I had a fair amount of fun this afternoon demonstrating for the fifth year in a row at The Great Allentown Fair. I showed how to bundle and label herbs to use all winter, how to make herb oil and how to make herb cheese. This year’s Fair Queen, Ayla Blatt, even helped out with plating. You never know what will happen at a fair.

Herb Oil
Favorite Herb
Oil
Process clean herbs in a food processor until it’s nearly a paste. Remove to a small pot, cover with oil and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and let sit aside at least 5 minutes. Strain through a lined strainer without agitating and use immediately or store in the refrigerator up to to weeks.

It’s as inevitable as taxes, traffic, morning alarms and packing lunches, it’s back to school time...again. Back to school time means weekday morning reminders, chaperoning football games, homework, planning, dreaming and did I mention traffic and packing lunches? What to do? What to do? Grin and bear it. What else?

I will be demonstrating this coming week at The Great Allentown Fair for the fifth year in a row. To mark that special anniversary, I thought I would focus on herbs for a sort of fresh fair essence demonstration. As you Dear Readers know, I struggle with my garden. The only thing that seems to grow happily are herbs and stuff the birds poop (I mean plant) so I thought I would share with my demo attendees what to do with what they got.

What I got right now is shown above- parsley sage, oregano, chive, lemon thyme, Greek basil, various edible flowers and mint. What I also got is a yard sale dehydrator. Put the two together and what do you got? Yup. Dried herbs! Usually I just air dry herbs but I’m experimenting... Dehydrators are kinda boring but they are useful. It’s been a bit cooler here too so it’s been running, a lot!

All I did was harvest, wash and tie the herbs in bundles (this makes for a little longer dry time but looks prettier). Next, I layered the herbs on the dehydrator tray, grouping the ones together based on how long they take to dry (I used the machine’s reference book), adjusted the heat, plugged the thing in and started sipping mai tais. Below is how they look. The chives yellowed but the others look nice. They will go in labeled bags and used as needed.

I also like to tie assorted herbs together in bundles, dry them, bag and label them and then toss the bundles in soups or sauces and such all winter. I will do that soon as fall is approaching.

Have you ever been inspired to bake something by a sunset? You know, Dear Readers, the type of sunset that follows a thunderstorm, where pinks and violets dance across a gray-blue horizon. Yep. That type of sunset.

Last night my husband and I helped to chaperone our youngest daughter Mia’s first, last high school football game. (Her school clobbered the other team by the way.) Anyway, I figured Russell and deserved a lovely treat, especially after enduring a bumpy ride through the Pocono Mountains while 30+ hyper high school teenage musicians screamed...I mean ...sang Queen songs ALL the way home. Badly. It was adorable but bad none the less. (I say this with love because these are a great group of kids!)

So, this morning I set about to create a pie inspired by yummy things like blue skies, butter and blueberries. Well, Dear Readers, I think I did. I created a Blueberry Rose Pie.
Blueberry Rose Pie

Almond Crust
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup almond flour
2 tablespoons lightly salted almonds
1 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3-4 tablespoons ice water

​Blueberry Rose Filling
2 pints fresh blueberries
1. cup sugar
Pinch of Kosher salt
1/3 cup all- purpose flour
​3 candied hibiscus flowers, minced (optional)
2 teaspoons rose extract
1 tablespoon rose liquor

Rose Crisp Topping
1 cup all- purpose flour
1. cup sugar
2-3 tablespoons pesticide-free rose petals
1/2 cup butter

To prepare the filling:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and gently toss to combine. Set aside.

To prepare the rose crisp topping:
Combine all ingredients in a food processor until well combined. Set aside.

To bake:
Remove the crust from the freezer, line with parchment and pie weights and place on a lined baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights, prick the crust with a knife and bake until lightly golden, about 8-10 minutes longer. Remove and add the filling and then spread the topping evenly over the surface and to the edges. Bake until bubbly and the crust edge is golden, about 60-70 minutes. Cool and serve with ice cream.

One of my hands down favorite make ahead “Go To” meals is red sauce. I love to watch the big red and meaty pan of sauce bubbling away on my stove. There are just so many things you can do with red sauce The sauce is be made with ingredients that are usually in your garden, refrigerator and pantry.
Red and Meaty Sauce
To a large pot add:
2 tablespoons oil
1 pound ground meat, such as beef, preferably organic
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Brown the beef and add:
1 diced onion
1 peeled and diced carrot
2 diced celery stalks.
Let all these ingredients become friendly in the pan. (Make sure you’re adding salt and pepper and red pepper flakes as you go.) After about 5-7 minutes add:
1-1 1/2 cups red or white wine
When the wine is evaporated add:
1-11/2 cups whole milk which will help tenderize the meat.
When the milk is gone add:
2, 28 to 32 ounce cans of whole tomatoes that have gone for a ride in a food processor or you’ve broken up with your hands.
2 to 3 tablespoons of brown sugar to balance the acidity of the tomato and more salt and pepper to taste.
Bring this yummy mixture to a low boil and then lower the heat and give it a stir every so often over the course of the next couple of hours. When it’s nice and thick add:
chopped fresh herbs to taste such as parsley, oregano, basil and even a little thyme if you have some.
A little more tasting, a little more adjusting then, allow it to cool. Cover the sauce and store it in the fridge.

I use this sauce as a base for casserole dishes such as lasagna or manicotti or simply serve it over vegetables or of course, pasta. Often times I make several casserole dishes with this big pot of sauce and freeze them for when I need emergency dinners. Just know that freezing can cause tomato sauce to separate so there’s nothing you’ve done wrong, that’s just something that happens to tomato products when they’ve been frozen.

I haven’t been eating as I should and my joints and ego are feeling it- big time. What to do? What to do? One thing. Make better choices. Dah. Right? Right. Again I ask, what to do? The short and simple answer of ‘make better choices’ is obvious but easy to do, even though we know we should. I thought I would review some healthy choices that satisfy yet are not too fattening and are enjoyable to eat. A sort of slim pick’ns list to help us get on track.
1. For something salty? Air popped, lightly salted, organic popcorn. Mix it up by using different kinds of corn kernels.
2. Dried fruit and dark chocolate for something sweet.
3. Graham crackers with peanut butter and jam.
4. Popsicles for something cold and refreshing.
5. Breakfast? How about whole grain toast with nut butter and fresh fruit on top instead of jam?
6. Toss together crispy salad greens with lemon juice, smoked salt, feta cheese and top it with a fried egg.
7. Use one piece of bread to make an open face sandwich and skip the top piece.
8. Eat red sauce over vegetables and squash curls and skip the pasta.
9. Swap ground chicken for beef and make spicy tacos.
10. Exchange ice cream for sorbet or sherbet.

My husband Russell and I took a sunset stroll around the grounds of a local park with our dog Lollipop this evening. The sky sparkled with glowing colors of orange and burnt yellow. The birds chirped and sang and all manner of joy was in the air. I quickly snapped this photo to try to capture the fairy garden colors to share with you. I hope you enjoy.

Prodigiously
Romping (throughout an)
Overwhelmingly
Magical (night)

Everyone’s plants are exploding here in the east. Wisteria are wandering and blooming, roses are forming buds, fruits are growing in tree limbs and my ginormous rhododendron is a rambling riot of blooms. I have never really given much thought to the plant that does what it wants and has adorned most the
of the side of the house for years and years. It was here when we moved in almost 10 years ago and from the looks of it it was there 10 or 20 years before we ever got here. So I started thinking, as I often do, what to do? What to do? Turn to the experts of course. So I got on the Internet, as I often do, and what I did when I got there what has went straight to the Farmer’s Almanac website. https://www.almanac.com/plant/rhododendrons

It turns out, rhodies (as gardening geeks like my parents) call them love warm and moist (title of your sexy tape) summers. I’m sure glad something’s benefiting from weather like that... goodness knows it’s not my favorite. Anyway, the vivacious pinks the plant offers in late spring are happening just in time for prom pictures, even if the moist part of the rhododendron- growing equation is also here. Oh well, take the blooms with the boom of thundershowers and smile for the camera.

This past week I’ve been to both a meeting and a conference, so far. Besides the subject matter, the commonality between the two events has been wraps. Wraps are fun because they can be made with most anything from a gluten-free tortilla to a lavash or even bread that’s been rolled flat. A wrap can be filled with sliced cold cuts or veggies. The bread elements can be spread with butter, cream cheese or even salad dressing. The great thing about wraps is they are wonderful for when you do not have much to eat in the house and you need a last minute meal.

Sometimes, I make them with just feta cheese. (This was a favorite lunch of our oldest daughter, Alyssa.)
Don’t exclude the obvious meal elements you have on hand like cheeses or vegetables or even fresh or fried fruits. Hard boil or scramble up some eggs and add those to the sandwich for a hit of inexpensive protein. How about a dash of hot sauce or a dollop of salsa and sour cream? In other words, whatever you have on hand, put it under wraps.