The Herbal Pantry

Herbs are a big part of life at Linderhof

Half of the back garden is the herb garden

(the other half is patio!)

But I'm not an herb dryer

(except for the lavender)

preferring to buy fresh grocery store herbs in the winter

relying heavily on parsley

and also a few snippets from the herbs I keep on my kitchen windowsill.

But I do "save" herbs for winter

Just not dried!

And last week I taught a class on 

The Herbal Pantry

at life+style

Loaves of bread were perfect to spread with herbal butters, herbal honeys and herbal jams

Biscuits made two ways -- with the same recipe

one with herbal flour/the other with herbal butter

The class said there was a difference!

And no class is complete without a sweet treat

My fairy cakes made with rose geranium sugar

and decorated with a rose geranium leaf.

Foods from my herbal pantry included:

rosemary salt

chive butter

mixed herb flour

(it's where those little snippets of herbs go when I pick too many for my dish)

tarragon vinegar

blueberry basil jam

lavender honey

basil pesto

Attendees got to take home some herbal salt and some herbal butter

which

they made themselves!

I had so much fun teaching this class

that next Saturday

September 7

I'm going back to Fire Lake Camp

for an Herbal Pantry Luncheon

We'll talk about and demonstrate some of the items from

The Herbal Pantry

Then we'll enjoy a Herbal Pantry Luncheon

A salad of mixed greens, Farmer's Market tomatoes with purple ruffles basil vinegar

Pasta with pesto

Carrot salad with a lemon verbena dressing

Herbal biscuits

Blueberry Basil Jam Cake

There's still room and I'd so like to meet you

Call Julie at  913-544-9260 or email her at info@firelakecamp.com

It should be a fun and tasty afternoon

Blue Row

The spring we spent in England

we lived mostly

in a little village of

Swerford

in the Cotswolds

In a cottage

called Blue Row

It's an 1806 row house

built as four a four family home

Somewhere in time,

it was changed to a "duplex"

We had half the home

A couple from London weekended in the other half.

The front door

The entry hall

Small

but it could be completely shut off

to keep out the damp cold

that one often thinks of when one thinks of England

The dining room

A cupboard full of dishes

(Unfortunately none blue and white)

A window overlooking the garden

And a small oak table and chairs

A stove in the fireplace nook.

This would have been the living quarters of one of the four houses.

The living room

It was the living quarters of of of the four houses

A much bigger fireplace had this house!

A tiny kitchen

with wood counters

No upper cabinets

And a window over the sink

Perfect for the basil that I bought and left

The "master" bedroom

All bedrooms had wardrobes and no closets.

A small matching dresser

A second bedroom

complete with beams

And books!

Across the lane

A 900 year old church

One evening we were regaled with a church bell concerto

 Every afternoon we were home

We had tea in the garden

And looking out the bathroom window

we often saw "Rusty" in the cow pasture next to the church!

And when we had guests

(and we did!)

We waved goodbye from the bedroom window!

I'm joining The Tablescaper for Oh, The Place's I've Been. . . .

Blue Row was a dream come true.    It was really fun to live in England in a village although it was a village of only 200 and most were weekenders.    But you could walk to the farm store, there was a decent pub but it was too far to walk to, and we did attend church while we lived there.     There was something special about walking across the lane and worshiping in a 900 year old stone church.    I would go back in a heartbeat.    (Taking some of my blue and white dishes with me, of course!)     The only thing that would have made the stay perfect was to have Oliver, our corgi with us.

Sunday Tea

I have the best job in the world

I write articles for two magazines

on local cooks.

The cooks invite me into their kitchen

and we chat

and they provide a recipe

and the dish that that recipe makes.

I photograph

both the cook and the dish

And when I leave, often I get to take things home.

Saturday, I was in Nevada

interviewing next month's cook

He made lemon blueberry scones.

He sent me home with two!

Often on Sundays we have a Sunday Lunch

We've now been eating out for Sunday Lunch

A big meal

In the middle of the day.

Instead of dinner

we often chose tea instead.

With Mike's lemon blueberry scones

and a pot of Earl Grey

It was a lovely late afternoon respite

After some time in the garden

And a Sunday nap!

When we have tea on Sunday

it is Sunday and so we chose china instead of our beloved blue and white

My other collection

Asian inspired bird and chrysanthemum china

in pinks and greens and aquas

The scone, perfect for tea

With an English bone handled fork

On a Royal Stafford Rock Bird tea plate

The cups and saucers are Spode Famille Rose

Like the blue and white, I think the variety of these Asian patterns work well together.

It's late afternoon,

the dogs have been taken to the park for their weekly run,

the nap's been taken

We found the scones lovely!

And perfect for Sunday Tea.

I'm joining Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage for Tea Time Tuesday and Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday.

Late Summer Lunch

The Lunch Bunch

four friends who get together 

once a month to share

food and friendship

We've been lax this summer

new grand baby (me)

grandsons visiting (Joyce)

trip to Paris (Sally)

babysitting in Portland (JoAnn)

and although we've gotten together

it wasn't all four of us

and it wasn't at Linderhof.

It was good to be back together again!

With sunflowers in an old blue pitcher

and birds on the table

(a gift from the Lunch Bunch)

"pecking" at the sunflower seeds

And blue and white dishes

(naturally!)

A lace tablecloth

Damask napkins in silver rings

Bach and Mozart playing softly in the background

A new recipe

(always)

Chicken "lasagna"

From friend Francie

(although I made only half a recipe --

more than enough for four)

Served with halved baby zucchini

sauteed with oregano, garlic and onion

It received three "thumbs up"!

Dessert --

Blackberry roll

From Williams-Sonoma Fruit Desserts Cookbook

The first time I've ever "rolled"

I was intimidated

It's quite easy actually

And the result is superb!

And after . . . 

Dishes are done

draining

for I've got to rush to an assignment interview

The breakfast room

Just minutes ago

it was the scene of laughter and chatter

Now all is tidy and quiet!

CHICKEN "LASAGNA"

As written by Francie

I halved the recipe (although I did use two cups of chicken) and baked it in an 8 inch square

and I did use the olive oil rather than the butter!

From "Uptown Down South." I decided not to post this under Pasta because it is really chicken and egg noodles and is almost like a kugel. It is good comfort food and can be adjusted easily to be lower-calorie and low-fat.

12 ounces egg noodles
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon basil
4 cups chicken broth
5 cups cubed cooked chicken
4 cups cottage cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
Parmesan cheese, grated

Cook egg noodles according to package directions; set aside. Melt butter over medium heat in sauce pan; blend in flour, salt, pepper and basil and cook until smooth. Slowly add broth and stir until sauce is thick and bubbly. Stir in chicken; set aside. In separate bowl, combine cottage cheese and egg; set aside. In 9x13x2-inch baking dish, layer as follows: 1/3 of chicken mixture, 1/2 of cooked egg noodles, 1/2 of cottage cheese mixture and 1/2 of mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers, ending with chicken mixture. Sprinkle heavily with Parmesan cheese. If ready to use, bake uncovered for 1 hour at 350 degrees. May freeze. When ready to use, thaw casserole for 24 hours in refrigerator and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Serves 12.

My notes: I deleted the 1/2 cup butter and substituted 2 T. olive oil, decreasing the flour accordingly also; used Wondra flour and low-fat cottage cheese and also added some chopped parsley to the cottage cheese mixture. I made this in 3 smaller casseroles and froze 2 of them. For the chicken, I cooked skinless bone-in chicken breasts in a small crockpot the day before and cooled and refrigerated the chicken and broth together overnight. I think this would be just fine with a rotisserie chicken also (might want to decrease the salt in that case).

BLACKBERRY ROLL

12 X 9 inch sponge cake (recipe follows)

1/2 c. cream

1/2 t. vanilla

1 T. powdered sugar plus extra for dusting

1 cup blackberries

Bake the sponge cake and let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes.    When the sponge cake is still warm to the touch, use a thin metal spatula to loosen the edges from the pan.    With a long side toward you, gently roll the cake into a cylinder with the parchment paper still attached to the bottom.     Allow the cake to cool completely, about 45 minutes, then gently unroll it on a work surface and remove the parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the cream, vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until soft peaks form when the whisk is lifted 5 to 7 minutes.

To assemble, spread the center of the cooled cake with whipped cream, scatter the berries on top of the cream and reroll the cake.    Transfer the log, seam side down, to a long serving platter.    Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours.

To serve, using a fine mesh sieve dust the top of the cake with a generous coating of powdered sugar.   Cut the cake crosswise into slices.

SPONGE CAKE:

vegetable oil spray

1/2 c. cake flour

3 large eggs, separated

2 T. butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 t. vanilla

1/2 c. sugar

Preheat the oven to 350    Coat a 12 x 9 jelly roll pan with pray and line with parchment paper.    Measure the cake flour into a sifter and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the egg yolks, melted butter and vanilla.    Set aside in a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, whip the egg whites until foamy.    Slowly add in the sugar and continue whipping until the egg whites are soft and shinny.

Pour the yolk and butter mixture into the egg whites and sift half of the flour on top.   Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the ingredients together.    Sift the remaining flour over the batter and fold in.

Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly.    Bake until the cake is golden, the center springs back when touched and the edges are beginning to pull away from the pan, 7 to 9 minutes for the sheet pan.

It's Thursday and I'm joining Susan at Between Naps On The Porch and Cuisine Kathleen for Let's Dish

Half Past Three

A cooler day found me in the kitchen

making brown sugar cookies.

A new recipe and a good one!

With freshly baked "biscuits" or cookies,

at half past three

I was on the porch

The wicker tray, with a cloth

(an vintage blue and white tea towel --

perfect for a tray cloth)

My Burleigh Asiatic Pheasant

A pale blue compared to the blue in the Royal Stafford version.

 A wee teapot -- just enough for two cups

And the cup is smaller as well

A plate with three cookies

I have to ration them --

or else I could eat them all!

And this afternoon as I passed the breakfast room

The sun was streaming in

Almost like a spotlight on the sunflowers!

It's Tuesday and I'm sharing my afternoon tea with Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday and Sandi At Rose Chintz Cottage for Tea Time Tuesday.

The sunflowers are for friend Pat, from Crooked Creek who is the real sunflower aficionado.    

The Dressing Room

I've always wanted

A Butler's Pantry

A Back Staircase

A Fireplace in the Master Bedroom

Linderhof has the latter

A fireplace in the Master Bedroom

But the master bedroom also came with

a large closet

with a regular size window

And not one door but French doors.

Much too nice to be shut away

This little room

Plus it has a wall of built ins

Cupboards above

and 9 drawers below

six huge drawers

and three smaller ones

Ten years or so ago I painted the cabinets black

And did decorative painting on the doors

The walls I painted dark green

It was definitely a green phase at Linderhof

a dark green phase

It's not a large room

There is enough room for my dressing table and chair

To the right is rods where I hang my clothes

And then tees and jeans and such

are in the drawers

The cabinets hold photo albums

for the cupboards are very deep

And they hold a lot!

The light fixture is a 1920's fixture

from ebay

much prettier than the ulitarian fixture that was there!

But after 10 years or so I got tired of the green

I got tired of the black

I felt as if the walls were closing in!

And besides, rooms need to be refreshed after 10 years.

Things get a little "tired"!

So last week I painted

Out with the black and decorative painting

In with a soft white

BM White Dove

They look, perhaps, as they did when they were first built

The walls were lightened as well

BM Old Country

A light beigey color with a touch of pink

But not enough pink that the room seems pink

The pictures to the left of the dressing table

are of Canterbury

The first one is of the cathedral itself

The second two are of the Cathedral Gate

that leads into the Cathedral close

Next to the Gate is a hotel

That's been there for centuries

The Cathedral Gate Hotel

Not the whole hotel

But enough

For one of those front windows

in that old hotel

was the room I spent three days in

When a friend and I traveled to England and Canterbury

years ago.

The pictures make me smile

For they are a reminder of another great trip to England

with a very dear friend

And three magical days that we spent in Canterbury

I like the lighter look of the dressing room

in relationship to the Master Bedroom

The whole room seems lighter now that the dark green 

is but a memory.

The Dressing Room is one of my favorite spaces

at Linderhof

A space that I never "wanted"

But rather a space that I "inherited"

And I'm glad that Linderhof came with the amazing dressing room!

I'm joining:

Boogleboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday

Katie at Creatively Living for Monday Funday Party

Susan at Between Naps On the Porch for Met Monday

Cindty at Dwellings-Heart of Your Home for Amaze Me Monday

Jenna at Rain On a Tin Roof for Give Me The Goods Monday

Blackberry Bliss

Blackberries are prolific on the prairie

Usually there ripe in July 

But it was an unusual Spring

and so the blackberries

are a bit later this year.

But they're abundant

and, unlike in our early days on the prairie, 

we buy our blackberries at the Farmer's Market

rather than pick them.

We like them plain for breakfast with a shower of sugar and a pour of cream,

in cobblers, in pies, in muffins

And . . . 

blackberry turnovers.

A tray fresh from the oven.

They're simple --

 a cup of berries cooked with sugar, cornstarch and water and a pinch of salt

until they're "jammy"

And then put in squares of puff pastry and baked.

Just perfect

For a late summer dessert.

Showered with powdered sugar to make them "perfect"

In the breakfast room

Filled with blue and white

Shamelessly, we serve coffee in our teapot!

It's a mix of Spode Blue Room and Blue Italian

two of our favorite Spode blue and white patterns!

Crisp browned puff pastry

surrounding a sweet blackberry filling.

A tea napkin and an English dessert fork.

It's Thursday and I'm joining Cuisine Kathleen for Let's Dish and Susan at Between Naps On The Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

Tea On The Porch

It was a busy day at Linderhof

The morning spent at my volunteer job

The afternoon spent cleaning house

For we were gone yesterday

And two loads of laundry as well!

But at half past three

I always stop

For a pot of tea

And a nosh

Freshly baked cheese scones

On the porch

Because we've been having unusual weather

too cool

and 

too wet

for August on the prairie

Real English scones

made with Cheddar

and served pipping hot

With butter

To melt on the scone

A wicker tray with tea things

My Wedgwood Asiatic Pheasant

It was a pleasant respite

Before I headed to the Farmer's Market

The screen porch

is at the front of the house

Doogie and Dolly

patiently

wait inside

with a

"I need a treat"

look on their face.

Little dog noses

Making marks on the 

clean porch door.

The scones are easy.

They're truly English and I did use real Cheddar.

Although the recipe did use American measurements!

They're a great tea treat.

CHEESE SCONES

2 cups self-rising flour

1/2 stick cold butter, cut into small cubes

1 t. baking powder

1/2 c. grated cheese

1/2 t. salt

1/4 cup milk (plus a little extra for brushing scone)

Heat oven to 400

Generously grease a baking sheet with butter, then sprinkle with flour (or use a silpat).

Put flour, baking powder, salt into a mixing bowl.    Add butter and mix until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.    Add and the grated cheese and mix well.

Add enough milk to make a soft pliable dough (you may use a little more or a little less than the 1/4 cup).

Turn the mixture onto a floured board and knead very lightly until just smooth then lightly roll out to 3/4 inch thick.    Cut rounds with 3 inch butter.   Place on baking tray and brush with additional milk.    Bae for 15 minutes or until golden brown and well risen.

Serve warm with plenty of butter.

A Southwest Missouri/Southeast Kansas Secret

There is a Chinese phenomenon in southwest Missouri/southeast Kansas

called

"Cashew Chicken"

Started some 50 years ago by Leong

at his diner in Springfield, Missouri

The story on the menu doesn't tell the whole story

It seemed that after Leong opened his restaurant in Springfield

that there were few customers.

He realized that the people of Springfield weren't familiar with Chinese food

But they did eat fried chicken

and mashed potatoes and gravy.

He therefore created a dish that he called

"Cashew Chicken"

Chicken, deep fried

with "gravy" poured over all and cashews and green onions sprinkled on top.

His dish proved popular, the restaurant succeeded

And the dish spread not only throughout the Chinese restaurants in Springfield, Mo

but into other towns in Southwest Missouri

and soon spilled into Southeast Kansas.

Sometimes it is referred to as "Springfield" Cashew Chicken

to differentiate it from real cashew chicken.

Folks from other places who come to Springfield and order "Cashew Chicken" get quite a surprise with the dish they are served.

On the other hand,

we SW Missourians/ SE Kansans

who go out of the area and order Cashew Chicken

get quite a different dish than the one they are used to.

And even though other restaurants in the area serve Cashew Chicken

None really compare to Leong's -- the original!

Long ago, I was given the recipe for Leong's Cashew Chicken

I've never made it --

Preferring to eat my Cashew Chicken out!

LEONG'S CASHEW CHICKEN

6 boned chicken breasts, cut in pieces

1 egg

2 T. water

flour

peanut oil

vegetable oil

1 C. chopped green onions

3 c. cooked rice

1 7 oz. package cashews, chopped

Sauce:

6 chicken bouillon cubes

3 C. water

4 T. cornstarch

2 t. oyster sauce

dash pepper

Beat egg with 2 T. water.    Dip chicken in egg miture and roll in flour.    Deep fry in equal parts of peanut oil and vegetable oil.   Fry till brown.

Mix ingredients together for sauce.    Cook until the sauce is heated through.

Cook rice and drain.    Serve chicken on top of rice and cover with the sauce.    Top with crushed onions and cashews.   Serve 4.

I got this recipe from friend Janet who got it from friend Anna who got it from Leong himself!

It's Tuesday and I'm sharing Springfield Cashew Chicken with Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday.