Bloodroot

Bloodroot "Many wild flowers which we have transplanted to our gardens are full of magic and charm, while others are full of mystery. In childhood, I absolutely abhorred Bloodroot; it seemed to me a fearsome thing. I remember well my dismay, it was so pure, so sleek, so innocent of face, yet bleeding at a touch, like a murdered man in the Blood Ordeal."—Alice Morse Earle, Old Time Gardens, 1901 According to Native American Ethnobotany, by Daniel E. Moerman, the Ponca Indians of South Dakota and Nebraska used bloodroot as a love charm, rubbing the juice on the palm of a young bachelor. The Micman Indians (Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick) used the same plant both as an aphrodisiac and as an abortifacient. The Iroquois employed it as ceremonial witchcraft medicine, believing that the smoke from the burning plant could cleanse someone who had seen a ghost.

Queenie's Rosemary Biscuits

• 1 tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, chopped very fine
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl. Cut the butter into pea-sized lumps in the flour mixture. Add rosemary and milk and mix with a fork to form a soft dough. (Do not overmix.) Roll out dough 1/2-inch thick on lightly floured board. Cut into circles with a biscuit cutter and place close together on a greased and floured baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 12.