Celebrate National Garden Week with Presentations, Events and Roses

Hello and welcome to National Garden Week. It starts June 7 and runs through June 13. This year we are celebrating with a couple of special events. June 14 you will find us at Garden Gait, the garden walk and boutique of the Lisle Women's Club.  A few years back I developed a special tea for them which I sell as a fund raiser for their scholarship fund. You can get GARDEN GAIT TEA as both a sun tea and a loose tea throughout the month of June.  The proceeds will be donated to the Lisle Women's Club.

Garden Gait Tea

On June 9 we will be doing the program Edible Flowers at the Wood Dale Public Library, Wood Dale, IL at 7 pm. We will discuss a variety of edible plants and flowers and sample a few items made with these delicious flowers.

 

Then on June 11 we are at the Winfield Public Library with Crafting Herbal Blends that includes our new Blending Bar where participants can create their own blend to take home using the information learned during the presentation.

 

June is also (among many other things) National Rose Month.  So are two lovely recipes using Roses for you to enjoy.

 

Happy Garden Week!

 

The classic Collins took a trip through the garden with this twist by bartending vet Charlotte Voisey, I love that it uses Rose Water as an additive.  A couple drops of red food coloring and this Gin drink will be perfect served as a holiday cocktail.

Herby Rose Collins

• 1 1/2 ounces Hendrick's gin
• 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 ounce rose simple syrup (see below)
• 1/2 ounces fresh cucumber water
• Garnish: cucumber slice, rose petals 

1.     Craft a rose simple syrup, add 2 cups sugar to ½ cup water and bring water to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar. Then stir in ½ cup rose water and reduce heat to simmer.  Simmer the mixture for about 15 minutes. Then remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature before transferring to a jar and refrigerate and use up within 3 weeks.

2.      Create cucumber water by washing and chopping an English cucumber (leave the skin on) and mashing in a juicer. Use the juice within a day.

3.      Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled. About 45 seconds.

4.      Strain into a Collins glass over fresh ice.

5.      Garnish with a cucumber slice and a crumble of rose petals.

Ricotta Crepe Blintzes with Roses

·         1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
·         1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
·         1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
·         2/3 cup whole milk
·         6 tablespoons water
·         3 large eggs
·    1 cup plus 2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
·         1 cup plus 2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
·         2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
·         1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
·         1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
·         1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting
·         2 1/4 teaspoons rosewater
·         6 tablespoons unsalted butter
·         2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
·         3 tablespoons honey
·         1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
·         2 teaspoons edible dried rose petals

1.      Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the chopped walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 7 to 8 minutes, until browned and fragrant. Transfer to a plate to cool.

2.      In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Whisk in the milk, water and 2 eggs until a smooth batter forms. Set aside while you make the filling.

3.      In a medium bowl, combine the mascarpone, ricotta, toasted walnuts, lemon zest, cinnamon and allspice. Stir in the 1/4 cup of confectioners’ sugar, 2 teaspoons of rosewater and the remaining egg until smooth. Refrigerate the filling while you make the crêpes.

4.      In a nonstick 6-inch skillet, melt 1/2 tablespoon of the butter over moderately high heat. Pour 2 tablespoons of the batter into the skillet, immediately swirling the pan to evenly cover the bottom. Cook until set, about 45 seconds. Flip the crêpe and cook until lightly browned on the bottom, about 45 seconds more. Transfer the cooked crêpe to a work surface and repeat with the remaining butter and batter to make 11 more crêpes.

5.      Brush a 12-by-8-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Spoon 3 tablespoons of the filling into the center of a crêpe, fold in the sides and roll up into a tight tube. Transfer to the baking dish, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining crêpes and filling, fitting the crêpes in the baking dish snugly in a single layer. Brush with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and bake for 25 minutes, until the crêpes are light golden brown and the filling is warmed through.

6.      Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the honey and lemon juice with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of rosewater and warm over moderate heat. Drizzle the honey mixture evenly over the crêpes, then lightly dust with confectioners’ sugar and sprinkle with the rose petals. Serve the crêpes warm or at room temperature.

MAKE AHEAD - Refrigerate the crêpes and filling separately for up to 3 days before filling and baking the crêpes.

NOTES - Edible dried rose petals are available at specialty food shops, online or harvest from the garden if you do not treat your roses for pests or disease.

 

Summer Charitable gifting and an Iced Tea Recipe

Hello and welcome to National Garden Week. It started June 7 and runs through June 13. 

This year we were hoping to celebrate with a participation in the Lisle Women's Club Garden Gait, garden walk and boutique held at Lisle Station Park.  However due to Covid-19 the Lisle Women's Club chose to postpone this year's event to 2021.

Garden Gait Tea

We have decided to make available our specially created Garden Gait Tea in both 100% herbs or a combination of herbs and black tea.  This tea was designed by the members of the Lisle Women's Club several years ago and we sell the tea each year and donate a portion of the sales to the Women's Club.  So if you order either style of Garden Gait Tea in the next 30 days, we will donate 50% of the sale price to the Women's Club to add to their scholarship fund. 

You can get Garden Gait Tea both with and without caffeine and as either a sun tea or a loose tea throughout the month of June.  

On June 17 we will be doing an online class called Language of Flowers.  This presentation includes learning about using the language of flowers, or floriography, to send coded messages during the Victorian era.  We also include understanding the messages and practice figuring out different bouquets created for interpretation.  This program will be done through District 214 and one can register for the class using this link: Sign up for Language of Flowers.

Participants will be sent a digital handout and a link to join the online class.

June is National Iced Tea Month, so since we were talking about tea earlier I thought I would share an easy Iced tea you can craft at home using fresh or dried herbs.

Wisdom Tea

Mint for wisdom, rosemary to improve the memory and lemon balm, sometimes called "The Scholars Herb."  We cannot guarantee it will make you wiser, but it is cooling and refreshing!

1/4 cup Peppermint

1/4 cup Spearmint 

1/4 cup Rosemary

1/4 cup Lemon Balm   

Combine the herbs together and place in an airtight jar.  For each serving of tea, use 1 tsp. mix to 1 cup boiling water.  Add some honey, if desired.  Store in fridge for a delicious iced tea.

Sweet Tea and Garden Walks

This past weekend I had my booth at the Elmhurst Garden Walk and Faire.  It was a bit on the warm side, but we were in the shade and most of the day there was a nice breeze.  I served a tea I originally made for the Lisle Women’s Club garden walk called “Garden Gait.”  The tea contains black tea, with lemon verbena, black berry leaf, hibiscus and lavender.  The color is on the reddish side of brown and has a certain natural sweetness.  Now I am not a lover of sweet teas and although I tell my customers that honey is the best way to sweeten an herb-based tea, I rarely use it myself.

Now in the summer I know that people love a southern sweet tea, even McDonald’s seems to be serving one these days.  So when  Marcus Stout of Golden Moon Tea posted this recipe for a semi sweet tea, one that strays from the ratio of 1 cup sugar to 5 cups tea used in traditional sweet tea recipes, I had to share it with you.

This iced tea recipe is a good example of a semi sweet tea. He used a Honey Pear Tea to enhance the honey flavor of it as well as adding wonderful fresh pear notes.  It was the addition of grated ginger that had me grabbing the ingredients to try it.  The fresh ginger gives it some brightness.  And you cannot go wrong when adding ginger to something with honey.   I do not have any Honey Pear Tea on hand, so I used an English Breakfast to make mine and it was wonderfully refreshing after watering the garden in 90 degree heat.

 Honey Pear Sweet(ish) Tea

• 4 cups water
• 16 teaspoons of Golden Moon Honey Pear Tea (or English Breakfast)
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• ½ cup honey
• 6 cups cold water
• 1 gallon pitcher

 

Directions

1.         Bring the 4 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan

2.        Add the tea and steep for 5 minutes (you want some of the tannins to come out so steeping it a little bit longer is OK)

3.        Strain into a 1 gallon pitcher

4.        Stir in the honey and ginger

5.        Add 6 cups cold water

6.        Serve over lots of ice