National Popcorn Day

Today is National Popcorn Day!  

Never allowing a proper holiday to go to waste, here is my opportunity to celebrate popcorn which is one of the four major food groups in my family.  A bit of butter and salt is all good popcorn needs, however, if you eat it as often as we do, you need to acknowledge that butter and salt every night is not a good thing.  I crafted some herbal popcorn sprinkles that one can use instead of salt or with salt in moderation.

These may have sprung from research I just did on theme gardens. Maybe I should make a popcorn seasoning garden. That might be fun!

Italian Sprinkle

1 Tbls. Basil

1 Tbls. Marjoram

1 Tbls. Oregano

½ Tbls. Garlic granules

1 tsp. rosemary

2 Tbls. Parmesan Cheese or to taste

Blend together and place in a shaker.  Sprinkle over warm popcorn just out of the popper.

Greek Sprinkle

1 Tbls. lavender

1 Tbls. rosemary

1 Tbls. Greek Oregano

1 Tbls. Garlic, granulated

1 Tbls. Lemon peel or Lemon pepper

These Mediterranean or Greek herbs make a great addition to popcorn with a unique flavor.  Keep in a shaker for quick use.

Mexican Sprinkle

1 Tbls. Chili Powder

1 Tbls. Cumin powder

1 Tbls. Garlic flakes

1 Tbls. Onion granulated

½ Tbls. Parsley

½ Tbls. Thyme

½ Tbls. Oregano

½ Tbls. coriander, ground

Combine and keep in a shaker.  If you like things hot, celebrate the year of capsaisin and add some cayenne or red pepper flakes.

If you enjoy popcorn sprinkles but don't want to craft your own, we have several popcorn shakers available from the Backyard Patch and they make a great gift for the popcorn lover in your family.

Herb-themed Holiday Gift Sets - Backyard Patch style

This year I had abundant herbs.  The cooler weather with hot flashes and abundant rain made the herbs happier than any of my vegetable plants.

On the left is the thyme bed at my community garden and on the right is a portion of the Mediterranean wing, with savory, oregano, fennel and calendula.  The purple flowering plant in the back is traditional hyssop.

With the herbs being lush we were able to craft more tea and herb cooking blends then usual and this got me to thinking about ways to package them to make the perfect gifts.

For the Tea Lover

Tea to go sampler

A pretty window box holds a demi tea cup (no saucer) and three small (.5 oz) tea tins with blends of your choice.  Each box with be perfect for gifting, tied with ribbon including a tea infuser and ship-ready.  

Tea Towers

Along the same lines as the sampler we have full-sized Tea Tin Towers.  With a tea tower you get 3 or 5 teas in our full-sized 2 oz. tins gathered with ribbon into a tower of flavor.  Tied to the ribbon will be a bead-decorated tea infuser.  You can choose the teas included in the tower, or use our premade-choices. We have a three-tea tower  or a  five-tea tower  

For the Foodie in your life

Popping Popcorn Sprinkles 

We have had a popcorn shaker seasoning for several years, but this year we crafted two more to make it a threesome. We placed two (your choice) in decorative shaker jars holding .75 oz., along with an ear of microwavable popcorn.  The set is packaged in clear cellophane bag with a decorative ribbon tie and full instructions.  This gift will have a pretty tag and each flavor will be labeled.  They include: Original Popcorn Sprinkle, Cheesy Herb Sprinkle, Spicy Hot Sprinkle.

I have long thought that packaging herb seasoning blends in groups was a great idea, but I never could find the right medium.  This year I found the perfect jars and containers. We have two different sets

Everyday Seasoning Kit

This is a single herbs kit with 6 different individual herbs. We call it a Seasoning Tower.  The tins are in a colorful cardboard tube with a holiday ribbon.  Serval different colors of tube are available.

Soup Mix Gift Sets

Our soup mixes are a popular gift item and the new packaging we created last year has really helped with that.  This year we decided on a few gift combinations you can check them all out in our soup collection on the website

For the Queen (or King) in need of relaxation

Bath items are very prolific online so our items, even though they are crafted without chemicals from herbs raised organically, do not stand out.  We have decided to fix that.  We are repackaging our Bath and Spa items in a whole new way.  

Bath Salts

Many different versions of Bath Salts -- the Skin-Soothing Bath Salts, Relaxing Combination Salts and the Milk Salt Blends will all be available in lovely and colorful organza bags instead of the envelopes we have used in the past.  And the best part of this is there will be no change in price. They are still available for $3.25 for 3 ounces.  Now you can mix and match to create sets too.  We have them listed in a Bath Collection.

Bath Salt Sundae

Is this not a cleaver idea.  I was tossing around bath scrubbies as I was putting them away and one fell onto a mason jar and suddenly I got to thinking if it was a parfait glass it would look like a Sundae!  So here is a bath salt-filled parfait glass, complete with a red tulle wrapped rose herb soap as the "cherry" on top! This is another gift perfect for teachers, groomers and others life helpers!

Bath Tower

Like our tea tower this collection of 3 bath salts will be packaged in square boxes tied together with colorful ribbon to create a wonderful gift package that will need no additional wrapping. 

Bath Tub Tea

With 4 different blends of Bath tub tea to share we thought it was time the presentation got a facelift.  We are making a decorative tea bag with raffia tie that can hang from the faucet.  The tea filter bags will be filled with a single bath measure of herbs and packaged in groups of 3 ($4.95) and 5 ($7.95) in a pretty decorated cellophane bag or a set of 10 that will be presented in a colored mason jar ($20.00).

We are hoping you enjoy our special gift selection as much as we enjoy making them!

October is National Popcorn Popping Month.

Never allowing a proper holiday to go to waste, here is my opportunity to celebrate popcorn which is one of the four major food groups in my family. AI bit of butter and salt is all good popcorn needs, however, if you eat it as often as we do, you need to acknowledge that butter and salt every night is not a good thing.  I crafted some herbal popcorn sprinkles that one can use instead of salt or with salt in moderation which will allow you to enjoy popcorn as often as I do!

Italian Sprinkle

1 Tbls. Basil

1 Tbls. Marjoram

1 Tbls. Oregano

½ Tbls. Garlic granules

1 tsp. rosemary

Parmesan Cheese to taste (about 2 Tbls. is good)

Blend together and place in a shaker.  Sprinkle over warm popcorn just out of the popper.

Greek Sprinkle

1 Tbls. lavender

1 Tbls. rosemary

1 Tbls. Greek Oregano

1 Tbls. Garlic, granulated

1 Tbls. Lemon peel or Lemon pepper

These Mediterranean or Greek herbs make a great addition to popcorn with a unique flavor.  Keep in a shaker for quick use.

Backyard Patch Popcorn Seasoning, a savory blend!

Mexican Sprinkle

1 Tbls. Chili Powder

1 Tbls. Cumin powder

1 Tbls. Garlic flakes

1 Tbls. Onion granulated

½ Tbls. Parsley

½ Tbls. Thyme

½ Tbls. Oregano

½ Tbls. coriander, ground

Combine and keep in a shaker.  If you like things hot add some cayenne or red pepper flakes.

So enjoy your popcorn this month.

Herb of the Week - Popcorn!!

Today’s herb of the week is POPCORN --

Okay Popcorn is stretching it a bit, but today is National Popcorn Day and I thought instead of an herb of the week we could celebrate one of my favorite foods by talking about great recipes that you can use instead of salt to flavor popcorn.

Popcorn or 'popping corn,' is corn which expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, unlike other grains, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy filling. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive "pop" results. Some strains of corn are now cultivated specifically as popping corns.

Popcorn was first discovered thousands of years ago by Native Americans in the Southwest, United States. One of the oldest forms of corn, evidence of popcorn from 3600 B.C. was found in New Mexico.

The popularity Popcorn now enjoys is a result of two events in history.  During the Great Depression, popcorn was comparatively cheap at 5-10 cents a bag. Thus, while other businesses failed, the popcorn business thrived and became a source of income for some struggling farmers. During World War II, sugar rations diminished candy production, causing Americans to eat three times more popcorn than they had before.

Where I am from, Illinois, Popcorn is the official snack food of the state and (although no the only town to claim this) Ridgeway, Illinois says it is the "Popcorn Capital of the World."

Popcorn is usually served salted or sweetened. In North America, it is traditionally served salted, although sweetened versions, such as caramel corn and kettle corn, are also commonly available.

In a health conscious America we are trying to enjoy the fiber-rich nature of Popcorn without the fattening additives, so we have turned to herbs to provide a bit of flavor without the calories of butter or sugar.

Here are a few blends for you to try.  If you want a great combo add a bit of parmesan cheese to any of these blends:

Garlic Infused Shaker

2 tablespoons basil

2 tablespoons Thyme

2 tablespoons Marjoram

2 tablespoons garlic powder

 
Blend together and shake onto hot popcorn.  It can be ground in small batches in a food processor for a finer shake.

Hot Shaker

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons parsley

2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder
dash red pepper flakes

Blend together and shake onto hot popcorn.  It can be ground in small batches in a food processor for a finer shake.

Herby Shaker

1 tablespoon basil

1 tablespoon oregano

1 tablespoon parsley

1 tablespoon savory

1 tsp. sage

1 tsp onion powder

Blend together and shake onto hot popcorn.  It can be ground in small batches in a food processor for a finer shake.

And if making your own popcorn seasoning is not your thing, the Backyard Patch has a ready-made seasonings that are great on Popcorn, just click here to see a full description of our Salt Substitutes.