Aromatherapy Workshop: Simple Home Remedies

I'll be teaching an aromatherapy workshop on Saturday, April 2nd from 2:15 to 3:30 at GreenThumbs's 27th Annual GrowTogether.  Participants will gain a basic understanding of aromatherapy, essential oils and their applications, including recommendations for an aromatherapy first aid kit.  Everyone will get the opportunity to create their own therapeutic bath salts and massage oil.

27th Annual GreenThumb GrowTogether

You are invited on April 2nd, to join a thousand community gardeners and greening professionals from all over New York City for a day of learning, sharing, networking and greening inspiration at the 27th Annual GreenThumb GrowTogether from 9am to 4pm at Hostos Community College! Please pass this information out to the rest of your garden group and anyone else who might be interested. This form is also available to download on our website, but you must send payment with the form.

This year’s conference features favorite workshops from past years, as as well as exciting new ones, including many hands on workshops, and new ones for youth gardeners. We are also excited to announce that Joan Dye Gussow, author of Growing, Older: A Chronicle of Death, Life, and Vegetables, will be our keynote speaker.

https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/163365

 

$3 + $1.10 service fee for purchasing tickets online.

Cost covers conference, t-shirt and lunch.

If you do not pre-register, you are not guaranteed lunch or a t-shirt.

The preregistration is extended for online only

Directions

Subway: Hostos is practically on top of the

149th Street and Grand Concourse stop. The 2,

4, 5 trains will get you right there.

Buses: BX 19 or BX 1 bus to 149th Street and

Grand Concourse.

To learn more about GreenThumb go to www.greenthumbnyc.org.

The Latest Batch of Cocktails

Better late than never!  I've been remiss in posting the recipes for the last batch of cocktails, so without further ado:

The Arrow

one jigger cinnamon infused vodka
one jigger creme de cacao
one drop jasmine absolute, 5%
splash of club soda

Give the combined ingredients a
good shake and strain into a chilled martini glass.

Breakfast of Champions

1 jigger honey oat infused vodka
one jigger milk
1 drop sandalwood oil, 10%
1/8 teaspoon chamomile water

Give the combined ingredients a good shake and strain into a
chilled martini glass.

The Barry White

1 jigger star anise infused vodka
1 jigger creme de cacoa
1/2 ounce POM
4 drops blood orange dilution, 10%

Give the combined ingredients a good shake and strain

into a chilled martini glass.

All of the essential oil dilutions and chamomile water can be found at www.herbalalchemy.net.

Winter Cocktail Tasting

Saturday, February 12th

4 - 6pm

Prospect Wine Shop

322 Seventh Ave. (btwn 8th and 9th)

Park Slope, Brooklyn

www.prospectwine.com

Cinnamon, star anise and oat/honey vodka are featured in this winter's cocktail selection.  Stop on by and sample The Arrow, an aphrodisiac blend of cinnamon vodka, homemade creme de cacao and jasmine essence.  Along those lines is also The Barry White which is made of star anise vodka, creme de cacao, pomegranate juice and blood orange essential oil.  Finally and quite by surprise is The Breakfast of Champions, a luscious concoction of oat and honey infused vodka with milk, chamomile water and sandalwood oil.  It's cold out, come have a drink!

Cocktail Lab, Winter 2011

Last summer I started out the Year in Vodka with some herb infused spirits with fresh floral notes.  In the autumn I experimented with dried fruit and nut infusions.  This winter I tried my hand at some spices and grain flavored vodka.  Cinnamon vodka turned out to be a huge success and it pared nicely with homemade creme de cacao as well as, surprisingly, orange juice.  Star anise vodka pared nicely with pomegranite juice creating something that tastes a lot like an old fashioned Good n' Plenty candy.  Ginger turned out to be a big disappointment and came out rather dull indeed.  A friend picked up some dried persimmon which made a delicious subtly sweet brew, better served alone so as not to mask its subtleness.  The surprise concoction was the sweet and satisfying honey and oat vodka.  Don't turn your nose up just yet.  I found the recipe on Chowhound and it was something they picked up from Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

Star anise floating in vodka

Every season I experiment with a different batch of flavored vodkas.  When I'm done I gather some mixers I think might be appropriate, make lots of ice and make sure I have plenty of clean glasses.  Then I host an evening with a few women friends which we've come to call Cocktail Lab.  All three invited guests - Diane Fargo, Lori Firpo and Rebecca Winzenried - are all well-traveled, been wined and dined and do their fair share of cooking.  They are Foodies with sophisticated palettes, a pretty tough crowd.  Together we compose a drink which I then shake up for us and split into four short glasses.  Then we all taste and discuss.  Alterations are made and the next cocktail is attempted and so on and so forth until the recipe has been perfected.

Come and sample the finished creations at the next tasting on Saturday, February 12 from 4 - 6pm at Prospect Wine Shop, 322 Seventh Ave. in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

The Communal Table: Don't Be a Fry Baby!

On Saturday, November 20th, I'll be presenting at this event.  The Communal Table brings art, ideas and activism right to the table.  Writers, performers, artists, scientists, chefs and friends come together to talk, listen and share wonderful meals.  This event's theme is oil and all of the food is from oil producing countries.  There will be discussions about our nation's reliance on oil and the problems surrounding it.  I will be talking about essential oils and infusing vodka with them.  Join us if you can!  This event is a mere $30!

Autumn Cocktails: The Recipes

Here are the recipes from the latest cocktail tasting.  It's hard to say which one was the favorite, everyone had their own.  I know the first to run out was the Black Dog but I suspect that's because of the homemade Creme de Cacao.  Enjoy!

The Bindi

one jigger pistachio infused vodka
one ounce milk
quarter teaspoon rosewater
one teaspoon agave nectar
one drop clove oil, 20%

Give the combined ingredients a good shake and strain into chilled martini glasses. Finish with grated nutmeg. 

Black Dog

2 ounces pear infused vodka
one ounce creme de cacoa
one drop labdanum absolute dilution, 10%
splash of soda

Give the combined ingredients a good shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. 

The Kashmere

one jigger fig infused vodka
one jigger pear nectar
two drops coriander oil, 10%
splash of seltzer

Give the combined ingredients a good shake and strain into a chilled martini glass.  

 All of the essential oil dilutions can be found at www.herbalalchemy.net

Autumn Cocktail Tasting

Saturday, November 13th

4 - 6pm

Prospect Wine Shop

322 Seventh Ave. (btwn 8th and 9th)

Park Slope, Brooklyn

www.prospectwine.com

This seasons offerings include vodkas that have been macerated with dried fruits and toasted nuts.  Come and sample the The Bindi with pistachio vodka, rosewater and clove oil, or the Kashmere with fig vodka, pear nectar and coriander oil.  The Black Dog is pear vodka with homemade creme de cacao and the unexpected addition of a dilution of labdanum absolute, a sticky substance with dark amber tones.  It adds a mysterious perfumed note to the cacao.