RESOLVED: Peppermint oil for patties
jally
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
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jally
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Flavors of fancy mints
Comments (7)Another common name for orange mint (Mentha aquatica) is eau de cologne mint (blue balsam and bergamot are others). Aroma interpretation is very subjective. Sometimes a mint may not smell like its namesake to you until somebody else tells you what it is called or supposed to smell like. The power of suggestion at work! Some of the mint aromas have nothing in their oil that is in the flavor they are named for. For example, "Chocolate" mint has no chemicals in it its oil in common with chocolate. As for the flavors of mints, for me, the taste and smell don't always go hand in hand. There are lots of mint scents and subtleties between different varieties so there isn't really a single "mint" flavor or scent. However, I notice a common "note" in most mints' aroma. What most people mean by "mint" flavor is spearmint (M.spicata) or sometimes peppermint (M xpiperita)-the two most commonly used to flavor foods. Lime mint is another type of M. aquatica. It has a bit more of a clean "citrus" note to its aroma. Interestingly, lemon mint is not a type of Mentha at all, but a species of Monarda (bee balm). Have fun trying them ALL! F. DeBaggio...See MoreNeem Oil for Grasshoppers and Other Pests?
Comments (12)Kelley, Bt 'kurstaki' is a narrow-spectrum bio-insecticide that targets caterpillers and larvae that bother many ornamental and vegetable plants. In a residential landscape and/or home garden, it is often used to control tomato hornworms, tobacco hornworms, cutworms, tomato fruitworms/corn earworms, canker worms, leaf miners and various types of grub worms. It is available in both a liquid form and in a powdered, granular form (Dipel Dust and similar products). I've linked one of the more common Bt Caterpiller killer type products below. Most all of the Bt 'kurstaki' products either say Worm Killer or Caterpiller Killer on the label or have images of caterpillers on the label or both. All Bt products are made of toxins derived from naturally-occurring bacteria. The other species of Bt most commonly used in a home setting are: (1) the 'San Diego' or 'tenebrionis' species-derived products (San Diego is genetically engineered so it cannot be used in Certified Organic operations, but tenebrionis is not genetically-engineered so it can be used in Certified Organic operations) which is used to control beetle larvae, and most often used to control the larval form of the Colorado Potato Beetle; and (2) the 'Israelensis' species, available as a granular product you sprinkle in standing water or as 'mosquito dunks' to drop into water. It controls mosquito larvae. One caution about using Bt 'kurstaki' is that it kills ALL butterfly and moth larvae, so be very careful when applying it so it does not wipe out all your butterflies and moths. Many butterfly gardeners choose not to use Bt 'kurstaki' because they don't want to harm the very butterflies and moths they are trying to attract to their plantings. For webworms, I usually just take a stick (or a long, telescoping pole pruner if the webs are high up in a tree) and break open the web. Once the caterpillars lose the protection of that web, the wild birds here gobble them up. I have a huge bird population here in our rural area, one I have carefully 'cultivated' by feeding them year-round, always providing numerous drinking water sources for them daily and a birdbath as well, and by providing birdhouses for them. If you are in an urban or suburban setting with a smaller population of wild birds, you may not have enough of them around to control the webworms. I think Bt is a wonderful solution if someone needs to control caterpillers, but I don't spray it myself because I like having butterflies and moths around. Some people say you can't grow fruit trees here without spraying for worms, but I've harvested over 350 lbs. of fruit from trees which were not sprayed with anything. Having said that, I don't usually have tent caterpillers (aka webworms) in large nmbers and the few I see (some years I see none) are taken care of by natural predators. I do think some parts of OK have a much more severe problem with webworms than we have here in southcentral OK. Barbara, Believe me, it has not been an easy choice to refrain from spraying insecticial soap or neem oil, and I'm not saying I'd never, ever use either one or both. For example, neem oil can be very useful in flea control, but my dogs usually don't have a big flea or tick problem, so I don't usually use it for that purpose. (I wouldn't hesitate to spray the ground in their dog yard and the fenceline around it if they did have fleas though.) In a 'bad year' I'll spray the dog yard's ground and fenceline with peppermint soap which is a great repellent. Neem is found in many pet products, including flea shampoos, and I have used those tea tree oil flea shampoos on our dogs in a year when there is a heavy infestation of fleas or ticks. (I've also bathed them in Cedarcide, orange oil-based shampoos and peppermint soap in years like that....2007 was one of those years.) Bagworms are very hard to control, but I've only seen them one year since moving here, and never since then, so I don't have to deal with them. I generally ignore leaf miners. I've never had them do enough damage to kill a plant or even to significantly harm one. The kaolin clay products like Surround are very helpful in some instances, but there again I choose not to use them. They make the garden look hideously awful, among other things, and you have to reapply it after rain or overhead watering washes it off the leaves. Kaolin clay reminds me of the old folk remedy of mixing all-purpose flour with water and spraying it on the foliage to keep the hoppers away. I used that in the bad grasshopper years back around 2003 or so, but didn't like the way the garden looked and couldn't tell it made a big dent in the amount of hopper damage I've been seeing. I didn't think it was worth the time I spent spraying. You aren't seeing a large amount of damage from pest insects because some sort of beneficials are eating them. I have seen huge numbers of insects, but not correspondingly high levels of plant damage. Potato beetles were my worst issue, and I just hand-picked them. My regular garden turtle was very frustrated that he was fenced out of the new potato patch area, and once I realized he wanted in there, I opened the gate and let him in and I haven't had to hand-pick CPBs since. Once he picked that area clean, he returned to the regular garden, leaving me to wonder how he 'knew' the CPBs (or, for that matter, the potato plants) were out there in the new area away from the main garden. If you aren't seeing significant levels of lady bugs and dragon flies, that means they've gone someplace else where there are more pest insects to eat. The first few years here, we always had billions of beneficial insects of all kinds. Then, their numbers abruptly dropped and I was sort of panicky, wondering what was 'wrong'. Finally I realized they left because there wasn't enough of a pest insect population to attract them. Now I see them come and go, appearing seemingly out of the blue if a pest population shows up like the aphids that showed up on my sugar snap peas this spring, and then leaving when their work is done. We have many wasps here, probably more than a regular homeowner would be comfortable having around. I am always happy to have them here because they are such great predators, but every time Tim walks out the door, it seems like one stings him (2 or 3 times this week alone). I suspect the many types of wasps are the reason I seldom have problems with caterpillers. You know, logic would tell you that someone with all the nightshade plants I have would have a major tomato/tobacco hornworm problem, but I see, perhaps, 8 or 10 most years and I give the wasps credit for those low numbers. It has taken me a long time to arrive at the point that I seldom rely on any sort of insecticide and there were some hard years when I worried the natural ecosystem would fail, but it never has. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Example of a Bt 'kurstaki' product...See MoreCalling SOL-- Peppermint Patties recipe please
Comments (11)Here is a basic recipe that I did for Christmas and tinted the filling pink. They are sooooo good! Peppermint Patties: 2 cups confectioners sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 1/4 teaspoon peppermint oil 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons evaporated milk Chocolate Coating: 9 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped 1 tablespoon shortening Peppermint Patties: Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, smoothing out any wrinkles. Lightly dust the foil with confectioners sugar. In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat at low speed, the sugar, butter, peppermint oil, vanilla extract, and evaporated milk until combined. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until very creamy, 3-4 minutes. Transfer the batter to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator to chill until firm enough to roll into balls, about an hour. Roll the batter into 1-inch balls and place on the prepared pan. Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand until the patties are about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and 1/3 inch thick. Cover and place in the refrigerator until the patties are firm, one to two hours. Chocolate Coating: Melt the chocolate and shortening in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove the patties from the refrigerator and dip, one patty at a time, into the melted chocolate, making sure both sides of each patty are completely coated with chocolate. Let any excess chocolate drip back into the bowl and then place the patties back on the foil. Once all the patties have been dipped in the chocolate, return to the refrigerator to chill until firm (30 - 60 minutes). Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container, using parchment or waxed paper between layers. Will keep about a month or freeze them up to 3 months. Yield: about 30 patties....See MoreDessert Ideas for St. Patty's Day
Comments (13)~~Irish Bread Pudding with Caramel-Whiskey~~ Bread Pudding: 1/4 cup light butter, melted 1 10-ounce French baguette, cut into 1-inch-thick slice s ½ cup raisins 1/4 cup Irish whiskey or apple juice 1 3/4 cups 1 percent milk 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (divided) 1 tablespoon vanilla 1 12-ounce can evaporated nonfat milk 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon Caramel-Whiskey Sugar: 1½ cups granulated sugar 2/3 cup water 1/4 cup light butter 1/4 cup light cream cheese (2 ounces) 1/4 cup Irish whiskey* 1/4 cup 1 percent milk To Make Bread Pudding: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush melted butter on one side of bread slices, and place bread, buttered sides up, on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Cut bread into ½-inch cubes and set aside. Combine raisins and whiskey in a small bowl; cover and let stand 10 minutes or until soft (do not drain). Combine 1 percent milk, 1 cup sugar, vanilla, evaporated nonfat milk and eggs in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add bread cubes and raisin mixture, pressingly gently to moisten; let stand 15 minutes. Spoon bread mixture into a 13-by-9-inch baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon sugar and t he cinnamon; sprinkle over pudding. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until set. Serve warm with Caramel-Whiskey Sauce. To Make Sauce; Combine sugar and water in a small heavy saucepan over medium high heat; cook until golden (do not stir). Remove from heat. Carefully add butter and cream cheese, stirring constantly with a whisk (mixture will be hot and bubble vigorously). Cool slightly, and stir in whisky and milk. Make 1½ cups. * Substitute 1 tablespoon imitation rum extract and 3 tablespoons water for the Irish whiskey, if desired. Serves 12...See Morejally
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