OK, guys and gals! I have to come up with an idea for a 1000 word (minimum) paper by next week. It has to be related to herbs. I am having a mental block. I can’t think of anything to write about. The paper has the chance of being published, too, so I want it to be a good, interesting topic. Please, feel free to throw out any ideas that pop into your head!!!
Common Name: Wild Yam (Devil.?Bones, Colic Root, China Root, Rheumatism Root)
Scientific Name: Dioscorea villosa
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Hey! Sorry most of my posts have just been my herb reviews lately. Things have been really busy around here and I haven’t had much chance to catch up on the blogging. I did, however, have time to try to make a little chocolate! I ordered cocoa nibs from Chocolate Alchemy and roasted them Sat. morning. Then I put them through my champion juicer to try to make a liquor, but it just seemed to be grinding it up and making them into a paste. Then, the juicer started to smoke, so I thought it might be a good idea to move on to another appliance. So, I put it all in my Vita-mix blender and added a little grain alchohol and maple syrup (thinking I could make a tincture for “chocolate medicine!”). Then, I poured it all into a bottle. But, when I checked it this morning, most of the cocoa seed pieces have expanded to take on the liquid and now it is a thick paste stuck in the bottle!! SO, I am going to let it soak there for a few weeks and then either try to scrape it out (it’s a narrow neck liter bottle!), or cut the glass in half!! I am not throwing my chocolate away!!!
I still have a pound and a half of the nibs left. I don’t know what I am going to do with those yet.
roasted nibs
ground nibs
Oh, you all are going to love this one!!!
Common Name: Cocoa (Xocoatl, Cacao, Chocolate, Bitter Water, Food of the Gods)
Scientific Name: Theobroma cacao
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Tagged by Steph
7 Things I plan to do
1. Get another tattoo someday
2. Take a trip to Italy
3. Re-learn Italian
4. Start flossing
5. Dance more
6. Go on a date with my husband sometime in the next century!
7. Stop spending so much time at my computer 
7 Things I can do
1. Make an italian red sauce from scratch without a recipe
2. Stupid party tricks with my double jointed arms
3. Be very cynical and sassy
4. Tie a cherry stem into a knot with my tounge
5. Grow almost anything
6. Spell my name in heirolyphics
7. Mumble alot
7 Things I can.?do
1. Hard core exercise (lung issues)
2. Be idle
3. Get off this damn computer!
4. Read fast
5. Stop my nose from running! (allergies)
6. Get rid of those last 10 pregnancy pounds!
7. Seem to finish this dang Meme
7 Things that scare me
1. Horror movies (Hate ‘em!)
2. My daughter ever being in pain of any kind
3. Violent people
4. Bad drivers/being in another car crash
5. Missing the next ALIAS episode
6. Being in debt
7. Public speaking
7 Random facts about me
1. I have skydived – once
2. I have a tattoo (and am proud to say I got it before it was in vogue!)
3. I had strawberry-blond hair as a toddler
4. I actually know how to pronouce “Caed Mile Failte”!
5. I don’t drink or do drugs (other than my homemade herbal potions)
6. I did warpaint for the movie “Last of the Mohicans”
7. I use to want to be an opera singer
7 Things I say the most
1. “We need to….”
2. “Chill out!”
3. “Don’t have a cow!”
4. To my daughter – “Hey cutie patootie”, “Hey noodle butt”, “Hey snuggle bug”, “you are a complete nut-nut!”
5. “Shut it!”
6. “You never know.”
7. “Alrighty!”
Tag 7 people
How about you just volunteer to tell me a little about yourself!!
Hey! So, we are finally getting home after a wild last few days. (Well, a wild last few weeks if you count the whole time Toby has been gone.) Toby has been in Arkansas for two weeks helping a friend tear down their house. We are hoping to use the wood from the house to build our own, once we finally find the right land. K was so happy to see her daddy that she stayed up until 11pm Thursday night when he came home! It was very sweet!
Friday was the rehersal and dinner for my step-bro’s wedding. And Saturday was the wedding. My step-family is very Irish, and as a surprise to everyone, my step-bro’s fiance hired a bag-piper to play while she walked to meet him at the altar, instead of the traditional wedding march. Very cool! Then, for the toasts, instead of having champagne, they served “Buttery Nipples” (half Bailey’s Irish Cream and half Butterscotch Schnapps)!! When my step-sis was trying to make her toast, she kept getting choaked up and downed at least 5 shots to get through. It was hysterical! K was a flower girl and did a very professional job Here she is practicing how to put on her tights for the wedding:
And throwing the flowers (first she started picking up all the ones that her cousin threw, then she figured out the deal and emptied her basket in 4 big handfulls!
And, of course, there is always the post wedding hide and seek with daddy’s head
Then on Sunday, we drove back down to Raleigh to our friends, Mark and Alisha’s wedding. Another beautiful event! It was outside at the botanical gardens and the rain held off just long enough to have a beautiful ceremony. After, the reception was at this fantastic vegetarian place with more great food! I think I gained 10 pounds this weekend!!
Anyway, blessings to all of you newly legalized lovers! May your beds stay nice and warm this winter, and for many winter’s to come!!
Common Name: Garlic (“Russian Penicillin”)
Scientific Name: Allium sativum
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I just went out to look at my shitake logs to see if they are getting too dry, and found 3 mushrooms growing! And the logs all look like the are about to bust open with more!! yay!! My first ‘shrooms! Now I need a good recipe. I can’t let them go to waste! Maybe the rain we get this weekend will help bring on more! (Let’s see how many more exclamation points I can use in this post!?!!)
I am happy to report that K woke up this morning and immediately said to me “Mommy, boogers are not for eatin’! They are gross an yucky an stanky!!” Then she happily ate her cereal, drank her milk, picked her nose, and ate a booger.
“Mmmmm, Mommy, I’m eatin’ my boogers!”
“Eww, gross, K, don’t eat your boogers. They’re not food”
“Yes they are, mommy! Boogers are food!”
“No, K, boogers aren’t food”
“Yes they are! Boogers are food. They are for eating! Mmmm!”
“K, boogers aren’t food! They are to keep out the buggies and colds and stuff. Don’t eat them!”
“Boogers are food Mama!”
“K, listen, I promise to stop eating my boogers if you stop eating yours!”
“But, Mama boogers are food!”
Etc…….
Yesterday’s conversation in the car went something like this:
“Mama, I want a sometin snack”
“Do you want some crackers?”
“I want some qwackers”
“It’s crackers, K, not qwackers”
“I said qwackers, mama!”
“No, K, it’s crackers.”
“Qwackers!”
“Crackers!”
“Qwackers!”
“Crackers!”
Etc……
Oh, and only 1 gram of fat per serving!
Baked Sweet Potato Fries
1 1/2 pound sweet potato, scrubed and peeled
2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce or Tamari
1 tsp. Veg. oil
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut potatoes into 1/4 inch strips. Whisk together Soy Sauce, Garlic, Oil, and Sugar. Toss Potatoes into the liquid mixture. Lightly oil a baking sheet and place the potato slices in a single layer on the sheet. Cook for ~20 minutes, stirring once at 10 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. ~4 servings.
I cut up a ton extra and tossed it in the liquid mix, then put it in baggies in the freezer. We’ll see how they turn out after they have been frozen.
This really pisses me off!!! Millions of Americans have given donations to churches and charities for Katrina victims. Now, they are asking to be paid for their services!!! Wait, isn’t that what organizations like Red Cross and churches and such are supposed to do, help those in need. Now they want reimburesement for the stuff that was donated to them in the first place??? Corupt, corupt people! It is part of our job, when we are born, to help others in need. You don’t ask for reimbursment for kindness and friendship!!