Savouring Summer this Season

image via here 

Fresh herbs are the true gem of summer recipes and part of what makes the season such a prize winner. Now that winter is on our heels it's time to shutdown those fading green gardens, and winterize up our homes. I fully admit that i shed a few tears whenever i have to see my edible garden come to an end, but many of the plants have already withered away, but the herb plants are still holding on by the skin of their leaves. So grab up those herbs and save them using any of these four suggestions to relish that sweet summer glory all winter long. 

 

images via here, here, here and here. Also, here and here 

1. Smaller pots inside - window sills are your best friends during the winter. Herbs love to grow on the sills or in areas of the home with lots of light. if you still have large herb plants still in your garden, divide and repot into small containers that can easily can be brought indoors. This will help sustain their growing cycle and in most cases you can even replanted them into the garden in the spring. say hello to new fresh indoor herb gardens with this one my friends.

2. Sweet sachets - nothing is better than the smell of fresh herbs like basil, rosemary. i find that they can be quite uplifting at the end of a long day actually. So why not harvest those end of season outdoor herbs, dry it in either a brown paper bag or by hanging, then crush up gently and place combinations into small sachets that can he placed around the home or in drawers. Combinations like rosemary and lavender are really good.

3. Herbed ice cubes - This is a culinary dream team is especially great for those busy nights when you wanna make that 5 star meal, but have like 1 start energy. Harvest the those last herbs, chop up and place them into ice cube trays. Then top with water or oil and freeze until needed. Add them as a quick boost to stir-frys, soups or dips. Try different herb mixes as well like basil with chopped garlic, or thyme and parsley with red pepper flakes.  

4. Scented fireside sticks - We are in the season of firing up the fireplaces. This year try take some of your harvested herbs and wrap into bunches with rope. On your next fireside movie night throw a one or two bunches on the roaring flames for a nice sweet smelling aroma. For this mix, try sage, rosemary and thyme!

In our garden

now that the wedding is done it's time to focus on the house. we are quickly coming up to a one whole year of living in this house on a hill, and there is still a lot of work to be done. now in fairness i asked that we throw our attentions away from house plans and into wedding a few months back to make sure we had all our "to do's" done extremely early (best advice i can give to a bride). close to a year ago, when we bought our new place, we were fortunate to find that the backyard was completely naked of any landscaping – just a flat plot of grass.  this summer we plan to spend a lot of our free time leveling it out evenly, designing plans for a raised vegetable gardens, hanging flower pots, refreshing some outdoor furniture for a dining space and growing a lemon tree. i have always wanted a garden we can cook from, and I won't deny that I also crave that proud feeling of knowing that i didn't kill accidentally kill yet another house plant. 

Since we both like to cook (and cook from scratch) we often use a mix of herbs.  last weekend we visited our local garden centre and picked up some herb plants for our terracotta and deck baskets so we can have fresh ones to cook with and even dry for winter.  Much like weeds they are already starting to spread and thicken out. The lettuce is almost ready to start harvesting and so is the mint for mojito's! now to dust off some recipe books and get crackin' on some new innovative dishes and plan some dinner parties.

Does anyone have any gardening tips you’d like to share?

DiY : Paper Flowers

Since our engagement party I have had a lot of people ask me how we created the red paper flowers that we used as centerpieces. Well, here is the step-by-step process how we did just that. About a week before the party my middle sister and I stayed in, put on some cheesy tv, comfy clothes and hunkered down to make these pretty paper flowers. Once we got into the groove of creating them, we started to produce them rather quickly, as you will see if you try this DIY project.

1. Start by collecting your supplies - you will need, scissors, tissue paper and pipe cleaners/wire. 2. Gather about 10 sheets of tissue paper (play around with mixing different colour shades for flowers with more dimension as well), stack them, then fold it all and cut it in half.  3. Take one half of your cut stack and begin to fold it like an accordion. 4. Be sure to cut off any extra that doesn't line-up.  5. Next fold your accordion in half. 6. Take your pipe cleaner/wire and tie it around the middle of our folded accordion, making sure to leave extra pipe cleaner/wire to create the look of the stem. 7. Then grab the ends of your accordion and trim until you have achieved the desired shape of your flower petals (rounded corners works best it from my experience). 8. Spread the accordion folds between your fingers and very slowly (and gently) pull out each piece of tissue paper towards you. 9. Slowly pulling each sheet until you begin to create the shape of a flower, being careful not to pull too hard and rip the delicate paper. 10. Finally work away at "puffing" out the flower until you have it exactly how you want it to look, then place on display. Heck, you could even try misting them with perfume to give them a soft sent.  If anyone tries this, please share a comment of your success or new ideas!