Herb butters made with savory herbs can be spread onto bread, meats or vegetables, and used in sauces and sautes.  (Peppermint or other sweet-herb butters can be served with pancakes, waffles, warm muffins and other desserts.

4 to 6 tablespoons fresh herb leaves (e.g., basil, chives, dill, fennel, mint, parsley, tarragon, cilantro, thyme, sage) 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1) Chop herbs to release the leaf oils, then blend herbs into the butter with a fork (2) Pack the butter into a roll of waxed paper and refrigerate for up to 24 hours to distribute flavors and firm up (3)  Slice the roll into disks or shave into curls to serve, or use the herb butter for cooking.  Try adding additional seasonings such as paprika, cayenne, ground pepper, garlic or shallot.

What a wonderful way to use your herbs.  The herb Lady

1 pie pastry                                             4 garlic cloves

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese      1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

5 roma or 4 medium tomatoes, sliced     1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup loosely packed fresh basil              1/8 teaspoon white pepper

line 9 inch pie pan with pie pastry.  Bake using the package directions.  Remove from the oven, sprinkle immediately with 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.  Arrange the tomatoes on the melted cheese.  Process the basil and garlic in a food processor until coarsely chopped.  Spread over the tomatoes.  Combine 1 cup mozzarella cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese and white pepper in a bowl and mix well.  Spoon over the basil mixture, spreading evenly to the edge to cover the top.  Bake at 375  for 25 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and bubbly.  Very, Very good.  enjoy.

Both summer and winter savories are used in cooking.  The summer has a peppery thyme flavor and blends well with most flavors, helping to bring them together.  Its popular in teas, herb butters, soups,  shell beans, lentils, eggs, cabbage, squash, liver, and fish.  Winter savory has a more piny taste and is used with strong game meats.  German cooking is famous for their savory and beans.  Savory relieves gas, stimulates healthy digestion, soothes chest infections and savory essential oil has strong antibacterial and antifungal properties.  This is another herb that is both used as a culinary herb and as a healer.  The herb Lady

Here we are talking about thyme again.  I know that I have discussed thyme in the January blog titled Bay, Parsley, and Thyme and in the Feb issue titled thyme.  Well it has been brought to my attention that I have misspelled thyme , so I am correcting my mistake, and am writing to let you all know that even though the spelling was wrong, it is still a small plant to carry a large punch, and a good one to have on your kitchen shelf.  Check out those blogs to see all about Thyme.  The Herb Lady

Hi, this month we are going to write about chives.  There are 2 kinds of chives.  Regular chives has a mild onion like flavor.  Use it in salads, vegetables, soups, omelets, cheese dishes and as a garnish.  Sprinkle over vegetable dishes or any kind of dish just before serving.  Cream with butter and lemon juice for grilled fish.   The next is garlic chives which has a mild garlic/onion flavor.  Use it the same as regular chives.  They all taste great.  The healing uses are slim as they are a small plant but they have mild antibacterial and antifungal properties;  mild cardiovascular-systems benefits.  They are a good source of vitamins A and C.  I have a hard time growing regular chives down here in the South, so I stick with the garlic chives.  Don’t forget, the blooms are good to eat, and are attractive in a salad.  They can also be dried for a dried floral arrangement.  That’s it for this month.  The Herb Lady

Lovage leaves, stems and seeds all taste like celery.  The leaves can be used fresh in salads and fresh or dried in soups, stews, and sauces.  The stems can be chopped and added to salads, cooked and pureed, candied, or used like celery stalks.  The seeds whole or ground as needed, are used in pickling brines, cheese spreads, salads, salad dressings and sauces.  Lovage loves potatoes, tomatoes, checken, rice, creamed soups, savory pies, and steamed vegetables.  Lovage relieves indigestion, bloating, and colic.  It also improves appetite.  Well what do you think?  Sounds like a herb you might want to try, doesn’t it?

Until next month.  The Herb Lady

Tyme is a very small plant, to pack such a large punch.  It adds a pungent, lemonlike flavor to meats, vegetables, soups, stews, and tomatoes.  Can use both the leaves and woody parts because it is so small.  There is different flavors and kinds of tyme.  Lemon, (small bush, strong lemon scent), common,(small upright shrub, variety most often used in cooking),  mother of tyme, (dense mat, good as ground cover), nutmeg tyme, (spicy scent, fast creeper), and woolly tyme, (at home in rock gardens).  So no matter what you want; to spice up your meat, or soup, or stews, or you can just take a walk outside and walk on a path of thme and smell the fragrance.  Tyme can also be used to sooth digestion, to disinfect wounds, and tyme has antiseptic and stimulating properties that make it useful in herbal lotions and baths.  This is a great herb to have in your pantry.  The Herb Lady

Cold weather means heavy stews, and hot soups.  Use bay, parsley, and tyme to help give your dish a more rounded taste.  Healing uses for bay are:  helps settle stomachs, and stimulates appetite.  Can be used externally to relieve muscle aches and pains.  Healing uses for parsley are: relieves bad breath, aids in digestion and relieves intestinal gas.  Healing uses for tyme are;  soothes digestion, has expectorant (mucus-loosening) properties useful for coughs, bronchitis and emphysema.  You can use these herbs to make your stews and soups taste good, while getting the benefit of their healing properties.  The Herb Lady

Well, we have made a full year, and I want to take the time this month to thank my many readers, for their comments and support.  I have enjoyed writing about the many herbs that I use every day, and giving you a little information on the herb and what it is used for.  I still have a few herbs that I haven’t covered, before running out of the herbs that I use, so next year, I may go into the growing of herbs here in the south.  Keep in touch and thank you again for your interest.  The Herb Lady.

OK, its November again.  Last November I talked about rosemary because of Thanksgiving and cooking turkey with rosemary.  Now I am going to talk about sage because you know that you can’t have turkey without dressing and one of the main herbs, to make the dressing is sage.  In my opinion sage is what makes the dressing great.  Fresh sage is also good in biscuits, or if you have some small red potatoes, slice in half, put a leaf of fresh sage in a pan, or cookie sheet, cover with course salt, and put the potato cut side down on the sage, and bake.  Delicious.  Sage is good in all kinds of meat dishes, vegetables, sausages, cheese, and beans.  It also has some medicinal properties.  It is good for sore throats, and research has shown it helps lower blood sugar in diabetics.  This is a must for a place on any kitchen shelf.  The Herb Lady