Homegrown Mint & Limeade

Here in California, it doesn’t feel like fall. It’s still hot and my mint shrub is growing crazy. Growing mint at home is fairly easy. It’s a very low maintenance and hardy plant. There are many varieties but I prefer spear mint flavor so I always go with that. Pick a healthy shrub from the nursery and plant it in pot or directly in soil. It can grow in full/part sun. Keep it well irrigated and trim it regularly.

Mint has lot of health benefits. It’s good for digestion and rich in anti-oxidants. I will post the recipe of mint tea my husband makes some time later. It acts like decongestant for cold and cough.

Today, I gave my mint shrub a haircut J . I am going to make a big batch of Mint chutney and freeze it for later use. But first, I needed something to cool off. So, I made mint limeade, a slight variation of classic lemonade. I used few sprigs of mint, as I didn’t want it overwhelming. It came out good and had a cool subtle flavor of mint. It tasted like virgin Mojito and looks pretty with specks of green.

What you need:

(makes 2 servings - approx two 8 oz glasses)

Juice from 1 Lime

8 to 10 medium sized mint leaves

1 ½ tbsp sugar

¼ tsp salt

1 ½ cups of water

1 cup of ice

Steps to Follow: 

1. In a blender, add all ingredients.
2. Blend it till mixed, just until mint leaves and ice is crushed.
3. Pour it into glasses and top it with couple ice cubes to keep it cool.
4. Garnish with mint leaves and serve.

Armenian Cucumber

We planted cucumbers for the first time this season. When I was browsing at my local nursery, I saw this Armenian cucumber variety and I was not sure how it was gonna taste but wanted to try it anyway. I am glad I did that.

Cucumber is a creeping vine and it needs a trellis for support. We used branches of a tree that we cut down. Also, it prefers full sun. I was so excited when I saw the first baby cucumber and was waiting to get a taste of it J

It was of course worth the wait, the fruit was so tender and had slight nutty flavor. The skin is light green in color and there is no need to peel it. We cut the cucumber into round slices and ate it just like that without adding anything. This is for sure going to be a regular in our backyard every year. Do give it a try in your next vegetable season either with seeds or saplings.

Blueberry Muffins

From my childhood, I loved the shape of cupcakes or muffins. They are so cute and petite. When I started baking the first thing I bought was a 12-cup muffin pan J

Muffins are not as sweet as cupcakes and make an easy breakfast. Especially if you have a train or bus to catch or beat the traffic like me this is perfect ‘on the go’ breakfast, loved by both kids and adults alike. I tried so many varieties of muffins but Blueberry ones are fool proof. This is one of King Arthur flour recipes that I adapted to my taste. You can also check out their blog for awesome baking recipes.

What you need:

(makes 12 muffins)

2 1/4 cups All purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

1 tiny pinch of nutmeg (I know not a baking measurement J, but little goes long way, if you don’t like the taste of nutmeg, you can skip it)

Steps to follow:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Beat butter and sugar together in a bowl first and then add eggs, yogurt, vanilla extract and beat the mixture together.
3. Mix the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a separate bowl.
4. Now add the dry ingredients in 2 or 3 batches to wet mixture and incorporate everything into a smooth batter.
5. Add blueberries and with a spatula fold them into the batter.
6. Line the muffin pan with paper cups or spray with oil.
7. Scoop the batter into the muffin pan and bake it for 20 – 24 min.
8. Insert a tooth pick into a muffin and it should come out clean when done.
9. Take them out of oven, cool in the pan for 5 min and then place muffins on rack to finish cooling.
10. Muffins will keep fresh in the fridge for 3 - 4 days.

Decorating with House Plants

Adding a touch of green to any room is a quick decorating tip. Small house plants are easier to maintain and require very little space. They are perfect on a coffee table, side table, fireplace mantle or even on bed side table. I also like to have them in bathrooms because the mirror reflection adds more greenery to the space.

To be frank, I killed many plants in the past but few weeks back I picked up some plants from a local nursery to give it another try. They are doing good so far. J

The trick is not to mess with them too much. Water them only when needed and keep them in well lit rooms. Direct sunlight is not necessary.

Here are the varieties I have -

Pothos/Epipremnum - We commonly know this as 'money plant'. It is a hardy plant and will survive very well in soil or just in water.

Lucky Bamboo - This is such a low maintenance plant and I have this from past 2 years. Just keep refilling water in the pot. It seems this should be always received as gift rather than buying yourself J. I got this from a cousin. As the plant grows change it into bigger pot and add some marble stones for a neat look.

Dieffenbachia - This plant has decorative two toned (green/white) leaves. It needs moderately moist soil, so don't let the soil go completely dry.

Red-margined/Red-edged Dracaena - I really love the colors on this plant. it has beautiful pink stripes which goes very well with my rug and cushions.

Dracaena Marginata (Dragon Tree) - I bought this plant as is from Home depot and just topped it with pebble stones to cover the soil.

Yellow Peach Jam

I love the fact that we live just thirty minutes away from a farming town. Depending on the season they have u-pick options and also fresh produce farm stands. Few weeks back we went there to check what’s available. One of the farm had these beautiful yellow peaches ready to u-pick and we got almost 8 pounds of them home. I froze some to use later in smoothies and with very ripe ones made a big batch of peach jam. I always use this standard recipe for any stone fruit and it comes out perfect.

I like mine on a toast and my husband likes it on roti J

What you need:

(makes 2 half pints)

1 1/3 cups peeled, pitted and finely chopped peaches (See tip below*)

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 tbsp powdered pectin

Steps to follow:

1. Heat water in a big pot and once it starts boiling, immerse the glass jars and lids for sanitizing. Process them for about 10 min, take them out on a clean dry towel and keep it aside. Don’t throw the water, we will reuse them later (step 9).
2. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring mixture to hard rolling boil.
3. Skim foam, if necessary.
4. Continue boiling for about 3 min.
5. Place a steel spoon in ice cold water, then take a spoonful of mixture and let it cool. If you like the consistency of jam, turn off heat.
6. Do remember that jam needs to cool down to fully set. So, turn off the heat when the mixture is little runny.
7. Ladle the mixture into sanitized jars, do not fill till the top, leave about half inch.
8. Clean the rims if necessary and close the jar lids.
9. Now place these jars in that big pot with 1 to 2 inches of water, close the lid and bring it to a boil. Process jars for about 5-10 min. Removed lid and let jars stand for 5 min.
10. Remove jars and cool. After a day, check the lids by pressing in center, they should not flex up and down.
11. Jam can store up to 6 months. But once open, keep it refrigerated.

*Tip: Clean peaches and place them in hot water for 1 min. Take them out and place them in cold water. Skin comes out easily now.