October 2019 - Simply Me DIY

Basil (Ocimum basilicum), sometimes called sweet basil is another herb from the mint family, that I enjoyed this summer. It’s a culinary herb that smells absolutely fabulous and it tastes pretty good too.

Basil plant — A cool fact about the mint family plants is that they have square stems.

A few basic basil facts.

Basil is an annual. That means it dies off every year.

At the end of the season it’ll bolt (flower). Once the flowers dry they drop their seeds. reseeding itself for the following spring so it can start all over again.

There are several different varieties. Some are green and and some are purple and some that are a mixture of the two. But all of them have those amazing oils which causes that amazing aroma and awesome taste.

It likes both heat and sun. Mine sat in full sun all year and as I picked it over this summer, it only got bigger and bigger.

Don’t forget to keep it watered though. You’ll know when it needs water, it’ll look really sad.

If you only grow it so you can walk by, run your fingers through it and smell it daily, that would be okay. There were plenty of times you could find me standing over my basil while I watered it, just messing with the leaves so I could smell it.

But wait, there’s more. Basil has so many uses.

First and foremost, we all know it’s great for cooking. The flavor and aroma is divine. Especially fresh. Just pick a leaf or two and munch on them, if you have any doubt.

Go ahead, give it a try. I’ll wait….

There’s nothing better than fresh basil in your tomatoes sauce or on your morning eggs or even on your pizza.

I hear it’s great made into pesto too, but I’ve have to confess I’ve never tried presto.

I’ve used it all season as a fresh herb and I picked it and dehydrated it for the winter months.

As the end of the season gets here, it’ll begin to bolt. But, you can make it last a little longer by picking the flower buds off. As the plant flowers the leaves will begin to die off. If you pick the flowers, more leaves or whole stems will grow.

I’ve let mine go on to flower now, because they are I’ve already got a good supply dried to use over the winter and…..well…..it’s just a pretty plant.

I’ll just let it continue to flower and reseed for next spring.

Some benefits you may not know about.

Did you know basil is a great herb to add to your tea blends? If you haven’t read it yet, you can learn about making your own herbal tea blends here.

Basil has been shown to be mildly soothing and sedating. It’s considered to be an expectorant so as a tea it’s a good way to relieve a cough and get rid of that wet yucky stuff in your throat and lungs too. And it can help relieve a sore throat.

It’s really good for the stomach. There’s a reason it’s always been used in so many foods.

It’s been shown to relieve belly cramps and gas and it’s even been used for colic and to help prevent nausea.

And it’s even been used as an antiseptic.

Basil even has it’s own folklore.

In Greece basil is believed to bring good luck. So it’s planted in front of homes to bring the family luck.

The Greek Orthodox Church uses it in their holy water and it’s devoted to the Hindu Gods Krishna and Vishnu and is often cultivated around the temples where they were worshiped.

I hope you learned something new about basil and that you’ll look at it with a new prospective, with new ideas in all the ways you can use it.

Make a cup of tea with it after supper and relax. Pay attention to how it makes you feel. You might just find your new favorite after supper drink.

If you have different ways to use basil or an awesome recipe you’d like to share, leave it in the comments below. I’d love to know how you use basil.

Until next time.

Health, Wealth & Blessings ~ Tracey

At first glance you wouldn’t think these two things have anything to do with each other. How can aroma therapy have any relation to pickling spices?

Yeah, I was kinda surprised too. I’d never pickled anything before the refrigerator pickles I learned about this summer. If you haven’t seen that, you can find that recipe here.

But this pickling is different than the refrigerator pickling.

I found a recipe for picking in a book I’ve had for years, but hadn’t really ever used yet.

The reason for the need

The okra in our garden this year has exploded. By the end of the week, I’ve got 2-3 gallons of okra that I have to process. And while we’ve discovered we love fried okra, you just can have that every night.

We’ve never grown okra before, so we had no idea how much we would get.

I finally counted my plants last week and we have 21 okra plants. I think that’s about 19 plants too many, unless you plan to sell them at the farmers market. That might just happen next year.

So I’ve been drying a ton of it. I’ve frozen a few gallons of it, but I need to save freezer space for after hunting season. So I’m sticking to dehydrating.

But I wanted to try something different.

A friend of mine suggested pickling it. I’d seen some recipes, but really wasn’t sure about it. She kept telling me how good it was. She told me how her mom used to make it when she was a kid. And she also remembered how long they had to wait for it to be ready to eat.

Pickling spices in a jar. — Just sitting around in open jars would be great too.

So I got my books out (I love cook books and have a ton of them) and started looking. I found one pretty quickly.

The recipe called for pickling spices with a recipe for making your own pickling spices mix in the book too. I knew I didn’t have any pickling spices in the house, so I checked the recipe. I had almost everything called for and hoped the few things I was missing wouldn’t be a big problem.

The recipe talked about making adjustments for your own tastes, so I figured it’d be fine.

I put the recipe together in a mason jar and shook it to mix it all up. Then I opened the jar. Holy smokes!!!! Does that ever smell awesome.

I’ve used the spices twice now to make pickled okra and will probably try it with something else in the future, just not sure what yet. But I think what I’ll actually use it for next is to boil in water on the stove top for the incredible aroma of it.

The aroma therapy of pickling spices

This stuff smells like Thanksgiving Dinner and pumpkin pie all wrapped in one. It’s warming and homey and the smell alone will make you feel cozy. Like you’re wrapped in a warm blanket on a cold day.

I’m pretty sure you can pay money for stuff from the store that smells like this. But I say, why not make your own.

It’s really simple. You probably have most, if not all, these spices in your kitchen cupboard already. It’s easily adjustable, if you want to make any changes, although I think it’s great just as it is.

Pickling Spices Recipe Mix

This recipe is from the book Food in Jars, Preserving in Small Batches Year Round, by Marisa McClelan. This book has some really great recipes.

3 TBL black peppercorns
3 TBL crushed bay leaves
3 TBL whole allspice
3 TBL corriander seeds (I didn’t use this)
3 TBL mustard seeds
3 TBL juniper berries
1 TBL whole cloves
1 TBL dill seeds
1 cinnamon sicks, broken into pieces.

Shake herbs and spices. — Shake your jar to mix.

Put all ingredients in a jar and shake to mix.

I’ll be trying this to scent the house when it cools off a little. Probably should wait until we aren’t running the air conditioner on a regular basis.

I hope you check this out. I was greatly impressed and I think you will too.

Let me know what recipe you have a recipe like this. Sometimes a little aroma therapy is all it takes for a relaxing evening at home after work.

Until next time –