Nila, Might be interested in following recipe for your vins. It says raspberry or strawberry because those are what my herb Guild sells, but your fruit ones should be lovely. Quinoa Salad With Apples, Raisin & Walnuts ÷ 1 1/4 Cups Stock or Water 1 Cup Quinoa, Rinsed Well ÷ 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil ÷ 1 Tablespoon Guild Raspberry Lemon Thyme Vinegar or Strawberry Mint Vinegar ÷ ü Cup Parsley, Chopped ÷ ü Cup Chives, Chopped ÷ ü teaspoon Salt ÷ ü teaspoon Pepper ÷ 2 Golden Delicious Apples, Cored and Diced ÷ ý Cup Golden Raisins ÷ ý Cup Chopped Walnuts, Toasted Prepare the quinoa. Bring 1 ü cups stock or water to a boil then stir in the quinoa. Return to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until the quinoa is tender, (about 25 ��" 30 minutes). Let rest for 5 minutes, fluff with a fork, then set aside. While the quinoa is cooking, whisk the oil, vinegar, parsley, chives, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the apple, raisins and walnuts tossing to coat. Add the quinoa to the fruited vinaigrette mixture, folding and tossing to combine thoroughly.

I just got out a book from the library the other day called "Making and Selling Herbal Crafts" by Alyce Nadeau. I had a lot of good ideas in it and some good recipes too. Some of the recipes were for Sage Blossom Vinegar, ideas for a culinary gift basket, Lavender Cookie Recipe, Tea bags, Tea blend (with peppermint, spearmint and lemon grass), and Herbal Bath Refresher. There were lots of other things too those were just some that caught my eye. The author also mentions baking breads with herbs, which really got me thinking. Last year I sold Zucchini Bread and Pear Nut Bread and both did very well almost sold out every time. So this year I wanted to make some more different types of bread. Looks like I will have to see if I can find some recipes for herb breads. I know what you mean about wanting to do it all. Right now I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed by all the new plans I have made for myself this year. I am thinking some will have to wait for next year, but how to choose? While I was searching for information about luffa gourds I came across a tread that included this recipe for luffa soap: "Hi, in order to make loofa soap, your loofa should be fully dried. You may need to purchase dried loofa from your local craft store if loofa is not dried in time. Loofa Soap Recipe: Cut the loofa into slices depending on the size of your mold and the desired effect you wish to have. Round, Rectangle...using whole slices, shreds or chunks of loofa etc. Carefully melt glycerin chunks in a glass measuring cup in your microwave ( or low heat on the stovetop in a coated pan ), approx. 40-60 seconds depending on the amount you are melting. Be sure to add a few drop of fragrance if you choose when melting. Once melted, pour soap into molds and let cool. Loofa will sometime pop up, I use something small to keep it down and then correct the cosmetic flaw once it has cool. This is usually not noticed as it is the bottom of the soap. Once cool, pop out of mold, add a ribbon or two, place in a decorative basket and prepare for the ohh's and ahh's your son will receive as he hands these out to relatives for Christmas." It seems pretty simple and if you were to had herbs in the soap then you would have two ingredients that you grew. Below I also linked the full thread if you were interested. Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about Luffas

Well, this morning was the big taste test and of the four vinegars the white wine had the most interesting flavor (it is also the oldest). The scuppernong tasted kinda ordinary but still had some fruitiness to its aroma. The red wine had no flavor and the apple cider vinegar was nothing special (I had high hopes for it, since it was made from organic apple cider and since I use a lot of apple cider vinegar and like the flavor). Now I have to strain them and bottle them and allow them to finish curing(ageing) and hope for better flavors to develop. bud wi - when I moved here the grapes were just ripening and I could barely control myself. The place I worked had an entire row of about 15 cultivars - each with its own distinct flavor and ripening time. You can actually get a headache from the sugar content if you eat too many of them. I started trying different recipes with them which disgusted the locals. They claimed that the only reason people grow them in their back yards is for home made wine. The local wineries that use them produce wine that is very sweet - kinda like Japanese plum wine.

mmm..I'm in the process of finding new and interesting herbs ..I have many and I enjoy researching their healing qualities in my spare time... I was looking through this list of strange people...lol when I noticed that Desi wanted to know what herb was used on her bruises as a child ... Burdock Arcticum lappa - give relief from bruises and inflamed swellings- including gout. Lavender Lavandula officinalis -helps ease the aches of bruises Marsh Mallow Althaea officinalis The roots ot the mallow crushed and mixed with Slippery Elm in a poultice will ease bruises, sprains and inflammations. Comfrey (knitbone, bruise-wort, knitback, slippery root, consolida) Symphytum officinale - use leaves as a poultice to help in the healing of cuts, ulcers and abcesses, and to reduce swelling, sprains and bruises. Sage (garden sage, red sage, sawge) Savia officinalis can also be used. I hope one of them rings a bell. I have many plants and would very much like to swap some seeds etc. Hope it was help, sorry but I can't remember where I orginally found the information...I created a database for myself a little while ago and in the beginning I forgot to reference.. cheers Lisa