Marjoram

Majoram - Photo: Wikimedia

Marjoram is the dried leaves from an herbal plant called the Origanium hortensis. The name Marjoram is a Greek word that means "Joy of the Mountain." Ancient Greeks believed that if Marjoram grew on a grave that person would enjoy eternal happiness.The taste of Marjoram is a bit sweeter than that of Oregano. Many people believe that Marjoram is, in part, a species of Oregano. Marjoram is a pretty user-friendly herb that is used quite traditionally in Italian, French, North African, Middle Eastern, and American cuisine. Marjoram compliments quite nicely sausages, various meats, fish, tomato sauces, salad dressings, bread, stuffing's, and salads. 

Marjoram is relative to the mint family. You get the most flavors from Marjoram if you use the fresh leaves rather than fried marjoram. One big difference between Oregano and Marjoram is while Oregano tends to prosper in taste the longer it simmers in a sauce or stew, marjoram is the opposite and should be added into the dish as late as possible. Although Marjoram is sweet and mild, it is also at the same time minty and has a hint of citrus. The biggest Marjoram exported in Egypt. Marjoram blends very well with Bay Leaves, pepper, and Juniper. While all vegetables can benefit from a hint of Marjoram, it seems to work best on adding and enhancing the flavor of cabbage and legumes. 

Many people find a great benefit from Marjoram in aromatherapy oils. Marjoram is said to have a soothing and warming effect with a spicy and warm scent. This explains why it is so popular with those who enjoy the many benefits of aromatherapy. Many times for aromatherapy oils it will be mixed with lavender, bergamot, and cedar wood. Beyond the great world of aromatherapy, Marjoram has many other beneficial uses too as it is used as an analgesic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, and as a diuretic. The many uses of Marjoram include treatment for anxiety, arthritis, bronchitis, bruises, colic, constipation, digestive problems, gas, insomnia, muscle aches and pain, PMS, Rheumatism, sinusitis, and sprains. 

Quite often people use Marjoram on a daily basis in various forms. Some prefer it as a tea which has been used throughout history for easing such ailments as hay fever, indigestion, sinus congestion, asthma, stomach upset, headache, dizziness, coughs, colds, and disorders associated with the nervous system. Some even use the tea as a mouthwash. One or two cups of marjoram tea per day have proven to be extremely therapeutic. Marjoram can be made into an ointment or salve by crushing the dried herbs into a paste, adding just a tiny bit of water. This is a common way to treat sprains and Rheumatism. Even still, some will mix the Marjoram into a paste and then into an oil to use for tooth pain or gum issues. 

Marjoram should not be ingested internally in a medicinal or herbal form during pregnancy but can be eaten as an herb that is added to food. As you can see, Marjoram is a very essential and beneficial herb that was used in ancient times and is commonly still used today. 

---

---

English Cheeses - The Glory Of Vintage Stilton

Blue Stilton - Photo: Wikimedia

The cheese was originally developed as a way of preserving milk. Now cheese is classed as a gourmet food, well, some cheese anyway.

Cheeses from different regions have their own characteristic texture and taste because the conditions that the bacterial fermentation is carried out under differ. Cheesemakers can use fresh or pasteurized milk, skimmed or whole milk and add coloring. Different pH levels for the fermentation and different temperatures will all affect the taste and texture of the finished product.

Cheese is a very personal thing. Many people will not have foreign cheese. French people have never heard of the majority of English cheeses. I enjoy French cheese, but I will try anything.

Camembert and Brie are made from pasteurized and from unpasteurized milk. Look for cheeses made from unpasteurized milk. They bear no resemblance to the tasteless and bland pasteurized varieties. Unpasteurised cheese is not suitable for very young children or the elderly.

English cheese is what I was brought up on. My lunch used to be 1/4 of Lancashire cheese ( and a steak and kidney pie). Lancashire cheese is mild, very pale and very crumbly. It is best cut from a whole cheese. Shrink wrapped Lancashire cheese is fine for cooking, but that's all. You can only keep Lancashire cheese for three or four days. The taste deteriorates on exposure to air. Lancashire is the best cheese for making toasted sandwiches, it has a very high melting point.

Red Leicester cheese is another favorite. This has a nutty taste and should have cracks in it. This is another cheese that is infinitely better when freshly cut, rather than shrink-wrapped. Red Leicester has better keeping properties than Lancashire and also works well on toasted sandwiches.

Stilton cheese is made in Leicestershire and has blue veins running through it. You can buy mature, extra mature and vintage Stilton. Be aware though that once you have developed a taste for the vintage cheese that you can never go back to the ordinary supermarket variety.

The extra cost for the vintage cheese is not high, yet the taste comparison is unbelievable. You can recognize a good stilton by the rind. It should be about one centimeter thick, crusty and a deep creamy yellow. The cheese itself should be deep yellow with plenty of blue veins through it. Most people do not eat the rind on Stilton, but it is edible.

If you eat vintage stilton without drinking a ten or twenty years old port with it you are missing a taste combination that can only be described as ecstatic. You can judge the quality of the port by how far up your sinuses the taste goes. The best port and Stilton combination I have ever tasted was a 1991 Noval LB with a vintage Stilton. WOW! That made my eyes pop out, the taste sensations went so far up my sinuses.

---

---

Preparing The Garden For Winter

Winter Gardening - Photo: Pexels

Are you like me?  Sad to see the summer end but at the same time relieved that there is one less task to tend to.  Weeding, watering, pruning, and more weeding is over for this year and with a few more chores the outdoor gardening year draws to a close.  Most of what needs to be completed is a matter of cleaning up and covering up.  Practical steps to preparing your outdoor garden for winter involve:

1.  Protecting plants.  There are different opinions concerning whether to cut down or leave plants standing through the winter.  Here on the prairies, most people leave their perennials standing for a variety of reasons.  In particular, trapping the snow cover is important for the protection of plants and retaining moisture.  Snow cover acts the same as good mulch by insulating the soil.  Many perennial stems and seed heads are also very attractive for winter interest and provide food for the birds.  After the ground freezes, mulch perennials and shrub beds with pine needles, compost, peat moss, or chopped leaves.  This protects the soil and plant roots and moderates the effects of extreme temperature changes during winter periods of freezes and thaws.  

2.  Cleaning-up the garden.  Harvest warm-season crops such as tomatoes even though they are still green.  Lie out on windowsills; or layer in boxes with newspapers between the layers of tomatoes.  They will slowly ripen or you can use green tomatoes for fried green tomatoes or various green tomato recipes.  Pull out any remaining crops or spent annuals; clean up remaining debris and weeds to decrease the possibility of disease problems in the spring.  

3.  Evaluating your garden design.  Before you start winterizing your garden, take a few minutes to review what worked and what didn’t and make note of any areas that you would like to change in the spring.

4.  Prepare the soil for early spring seeding.  Turn over the garden soil late in the season while amending with organic matter such as leaves, compost, or well-rotted manure.  In the spring, a light raking is all that is needed.

5.  Caring for trees and lawns.  Protect the tender bark of young trees from rabbits and gnawing critters by wrapping stems or trunks with chicken wire or commercial tree-guard products.  To prevent rodents from nesting near buildings and trees, trim tall grass, and remove weeds.  Deeply water trees and shrubs so that they go into winter well hydrated.  Don’t prune shrubs and trees as it may stimulate new growth just before the harsh weather.  Cut lawns and fertilize if you wish with a low nitrogen ‘winter’ blend.  Use grass clippings for mulch or compost.  Never send them to the landfill, as they are excellent fertilizer left on the lawn (if they are not too long) and/or make terrific compost/mulch dug straight into the garden or used for pathways.  Once rotted on garden pathways, dig into the garden and replace with new grass clippings.

6.  Planting before winter.  Now is the time to plant bulbs.  Garden centers carry many varieties suitable for the prairies.  Remember: buy good quality as cheap is not better – the larger the bulb – the larger the bloom.  Look for plumpness, firmness, clean skin, and surface.  Directions for planting are included with the package.

7.  Composting.  Compost dead plant debris including leaves.  Leaves are a valuable natural resource.  Rather than a nuisance, they are the best soil amendment as well as terrific mulches.  Leaves take very little effort to recycle into a wonderful soil conditioner – leaf mold – for the yard and garden.  You can make leaf mold by the same process nature does.  Pile up moist leaves and wait for them to decompose or shred the leaves into smaller pieces before piling them up.  If you wish, you can enclose the pile with chicken wire, snow fencing, or something similar.  In the spring, I rake up dry leaves and dig them straight into the vegetable garden.  

8.  Cleaning your tools.  Clean the soil from all your gardening tools, oil any wooden handles and moving parts, sharpen any blades, and then store them in a dry place for the winter.  

9.  Water Gardening.  Bring in pumps, drain, clean, refill (if necessary) and store tender water plants prior to freezing.

10.  Bringing in your indoor plants.  Before bringing in any houseplants that have spent the summer outdoors, examine them for critters, wash them, and spray with soapy water or insecticidal soap.  Use sterilized potting soil purchased from garden centers or shopping malls if re-potting your plants.  Don’t use garden soil as it may harbor insects, weed seeds, disease, and fungi.

---

---

Red Pepper Lamb Kofta in a Rogan Josh Sauce

Photo: Flickr

Kofta is similar to kebab, except for the fact that ground meat is used, shaped into golf ball-sized servings. Like many classic Indian dishes, it comes in various forms, some of them requiring elaborate and lengthy preparation. Here is a simple recipe for succulent morsels of lamb and red pepper served in a garlic-cream rogan josh sauce that can be prepared and served in less than half an hour:

1 lb ground lamb

1 small red pepper, finely chopped

1 tbsp Sharwood's Mild Curry Powder

Seasoning to taste

1 tbsp oil

1/3 jar Sharwood's Curry Stir Fry Sauce

4 oz can chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp Sharwood's Major Gray Mango Chutney

1 tbsp fresh cilantro for garnish

Place the ground lamb, red pepper, curry powder and seasoning into a bowl and mix together well. Divide the mixture into 16 and shape into small golf ball-size balls. Heat oil in a frying pan and cook the kofta, turning once while cooking, for 10-12 minutes or until well cooked through,. Drain the oil from the pan, add the sauce, tomatoes, and mango chutney, heat until all the ingredients are hot. Serve immediately, garnished with cilantro. Kofta is delicious served with plain boiled rice, a fresh green salad, and warm, Naan bread. Preparation time: 10 minutes; cooking time: 15 minutes; serves 3-4

Author: News Canada

---

---

Indoor Gardening

Philodendron - Photo: Wikipedia

A lot of people stick a fake tree in a corner, dust the leaves off every week, and call it indoor gardening, but indoor gardening has grown into much more than that lately.  There are also a lot of people that think plants belong and should stay inside, but there are many reasons for starting an indoor garden.  For instance, plants don’t only remove carbon dioxide from the air, they also remove many poisonous toxins and pollutants as well.  Indoor gardening will result in beautiful decoration in your house as well as cleaner air.  

When picking out plants for indoor gardening, make sure the plants are adaptable and will be able to thrive in the conditions and setting in your house.  Consider how much time you will be able to spend caring for the plants, how much light your house offers, and also how much money you want to spend in your indoor garden.  If you are on a low budget, start with seeds or cuttings.  If you have a little more money to dish out you can buy a plant that is already grown.  Another thing to consider is if you want a plant that can be displayed all year or just for a season. Herb gardens are a good thing for indoor gardening; they are both attractive and edible.  They will grow pretty quick and you won’t have to wait a long time to see results.  Some popular herbs, especially for cooking, are chives, dill, sage, thyme, and oregano.

When indoor gardening, consider the amount of experience you have before choosing a plant.  There are some plants that are stronger and harder to kill and therefore better for a novice gardener.  Examples are Fatsia, Cyperus, Scandens, Popular Succulents, Coleus, and Bromeliads.

Some things, such as the basic rules of maintaining plants, are different in indoor gardening that in a regular outdoor setting.  Since plants won’t get the sunlight they do outdoors, lighting is essential.  You need to know exactly how much light your plants need and pick plants that only need a medium to low light, such as ferns or Philodendrons unless you plan to supply artificial lighting.  If you buy a plant already grown, wherever you get it probably has better lighting than your house so you will need to “condition” your plant and gradually reduce the light it receives.  Once you get the plant inside, make sure and rotate the plant to encourage upright growth.

Just because you are indoor gardening, don’t think the plants don’t have to have water; they still do.  How often you water, once again, depends on what type of plant you have.  Make sure the water can drain out of the bottom of the pot and try to use water that is about the same as the temperature of the room.  Also, pay attention to the temperature in your house in order to ensure healthy plants.  A 10-15 degree range won’t hurt any plants, but rapid changes could cause damage.

Indoor gardening is not all that difficult; in fact, it is pretty much the same as outdoor.  There are even some advantages to indoor gardening.  For example, you won’t have to worry as much about bugs and insects bothering your plants.  You also won’t have to worry about wind or frost reeking havoc on your garden.

---

---

Japanese Cuisine

Japanese Food - Photo: Pixabay

Tempura, sukiyaki, sashimi, sushi – even the words used to describe the most basic of Japanese dishes are exotic and beautiful. Japanese cuisine is easily one of the healthiest in the world, with its concentration on fresh fish, seafood, rice, and vegetables. The pungent sauces and delicate flavors of fresh foods complement each other beautifully, and the methods of presentation turn even simple meals into beautiful events.

The Japanese have easily a dozen different names for rice, depending on how it is prepared and what it is served with. The most common meal is a rice bowl, a bowl of white rice served with various toppings or ingredients mixed in. So popular is it that the Rice Bowl has even made its way into the world of Western convenience foods alongside ramen noodles. Domburi is a bowl of rice topped with another food: domburi tendon, for instance, is rice topped with tempura and domburi gyudon is rice topped with beef. The Japanese adopted fried rice from the Chinese, and a century ago, when curry was first introduced, developed Kare Raisu, curry rice. It is now such a popular dish that there are many fast-food restaurants that serve several versions of it in takeaway bowls.

Besides white rice served as a side dish, Japanese cuisine also features onigiri – rice balls wrapped in seaweed, often with a ‘surprise’ in the middle, and Kayu, a thin gruel made of rice that resembles oatmeal.

As an island nation, it’s not surprising that seafood is featured in Japanese cuisine. Sushi and sashimi both are raw fish and seafood with various spices. Impeccably fresh fish is the secret to wonderful sashimi and sushi, served with wasabi and soya sauce. The Japanese love of beauty and simplicity turns slices and chunks of raw fish into miniature works of art. Fish sliced so thin that it’s transparent may be arranged on a platter in a delicate fan that alternates pink-fleshed salmon with paler slices of fish. Sushi is typically arranged to best display the colors and textures to their best advantage, turning the platter and plate into palettes for the artistry of the chef.

Traditionally, meat plays a minor role in the Japanese diet, though it has been taking a larger and larger role over the past fifty years as Japan becomes more westernized. Beef, chicken, and pork may be served with several meals a week now. One of the more popular meat dishes is ‘yakitori’ – chicken grilled on a skewer and served with sauce. A typical quick lunch might include a skewer of yakitori and a rice bowl with sushi sauce.

In an interesting twist, Japan has imported dishes from other cuisines and ‘Japanized’ them, adopting them as part of their own cuisines. Korokke, for instance, are croquettes adopted from those introduced by the English last century. In Japan, the most common filling is a mixture of mashed potatoes and minced meat. Other Soshoyu – western dishes that have made their way into Japanese everyday cuisine include ‘omuraisu’, a rice omelet, and hambagau, the Japanized version of an American hamburger.

Author: Kirsten Hawkins

---

---

Bonsai Care

Bonsai - Federahorn -  Photo: Wikimedia

What are the basics of effective Bonsai care? 

Caring for your Bonsai tree involves many of the same activities associated with caring for a pot plant or an indoor plant. Well developed and healthy fibrous roots are essential for the continued good health of your Bonsai tree and repotting is an essential way to manage this process. Normally a young or fast-growing Bonsai will need to be repotted roughly once a year; for less prolific growers or older trees, it can be done as infrequently as once every five years. You should always try to repot during late winter or early spring when the buds start to swell. 

How to repot a Bonsai tree. 

The process of repotting a Bonsai tree is one that you should take seriously and follow these simple instructions: 

First, you should tidy the tree by carefully pruning off any unwanted, long branches. Also, make sure the tree has been undercover for a few weeks if it is an outdoor Bonsai, this way the soil will be relatively dry. Once you remove the tree from its pot you will be able to see whether it really needs repotting. If it is root bound then you should repot it, however, if there are another few inches of room so the roots can grow a little longer then you can carefully replace the tree in its original pot and continue as normal. 

You should remove surface soil from the roots either by hand or use a nylon scrubbing brush. Brush away from the trunk and be careful not to damage any of the roots. Removing the loose soil will give the Bonsai tree a healthier look and feel. Once you’ve removed most of the soil in this way, you can use a small, fine bristled paintbrush to remove the soil stuck in the roots or that has collected in the roots. 

Use a Bonsai fork to comb out the roots. Do this by combing out the roots from underneath and then use scissors to prune up to a third of the roots and then cut out small wedges around the root base to allow fresh soil to collect and keep your Bonsai healthy. Add a layer of grit to the bottom of the pot and then add the Bonsai compost of your choice. 

Take the time to position your Bonsai tree in the pot and then push a little more soil into awkward places. Complete this as often as you need to as mentioned above.

---

---