This is why I love you guys, you guys always give great advice! I didn't think about the mint turning brown. I did look up the lemon balm jelly, Dave, but you said it didn't turn out so well? Did you try something different in subsequent times? http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/harvest/msg0920171220487.html I think mint has a strong enough flavor that it would do really well in that recipe. This mint is wild mint, I have it in water in vases in my kitchen right now and it smells wonderful. I could always make a mint jelly and then thin it out with vinegar when I want to use it...

you could make mint oil, add equal amounts of mint leaves and oil into the food processor and chop fine, Use this in your cake recipes, brownies, breads, etc. mix it with other herbs and make a pesto, you can strain it and make it into a bread dipping oil. refrigerate any leftovers, it keeps almost forever. steep mint and other herbs in wine vinegar, do not boil. my favorite is orange mint, orange zest, thai hot peppers, and lemon thyme, with a bit of ginger root. add a bit of sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and concentrated orange juice and use it for a chicken maranade. mint is excellent with lamb. use it in a salad 3 tomatoes chopped 1 med onion chopped 1 bunch or large handfull of mint, chopped 5-8 green onions or scallions, thinly sliced juice of 2 lemons salt put all ingredients in a bowl and chill for an hour, serve with grilled chicken or fish Tomato soup with couscous 2 Tbs olive oil 1 onion chopped 1-2 carrots diced 14 oz can italian chopped tomatoes 6 garlic cloves chopped 6 1/4 cup veggie or chicken stock 1 1/2 cup couscous, or alphabet noodles 2-3 sprigs mint chopped 1/4 tsp ground cumin 1/4 bunch cilantro cayene pepper to taste salt and pepper cook the onion and carrots in oil of about 10 minutes until softened add the tomatoes, half the garlic, stock, couscous, mint, coriander and spices bring to boil add remaining garlic and simmer for 7- 10 minutes until couscous is just tender serve hot Chopped Veggie Salad 1 each red, green, and yellow bell pepper seeded, and diced 1 carrot diced 1 cucumber diced 6 tomatoes, diced, I prefer romas 3 garlic cloves chopped fine 3 green onions or scallions sliced thin 2 Tbs chopped cilantro 2 Tbs each chopped dill, parsley, and mint 1 hot pepper chopped fine 3-4 Tbs olive oil juice of 1 lemon salt and pepper to taste add all ingredients, toss, and serve chilled mint can also be added to any green salad

Make a simple syrup by boiling a cup of water and half a cup of suger together. Put a generous sprig of mint and 1 tsp of sugar in the bottom of a glass or julep cup...muddle it together so the suger gets mixed with crushed mint leaves, fill the glass with crushed ice, add 1 T. sugar syrup and fill to the rim with bourbon. stir with a long handled spoon from the bottom up to mix the mint with the bourbon. As to if they are worth making?.....Depends. I got very drunk on mint Juleps once....thought I was drinking a lady's drink. So be careful....they can knock you on your ear! Linda C

Glenda, I'd be pouring that over ice cream! Well, maybe anyhow. All the recipes sound great. This is the best chili I've ever made or eaten. Al Roker's recipe, from People magazine. 1 T olive oil 2 lbs. chuck steak, cubed 1 lb. crumbled hot Italian sausage (I used mild) 2 large onions, diced 12 cloves garlic, diced 1 T cumin 1 T paprika 1 T chili powder 1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes 1/2 c. water 1 15 oz. can pinto beans 1 15 oz. can Northern beans 1 15 oz. can dark kidney beans Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown steak and sausage for 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Reserve 2 T of fat from meat, discard the rest. Saute the onions and garlic in the reserved fat until translucent, 8 minutes. Add cumin, paprika, and chili powder and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, water, sausage/beef, stir and simmer for 90 minutes. Rinse and drain beans, add to chili. Simmer for another 30 minutes. Dish into bowls, garnish with cheese, green onions, sour cream or whatever you like.