Red Lentil Jalfrezi

This is so simple to make and so delicious served with Naan bread (which I will learn to make)

Two small red onions chopped roughly
Two teaspoons of Jalfrezi curry paste
50g of red lentils rinsed in cold water
cold water added until lentils cooked (I added this as and when needed, rather like a risotto) and the desired consistency is attained.
Tablespoon of tomato paste

Simply cook the onions in a pan together with a small amount of oil
When cooked, add the curry paste and let the heat bring out the aromas - don't have the pan too hot for this otherwise it will burn and be unpleasant.
add enough water to cover the onions and cook for two minutes before adding the lentils, the tomato paste and more water - stir well and let it simmer gently on the heat. Add more water as the lentils cook until the mixture is at the required consistency. Don't let it dry out too much or add too much water at once.
When it is done, remove from the heat and grill some naan bread on both sides. Serve in a bowl together with the naan bread and a tomato salad.

Serves 2 as a light meal

National Kidney Day

Apparently today is National Kidney Day so here is my contribution...

Ingredients

    1 tbsp butter
    4 lambs' kidneys, trimmed and cut into chunks
    1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
    2 tsp tomato purée
    2 tsp lemon juice
    1 tsp English mustard powder
     pinch cayenne pepper
     salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve

     2 slices white bread, toasted
     1 tbsp chopped fresh flatleaf parsley

Preparation method

Heat a frying pan until hot, then add the butter and kidneys and fry for 2-3 minutes, until golden-brown all over.

Place the Worcestershire sauce, tomato purée, lemon juice, mustard powder and cayenne powder into a bowl and whisk together well.

Pour the dressing onto the kidneys and stir well to combine. Cook for a further minute or two, until the kidneys are completely cooked through. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

To serve, place the toast onto two plates and top each slice with the kidneys and pan juices. Garnish with flatleaf parsley.

On a more serious note, it really is world Kidney Day and you can find out more information here. Their aim is to raise awareness of the importance of healthy kidneys.

Snowing

I look outside and see light snow gently drifting down, hmmm I have a lot to do today and don't fancy being surrounded by a lot of snow. Fortunately I believe that the bulk of the snow is going to be East of here, but as nice as it is I cannot stand and admire the prettiness only to get on with what needs to be done.

I am making two puddings to take with me, a peach sponge and an apple version. These are simiple win win recipes and are quite light (until you serve them with clotted cream, cream, ice-cream or my favourite custard).

I use a tray bake tin, which will serve 8-10 people each, for the peach verion simply take 2 tins of peaches in juice (you can use them in syrup but I don't like the extra sweetness), drain them and pour them into the tray. Make up a sponge mixture, you can cheat and use a packet mix, or I use a recipe for victoria sponge recipe courtesy of be-ro.

100 g (4 oz) margarine
100 g (4 oz) caster sugar
2 medium eggs
100 g (4 oz) Be-Ro Self Raising Flour

Mix up the sponge mix, and pour over the fruit, cook for 45 mins and the top should be nice and crispy almost biscuit like.

You can ring the changes with the fruit being used and to make it more christmassy, use mince meat and apples for a lighter version of a christmas type pudding.

Roasted Squash

I feel autumnal, the need to nest and hibernate is strong.. the lure of a nice dark, warm cave increasingly attractive lol...

So to while away the weekend, I made a batch of Roasted Squash goodies... which included soup, tart and tortilla roll bakes....

First of all I roasted my butternut squash, a favourite of mine, first of all rubbed with garlic and olive oil then baked until softened and browned..

For the soup scoop 1/3 of the flesh out of the tough skin and added to some vegetable stock and blitz until smooth, return to the pan and add some fresh corn, peas and tomatoes to the mixture.. serve with crusty fresh bread.

For the tart, roll out some puff pastry, into a rectangle, or smaller squares, and put 1/3 of the flesh roughly chopped onto the pastry, put some chopped tomatoes on, and top with grated mozzarella cheese (or you can use a blue cheese such as cambozola).. I dusted with some dried herbs and mustard mix, but go with your own flavours. Put in a hot oven for 20 mins until the pastry is cooked, serve in slices with a herb salad and fresh crusty bread.

Lastly the remaining 1/3 of squash mix chop up and add to some softened onion's and garlic mix and put them in rolled up tortilla's (makes 2)... place in an ovenproof dish, and cover with a tomato based sauce, I used spanish chicken sauce from the Knorr range. Sprinkle with a strong cheese, either mature cheddar or you can use mozarella.. and bake for 20-25 mins in a moderate oven... these taste delicious and make a greate vegetarian option for meals.

Enjoy

Memories of Summers Gone by

Dad was the gardening expert in the Back of Beyond, he could grow almost anything and usually did in the garden until the day he died. Sadly I have not inherited his ability, and especially to my regret my inability to grow tomatoes as by the end of the season we had too many to eat and I had to hunt around for ideas of what to do with them.

So if you have :

6 lbs ripe tomatoes any variety and all varieties - adds to the flavour
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 tablespoon salt
8 oz (225 g) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons paprika
Pinch of cayenne pepper
½ pint (285 ml) distilled white vinegar or I used cider vinegar

Method: Wash the tomatoes and chop them (or put them through a juicer is even better) There's no need to skin or remove the seeds. Put in a pan and cook slowly until pulped, stirring occasionally.

Press through a sieve (omit this if you used a juicer) and return the puree to a clean pan. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer gently until the sauce has thickened.

It makes about 2 pints (1.1 litres) of sauce, I used to freeze it in portions of about half a pint perfect for adding to sauces so much better than tinned tomatoes or even passata.

I used in in making spaghetti bolognaise, as it made it light and yet spicy at the same time... I keep looking out for people with a glut of tomatoes but so far I am not having a lot of luck :-)

Chewets, Shred Pies or Ye Mynce Pyes

I did a bit of research, and there is quite a lot out there - whatever did we do without the Internet I wonder?

From Celtnet Recipes, which by far seemed to be the best source of information :

Original Lady Portland's Receipt for Mince Pies
Take four pounds of Beef, Veal or Neats-Tongues, and eight pounds of suet; and mince both the meat and Suet very small, before you put them together. Then mingle them well together and mince it very small, and put to it six pounds of Currants washed and picked very clean. Then take the Peel of two Lemons, and half a score of Pippins (apples), and mince them very small. Then take above and Ounce of Nutmeg, and a quarter of an ounce of Mace, some Cloves and Cinnamon, and put them together, and sweeten them with Rose-water and Sugar. And when you are ready to put them into your Paste, take Citron and Orangiadoe, and slice them very thin, and lay them upon the meat. If you please, put dates upon the top of them. And put amongst the meat an Ounce of Caraway seeds. Be sure you have very fine Paste.

Modern Version
The mince pye presented here is an evolution of the Medieval Christmas recipe which would have used beef and venison offal with maybe apples; making it essentially a meat-based dish. The version presented here now has more fruit than meat in it and is the precursor of the Elizabethan fruit and suet-based Mince Pie that is essential element of any British Christmas.

600g minced beef
400g minced beef suet
900g seedless currants
2 cooking apples or 3 pippins grated small
rind of one lemon, grated.
1 tsp freshly-grated nutmeg
¼ tsp ground mace
generus pinch of ground cloves
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
80g dates, quartered lengthways
1 lemon, sliced into rings (the original recipe uses citron, Citrus medica which is a very acidic relative of lemon
1 smal tart orange sliced into rings

This recipe calls for a fine pastry. Celtnet recommends using their recipe for Saffron Short Paest (short-crust pastry). Make enough of this to line the base of a 25cm diameter pie dish and to provide a lid for the pie. This seems to be a similar recipe for sugar pastry but includes saffron and not sugar.. might have to try a combination.

Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the mince for a few minutes. Tip into a bowl and allow to cool. Once cold add the suet, currants, grated apples, grated lemon and spices. Mix together well and tip into your pie dish. Top with the dates and cover with the lemon and orange slices then add the pastry topping. Bind the bottom and top pieces of pastry together by pressing down with the tines of a fork then prick the surface of the top pastry a number of times to allow steam to escape.

Place in an oven pre-heated to 160oC and bake for about 40 minutes or until the pastry is a light golden browin in colour. Serve warm. Less if you are making individual pies.

According to Celtnet Elizabethan Recipes where I obtained this information, while the beef version recipe is good, if you can hold of minced venison it is even bette.

Mince Pies - Stage II

The pastry has chilled nicely in the fridge, turn the oven to 220 degrees C, and the fun factory is about to commence.

1. Take one pack of pastry out to warm up a bit, not too warm as it will go too sticky to roll or cut out.

2. Take out the baking trays, with 12 indents, and liberally grease them with butter

3. Take a bowl full of mincemeat, add a bit more brandy if it looks a little dry, but you don't want it to be too wet.

4. Beat an egg, with some milk in a jug (for brushing on the pastry)

5. Put some caster sugar in a small container (for sprinkling on the pastry before cooking).

6. Get the cutters out, one large for the bottom piece of pie, a smaller one for the lid. I use a star cutter for the top decoration, but you could use anything you like, heart, diamond etc.

7. Roll out the now cool pastry (don't let it get too warm), on a floured surface until fairly thin (you don't want it too thick or at least I don't).

8.Cut out 12 larger rounds for the bases and put them in the tins, put a teaspoon of mincemeat in each base.

9.Cut 12 tops and 12 stars and brush the underside of the top with the egg wash and place over the base and mincemeat. Brush the top with egg white and put the star on top and sprinkle with sugar.

Whooooooo first tin down, only 11 more to go...

10. Put the completed tin to one side, as likelihood is the oven is not quite to temperature and in any case this makes the job a bit quicker.

Repeat actions 7 through to 9 again and by the time you have done this the first batch can now go in the oven, while the second one waits patiently you can do the third tray and so on until you have as many as you need.

When they are ready to come out of the oven, and you will get the most lovely scent out of the baking process... or at least I think I do... they will be lovely and golden brown.. usually takes between 10-12 minutes (longer if your pastry is thicker or you have used shop brought pastry rather than try the pate sucre in Stage I)...

It is important to leave them in the tin to cool, very important step this as taking them out of the tin when they are too warm will just mean they break and you have to eat all the broken ones.. hmmm I think that's right though I am sure SOH will be helping me at this stage lol.

Now when tin 2 comes out of the oven onto the cooling rack, tin 1 should be about ready to take out. I use a plastic spatula to gently ease them out and onto the cooling rack

Serve warm with clotted cream, or brandy butter, or anything you like.. I usually dust mine with icing sugar but I believe some people leave the tops open and create an icing top.

Enjoy

ps - any orders let me know :-)
pps - competition for the giveaway will be tomorrow's post

Mince Pies - Stage I

Today I am at home, in the kitchen making the pastry for the mince pies.. I need to make 144 on Saturday and I want to get a head start by making the pastry today. To give you an idea I will make 4 times the following recipe* as an absolute minimum.

200g plain flour
pinch of salt
125g butter, cut into small cubes
50g caster sugar
1 egg

Sift the flour and salt onto into a bowl leaving a well in the centre. Work the butter into the flour, rubbing it in until the texture is like fine breadcrumbs. In a separate container, beat the egg and sugar together until the sugar dissolves.

I work the ingredients together until it feels like it's about to come together and then I form a loose ball of dough (it's usually sticky enough to hold together very well) and then wrap it in cling film until Saturday when Stage II will commence.

I used to use a food processor to do it, until I broke it two years ago, but it is just as easy to do it by hand and saves on the washing up as well.

SOH is keeping watch over the proceedings, he is a little indisposed after an operation at the moment and not at work so he is keeping me company in the kitchen.

* The recipe comes from a book entitled Practical Cookery by Ceserani & Kinton... I got my copy in 1977 when I started working in a professional kitchen and it has stayed with me ever since. What I like about it is the fact that it shows you all the joints of meat in a particular animal, and how to cut it... just about one of the best books around I think for budding chefs.

Soothing

I have always found the smell of lavender soothing and calming.. particularly when I have a headache.. it seems to clear the head and soothe the soul.. so I grow it in my garden and so did Dad.

One of our regular visits was to the Norfolk Lavender Centre, Near King's Lynn and we would always come back with yet more varieties of the plant, some English some French but always Purple..with the odd occasional white one, but the purple ones give the best scent in my opinion.

Some would live through one Summer, and never return, others would grow on year on year into magnificant plants and I save the heads and dry them for recipes, for putting in bags in with the clean sheets etc. and crush it to release the heady scent of Summer once more. I still have some of the plants from when Dad was alive.

The fields around the Centre, in the height of Summer are fields of purple, and a sight to behold for even the most frequent visitors. The heads are harvested and the essential oils steamed out of them for use in the worldwide famous Norfolk Lavender range.

The Centre also includes a visitor centre, shop and a cafeteria and many of the foodstuffs sold include lavender heads as an ingredient. My first taste of lavender cake was here and it was lovely, though to be honest if you don't like lavender then there would be little point in using it in cakes, biscuits or other food stuffs.

I can thoroughly recommend a visit, even in Winter, for those in the region of it as they have some really great lavender products, and even some plants for sale - though it is best to get those in Spring time.

What to do with a bumper harvest of apples?

Well other than stewing them and freezing them for use later, I hunted around on on the blogsite Jam and Clotted Cream (who got it from Sweet and Simple Bakes) I found a recipe for Vanilla Apple Cake.

After getting the essential ingredients in a shop from our nearest supermarket, actually I went for a baking dish rather than cake ingredients, I warmed up the oven and set to.

This really was a very simple recipe :

Ingredients:
250g/9oz unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
250g/9oz golden caster sugar (or normal caster sugar)
4 eggs, beaten
250g/9oz self-raising flour
1 vanilla pod, split, seeds removed and reserved (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
3 small Bramley apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges (or any other type of cooking apple, if not apple of your choice)
2 tbsp Demerera sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Method:
Step 1: Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter a 20cm/8inch springform tin, then line the base with baking paper.
Step 2: Beat the caster sugar and butter together until the mixture turns pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, flour and vanilla seeds, then beat together quickly to make a smooth batter.
Step 3: Tip into the prepared tin, then lay the apple wedges on top, poking them halfway into the mix. Don’t worry if the apples appear crowded – they’ll shrink as they cook. Sprinkle with the Demerera and cinnamon, then bake for 1 hour 5 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean and the sponge is risen and golden.
Step 4: Leave to cool for a few mins, then release the tin and cool the cake completely on a wire rack.

(c) Sweet and Simple Bakes

I used a silicone cake dish, so left the cake to cool in that on top of a cake rack and it seemed to work well.

SOH had been working hard all day Saturday and after chicken pie, we had the cake warm, with clotted cream for dessert and then tomorrow will have it cold with vanilla ice-cream.

Definitely a success and will make it to the recipe blog.

Autumnal Mornings

This morning there was a chill in the air, the promise of the crispness of Autumn has finally arrived and I stood out in the garden at 8am picking the harvest of apples from my trees feeling the cold nipping at my fingertips.

This year the main tree has produced over and above a normal harvest of apples, and as a result I am giving away bags to friends and colleagues as I will still have too many for myself. The tree is a family one (with three different varieties), and can be used for both eating and cooking with (I just use less sugar) so we will have some crumbles, pies, fruit purees and compotes to eat throughout the rest of the year. I will also use some of the apples to create next year's batch of mincemeat which I will make at christmastime as it makes it lighter than the more stodgy apple-less versions. I will add the recipe to my recipe blog for those interested.

I also have a Howgate wonder apple tree, providing cooking apples. It has only been growing since 2002, Dad having planted it in the year before he died and this year it has just started to produce fruit worth using. I know I will probably struggle leaving here when we move 300+ miles to Cornwall (we don't have a date yet, but we hope it will happen in around 5 years) but I have my memories and in any case it is better not to transfer trees; I will leave them for the next family to live here and enjoy on their autumnal mornings.

Bountiful Harvest

The Apple trees are groaning under the weight of the fruits; I have already had to pick some to try and thin the branches out or risk them breaking under the volume of apples.

It is funny, last year I had no apples on either tree due to high winds/late frosts and this year they are all overdoing themselves with a bounteous harvest. They are technically eating apples and similar to Braeburn apples with that delicious sweetness and juicy, but in our house they also get used for cooking as you can use less sugar.

So some will go into mince pies to make it lighter, and this year they are going to be gorgeous, I say this year but of course I make the mincemeat in December for the following year allowing them to soak up the brandy for a full 12 months. Its not as bad as it seems as they are quite small pies and two bites and they are gone but I have orders for them so the couple of days before christmas will be quite busy.

Anyone for Tea?

SOH and I brought a trailer for the motorcycle, so camping will be more luxurious than the current trend as we will be able to take more things (like chairs and the like) with us to camping events with the club.

Trouble was that the trailer was up in North Yorkshire, Harrogate to be precise. Well I had heard of Betty's of Harrogate before and figured that if we were going to drive all the way up to Harrogate then the least we could do was to visit Betty's and sample some of their wares.

We left home at just before 6.30am yesterday and arrived in Harrogate about 10am, the traffic was light and we shared the driving so it wasn't too much of a chore. We managed to find a parking place in Parliament Terrace, close to the tea rooms; mind you the road was a steep hill, see in the photo, I had visions of coming back and finding the car sliding down towards the wall at the bottom.

Betty's was all that it promised, good quality food and service. We were offered a prime table in the window so we could look out onto the green outside and the sun shone obligingly. I had a pot of Betty's tea room blend with a Yorkshire fat rascal, while SOH had a cappacino and a toasted tea-cake. I hadn't had a fat rascal before, but it was like a cross between a fruited scone and a rock cake - if anyone can point me to a recipe that would be good.

We later visited the shop next door where I purchased some of the tea for home, a yorkshire tea cake and some chocolate for a friend; unless my addiction to it gets the better of me and I eat it first.

If you every decide to visit Yorkshire, then I can recommend Betty's to you; unfortunately they don't have shops outside the county, but they do have an online shop.

The sat-nav unit played up trying to get the location for the trailer, we think this might have had something to do with the hills that Harrogate sits on but your guess is as good as ours was.

We managed to find the location where the owner of the trailer lived and handed over the money, he was a Goldwing rider but was giving up the camping side of things. We lifted it into the back of the car, wedged it in with some weights for and aft of the wheels and drove away heading back home.

It needs a little tender loving care, and possibly a lick of paint, but these can be remedied in due time. An order has gone in for a tow bar for SOH's bike and by the middle of August we should be ready to go camping in style.

a new acquisition

I brought a copy of Herbal Remedies - A practical beginner's guide to making effective remedies in the kitchen by Christopher Hedley and Non Shaw; this was from an on-line book company. I had seen it recommended on another blog I read (and when I remember which one I will give it credit I promise) and put it in my want to buy list.

It arrived yesterday, and I admit to scanning through it during a rivetingly dull presentation during the conference yesterday, and found quite a few things of interest, notably :

• a recipe for ginger beer (which I know will interest Zeltus)
• another recipe for calendular cream; it is far more satisfying to make it yourself rather than getting it from the chemist (and cheaper)
• lots of ideas for the herb section in my garden in terms of potions, cooking and massage oils and old fashioned treatments such as vinegar and brown paper.

Will keep you advised as to how I get on with some of the above and I just need to collect a few ingredients before I can get going. Need some beeswax, anyone know of any sources?

I've been busy...

Having seen so many foodie blogs on my travels, and having put some of my recipes here.. I have take the plunge and got yet another blog just for my recipes so if you feel like wandering over and taking a look you can go over there by clicking here

It's not finished by any means and I do plan on adding the other recipes I have listed but if you see something you fancy then please be my guest and add to the comments and I will try and find it a bit quicker.

Enjoy

Therapeutic ..

I have just finished sorting out clothes, those which are too poor a condition have been relegated to the rag pile, those which have shrunk ( surely not I hear you cry! ) have been put in a pile to go to the Salvation Army bottle bank and the rest sorted into the various different chest of draws/wardrobes and chests ready for Summer..

There I said it, Summer whilst not actually sunny today, is warm... and all the winter jumpers and everything else has now been officially stored until they will be needed again when it turns cooler towards Autumn..

I don't tend towards Spring Cleaning, as I prefer to do my sorting out in Autumn (ready for my hibernation period); I find it comforting to create a nice warm, comfortable nest as the days grow shorter but needs must as SOH and I are trying to put two houses into one and as everyone knows clothes expand to fit the space available so I am doing it earlier rather than later this year...

Guess that means the weeding will be done tomorrow now, as after this I prescribe a nice relaxing shower and a glass of wine with tonights meal of tinkers casserole which after a long day at work the SOH will enjoy.

Another favourite recipe : roasted vegetable tortilla bake

Ever know what to do with those left overs? I developed this after I had a lot of left over roasted Mediterranean vegetables after a barbeque a year or so back..

Cold roasted vegetables, tortilla wraps, cheese to sprinkle over the top, jar of pasta sauce (or Knorr Spanish Chicken sauce works well).

Warm wraps in the microwave, and fill with the vegetable mixtures (either keep as a roll, or fold them into parcels).. place in an ovenproof dish. Top with the sauce and then grated cheese over the top (I use a nice strong mature cheddar, but parmesan works just as well). Place in a hot oven (200oC) and bake for 20-25 mins or until the cheese and sauce is bubbling.

Serve with a salad for a light evening meal/lunch

If you want to make up the roasted Mediterranean vegetables then take the following :

1 medium aubergine, 2 medium courgettes, 1 lb (450 g) cherry tomatoes, skinned, 1 small yellow pepper, de-seeded, 1 medium white onion and 1 medium red onion. Cut all the above into 1 inch chunks. Drizzle with olive oil, chopped garlic and sprinkle with salt, pepper and dried herbs (Oregano, Basil and Marjoram) and place on an oven tray and bake for 30 mins at 180oC or until the vegetables are tender to the touch. The roasted garlic will go sweet on you and not too strong.. keep some back for the wraps above.

Perfect to accompany a bbq or roast lamb with new potatoes...

MMMmmmmmmmm .... best ever brownies

(The Best ever) Chocolate Brownies*
* Health advisory notice, this produce is high in enjoyment and pleasure content... please take care when operating machinery

Ingredients
5 Large Organic Eggs
1 teaspoon real vanilla essence
625g Caster Sugar
405g Unsalted Butter
Carton/Tin Green & Blacks Organic Cocoa 150g
200g Pecans—Chopped medium/small
315g Self Raising Flour
Optional
For nut allergy avoidance change Pecans for Marshmallows, small ones or chopped large ones (Warning—this is seriously gooey)
When you pour the mixture into the tin, shake a bag of Maltesers over the top of the mix and bake as normal

Baking Instructions
Preheat oven to 150oC/gas 2.
Beat the eggs and Sugar together and add the vanilla essence to the mixture and periodically keep beating it until smooth and creamy.
Measure the flour, and add the tin of cocoa, sift into a separate bowl and add the chopped nuts at this stage; put to one side.
Gently melt the butter in a pan until it is liquid, but not too hot.
Add the dry mixture to the eggs/sugar mix, and then pour on the melted butter, keep stirring until the mix is fully liquid with no flour visible. The texture will thicken slightly, but remains ‘sloppy’ (like liquid fudge).
Pour into a baking tray, 16inches long and 12 inches wide and bake in the over for 45 mins.

Leave in the tin until cold, preferably overnight and then cut into pieces 2 by 2 inches or in a size appropriate to your requirements.

I make these a couple of times a year, for the superbowl, my birthday and on request for friends... they are nice served cold or warm with good quality vanilla ice-cream but however you eat them.. enjoy

Healing Hand Cream

I am not going to claim any credit for the following recipe (is a handcream recipe a recipe?) it came from the bbc gardener's world program on the healing garden; luckily I had written it down as the website has since been removed... such a shame as it is a great recipe.

Ingredients
100g chopped Calendula officinalis flowerheads (Marigolds)
150g emulsifying ointment
70ml glycerin
80ml water

Mix your chopped flowerheads, emulsifying ointment, glycerin and water. Stir well then simmer gently in a bain marie for 2 to 3 three hours. Add a few drops of lavender oil to preserve. Strain the mixture into sterilized glass jars. Label and date, and store in fridge for up to a year.

Applied externally this cream is said to help with many minor skin problems including nappy rash, cuts and grazes, chilblains and even insect bites.

Nb 100gm = approx 70 flower heads

I have had friends who have tried it and loved it, as it is natural with no preservatives or artifical ingredients; my supplies have dwindled and this year's marigolds are yet to grow big enough to produce flowers for this year's supplies.

NB - I did also try it with rosemary and lavender - equally nice, but then I might be biased.

Interesting link to another home-made recipe for lip-balm here : Kathy