes) things will inevitably flower again and the now is essential to the flower. Something bigger is always connected to now. The past, the present and future are always connected and by focusing on the now we allow them all to work in unison.

So, for now, I don’t worry about bursting forth or ripening like a mango; it’s not the time. I too will shut down and protect myself from the harshness of life, let my brain and body relax. I can let this time teach me more about myself and, in turn, others. I can let it grow me into a better woman, friend, sister, aunt, co-worker, lover…

As a deeply feeling person, my feelings often overwhelm me. I have had to spend a lot of time  learning about and managing my overwhelm. This hard work, in particular in the past 4-5 years, has laid the path for my soft release into this fall season. Yoga, meditation, life, global travel, age, therapy, nature, really great love and deep connections to a handful of people  –  has helped me get here, here where I feel like we are supposed to be/go- that spot where we notice our own being growing, where we feel a little pride in that growth, where we feel peace. I feel peace here.

Food, more so unraveling what’s in my head via cooking and concocting ideas has always been a profound catalyst in my continued growth. Specifically the style in which I approach cooking- creatively disentangling the interconnectedness I see and feel – people, places, things – my recipes are  what’s left when it all passes through me like a sieve.

These blog posts (My Herbal- Roots) are how I piece together the life that surrounds me. They are what I see, how I feel and how I grow.

Sometimes when I manage to get past the panic and overwhelm I often feel with such intense feelings rippling through my body I can see a bigger and clearer picture. This only happens when I am patient, something I am completely devoid of naturally except when I am creatively executing my culinary ideas.

I’m not sure I would be noticing and learning any of this if I were not in Blue Eye, Missouri living my best Missouri life and for that I am grateful.

I’ve struggled to appreciate what Missouri has offered me thus far, but that is changing for me as I move deeper into my Table Rock Lake fall. I’ve said it a lot. I was “summoned” to  Missouri for a reason and I need to open to the mystery in that, knowing there are flowers coming.  Dark is just as useful as light and it’s all my path.

My fear of being unloved is strong, as it is in many others. My Missouri solitude and even the newfound family isolation is a good place to learn more about that part of myself. Maybe not overcome it, but accept it as part of me, soften with it.

I really am trying to take this time to be purposeful with who I am in this world. I am the same mountain mover as I always have been, but I’m learning that this softer may just help me move bigger mountains with greater ease.

Here are a few of my latest culinary unravelings born of this fall Blue Eye, Missouri mood.

Buttery Flowery Cinnamon Fall Herb Salt

Makes 2 cups

I think the most important aspect of fall is to not worry too much about much of anything. To just be and let the days take you where you are going to go. In that is a sort of relaxation and letting go. It’s how I explain that I can eat buttered noodles for 5 days straight and then make a Michelin-star style dinner on the 6th day and have zero guilt or pressure in any of it.

My herbal salts always come to be in much the same way. They just happen, often a result of something I’m working through emotionally. When I look around in my life and my garden or into the season, things stick out differently year to year and this new fall salt is that.

What stuck out this year was butter, flowers and cinnamon. Although I’m not totally sure why outside the fact that my garden is currently brimming with bright orange and red marigolds and pineapple sage.  I know this is the start of something that will land eventually into something more brilliant. But for now I accept this is a flawed recipe, one I can use and enjoy. At this point it cannot be packaged and stored like my Buttered Green Chili Tomatillo Salt, so keep that in mind if you choose to make this. I’m not going to put measurements on this one because it’s still in the works, but I want you to have the general idea.

This salt is deeply warming and comforting. It’s one of the darkest salts I have ever made and maybe just what I was needing not just for now, but for steps for the future of the final recipe, if there ever really is a final recipe for me. No directions in this one as that’s still in motion.

Ingredients

Calendula petals
French marigold petals
Gem marigold petals
Mexican mint marigold petals
Pineapple sage petals
Lavender flowers
Bergamot flowers
Autumn sage flower petals
Sumer savory flowers
Dried rose petals
Thyme flowers
Salted Butter
White Balsamic vinegar
Calabrian chili honey
Black Urfa chilies
Grains of paradise
Cayenne pepper
Cobanero chili flakes
Purple striped garlic powder
Smoked paprika
Korema
Fermented white peppercorns
Nutmeg
Mace
Cinnamon
Sage
Rosemary
Marjoram
Winter Savory
Orange zest

Butternut Squash Pork Bolognese & Sage Ricotta Gnocchi

Serves 6 -8

I am a big fan of seasonal Bolognese sauce – the real northern Italian version with fat (pancetta and cream). I make a version each season and I think my  fall version utilizing pork and butternut squash or pumpkin is my favorite. This year as I quietly slipped into the colder Missouri weather, warmer sweaters and higher leather boots, my resources were much less limited than they have been in the past and my recipe slipped into a new makeup too.

I had been making my fall Bolognese with yellow tomatoes because I didn’t like the color when it was made with red. But there are no yellow tomatoes here year-round as there are in CA and NY so, for the first time, I opted to omit them and make a little blend of puréed squash instead. Not only did I create a dish that was seriously seasonal, but the sauce was velvety and luxurious and way more comforting than my prior versions.  (I have a great apple-squash mac and cheese recipe that I write for Edible Marin & Wine Country that uses this technique.) It has the same sultry fall herbaceous essence from the sage and other fall herbs but a fattier essence without being heavy. Instead of serving it over regular pasta I decided to pair it with ricotta sage gnocchi, a light and cheesy dumpling was quite perfect for this perfect sauce.

It’s rare that I use stock to make a soup, let alone a sauce. When you use lots of vegetables, herbs and spices in your dishes, a stock is what you are inevitably making, especially in long slow cooked dishes such as Bolognese. I’m not against stock; I just find them to be expensive and too salty.

If you want a brighter, more acidic sauce you can add yellow tomatoes. Add them to the recipe after cooking the pork.

Ingredients

3 cups finely cubed butternut squash (a little bigger than the size of a pea)
2 cups water
3 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 bay leaves
1 teaspoons Cobanero chili flakes or cayenne pepper
1 ½ teaspoons cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon chopped sage leaves, plus 2 tablespoons
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary leaves, plus 1 tablespoon
1 teaspoon chopped winter savory leaves, plus 2 teaspoons
1/4 cup chopped (into tiny cubes) pancetta
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 medium carrot finely chopped (cube shaped)
3-4 celery stalks and leaves, chopped fine
1 pound ground pork
1 tablespoon one of my Fall Herb Salts or 2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon finely cracked grains of paradise, or 1 pinch of ground cardamon
2 teaspoons black Urfa chili flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon cracked white pepper (I use the fermented kind from Burlap and Barrel)
1 teaspoon ground long pepper (optional)
1 cup chopped yellow tomatoes (optional)
2 cups dry white wine
½ cup heavy cream
Ricotta Sage Gnocchi
Parmesan cheese for serving

Directions

Bring 1 cup of the butternut squash to a boil and cook until tender. Allow the mixture to cool and then blend it up until a thick puree is formed. Set aside.

Heat a heavy bottom stew pan (I use a Le Creuset enameled stew pot) on medium and add the oil, bay leaves, chili flakes or cayenne, black pepper and 1 teaspoon of the chopped sage, rosemary, winter savory as well as the pancetta. Cook, stirring for a few minutes until the pancetta and herbs are a bit crispy.

Turn the heat to medium high; add the onions and garlic and cook about a minute, again stirring. Add the carrots and celery next and cook, stirring so nothing burns, for a few more minutes. Add the ground pork and cook until it is completely browned and crumbly. Add the salt and all the remaining herbs and spices and stir well, cooking another minute.

Add the white wine and stir well, deglazing the pan and getting all the little burnt to the pan bits and pieces mixes into the sauce that is beginning to form. Add the squash and the squash puree and turn the pan to low and cook for about 50 minutes to an hour, stirring every few minutes. If the sauce begins to get too thick you can add more water.

Once the squash cubes are really soft, and after the dish has cooked and stewed for at least 50 minutes, add the heavy cream. Remove from the heat and let stand for about 10 minutes.

Serve ladled over the gnocchi with fresh parmesan, cracked pepper and my herb salt.

Ricotta Sage Gnocchi

Makes about 20 large gnocchi

I have found over the years that many recipes call for more bowls than needed and I often shortcut that method, at least when it makes sense. Just like I never drain the ricotta for these particular gnocchi and seldom do. This recipe is seriously easy and uses a one bowl method.

I add dried sage as well as little wholegrain flour to make these feel way more comforting and fall. The sage adds a woody and earthy element while the flour gives them a tiny bit more texture that the heavy Bolognese enjoys. I feel like these dumplings deliver a pasta like taste and texture but are still mostly cheese.

You can just as easily drop spoonsful of the dough in boiling water and forgo the shaping, making this recipe even easier.

Ingredients

6-8 fresh sage leaves
1 15-ounce container of ricotta (any kind you like – I love full fat)
2 eggs
1/2 cup parmesan
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated or ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons fall herb salt or 1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup flour
1/4 cup whole wheat sprouted grain flour

Directions

Place the sage leaves on a paper towel in the microwave and microwave for 20 seconds intervals, flipping the sage leaves in between for about 1 minute or until totally dry and flaky.

Whisk together the ricotta, eggs, parmesan, pepper, nutmeg, dried sage and salt until super smooth. Stir in the flour and mix until all the flour is incorporated into a sticky dough.

Grab a bowl of ice and a baking sheet or tray, preferably lined with parchment paper. Get your hands cold and wet by rubbing the ice in them and then take a big spoonful of the dough in-between your hands and rolling them together to form an oval shaped dumpling about 2-3 inches in length and about an inch thick. Do this with the remaining dough, rubbing your hands in the ice in between each third dumpling or as needed.

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Gently drop the gnocchi into the water and cook about 4-5 minutes or until all the dumplings have been floating for about a minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and serve covered in the Bolognese.

Whiskey Caramel Upside-down Cake

Makes 1 9-inch cake

A few years back, while writing a whiskey article and recipes for Edible Marin & Wine Country, Sonoma Distilling Company gifted me with a bottle of Black Truffle Whiskey which I was immediately enamored with and turned into a caramel sauce which I used for a fancy dinner I cooked for Placeinvaders.

When I ran across a beautiful photo on Instagram of a caramel apple upside down cake, I knew I needed to create a recipe that utilized my truffle sauce and the apple idea. I liked the idea of creating a more earthy tasting cake rather than cinnamon spice, which is what most apple desserts taste like.

I incorporate rosemary and warming spices into the cake and keep it more on the savory side since caramel is so sweet, I thought it the perfect combination, especially when dolloped with tangy vanilla spice yogurt.

This is equally delicious with pears.

Ingredients

For the apples and sauce:
6 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons finely chopped sage leaves
1 teaspoon Fall Herb Salt or maldon salt
¾ cup raw sugar
¼ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup Sonoma Distilling Company Truffle Whiskey or whiskey of choice
2-3 apples, cored and sliced thin

For the cake:
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup sprouted grain flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
¼ teaspoon ground long pepper (optional)
¼ teaspoon ground cardamon or grains of paradise
1 ½ teaspoon finely chopped rosemary needles
2 teaspoons of orange zest
¾ cup softened butter (salted)
¾ cup raw sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup Greek yogurt, plus 1 cup

For the vanilla spice yogurt:
1 cup Greek full fat yogurt
¼ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla or ½ teaspoon vanilla powder
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch of cardamon

Directions

Make the Vanilla Spiced Yogurt by whisking together the ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate until use.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan and cover the entire bottom with a round piece of parchment paper.

Melt the butter in a heavy bottom saucepan and add the sage coking for a few seconds to crisp up the sage leaves. Add the salt and sugars and continue to stir over medium high heat for about two minutes while the sugar melts; the mixture will be a bit gritty. Add the whiskey and continue to cook and stir for one more minute.

Spread the hot mixture quickly and evenly over the parchment paper on the bottom of the sringform pan. Arrange the apple slices over the caramel, making sure to lay the apples down on the outside first, laying in circles and ending last with the inner mist circle.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, spices, rosemary, zest and salt in a bog mixing bowl.

In another mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar using a hand beater until light and fluffy. Add and the eggs and yogurt and beat until totally smooth. Stir in the dry ingredients, little by little beating in between adding more until the mixture is smooth.

Spoon the batter carefully and evenly over the apples. Gently smooth the batter flat using an offset spatula.

Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until a knife tip comes out clean. The cake can get a little brown, and you can opt to cover it with foil. Since this is the bottom of the cake and the cake is a tiny bit dense and savory, I like it as is.

Blog Posts Edible Flowers Fall Pineapple Sage Rosemary Sage

Falling Back Into Myself

November 4, 2021
November 4, 2021
ABOUT ME
About Me

Noted herb expert, culinary educator and recipe developer. Small business consultant traveling the globe in search of food and cultural knowledge, while working with small, local, organic, sustainable, and fairtrade farmers.

GET CONNECTED
LATEST POSTS
  • “Different” Chicken Congee
    December 31, 2022

    It’s New Year’s Eve Day, I’m in Miami, Florida where I have traveled with my pets for a little 45-day snowbirding experience (and possibly the subconscious desire to travel to the source and unravel some deep seeded and complicated emotions I have been carrying for far too long). It’s currently 80 degrees and I’m in my swimsuit outside by the pool near the beach with my pets. I have a sweet little menu prepared for a dinner tonight and was just lollygagging a bit when I got a text asking me for the recipe for that cold weather chicken congee I made during the recent artic chill. You remember, the congee recipe that I had labeled one of my best dishes. The one I was supposed to have posted the recipe for already, the one I keep getting asked for. Here you go. I’ll warn you, my congee recipe is a little different. But what do I know, I had never made congee before. But different is who I am and what I do and staying authentic to who I am is a constant goal, New Year or not.

  • Nissa’s Christmas Mole (& Tamales)
    December 20, 2022

    I make really good moles, and I don’t think it’s because of my connection to Latin America. Despite the fact that I learned a lot of my flavors in my travels there starting even before I traveled there at 10 years old. I think it’s because, as a cook, I embody what a mole really is: a melting pot of ideas and concepts that continuously evolves. It has no real recipe, no real beginning, and no real ending. I cook, like a mole is. My first mole was a Cherry & Duck Mole for a special Taco Party event at my old cooking school in Brooklyn. From there I went on to create such masterpieces as my Passion Fruit Pork Mole, which came to be while I lived in Ecuador where passion fruit practically dropped from the sky. That recipe is also where I came to use carrots as a source of natural sweetness and a thickening agent (moles generally use a myriad of ingredients as thickeners). I even make mole cocktails and once made a recipe for a Cherry Mole Manhattan. The mole-making process delivers immense pleasure for me and reminds me of the importance of openness in cooking. It reminds me that even in what most consider traditional and culturally specific there is diversity.

  • The Herbal Dry Brine
    November 13, 2022

    As you are probably aware, brining helps create a more succulent meat. I am a big fan of the dry brine when it comes to cooking a turkey or even a chicken. The dry brine is easier and less messy than wet, and it delivers moist meat and a crispy and flavorful skin, which I happen to be a fan of. Adding herbs and spices to a dry brine (salt) adds flavor, texture, and a joie de vivre by creating an aromatic and flavorful experience customized to your palate. The salt on the skin draws moisture from the turkey and then comingles with the herbs, spices and salt and gets re-absorbed back into the turkey, creating flavorful, succulent and juicy meat. The salt and air dries out the skin which allows it to become extra crispy when roasted, and the herbs and spices add extra flavor as they cook and get embedded into the chicken skin by means of chicken fat. If you are lucky enough to get a jar of my Chipotle Cranberry Mezcal Herbal Brine in time for Thanksgiving, you will need to know how to use it. And if you didn’t get one (which is likely because I made limited quantities this fall), you can still make one using the same formula.

SEARCH BY SEASON




POPULAR TAGS
Blog Posts
USA
Winter
Spring
Fall
Rosemary
Summer
Edible Flowers
Sage
Mint
Parsley
Uncategorized
Basil
Chives
Cilantro (Corriander)
Connect
Oregano
Lavender
Odds & Ends Using Up Herbs
Europe
Asia
Thai Basil
Bay Leaf
Thyme
Tarragon
Mexico
Tips & Tricks
Categories
Hyssop
Arugula
Herbs
Places
Lemon Thyme
Herbal Crafts
Cocktails, Mocktails, Bitters & Mixers
Sweet Things
Herbed Pastas, Grains and Legumes
Meat, Poultry and Fish
Salads, Dressings & Vinaigrettes
Herbal Nibbles
Speciality Herbs
Marjoram
Pineapple Sage
Seasons
Savory

FOLLOW HERBAL ROOTS ON INSTAGRAM

View
Open
Crows garlic - a specifies of wild garlic. I bought some and planted with all the bulbs I bought, again not knowing it was edible. Im fairly happy and am making my first garden salt when these things go into full bloom, I suspect soon. They don’t necessarily bloom like you’d imagine I guess they look like little tight buds, which fascinates me. They spread like crazy too I guess and I’m totally not mad at that. 

The flowers come on these super tall wiry and strong center stalks. They are super wierd and super cool. Im in love. 

Leaves, stalks flowers all edible. More as more happens. 🌸💐🌿
View
Open
Lavender & Brown Sugar Ice Coffee
Makes 2 Coffees

This is a refreshing and easy to make ice coffee using your leftover coffee. The additional hint of lavender adds a touch of luxury and extravagance, yielding a pleasant afternoon pick me up.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon light brown sugar
a few lavender blossoms or 1 teaspoon lavender flowers (dried)
1 – ½  cups leftover coffee
½ cup half and half (better texture than milk!)
¼  teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups of ice

Directions

Muddle the brown sugar and lavender flowers together in a cocktail shaker for about 20-30 seconds. Add the coffee, half and half and vanilla. Fill with ice until the shaker is ¾ full and shake vigorously. Strain (double straining preferable) into a glass over ice. Garnish with a fresh lavender twig.

If you don’t have lavender growing in your garden, no problem, you can buy dried culinary lavender flowers. I love Curio Spice Company @curiospice  for all things spice related, and they have amazing lavender flowers from Oregon. Which I use in the winter when my garden is dormant.
View
Open
I’m so happy to have Jasmine in my life again I can’t wait till my plants grow bigger and produce lots more blooms. I love using them in cocktails.
View
Open
I’m a big pineapple, sage fan not only does it attract pollinators and hummingbirds with it’s vibrant fuchsia flowers, but it tastes heavenly, beautiful, herbaceous pineapple essence -one of my favorite everyday uses is in a ham and cheese omelette. It’s so delicious in a ham and cheese omelette.
View
Open
Garden leaves salad …. #happyNiss 

My garden to be clear 🤣💃‼️
View
Open
My pink dianthus, that I planted last year, are finally blooming this year. Their bright, magenta and hot pink flowers, mingled perfectly with a new. Recipe I’ve been working on (Actually and old {everybody’s favorite} winter recipe Cranberry Pear Coffee Cake ) I’ve been making a spring version using strawberries and Rhubarb - what you’re looking as is the crumble part (it goes inside and on top of the cake because of course) I make the crumble part of the recipe  super easy to make and I think more delicious because the flavors are melted into the butter - spreading around the flavor@more before it’s cooked. I put the dianthus in after the crumble is fully mixed - they taste like close and nutmeg so they will be perfect (and beautiful) in this Rhubarb, Strawberry and Blueberry Pink Dianthus Cardamon Rose Coffee Cake. - I don’t care that my titles are too long / the information in a title is key. 

Recipe soon- im working on a #mango version as well for summer. That one with verbena.
View
Open
This is #joy 

Herbs!
View
Open
Did you know the probes petals are edible? They taste like of mild strawberry and peach with a tinge of cloves essence. They are delicious in salads, syrups (cocktails and kick tails) and baked goods and im going to grow tuen for sure. This one I stole from my neighbors yard.
View
Open
Lavender Butter Almond Toffee Ice Cream (made with dried lavender flowers)
View
Open
I needed some hot stuff this evening so I made a spicy shrimp, squid ink pasta puntanesca kind of thing. 

This is what happens when you have a well stocked pantry and are out of fresh food. The only fresh was some old garlic and the herbs from my garden (mint, oregano and parsley) chili peppers and shrimp were frozen. 

15 minute meal!
View
Open
I make a good chicken schnitzel anyone who’s tried it knows that -the secret obviously is the triple threat of #herbalforeplay - herbs in the flour mixture (along with spices), herbs in the egg mixture (along with mustard), herbs in the breadcrumb mixture (along with lots of cracked pepper).

But this impromptu black, chickpea, broccoli salad that I made last night is amazing 

It’s got roasted, broccoli, black, chickpeas, some carrots, a lemon, a garlic vinaigrette and dates, feta lemon zest and sumac - the main herb i used is anise hyssop and the licorice essence mixed with the chickpeas, dates and broccoli- holy wow!
View
Open
For me. Celebrating #cincodemayo is about #celebrating the spirit of the #Mexican 🇲🇽 people- here’s a quick history lesson on the holiday and my famous #crespoorganickitchen #margarita #recipe #featuring one of my better ideas—- #mangopit #margaritamix 

And of course a beautiful Nissa #HerbSalt - Diablo Chili Colantro Margarita Salt #salud

For the longer and more in depth hostory lesson head to my #Mangoblog #UnderTheMangoTree and read my post History & Histeria of Cinco De Mayo. 

Link in story
View
Open
Instagram post 17996034169808686
View
Open
Grab some @crespoorganic dried #ataulfo #mangoes
View
Open
Sorry mango people for the delay in my communication but olof and ivin found one of thosenozark barracudas (black snake) and I had to go get scared. 

The good snake was released in the woods and unharmed.
View
Open
I’ve had this idea percolating for a while and if you know me, you know that my head is always percolating ideas and then boom randomly I execute it tonight I felt like eating a cookie and even though I’m so busy I took a moment to try a new recipe idea using dried mangoes and pistachios in shortbread cookies holy shit was it fantastic I made a few plain short breads because I didn’t want to miss out on a good cookie experience and I wasn’t sure if the other anyhow I’m gonna continue working on the recipe for mango flavor is amazing in it the way they bake into the butter incredible. You’re gonna love it.

@tedlasso_official  will love these. Maybe I can meet up with @jason_sudeikis in Kansas City and trade shortbread for KC recommendations?
LATEST TWEETS

Could not authenticate you.
LATEST POSTS
  • December 31, 2022
    “Different” Chicken Congee
  • December 20, 2022
    Nissa’s Christmas Mole (& Tamales)
  • November 13, 2022
    The Herbal Dry Brine
  • HOME
  • ABOUT ME
  • GET IN TOUCH
@2019 Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center

HERBAL ROOTS

ABOUT

TEAM

MEDIA

CONNECT

MY HERBAL ROOTS

NISSA

EVENTS

CLASSES

SERVICES

VIDEOS

SHOP

RECIPES

HERBS

SEASONS

WANDERINGS

..

HOT OFF THE PRESS

THE HERB BLURBS

Falling Back Into Myself | My Herbal Roots