Sunday, September 6

Lemon Verbena

So, not sure if you were up on that Kombucha Challenge I somehow roped myself & Anais (from Urban Homestead, Pasadena) into a couple weeks ago... it was quite comical. She had pans to make a Lemon Verbena Flavored Kombucha, and since I had vague plans to go to their monthly potluck/movie screening a couple weeks later, I suggested a friendly competition... The comical part is that I couldn't find Lemon Verbena ANYWHERE in my county. Anais kept offering some of hers, but Pasadena is about 40 minutes away & I just felt that was not an eco-responsible thing to do... (I had already done a special trip down there for figs recently...)
Surely it would turn up somewhere...I kept looking....
But my window of opportunity finally ran out, so I sheepishly told Anais that I had not been able to locate the LV... and she graciously let me off the hook, saying to come down anyway & bring whatever Kombucha I had on hand & we'd just taste them... no big deal.
So, I went to the screening & during dinner, Anais found me & we tasted, and shared with other folks at the table & talked Kombucha until the movie started. It really surprises me that so few people really know about it.
Anyhoo, after the movie, I bought some figs & Anais clipped some fresh lemon Verbena sprigs off the enormous bush in the front yard. The scent filled my car, making the car smell wonderful! I WISH smell-a-vision was a real thing because unless you've sniffed this gift of GOD, you cannot truly grasp what a wonder it is! It's herby & lemony & fresh. (wow, great description!) Words simply cannot describe it. Gonna hafta get some for yourself!
Go. Now. DO IT! GO!
So, what does a person do with it?, you might be asking.... well, it was past my bedtime already, so I did the obvious and dried it. Then I crushed it (the smell was intense!) and found a jar to keep it in. Every now & then, I just open the jar & sniff. **guilty look** What?! It's cheap therapy!
Today I decided to make simple syrup from it to flavor a future batch of Kombucha or ice cream or (fill in the blank).... It's pretty simple:

1 cup filtered water
1 cup organic cane sugar
1/4 cup dried Lemon Verbena leaves

Bring to a boil, lower heat & simmer for 10 minutes. Cool. Strain into a jar & store in fridge for up to 2 months. I am looking at this site to find some more ideas..

2 comments:

twoandtwinsmom said...

MMMM, I bet it would be really good in the water kefir too!

Christy Shay said...

I love lemon verbena! I have a tiny plant of it that is not growing very well.
I volunteer to taste-test whatever you end up making with it... :)

Bloggy Friends

Erin

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Santa Susana, Ventura County, CA, United States
Me? Well....I have a day job selling travel to beautiful far away lands, and I love to travel - my job sort of supports & feeds the 'travel monster' inside me. But my other inner monster is: food in all it's facets. I have a 13 yr old DS from a previous life, and married the lovely JoeBacon a three years ago! I finally became a home-owner at that point, we did a huge addition/re-model right away to make the house a bit bigger & I got a wonderful new kitchen out of the deal! I've gone thru Culinary School twice (mostly for fun) 'cuz I love to cook! And thru reading/doing the Maker's Diet 2 years ago, became aware of Sally Fallon, Weston Price, etc...and now after about 9 months of exploring their world, I'm trying to really make it all part of mine. I've had some things turn out great & others have been miserable failures, but I'm learning a LOT (mostly from my fellow NT Bloggers)!! Now I'm enjoying my yard, garden, sprouting, baking bread, brewing Kombucha, using raw milk, making Kefir & Yogurt & just trying to find small ways to make yummy food better for us.