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Letter From The Editor

This time of year my thoughts turn to crafting from the garden. One of the best things about gardening is being able to share it with friends and family, especially during the holidays. I'm starting to make soaps, potpourri, wreaths, and sachets from all the bounty of our garden.

Last week, I was able to share my techniques for making wreaths with a group of ladies from our church during our annual "Fall Decorating" class. Everyone seemed to have a good time and everyone ended up with a special creation to adorn their door, wall, or mantel.

If your interested in directions for making your own wreath for the holidays click here for the details with pictures and examples.

We hope you enjoy this issue.

Julia

Sage Advice For Your Thanksgiving Meal

"Sage is singularly good for the head and the brain; it quickeneth the senses and memory, strenghteneth the sinews, restoreth health to those that hath the palsy, and takes away shaky trembling of the members." John Gerard

In times past, sage was thought to be a cure for just about anything. In fact, it obtained its official name salvia from the Latin word salvus which denoted good health. Now it seems about the only thing we use it for is cooking. In our home, we especially enjoy it in our dressing. Any stuffing recipe will be enhanced by using fresh herbs from th garden. It's fun to bundle up in November and go out and pick fresh sage, as well as thyme and oregano, for a Thanksgiving stuffing. Below is a recipe that our family loves which I found years ago in my favorite herb book called The Pleasure of Herbs , by Phyliss Shaudys. This was her favorite recipe and it has become ours as well. It involves adding sauted chicken livers, onion, and celery to quarts of bread cubes and lots of chicken broth, plus fresh sage, thyme, parsley, oregano, and a few eggs.

It takes about 2 hours to make from start to finish, but makes enough to feed a crowd or to freeze for several meals. To cut the time by 20-30 minutes, scrub the celery, cool, crumble, and refrigerate the livers, and cube the bread the night before.

Phyl's Chicken Liver Stuffing (For a large turkey or 2 roasted chickens, plus leftovers)

Ingredients
• 3 cups chopped celery
• 3 cups chopped onion
• 1 - 1 1/2 lbs. chicken livers
• 1/2 lb. butter or oleo
• Garlic powder
• 3 or 4 fresh sage leaves, minced
• Leaves of 2 fresh sprigs of thyme
• Leaves of 1 sprig of oregano
• 2 long loaves white bread, cubed
• 6 eggs, blended with a fork

Directions

• Start the stock by placing rinsed turkey neck and gizzards in 3 qrts. salted water and simmer on stove while preparing the dressing. Add 2 chicken bullion cubes and more water as needed.
• Chop up celery and onions, placing some of the cleaned root-ends plus celery leaves in the stock pot for flavoring.
• Saute washed and drained chicken livers in 4 - 6 T. of the butter (depending on whether you're using 1 or 1 1/2 lbs. livers) in large skillet. Season with a couple of dashes garlic powder. Turn for even browning. Remove from skillet and set aside. Leave drippings in pan.
• Add rest of butter to skillet. Saute celery first, adding onions in a couple of minutes. As the vegetables become softer, add the herbs and stir well. Turn off heat.
• Cube the bread, crusts and all, and place in large pot.
• Chop up the chicken livers finely and add to the bread.
• Mix in the stirred eggs and the sauted vegetables and herbs.
• Strain the stock in colander and pour on as much as needed to make the dressing cohesive. Mix well. Stuff.
• Bake the extra stuffing for 1 hour at 350 degrees.
• Reserve remaining stock for gravy

ENJOY!

More tips for using fresh sage and other herbs for the holidays: Use fresh sage, thyme, and oregano in our turkey stuffing, if possible. Sage sprigs placed on top of the roasting turkey or pork roast will emanate aroma and flavor reminiscent of grandma's house! Garnish the platter with fresh sage sprigs. Also, you can tie bunches of dried sage with red ribbons and sell at bazaars in plastic food storage bags. Include a recipe.

Consider making a kitchen wreath by covering a straw or styrofoam wreath base with bunches of santolina or artimisia, attach with florist wire and picks, Add flowering sprigs of any of the following: peppermint, orange mint, oregano, or purple basil. Tuck in dried sprigs of rosemary, thyme, parsley, and bay. Embellish with garlic or shallot bulbs, whole nutmegs, cinnamon sticks, and dried cayenne peppers, if desired. If your giving this as a gift, identify the edible herbs. Click here for more holiday crafting ideas.

• Cut back mums to about 4 inches after they bloom. Plant then and mulch with pine straw or loose bark mulch to protect the crown and any shoots that emerge too early in spring.
• Plant garlic cloves 3 inches deep in rows about 8 inches apart in fertile, well-drained soil. Mulch with 2 inches of straw after a hard freeze. The cloves develop roots during the winter.
• Plant pansies in outdoor pots with tulip bulbs in between. In the spring the tulips will emerge and you will have a great looking pot for spring.
• Also for your pots, consider planting ornamental kale and cabbage that does double duty as a garnish for your platters.
• Mulch tender perennials with pine straw after the first hard freeze. If you mulch too soon, mice will overwinter there and cause problems later on. After a freeze they will find somewhere else to hide.

With Snaptotes, you can use your own pictures to design a personalized handbag, purse, or tote. Great gift idea for grandma!

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