FLOUR

     I must admit, I am still learning about herbs.  I remember as a child in our house, we did not use much more than salt and pepper as seasonings for our food.  Onion was also a go-to source of flavor.  Dill was in pickles.  Horseradish was in sauce.  I have always heard of chamomile tea, but have never had it. Lavender was a flower. Chives were fancy little bits of green on one's restaurant-baked potato. Mint we put in our iced tea and parsley adorned one's plate.  When I was about 10, I became friends with a next-door neighbor whose family was Italian.  Eating at her house expanded my knowledge of herbs to basil, oregano, garlic, rosemary, bay leaf, and FLAT leaf parsley.  What wonderful aromas came from her kitchen!  When I began cooking I followed recipes that included herbs until I got comfortable enough to experiment on my own......and that process is ongoing.  Yes, I have had to throw out a mistake or two when adding way more sage, or tarragon, or dill than necessary, but that's how you learn...by doing. 

English Thyme

     Another thing I have learned about herbs is that there are recipes for the quick breads that I like to bake that include herbs.  The photo at right is a Lemon-Thyme Tea Bread, made from a recipe taken from a 2013 Special Collector's Edition of Taste of Home magazine.  Those tiny green pieces you see are what's harvested from plants like the above English Thyme plant.  This recipe uses either 1 tablespoon of minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme.  The bread is described as "pound cake-like bread," and I can attest to that being true.  It basically comes together fairly easily mixing the butter/sugar/egg combination with the dry, alternating with some milk that has been warmed with the thyme. Lemon juice and peel are added at the end, resulting in a fresh  tasting sweet bread with a slight earthy fragrance. For the recipe go to www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/lemon-thyme-tea-bread.




& FLOWER 

     Continuing with herbs, when I saw this plant at left at a local garden center, the tag said "Orange Mint."  I was intrigued.  I am still experimenting and researching ways to use herbs, but honestly I acquired this plant just because of its scent and foliage.  If one enjoys growing plants, I believe we choose them for first how they look and then our other senses take over; predominantly smell, touch, and taste.  I know I am a strong visual learner, so it makes sense that I would choose a plant over how it looks, which is actually how I was introduced to mint at a young age.  Then my sense of smell took over and the orange scent captivated me. Orange mint is good to put in beverages as garnish and for flavor.
     I also have varigated pineapple mint that is growing in my perennial bed and works as an edging.  The second photo is my chocolate mint.  It actually does smell and taste like chocolate and the plant stems are dark.
   

Chocolate mint

Peppermint plant

     The photo at the right is a peppermint plant.  I also have a spearmint one.  As I said in my bread story above, my first knowledge of mint was that it was only put in iced tea.  I remember my mom was so taken with how pretty it was and the smell it exuded when you brushed by it or just simply touched it, that she planted some in a flower bed.  She soon learned of its desire to move in and become part of our family.....haha...and it was spearmint.  Mint is worthy of its aromatic abilities, but will quickly takeover a flower bed or wherever you plant it if not kept in check.  Luckily that is easy to do as it can be either be dug or just pulled out to share with friends or snipped and started in pots.  It will even root in water.  Notice mine are in pots.
     If you enjoy foliage and floral scent in your plants like me, here are two sites from which I have reacquainted myself with mint: www.almanac.com/plant/mint and www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/mint/growing-spearmint-plants.htm.