Sage and Turkey Carving

From a blog on my reading list, I came across an item of interest: Sage Can Kill:

Yes, it has been proven, sage can kill... GERMS. Experts recently discovered that the herb can eliminate 65 types of common germs. It has a potent antioxidant that acts as a natural antibiotic to soothe the pain and inflammation of a sore throat.

Here's what you should do: Simmer 2 tbsp of dried sage in 8 oz of water for 10 minutes. Salt will help ease swelling so stir in 1/4 tsp and let cool. For 30 seconds, gargle with the solution three times daily at the first sign of infection.

I read mlizcochico frequently; she is a savvy mom and shares good tips. This is one I will keep handy.

My father grows prolific amounts of sage and shares it with me. After visiting with my parents in Dallas, I come home well stocked with several of his home grown herbs. Sage is one of my favorite spices and one that grows well in that southern climate with lots of hot sun shining on it in their side yard.

Infusion of Sage can used to treat depression, nervous anxiety and liver disorders; homeopathic preparations can be given for circulation and menopausal problems (from this reference.)

This time of year is a favorite for cooking with this earthy, good smelling herb. And back to sage and its use with turkey, have a look at wikihow for this great tip on turkey carving:

Citron Tea - Hot or Cold

When I first found out about Citron Tea and shared a cup with a friend, I was amazed that I had never come across it before. It is delicious hot, and chock full of vitamin C.

I love this stuff! I now have a couple of mugs full of citron tea each day, and it is especially warming and delicious on these cool autumn days.

Initially, a Google search brought up information only about citrus tea and various recipes. Then I realized I was putting in an incorrect search term of "citrus tea", whereas the real subject term should have been "citron" tea; a big difference, I found out.

From 2005, a post referenced at Jam Tea:

In the past few months I’ve discovered a weird new kind of tea. At first I thought the people drinking it were just freaks. I watched some people scooping out spoonfuls of what appeared to be jam, schlopping it into mugs, adding hot water, stirring it up real good, and drinking it. I was shocked by this behavior. Clearly, jam is meant for bread and crescent rolls and such, not hot water.

These people explained to me, however, that the stuff in the jar was not jam. It was, in fact, tea. This kind of tea comes from Korea, I understand. The most popular flavor is “citron tea.” It’s made with honey. I dunno… looks like jam to me.

So I tried this so-called “tea” and I found it really good! It’s sweet, like the “fruit tea” (I think it’s just Kool-aid) you get in teahouses. When you get to the bottom of your cup, there’s always these grapefruit shreds. They’re pretty tasty too.

Citron tea comes in a jar, and looks like orange marmalade, definitely like the dark tea we are used to seeing. The listing on the label does not even list tea as an ingredient.

It really does taste like something between a hot fruit drink and lemonade, but the bits of citrus fruit peeling at the bottom of the finished toddy give it added zing. It also has (supposedly) 3x the vitamin C equivalency of lemons.

Here is a picture of Citron Tea (courtesy of Flickr):


It is available at Korean and Chinese groceries, and also, amazingly, at the Oriental food aisles in many Costco stores. A yummy new taste treat!

Knitting an Easy Lace Scarf

Today is "Show and Tell Friday" over at Kelli's Place: Check out her website and see what others are talking about at Kelli's House.




This is a new knitting project started this week. It will be a 62" long scarf from a pattern handout given by Knit One Chat Too.

The fiber is hand dyed by the Hand Maiden, a Vancouver dyer. It is 50% wool, 50% silk, with a nice hand to the fiber. It is a pleasure to hold and work with this yarn. The reddish and mauve colors are sweet and keep those stitches from getting monotonous!

This is my first attempt at knitting a simple lace pattern and is listed at the Ravelry web site and on the Flickr web site. The pattern consists of only four rows in a simple repeat, with three of the rows using only a straight knit row or straight purl row. Easy!