If you love cucumber, but your tummy doesn’t, try the companion herb that has a cucumber flavor: Borage.

Growing:
This sun loving annual or biennial (depending upon the climate) grows so vigorously that, at maturity, it may need staking. Its star shaped blue flowers are sometimes candied and bees love borage. I like to harvest borage leaves fairly quickly, even before flowering, when the leaves are young and tender. Make successive plantings to carry you through fall.

Health benefits:
Borage contains vitamins A, C, iron and copper. It is anti-inflammatory, as well.

Cooking:
I add tender, new borage leaves to salads and drinks. The leaves, as they mature, are sometimes too bristly and coarse to eat raw, but they can be cooked. Try including borage with fish, such as salmon.

The flowers, as mentioned above, can be candied or sprinkled on salads or added to herbal vinegars.

Tips from Rita’s garden:
Natorp’s carries beautiful borage plants, along with a “sister” herb, salad burnet, which is another cucumber flavored herb.

Natorp’s carries over 150 varieties of herbs!

Rita Nader Heikenfeld, CCP, Certified Herbalist
Website: Abouteating.com
Blog: Cooking with Rita at Cincinnati.com
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There is a little patch of feathery fennel fronds in my herb garden. Fennel is one of the first harbingers of spring.

Growing:
Fennel is a perennial herb and a member of the parsley/carrot family. I grow both Florence and bronze fennel. Florence fennel is a pretty green color and produces a fat bulb that is harvested annually. Bronze fennel has a bronze tint and is grown for its leaves and seeds. Both reach heights of up to 4-5 feet and like a sunny location that is well drained.

Health benefits:
Fennel seeds can tame the appetite and are good for digestion. With its high content of vitamins A and C along with calcium and iron, fennel is a good herb to incorporate into your diet.

Cooking:
Fennel fronds/leaves are delicious with steamed vegetables and the seeds, when ground with olive oil and garlic, make a delicious herb paste for pork. Sliced thin, fennel bulbs are tasty in a salad. Fennel seeds are an important ingredient in Italian sausage.

RIGATONI WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE
Super weeknight supper.

1 pound Italian sausage links, grilled and sliced into coins (or sliced and sautéed in skillet)
1 pound rigatoni or short pasta, cooked
2 teaspoons minced garlic or to taste
2-3 bell peppers: red, yellow, orange, whatever – large chop, or cut into strips
1 jar favorite pasta sauce
Parmesan cheese

While pasta is cooking, film sauté pan with olive oil, then saute garlic and peppers and cook until peppers are tender. Add sauce and cooked sausage and heat until bubbly and hot. Serve over rigatoni and garnish with cheese.

From the Garden to the Kitchen:

Yardboy, after making so many different recipes of multi-layered peppermint bark, I’ve decided that the following is the easiest and most fool proof. The problem with bark is that it sometimes shatters or separates when you break it apart. By melting the chocolate slowly and using the tempering method below, shattering or separating is minimal, if at all. The key is letting it set up at room temperature.

Now here are a few things to note: I used Kroger chocolate chips and Kroger real peppermint extract in this recipe. I use high quality, real semi sweet chocolate, not “chocolate flavored”. (Wms. Sonoma uses a custom blended Guittard). I use high quality white chocolate. Read label – the first 2 ingredients should be sugar and cocoa butter. And the candy canes/disks should be flavored with real peppermint extract, not artificially flavored. (Wms. Sonoma has theirs made especially for them).

PEPPERMINT BARK LIKE WILLIAMS SONOMA

Ingredients:
2 cups, 12 oz. real semi sweet chocolate chips or bars (chop bars if using), divided into 1-1/4 and 3/4 cup measures
1-1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract, divided into 1 and 1/2 teaspoon measures
2-3/4 cup white chocolate chips or bars, chopped, divided into 2-1/4 and 1/2 cup measures
1/4 cup crushed peppermint candy

Recipe:
-Line a cookie sheet with 1 piece of foil, about 10×12”. Or do the same in a 9×13 pan.
-Put 1-1/4 cups semi sweet chocolate in heat proof bowl. Set over a saucepan that has 1” of steaming water, making sure bowl does not touch water. (This is a makeshift double boiler). Heat should be turned to low. Stir until chocolate is just about melted, then remove bowl from pan and stir in rest of semisweet chocolate, a bit at a time, until all is melted. If necessary, put the bowl back on the pan to help melt. If there’s any moisture on the bottom of the bowl, wipe it dry.
-Stir in 1 teaspoon of the extract and pour onto foil, spreading in even layer. Tap pan on counter to remove any air bubbles.
-Let sit at room temperature until just about set, 10-15 minutes. When you press your finger into the chocolate a very slight indentation will remain.
-Put 2-1/4 cups white chocolate in clean bowl and repeat process for melting, stirring in remaining 1/2 cup chips after removing bowl from pan.
-Stir in 1/2 teaspoon extract.
-Pour over chocolate layer and spread.
-Sprinkle with candy. If necessary, gently press into chocolate.
-Let set at room temperature until completely firm. Peel bark off foil and break into pieces.
-Store, covered, at room temperature up to a month or so. If it’s extremely warm in the house, store, covered, in frig and bring to room temperature before eating.

Tip from Rita’s kitchen: If you want to cut the bark, you’ll need to do it before it gets completely hard, but still hard enough so that the layers don’t “bleed” when you slice through with a knife.

PEPPERMINT SERVING TRAY

Here’s what you’ll need:
Round peppermint candies (called Starlight mints) your favorite red, green or a combo
Sheet pan
Parchment paper

-Preheat oven to 350.
-Unwrap mints and set aside.
-Line sheet pan with parchment paper. Arrange mints with edges touching in desired shape. If there’s a little space between them, that’s OK.
-Bake 8-10 minutes until mints melt together. Watch carefully. Remove from oven and let cool completely before gently removing parchment paper of serving tray.
-Store at room temperature, loosely covered with plastic wrap.

-Rita Nader Heikenfeld, CCP, CMH
www.abouteating.com www.cincinnati.com/blogs/cookingwithrita

["I once read where in Norway, on Christmas Eve, after dinner and opening of all the presents, all of the brooms in the house were hidden. The Norwegians believed that witches and mischievous spirits would come out on Christmas Eve and steal all their brooms for riding. So after reading that, I now put all of our brooms away so Rita doesn't go flying around with her friends on Christmas Eve." -Frank Heikenfeld]

From the Garden to the Kitchen

Yardboy, my favorite holiday is just ahead: Thanksgiving. The fact that this holiday is all about food, family and friends, makes it special to me. We celebrate in a very traditional way, no surprises with unusual recipes for our standard fare. The turkey is roasted with a simple stuffing, the potatoes are mashed with milk and butter (no garlic), the crescent rolls are from my heirloom recipe, and even the sides of cranberries and sweet potatoes are from recipes handed down. But the one thing I do take liberty with is the first course: the soup! Here’s a wonderful butternut squash soup that I’ll be making this year.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP WITH GINGER
3 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped, about a cup
2” piece ginger root, peeled and chopped2 nice size garlic cloves, chopped
3# butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and cut into cubes
1/4 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed if possible
Salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream for garnish
Roasted pumpkin seeds for garnish

Melt butter in pan and cook onion until fragrant. Add ginger, garlic and squash and cook until fragrant, about 10 minutes. Stir in 4 cups water, chicken broth or vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until squash is tender. Puree soup and stir in orange juice and seasonings. Serve with garnishes.

Roasted pumpkin seeds
Preheat oven to 350. Combine:
1 cup raw green pumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon chili powder
Dash cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
Lime juice to taste – start with a couple teaspoons
Spread on sprayed baking sheet and bake until golden brown and puffed, about 10 minutes.

I hope you and all of our readers have a most wonderful Thanksgiving. Remember, it’s not just about the food, but who shares it with you – and whipping cream and parsley are awesome culinary “Band-Aids”!

-Rita Nader Heikenfeld, CCP, CMH
www.abouteating.com www.cincinnati.com/blogs/cookingwithrita

[As best our records can tell, the original Thanksgiving menu included venison, fowl (probably not turkey), fish, seafood, grains (including corn which was used for making cornmeal and fried bread), fruits (which included boiled pumpkin), vegetables, nuts, herbs and seasonings. A little different than today’s menu wouldn’t you say? Charles Dickens is created for popularizing the serving of turkey on holidays, thanks to ‘The Christmas Story’. Before that, it was swans, peacocks, cranes and geese for special occasions.]

From the Garden to the Kitchen:

Yardboy, how about this for a long title? But, it does describe perfectly how you can make a Halloween treat that is easy and so good in very little time! This is my night; watch for me flying around on my broom.

My Absolute Favorite Last Minute Crunchy Vanilla Marshmallow Popcorn Balls

Use a natural popcorn or one that just contains salt. Out of all my recipes, these are the favorite with both kids and adults. They taste like the kind of gourmet popcorn balls you buy at the mall. Crunchier than the recipe for Jell-O popcorn balls (which is on my blog), popcorn balls are good keepers for at least a week. If you like, add some chopped salted nuts, candies, etc, before pouring on the coating.

Set aside: 20 cups popped corn placed in sprayed bowl (I use 3 bags of microwave salted popcorn)

Mix together:
¾ cup light corn syrup
¼ cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 2/3 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 cup mini marshmallows
Orange food coloring optional

Bring to a boil over medium heat and stir until marshmallows melt.
Pour over popcorn, quickly coating popcorn. Spray hands with cooking spray. Form mixture into balls. Store covered at room temperature.

Tips from Rita’s Kitchen:
-When making anything that has a sticky coating, spray the spatula, the bowl, and your hands with a cooking spray. .
-Homemade microwave popcorn: Put ¼ cup popcorn in a brown paper bag. Fold top over a few times and secure. Place folded side up for 2-3 minutes or until there is 5 seconds between pops.
-Removing un-popped kernels before making treats: Put popped corn into colander and unpopped kernels will sink to the bottom. That way no one will break a tooth, or worse, by biting into something with a hard kernel.

-Rita Nader Heikenfeld, CCP, CMH
www.abouteating.com www.cincinnati.com/blogs/cookingwithrita

-According to our local ‘Witch’doctor Rita, Halloween lore said that to cure the plague and leprosy, one might swallow a buttered spider. How about that one, Buggy Joe?
-Why does ‘Witch’doctor Rita use a broom to fly on? She says vacuum cleaners are too heavy.
-According to ‘Witch’doctor Rita, to cure a toothache, spit into the mouth of a frog and ask it to carry away the pain. No kissing, just spitting!

-“According to Rita, over 30,000 werewolf cases were tried in France between 1520 and 1630. She should know – she was there. As a matter of fact, a popular Irish Halloween drink in the 18th century was made from roasted, crushed apples and milk. It was called “Lamb’s Wool”. She was there to make that, too!” -Frank Heikenfeld

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!