Greetings All!

It is the dark of winter, the solstice has passed, and the days are short, but growing ever so slowly. My huge rosemary bush, which has been blessed by several mild winters, has shriveled in the near-zero cold created by the wind. The Old Lady may not survive this winter, but if she passes I will purchase a two dollar rosemary at Wal-Mart this spring and start over. The last

time this happened was five years ago. The sprig I planted grew into a bush six feet across and three feet tall. (I like to think it was my gardening skill, but it was more dumb luck and warm weather than anything else.) I have *finally* finished my graduate degree, so I will have a lot more time in the garden this spring.

Speaking of spring, I need volunteers to host Herb Guild meetings at their local events in the coming months. The purpose of these meeting is exposure for the Guild, building a mailing list of members, and getting people together to share their interest in herbs. I also need ideas and volunteers for our annual Kingdom fundraiser and for largesse-type gifts to give to the Crown. One volunteer who needs mentioning is our chronicler Lady Madrun. Many thanks to her, both for her work on the newsletter and web page and for her help with this year's kingdom fundraiser. The Glaedenfeld chapter, including Lady Angharad ferch Anarawd and Aine of Glencoe, donated a beautiful wooden box of Middle Eastern herbs, which was auctioned off at Samhain. The sale of the box raised fifty five dollars.

I am putting together a collegium for Beltaine, our spring event here in Grey Niche. If you would be interested in teaching or helping out, please contact me. Classes can be either the standard one hour format, or they can be longer if needed. Both classroom and hands-on classes are welcome.

I don't know my spring itinerary yet, but I am planning to be at Gulf Wars from Thursday evening on. Stay warm, dream over your seed catalogs, and be well!

Arielle

From the Chronicler

As we snuggle with our beloved seed catalogs…

I want everyone to think about period gardening and farming techniques, as I would like this to be the focus of our Spring edition. Even if you only have a few pots of herbs, you are practicing period gardening! Organic methods, composting, bed rotations, all are period methods of gardening. I would love to hear about the gardens, large or small, that you all have. Pictures, articles, books that you have found helpful, or seed you have to swap are all welcome.

Also, be sure to visit our website! There is a calendar that is updated constantly, not to mention a huge bibliography, list of links, and an archive of all the past editions of the newsletter.

Madrun

1/2 lb. butter or margarine

1 T. lemon juice

1 clove garlic, crushed, or garlic powder to taste

2 tsp. minced dried chives or 2 T. fresh chives (fresh is much better)

1 T. fresh parsley

1 tsp. dried tarragon

1 tsp. dried dill

dash of cayenne pepper (opt.)

Cream butter. Add other ingredients and beat until light. Refrigerate over night.

2 pears, peeled, cored, and cut into eighths

1-1/2 T. brown sugar

1/4 c. orange liqueur or orange juice

1/2 tsp. ground cardamon

1/2 c. whipping cream, whipped and flavored with 1 T. orange liqueur

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange pears in shallow baking dish. Sprinkle pears with sugar, pour liqueur over them, and dust with cardamom. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until pears are tender. Cool slightly, then chill 15 minutes. Before serving, top with whipped cream.

(Bon Appetit, January, 1980)

Honey was a common ingredient in wound poultices in Medieval Scotland.

2 tablespoons of honey, raw if possible

2 tablespoons natural beeswax, shaved

1 teaspoon lanolin

Melt all together in a small saucepan over VERY low heat. Do not Boil!! Pour into 2 cleaned carmex pots or a 2 oz baby food jar. This is a very soft lip balm, but it is a nice change from the menthol-flavored ones.

2 cups flour

Pinch of salt

1 tsp. Baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. Cream of tartar

2 Tbl. Butter

A little milk

Mixed 1 tsp. Each thyme, sage, summer savory

Sift dry ingredients into a bowl, mix in herbs. Cut in cold butter. Add enough cold milk to make a soft dough. Roll out 3/4” thick and cut as many rounds out as possible with a 2 1/2” biscuit cutter. Brush with milk, bake at 425 for 10 minutes, serve hot.

(Arista alla Fiorentina)

2 lb. boneless pork loin roast, trimmed of excess fat, rolled and tied

1 spring fresh rosemary

1 garlic clove, slivered

3 whole cloves

salt & pepper

1/2 cup water

With a sharp knife make slits in the meat and insert small tufts of rosemary and slivers of garlic. Stick the cloves into the meat, season it with salt and pepper, and place it in a roasting pan with the water. Roast in a preheated 350 degree oven, basting occasionally, until the water has almost disappeared and the meat is done, about one hour. Remove the meat from the pan and serve hot or

cold.

(Taken from the collection of recipes found in Pork, a volume in The Good Cook series. The recipe originally appeared in Il Re Dei Cuochi.)

Take of Red Rose buds, gathered in a dry time, the whites cut off, dried in the shade 3 or 4 days, one pound, Vinegar 8 sextaries (try one quart) set them in the sun for fourty days, then strin out the roses, and repeat the infusion with fresh ones.

After the same manner is made Vinegar of elder flowers, rosemary flowers, and clove-gillyflowers.

For the virtues of all vinegars, take thisone only observation, They carry the same virtues with the flowers whereof they were made, only as we said of wines, that they were better for cold bodies then the bare simples whereof they are made; so are vinegars for hot bodies. Besides, vinegars are often, nay, most commonly used externally, viz. to bathe the place, then look amongst the simples, and see what place of the body the simple is appropriated to, and you cannot but know both what Vinegar to use, and to what place to apply it.

4 oz. Fresh white horehound leaves

1/2 tsp. Crushed aniseed

3 crushed cardamom seeds, or pinch of ground cardamom

Put into 1 pint of water and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain through a filter. Over low heat, dissolve 12 oz. Of white sugar and 12 oz. Of moist brown sugar in the liquid and boil over a medium heat until the syrup hardens when drops are put into a glass of ice water. Pour into an oiled tray. Score when partially cooled. Store in wax paper.

This Vinegar is known as “Four Thieves” because it is said that thieves used to rub their bodies with it before robbing plague victims.

1 Tbl. Chopped wormwood

1 Tbl. Lavender

1 Tbl. Rosemary

1 Tbl. Sage leaves, chopped

1 3/4 pints white wine vinegar

Put the crushed herbs into an earthenware container. Pour in the vinegar. Cover the container and leave it in a warm sunny place for two weeks. Strain into bottles with tight fitting lids. This makes a very refreshing tonic in the bath, or try sprinkling it on work surfaces in the kitchen.

Soak 1 oz. Of scraped and finely chopped marshmallow root in 2/3 cup of cold water for 24 hours. Strain well. Add 1 Tbl. Of the decoction to 2 Tbl. Of ground almonds, 1 tsp. Of milk, and 1 tsp. Of cider vinegar. Beat until well blended. Add a few drops of lavender oil. Put into small screw-top jar.