Goldenrod

September

The golden-rod is yellow;
The corn is turning brown;
The trees in apple orchards
With fruit are bending down.

The gentian's bluest fringes
Are curling in the sun;
In dusty pods the milkweed
Its hidden silk has spun.

The sedges flaunt their harvest,
In every meadow nook;
And asters by the brook-side
Make asters in the brook,

From dewy lanes at morning
The grapes' sweet odors rise;
At noon the roads all flutter
With yellow butterflies.

By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer's best of weather,
And autumn's best of cheer.

But none of all this beauty
Which floods the earth and air
Is unto me the secret
Which makes September fair.

'T is a thing which I remember;
To name it thrills me yet:
One day of one September
I never can forget.


Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885)

Avast there, maties...

It was almost Plank Day for me - that's where I would have found myself had I not tuned in to Globetrekker this afternoon! The episode was about the pirates of the Caribbean - the real ones, although I sure like the Johnny Depp character. Any of them!

And, THAT'S when I remembered!

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day!!! Can I get an "arghhhhhh!"

And here is my favorite pirate from the Cardiff Rose crew. James is right where he likes to be - surrounded by wenches!

Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market

Over at Rue and Hyssop's place, there was a post about a farmer's market in Hawai'i. Of course, this brought to mind the farmer's market in San Francisco, located at Ferry Plaza. I had the pleasure of helping the Knife Sharpener, Bob Kattenburg, at the market in San Francisco and in Walnut Creek whenever his usual help was not available. I would take the orders in for Bob, make sure everyone got their knives back and make sure the money was tallied correctly with the orders. It was fun - Bob is really great to work with! I especially loved working at the Ferry Plaza market - talk about huge! There was so much to see, so much to taste and, of course, being located right on the Bay, the views were incredible! I can still recall them quite vividly.

Being in the Garden State now, I think we ought to have more of these! I recently subscribed to Edible New Jersey which does give information about the food being grown here - not agribusiness, but the local folks. I need more free time to get out and explore what's available here.

Here is a picture of Bob and his wife, Jill - both are friends and I'm missing them now! This picture is from this article which gives a little more information about Bob and his business. If you find yourself in San Francisco on a Saturday morning, stop at the market and say "Hi" to Bob - you'll get a friendly greeting back from him!

I think I'll send them the link to this post and say Hi!

Honeysuckle

On our walk this morning, we spied some honeysuckle still blooming. I was surprised because it usually blooms in June and into late summer. Well, I guess technically, we're still in late summer, but it was a pleasant surprise to find these flowers, and especially to smell them! It is a pleasure to deeply inhale their fragrance - they're one of my favorites.

As a kid, I used to open the flowers up and drink the liquid within. Little did I know that there are lots of medicinal uses for honeysuckle and that their flowers are edible! Take a look at some of the benefits of honeysuckle - it's not just a fragrant beauty!

Properties

Japanese honeysuckle is edible and medicinal. High in Calcium, Magnesium, and Potassium, the leaves can be parboiled and eaten as a vegetable. The edible buds and flowers, made into a syrup or puddings. The entire plant has been used as an alternative medicine for thousands of years in Asia.

The active constituents include calcium, elaidic-acid, hcn, inositol, linoleic-acid, lonicerin, luteolin, magnesium, myristic-acid, potassium, tannin, and zink. It is alterative, antibacterial, antiinflammatory, antispasmodic, depurative, diuretic, febrifuge, and is also used to reduce blood pressure.

The stems are used internally in the treatment of acute rheumatoid arthritis, mumps and hepatitis. The stems are harvested in the autumn and winter, and are dried for later herb use. The stems and flowers are used together a medicinal infusion in the treatment of upper respiratory tract infections (including pneumonia) and dysentery. An infusion of the flower buds is used in the treatment of a wide range of ailments including syphillitic skin diseases and tumors, bacterial dysentery, colds, and enteritis. Experimentally, the flower extracts have been shown to lower blood cholesterol levels and are antibacterial, antiviral and tuberculostatic.

Externally, the flowers are applied as a medicinal wash to skin inflammations, infectious rashes and sores. The flowers are harvested in early morning before they open and are dried for later herb use. This plant has become a serious weed in many areas of N. America, it might have the potential to be utilized for proven medicinal purposes.

Other uses include; Ground cover, Insecticide, Basketry, vines used to make baskets. The white-flowers of cultivar 'Halliana' has a pronounced lemon-like perfume.

Saturday morning in the woods

Kylie and I went for our long walk this morning - it was cool and perfect walking weather. These pictures were taken at 7:45 am - the woods were still dark and the Sun was just beginning to peek through the trees. I love all of the shades of green at this time of day.

I had to change this picture to sepia in order to get the Sun's reflection in the water - it was blindingly beautiful! Of course, the real experience of seeing it was much better than my attempted capture of it!

Gift from the Autumn Faery

Autumn Fairy

Autumn fairy,
Autumn fairy,
Where are you now?
Maybe among the
Autumn trees,
Or dancing in
The autumn breeze.
With your hair not unlike
The sun’s golden rays
Shining against the
Autumn leaves.
And your skirt
A simple
Autumn leaf
From gold to red,
Orange in between,
A sunset leaf.
With a bud in your hair,
You fly around without a care.
Your wings so fair,
Like they aren’t even
There.
Oh autumn fairy,
Autumn fairy,
Where art thou?

A non-chocoholic discovers chocolate

I've never been a chocoholic. I seldom eat it, except for those Reese's Peanut Butter Cups at Hallowe'en. Frozen. They have to be frozen. I bought a bar of dark chocolate months ago when I made a mole sauce. It's been sitting in the refrigerator since.

Well, thanks to my local Shop Rite magazine, Live Right, that bar is about to be liberated. It seems that dark chocolate has lots of benefits, including improving one's memory. From the article:

Research has shown that flavonol compounds in dark chocolate improve blood flow to the brain for 2 to 3 hours. Consume 1 ounce of chocolate or 1 teaspoon dark cocoa every day for constant improvement.

Of course, I had to employ The Google and found a Wiki entry on the benefits of dark chocolate. Here's an excerpt from that article:

* Dark chocolate (as opposed to other kinds of chocolate) is considered healthy, and recommended for daily consumption in small amounts to maintain a healthy heart and lower cholesterol.

* Dark chocolate is also an excellent energy source, because it releases slowly into the bloodstream and does not elevate insulin levels. (Indeed, dark chocolate has a GI rating of a mere 22.) As a result, the sustained energy it provides is ideal for endurance activities and even weight-training routines.

* If you don't like dark chocolate, start with a very mild dark chocolate such as 45-55% cacao. A good example of this is Bournville, an easily available brand (in the UK) with distinctive packaging. The packaging is a dark red. Mild dark chocolate will taste similar to milk chocolate and won't be too bitter. If you are more adventurous, you can get dark chocolates that go all the way up to 100% cacao (i.e., unsweetened).

* The formation of whitish spots, or bloom, on chocolate is due to a separation of some of the fat in the chocolate, caused when it is exposed to heat, and then it is cool again. While it affects the aesthetics of the chocolate somewhat, it isn't harmful to eat or use chocolate that has bloomed. Bloom is related to heat and humidity, so store chocolate in a cool, dry place free of odors.

* Remember that most of all, you should enjoy dark chocolate, and don't be too pretentious, because you'll turn people off instead of turning them on to dark chocolate.

* Here are some excellent brands to try: Omanhene, Michel Cluizel, Boehms, Perugina, Wedel, Domori, Amedei, Valrhona, Neuhaus, Marcolini, Lindt, Felchlin, Guittard, Scharffen Berger, Santander, Malagasy, Weiss, El Rey, Theo, Bonnat, Pralus, Cote D'or, Castelain, Slitti, Dagoba, Green and Black's, Bournville, Ghirardelli, Chocolate Traveler and Xocai.


* Indeed, dark chocolate has as many, likely more, layers and nuances of taste, than wine. During a recent visit to wine country in Sonoma, California, I found a venue that pays such homage: Wine Country Chocolates (photo above). The establishment sports a small chocolate "tasting bar" in the spirit of wine tasting, and the flavors were marvelous!

I've been to many of the wineries and tasting rooms in Sonoma and Napa counties when I lived in California. I'm not surprised that a chocolate tasting room has blossomed in that part of the country!