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All About Thyme
A Weekly Calendar of Times & Seasonings
Celebrating the Mysteries, Magic, and Myths of Herbs
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Susan Wittig Albert
June 23, 2008
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All About Thyme is a weekly celebration of herbs, spices, and the changing seasons. It's all about the plants that have given us pleasure, seasoned our food, healed our bodies, and fed our souls. It's about growing, cooking, using, crafting, and enjoying the herbs in our gardens. It's about our calendar, too, and the many ways that herbs have connected our human lives to the changing times and passing seasons.
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This Week's Special Days:
A Potpourri of Celebrations
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Herb of the Year for 2008: Calendula
June is National Dairy Month
- June 25: Virginia was admitted to the Union on this day in 1788. The state flower: the American dogwood.
- June 27: National Indian Pudding Day
- June 29: The feast day of St. Peter, the patron saint of bakers, fishermen, harvesters. In England, this is Rushbearing Sunday.
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Herbs and Cheese
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Cheese has been an important part of the human diet for at least five thousand years. The smooth texture and unobtrusive taste of milder cheeses make them a perfect companion for savory herbs. Boursin cheese—a mild, creamy cheese flavored with herbs—was originally created in 1957 by François Boursin in the Normandy region of France. Now, the term is used to describe many herb-flavored cheese. You can buy it at the supermarket, or make your own taste-alike.
Boursin
1 cup farmer's cheese
1 cup Asaigo or Parmesan cheese, grated
8 ounces cream cheese, softened (don't use "lite" or low-fat)
1 stick butter, softened
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced chives
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
½ cup minced parsley
1 teaspoon fresh minced marjoram
1 teaspoon fresh minced thyme
In a large bowl, blend the cheeses. Blend in the butter and lemon juice. Add the other ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate to blend flavors.
Boursin Basil Rollups
8 ounces Boursin, softened
4 8-inch flour tortillas
16 fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
4 ounces thin-shaved deli roast beef
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
To make this easy appetizer, divide Boursin into fourths and spread one portion over each tortilla. Cover with fresh basil leaves, then layer with roast beef. Spread 1 teaspoon mustard over the meat. Roll up the tortillas tightly and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill 2-3 hours. To serve, cut in slices, straight across or diagonal. Arrange on a platter with fresh greens and herb sprigs.
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If you will have a very dainty Nettle Cheese, which is the finest Summer Cheese which can be eaten...as soone as it is drained from the Brine, you shall lay it upon fresh Nettles, and cover it all over with the same, and let it ripen Therein. Observing to renew your Nettles once in two days, and every time you renew them, to turn the Cheese.
—Gervase Markham, The English Housewife, 1615
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Things to Do This Week
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Celebrate National Dairy Month by learning how cheese is made Home Cheese Making, by Ricki Carroll, will clue you in. Recipes for making and cooking with cheese, from an expert cheese-maker.
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Discover the mythology of "Indian pudding" and read an old-fashioned recipe.
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Learn about the rushbearing ceremonies in the English Lake District, not far from where Beatrix Potter lived. The rushes used in churches, medieval dining halls, and other gathering places were often strewn with sweet-smelling herbs. For more about strewing herbs, check out the June 29 entry in The China Bayles Book of Days.
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Read about the many herbal uses of dogwood, Virginia's state flower, in Mrs. Grieve's 1929 Modern Herbal. Not so modern, but still a good source of herbal lore.
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Register your book club with Susan's Book Club Friends, and become eligible to participate in contests, giveaways, and phone chats with China's creator. Libraries, this is for you, too!
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Check out the information about Susan's 2009 book tour. We're starting to plan her April book travels. Midwesterners, your herb/garden group, library, or book club could be included in her schedule! |
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How could such sweet and wholesome hours
Be reckoned but with herbs and flowers?
—Andrew Marvel, 1621-1678
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Who's China Bayles?
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She's the beloved fictional herbalist in Susan Wittig Albert's popular mystery series, set in Pecan Springs TX. For more about her books, visit Abouthyme.com.
For more about herbs and the passing seasons, read China Bayles' Book of Days.
To find out what's going on in Susan Albert's life in the Texas Hill Country, read Susan's blog.
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Subscribe
Please forward this newsletter to anyone interested in mysteries, herbs, and gardening.
If a friend has forwarded this to you, click below to get your own subscription.
Subscribe to China Bayles' Weekly Herbal e-letter: "All About Thyme"
To unsubscribe: see link at the very bottom of this email.
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To read this e-letter on our website, click here: abouthyme.com/dayletters/080623.html
This newsletter is a publication of Susan Wittig Albert and it is provided free, via e-mail, to anyone, worldwide. ©2008 Susan Wittig Albert. Do not quote without specific permission.
Feel free to forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues with appropriate credit to Susan Albert.
This newsletter is designed, written, and edited by Susan Wittig Albert & Peggy Moody.
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email: salbert@tstar.net, webmistress@abouthyme.com
web: abouthyme.com
Susan's blog: susanalbert.typepad.com/lifescapes
China Bayles' blog: susanalbert.typepad.com/pecanspringsjournal
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