Thanksgiving Turkey Herbs

I know, I know.  Thanksgiving is over and we've all moved on to Christmas.  I know.  Me too.  But, allow me one last post about Thanksgiving, as it was almost complete (but not quite) before the great turkey roasts around America.  I'm sorry.  Maybe you'll thank me next year, or the next time you need some seasoning for your roasted chicken (because it works for that, too)!

To make this turkey rub, you will need one teaspoon of each of the following dried herbs: 

basil

rosemary

marjoram

thyme

oregano

savory

sage

lavender

Crush them together in a mortar and pestle, or a food processor if you have one.

Store in an airtight container for up to three months.  Enjoy on all poultry dishes!

Next time, we'll be moving on to Christmas.  I promise.

A Thanksgiving Sage Wreath

If you're looking for a fitting way to decorate your home or need a hostess gift this Thanksgiving, you might want to try making a simple sage wreath.  Since many cooks use sage to season their turkey and stuffing, it makes perfect sense to incorporate this herb wreath into the celebration!  

To make a sage wreath you will need:

A large quantity of sage (10-12 big bunches)

Sturdy wire (formed into a circle) to serve as your frame

Floral wire

Wire cutters

Trim off the thick ends of your sage as well as any brown, spotted leaves.  Using your floral wire, attach one bunch of sage at a time, working your way around your wire frame until it is full.  Easy, no?

I'll be back soon with more Thanksgiving fun!

(and yes, I'm using sage again...  Can you sense a theme here?)

*****

Oh, just in case you're interested in more herb wreaths, you can go here!

Sage and Leaf Thanksgiving Placecards

Placecards for Thanksgiving can be easy, inexpensive, and elegant even when you use ordinary things from around your home.  For these placecards, I used sage from my herb garden, oak leaves, and twine.  Simply bundle together a small bunch of sage, a leaf, and wrap with twine.  Write your guests' names on each leaf and you've got yourself something extraordinary out of the ordinary.

I'll be back tomorrow with more Thanksgiving fun!

A Little Bit O' Green For Ya

That, my friends, are the beginnings of pretty yellow tulips and lemon mint in my herb garden.

Hooray!

Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!

Christmas Herb Wreaths

If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that I love my herbs.  I have been covering them up every night in an attempt to keep them alive as long as I can.  The heartier herbs like the rosemary and lavender have been holding up well.  Come the first hard snow and I'll have to let them go.  Until then, we are enjoying every meal we can get with fresh herbs from our back yard!  I did want to think up a fun way to dry my rosemary and lavender, since they were so bountiful this year!  I decided to make some Christmas herb wreaths!

For this project you will need:

a woody, hearty herb such as rosemary, lavender, bay leaf, etc.

a wreath form

floral wire

wire cutters

 I made my wreath form from some flexible sticks I got from my lemon verbena plant.  They were still a little green which helped them bend a little easier.  I wired them together with the floral wire.  Don't worry if your form isn't perfect.  The herbs will cover it up!

I then took individual sprigs of rosemary and attached it to my wreath form with the wire, working my way around the form.

When I was done, I used some ribbon to make a bow and hang it on my door.  Easy and lovely!

The nice thing about an herb wreath is that it will dry out and the herbs can be used in your cooking!  Plus, it smells amazing!

I did the same thing with my lavender.  I made this wreath a little smaller.

Thanks for reading!

I'm linking up to:

Just a Girl

Home Stories A to Z

Tatertots and Jello

Centsational Girl

Rustic Italian Ravioli Soup

Hello!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  We spent our time hiking a local park, trying in vain to hunt down some bittersweet sprays from local nurseries and florist shops, eating good food, and watching football.  It was a great weekend and like always, it went too fast!

I made this soup for the first time a couple of days ago.  Jason and the boys really liked it, "green things" and all!  I thought I would share it with you!  The recipe is adapted from Almost Homemade by Taste of Home, the edition was on shelves until August 2011.  It was originally called Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup.  Since we're more ravioli people in this house, I substituted ravioli for the tortellini.  Here is the original recipe.

Here is what you will need, according to my version!

Rustic Italian Ravioli Soup

3 Italian sausage links, casings removed (about 12 oz total)
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
14 oz beef broth
1-3/4 cups water
1 can (14-1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 package frozen ravioli (about 9-10 oz)
1 package (6 oz) fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
2-1/4 teaspoons minced fresh basil
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon minced rosemary
1/2 teaspoon chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Salt to taste

Remove sausage from the casings.  Chop the onion and mince the garlic.  Or, if you're like me, you'll coarsely chop the garlic.  I love biting into big bits of garlic!

Cook the sausage and onion in a Dutch oven over medium heat until the meat is cooked and the onion is tender.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.  Add the broth, water, and tomatoes.  Bring to a boil. 

Don't forget to scrape up those lovely bits on the bottom of your pan!

Add the frozen ravioli, spinach, herbs, and pepper.  Cook until the spinach is wilted slightly and the ravioli is tender.  Aren't those colors so pretty?

I am going to miss cooking with fresh herbs from my garden!  Unfortunately, my green thumb does not extend into my house.  I've killed more herbs in my kitchen than I would like to admit...

I served this soup with some homemade garlic Parmesan cheese bread.

Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.


Enjoy!

Happy Monday, all!  I hope you are having a great day!

Chilled Cucumber Soup

Our garden is overflowing with these beauties.  They are threatening to take over...
I don't mind.  They're quite delicious!

I've made salads, three batches of pickles, sliced them for snacks and had almost ran out of ideas for them.  Then I stumbled across this recipe.  To make this refreshing soup you will need:

4-5 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and sliced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sour cream or plain yogurt

1 green onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

4 1/2 teaspoons fresh dill

Place the cucumbers in a colander over a bowl, sprinkle with salt, and toss.  Let sit for 30 minutes.  Discard the liquid from the bowl.  Rinse the cucumbers under cold water, drain, and pat dry.

Chop your herbs and garlic.

Combine all of the ingredients into a food processor.  Cover and process until smooth.

Serve immediately.  Garnish with the dill and onions.


This soup is best served as an appetizer.  It is delightful on a hot day and has a wonderful, fresh taste.
When I made this soup, I substituted chives for the green onions.  It still tasted great!

I hope you're all enjoying these last days of summer!

Our Favorite Summer Salad

Happy Monday to you all!

I'm here with a scrumptious summer salad for you that will use up those wonderful tomatoes and the basil you have growing in your gardens.  It doesn't require that many ingredients but the flavor is amazing.  I hope that you try it!

Here's what you will need:

Tomato Basil Pasta Salad

1 pound of pasta, preferably corkscrew, Gemelli, or Fusilli
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pints cherry tomatoes, quartered
salt, pepper to taste
1/2 cup basil, chopped or torn
1 1/4 cups mozzarella, cubed

First, bring a large pot of salted water to boil.  Add the pasta and cook until al dente.  Before draining, reserve a cup of the pasta cooking water for future use.  Do not rinse your pasta!

Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook the onion in the olive oil until tender.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.

Add the tomatoes, salt, and pepper.  You will want the tomatoes to cook until they are soft and make a sauce.  They should still be somewhat "chunky."  Add the noodles to the tomatoes and stir until they are moistened.  Here is where you will add anywhere from a 1/2 up to 1 cup of the reserved pasta water. 

Transfer your pasta to a serving bowl and add the mozzarella and basil, stirring until combined.

This salad is wonderful served with bruscetta, garlic bread, or a nice crusty loaf of Italian bread and makes a nice lunch or light dinner.

Enjoy!

Our Herb Garden

Hello, Friends!  Happy Tuesday to you all!

This week my husband is back to school.  We had about a month of summer fun with him home and it was glorious.  Now we are back to reality, which can be horrible and yet okay at the same time.  The boys and I will miss you, Jason!  We also have company coming at the end of the week.  This is quite the busy week!

I figured since summer is "almost" over, I would finally put up a few pictures of our yard and gardens.  This spring was a rough one for us here.  The weather was very cool, rainy, and windy from about late April until the middle of June.  Many of our plants were set back and just haven't done as well as previous years.  However, our herb garden never fails to produce results.  I love herbs.  I remember when my Dad made my Mom an herb garden when I was little.  He carefully cut pieces of wood to make a border around it from trees he had cut down from the woods behind our house.  I loved walking through that herb garden because it always smelled so good.  I loved how perfectly seasoned my Mom's food tasted because she used her herbs.  I also love having my boys with me as I pick herbs.  They are always interested in the things that are growing there and are pretty willing to try anything that comes out of it.  Jason also expanded my herb garden for me this summer so that we could try growing a few new things.  It has been fun adding new flavors to our food!

This year I tried growing radicchio.  I'm not sure about it yet.  We've had it in a few salads so far.  Does anyone have any recipes for it?

Basil Minette

Variegated Thyme

Summer Savory

Lemon Mint

Mint, which tries to take over the garden every year.

Lemon Verbena

Tarragon

Lemon Thyme

Bay Leaf 

Flat-leaf Italian Parsley

Sage

Rosemary

Marjoram

Have you ever wondered how they flavor creme de menthe?  Apparently with Corsican Mint.  I think it smells amazing.  It's like a carpet of deliciousness.

Oregano

Globe Basil

Chives

Dill

We are growing two patio tomato plants in our herb garden this year.  I know they're not herbs, but we have limited space on our tiny city lot.

Rosemary

English Lavender

From left to right, Basil Red Rubin, Rosemary, Silver Thyme 

Variegated Basil

Basil

There you have it!  We grow a lot of herbs and love using them fresh and dried.  Does anyone grow any other herbs that I just have to try?  Let me know!  Leave a comment, will ya please?

I'm also planning on sharing our flower and vegetable gardens soon.  There will be a lot of green pictures this week!  Please, contain your excitement!

Blessings on your day!