Recipes from 50th Anniversary MN Herb Society

Just part of the food from the Shady Acres Herb Farm barbecue.

If you'd like to read the story of why I was speaking at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, and who the other (famous) speakers were, read the post here. Since there wasn't room for the recipes, I'm posting them here. First was the homemade Sage Cheese Ball, made by one of the members. It was delicious and went fast. You might like to make it, and serve with one of my homemade crackers from my book, Easy Homemade Crackers Using Herbs.

Sage Cheese Ball with homemade cheese.

Sage Cheese Ball

8 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup buttermilk

Combine the cream and buttermilk, cover with a cloth and let sit out on the kitchen counter for 24-36 hours. Pour that into a sieve or strainer that's lined with cheesecloth, cover, and let it drain for about 3 days. That's it, your cheese is ready to use (and refrigerate). Chop about a dozen fresh sage leaves very fine and mix into the cheese. Press into a mold or pan and let the sage flavors mix into the cheese for about a day. That's it, the cheese ball is ready to eat!

Shady Acres Herb Farm's Gift Shop.

The ladies from the MN Herb Society presented, "Ten Herbs in One Hour" and it was well organized and gave a lot of information in a short period of time. Theresa Miesler, of Shady Acres Herb Farm (who was my home-host while I was there) gave her presentation on mint and mojitos. We all had a few Mojitos the following evening, too!

A perfect Mojito.

Mojitos for 6, Theresa Mieseler

9 ounces rum
2 handfuls spearmint
3 limes, squeezed
1/3 liter club soda
12 ounces simple syrup (2 parts sugar in 3 parts hot water, dissolve then chill)

Muddle the mint in the pitcher with a spoon, add the limes and the juice from them, then add the rum and club soda. Pour over ice in glasses and garnish with more mint.

You could also use stevia (it's correctly pronounced "stev - ia" with a short e, unlike what most of us have been calling it (as if it were spelled steeeevia). Use a simple stevia syrup in the above recipe in place of simple syrup.

Stevia plant, zero calories, lots of sweet.

Stevia Syrup, Vernoica Malone

4 cups water
1 cup of stevia powder or dry crushed stevia leaves

Bring the water to a boil, add the stevia and mix until dissolved, cover with a lid and let steep until cooled. Strain and refrigerate until ready to use.

The Sherried Rosemary Almonds look ordinary - the aren't!

Eleanor Wagner's Sherried Rosemary Almonds

(This works just as well with peanuts, cashews or other nuts; they were so good, 

they were being eaten about as fast as they were put on the tables!)

1 1/2 cups blanched or unblanched whole almonds (or other nuts)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Bring brown sugar, sherry and water to a boil in a small saucepan and continue simmering for 10 minutes. Meanwhile mix remaining ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside. Add almonds to syrup and stir to coat. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Spread almonds on baking sheet separating them with a fork so they don't stick together. Cool, then store in an airtight container. Makes 1 1/2 cups so you may want to double the recipe.