Healing Teas: St John's Wort

I have uploaded to my YT account a video detailing the healing properties of St. John's Wort. You can watch it here also. I will posting videos like this more often as i am attempting to gain a degree in Herbal Sciences, so as i learn i will teach you what i know because this is the best way to study.

So here it goes: Hope you get some good information


Love and Lighr

Herb roasted chicken

To go along with the French bread i made i also made for dinner of  herb roasted chicken which is made with lots of butter (what truly French dinner isn't made from butter?)
The recipe calls for whole chicken but i used chicken breasts with bones still in and it came out great .

Ingredients: Serves 8

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1 whole chicken or 4 bone in chicken
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 onion peeled
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 6 oz new potatoes (parboiled)
• 3 bell peppers (deseeded and cut into quarters)
• 2 medium zucchini, cut into chunks
• 1 red onion,sliced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• flat-leaf parsley sprigs in garnish

Nutrition Information: per serving: calories 350; fat 21g;(sat fat 7g); carbs 13g

Easy Step-by-Step

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl combine butter,sage,garlic and pepper. Carefully loosen the skin from the chicken breast being careful not to tear it.
2)Spread half the herb mixture under the skin; rub the rest on top. Sprinkle with rosemary. Place onion in chicken cavity and tie legs together with kitchen string
3) Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan and pour in broth into pan. Cover pan with foil and roast for an hour (or until liquid runs clear when pierced )
4) Uncover chicken and roast about 40 mins transfer to a serving dish. let stand 15 mins before serving.
5) Meanwhile, place the parboiled new potatoes,peppers,zucchini and onion slices on a separate baking tray.Drizzle with the oil and then roast for 35-40 mins until cooked and crisp around the edges. Arrange around the chicken,along with the parsley to serve.


An alternative to the butter could be pesto (2tbsp) in step two. Slice and serve cold on a bed of lettuce for a fresh and summery salad.

Dessert: 


a bowl of fresh fruit salad is the perfect ending for this roasted chicken dinner. serve with fresh whipped cream on the side.

Happy Eating

One of the things...

I plan to do this summer is read as many of the books on my list of must reads as possible and watch as many of the 1001 movies I must see (according to some publisher of said book title). 

I have found myself falling in love with the old black and white movies that many would consider great. This week I watched several Audrey Hepburn movies ( will talk about those later) and fell in love with Humphrey Bogart (now i know why everyone raves about him so much),

So i think this summer i will get to know as many of the leading ladies and gents of the bygone era, and as to that i will start a page of the movies i wish to see and write when i saw them as i go through the list. if you have any you can of think  that are must see make sure to  write a comment and ill check them out

One of the reasons I'm doing this is well its been two kinds of temps aroung here lately 1)Hot enough to kill you for even thinking about going outside or 2) Pouring down rain with Tornado warnings attached

Color me not amused with this weather :(

So to make this a more interesting summer I am attempting to learn more about the arts, and do it as cheaply as possible (nothing beats Free) hence most of these movies will be rented from the library or seen at the local movie theatre where they play older movies once a week.

To say the least it should be interesting, and at the most I will get some really good ideas for clothing, because I really love the old "glam" look.

Anywhoo I won't take up anymore of your time today My loves

Remember No drinking and flying, :)

West stands for Water

For every full moon i try to do something new and incorporate the sense of creativity that the full moon encompasses. 

So for the last few days leading up to the full moon i have been searching for something new to try, and decided to make physical symbols of the four cardinal points in the circle, 

Last nite i made water as the first symbol. as if the universe was attempting to help me understand it poured like crazy after a day of really high temps for our area, the lighting storm was amazing to watch and become apart of, the energy was so amazing, it only rained for a few minutes so i wasn't able to get lighting water but i got great video and got to feel the rain and watch the amazing display of the storm.  West and water are the emotion and intuition section of the circle. so connecting emotionally to the storm goes right along with doing this.

So here is the pattern for the starfish water symbol:

Begin with sliding loop or if you can't do that you can: chain 2 and sc in the second chain 

1) Ch 1 10 sc in ring, join with slip st to first sc (10 sts)

2) Ch 1, 2 sc in same stitch, 2 sc in sc around with slip st to first sc

3) *Ch , sc in thrid chain from hook, hdc in net ch, dc in next 2 ch, tr in next ch, skip 3 sc, slip st to nect sc; repeat from * four more times, ending last repeat slip st to bas of first chain. (five points made) Fasten off

4) holding star point to front, join yarn in center sc of any 3 skipped sc from round 2, ch 1 sc in same sc * ch5, sc in ch2 space a tip of corresponding point, ch 5, sc in same round 2 sc**, ch 4, sc behind star point in center sc of next 3 skipped sc, repeat from * around, ending last repeat at **ch 2 join with hdc in first sc.

5)*5dc in next ch-5 space, (tr, ch 4, tr) in next sc, 5 dc in next ch-5 space, sc in next ch-4 space, repeat  from * around ending with last sc in beginning space, join with slip st to round-4 dc joining stitch.

6) Ch-1 *sc in next 6 stitches (hdc, ch1, dc,ch3,dc,ch1, hdc) in ch4 space sc in next 6 stitches, skip 1 sc; repeat from * around, join to first sc. Fasten off

Happy crafting everyone

Blessed be

love and light always

Aisha

Artisian bread

Bonjour internet
(and thats the extent of my writing French.lol).

 So you must be wondering why I'm attempting this really hard language well today i made something french...... Baguettes. Qui ! Mon-Ami's i made beautiful french bread. it took a lot of hours (good thing i had the day off) but it was so well worth it, the bread was nice and crusty and the inside was beautifully fluffy. I enjoyed making it and watching my family enjoy it made it twice as nice.  I can now see the lore of staying home and being a homemaker (I'm not attempting to insult anyone but before I thought as a homemaker i personally would be bored but i realize now there is so much to do because you become a crazy perfectionist so your home looks stunning..and you are never bored! *poof* problem solved)

Recipe:

1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 cup water
2 1/2 tsp yeast
3 1/2 cups unbleached flour


Yeast: follow instructions on package to set it up

Dry ingredients:

1. In a bowl mix together the flour (sift it first) and salt, with a wooden spoon create a well in the center of the floor and pour in proofed yeast (plus water) and create a sponge in the center by adding flour slowly to mixture with the spoon. allow to sit for 20 minutes covered with a clean kitchen cloth
2. mix in all the flour and add water slowly to create a soft sticky dough.
3. turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until soft, smooth and supple, takes about ten minutes
4. in a lightly oiled clean bowl place dough and allow to double in size for 1 1/2 hours make sure it is covered and not in a drafty place
5. punch down, recover and allow to rise again for 45 mins, punch down again, recover and let rise again for another 45 mins
6. divide the dough and shape into two baguettes place on baking tray or baguette tray and allow to proof for 50 mins

Place in oven and bake until golden brown (about 20-25 mins @ 475 degrees )and when you hit the baguette it should sound hollow. place on wire cooling tray and allow to cool or serve hot.

well i hope you enjoy it as much as my family did....

love and light always

Aisha