I recently had the privilege of befriending Author and Herbalist, Kami Mcbride, via the online world of blogging. It’s such a blessing when people can come together through similar interests and philosophies.
Kami just released her newest book, the Herbal Kitchen.
Throughout this year I’ve been writing about my heightened interest in homegrown herbs for culinary and medicinal uses. I’ve doubled the amount of herbs I’m growing this year and I’m still trying to strategically plant perennial herbs (to my area) in my edible landscape.
Herbs fascinate me. They are beautiful, smell of heaven and have uses that go far beyond spaghetti sauce. I’m a still a baby to the world of herbs and have SO much to learn so meeting Kami through the blogosphere was a gift from above.
Kami had been reading my blog and offered me her book to review.
I literally gobbled it up.
The Herbal Kitchen is about the personal and communal joy of putting nature in your cupboard. It is about reclaiming the indispensable skill of using herbs to prevent sickness and take care of home ailments. Nurturing the life around us with the medicine from the kitchen revives our relationship with the plants and empowers our ability to understand our food, our body, and our relationship to sustaining healthy life.
In reading through the forward and introduction she began to explain how we have lost the true art and skills of cooking. Cooking using real food and the basics of using herbs to not only compliment and flavor our dishes but in their relationship to our digestive health.
I didn’t know that. Herbs not only have healing and antibacterial properties but they are yet another way in aiding our bodies to digest and assimilate what we eat.
Did you know that stuffing your turkey with sage helps keep away colds that begin circulating around Thanksgiving? Or that adding ginger to a fish meal kills pathogens found specifically in fish? And when you sprinkle fennel into your meat marinades, it helps you digest the fat in the meat more easily?
What I also enjoy about Kami’s writing is that in her book she also goes into taking things one step at a time. With our busy world, she carves out a couple hours every week to get together with her children or at least one other person to make oil infusions, herbal honey and other herbal recipes. She makes it fun and practical.
the Herbal Kitchen
In the book are descriptions and illustrations on 50 easy to find herbs complete with gardening tips and their medicinal properties. There are also over 250 recipes for herbal waters, herbal drinks, herbal smoothies, herbal honey, herbal vinegar, herbal cordials, herbal oils, herbal ghee, herbal pesto, herbal sprinkles and salt and even includes herbal foot soaks and baths.
I am personally delighted to have this book on my shelf.
The Giveaway
I am excited to share this giveaway with my readers. Kami McBride has offered 2 copies of her book, the Herbal Kitchen, to giveaway!
To Enter:
Leave a comment as to which herb you are most interested in learning more about.
Extra entries:
Leave a separate comment for each entry, a total of 7 extra entries.
- Subscribe to receive my posts via email. (1 entry)
- Subscribe to receive my newsletter via email (1 entry)
- Become a fan of A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa on Facebook and share this giveaway on your wall (1 entry)
- Become a fan of Living Awareness Institute on Facebook (1 entry)
- Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post (2 entries) Please leave 2 separate comments that you have done this.
- Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway. (1 entry)
@dianabauman Herbal Kitchen Giveaway, learn how to mix herbs in the kitchen and medicine cabinet. http://www.spain-in-iowa.com/?p=1381
Please Remember, leave a separate comment for each entry, or your extra entries will not count!
Every comment must include an email address – it’s ok if you comment with your blog account as long as I can get to your email through your blog! The giveaway ends June 30, 2011 and is open to the Continental US only. The winner will be chosen by random.org.
Good Luck!!
Sweet Cicely is my most recent herbal interest. Old cookbooks use it to “sweeten” desserts. It grows in the midwest but I have yet to locate any. I have not been able to buy it dried or as a plant. Any suggestions?
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Dear Diana, This is a lovely giveaway about herbal kitchen. I have subscribed to your emails and wud love to get it…thanks, sonia !
I am a follower of you on twitter and tweeted about this giveaway @lostsoulhelpme
I just love herbs but I think mint is a favorite, or maybe dill… or thyme? um.. sage? hm… 😉
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sounds like a fun book
I’m interested in expanding my horizons beyond my top 5. Learning how to keep and use them year round, etc.
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It is hard to narrow down one herb that I would like to learn more about, but I guess I will say fennel. I use it in my homemade pepperoni, but not much anywhere else.
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I forgot to include that I posted about the giveaway on my facebok wall, but I did share the link. 🙂
I am now following ‘Living Awareness Institute’ on facebook.
I follow you on twitter and tweeted (twittered?)about your giveaway.
Looks like a neat book! I would choose calendula to learn more about today.
Oh I love growing herbs and I love to incorporate them into my meals. I would love to know more about Rosemary, Dill, Basil and Mint.
I would like to learn more about the ones I grow. Parsley, Basil, Thyme
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ok, i am now dying to read this book! i’m especially interested to learn more about fennel and dill… two herbs that i only know how to use in 1 or 2 ways (pickles and tomato sauce). thanks for the awesome giveaway!
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i also became a fan of Living Awareness Institute on facebook. 🙂
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Hi Diana, I am surely in for the giveaway and here is my comment for that. I would like to learn more about growing cilantro and basil as it looks like I keep killing my basil plant every time 🙁
I’d like to learn more about cooking with mint… since I always seem to have WAY more than I need.
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Great giveaway. I would like to learn more about mint. It is such a common herb, but I feel like I under utilize it in my kitchen.
I have lemon balm that is thriving. I could use more ideas for using it up.
I think I would like to know more about Ginger and Ginko.
Posted this on Facebook.
I think thyme is my favorite herb.
I would love to learn about all the herbs, I don’t have very much natural sunlight in my apartment so no herb garden yet.
I like your Facebook page.
I liked Living Awareness Institute’s page.
I planted lavender in my garden this year for the first time (first garden, too!), so I would be very interested to know more about what I can do with it! This looks like a great book. Thanks for the giveaway!
I liked your page on Facebook.
I liked the Living Awareness Institute on Facebook — good to get to know them!
I’m also now following you on Twitter, and tweeted!
I just subscribed to your newsletter, and you are now permanently included on my Google Reader feed! I’m glad you did a guest post at Simple Bites so I could get to know you!
My favorite herb is definitely basil, although I’ve never heard anything about it having any special properties, so I’d like to learn more about it if there is more to learn. As a sidenote, I think sage has one of the prettiest blooms 🙂
I think it would be fun to learn more about the medicinal properties of herbs that up until now I’ve only considered for flavor.
Pennyroyal has always fascinated me.
I love herbs, especially mint and rosemary. I have a hard time growing rosemary, so i would love to find out more about how to grow it.
I am new to the herb world and would just love to learn anything!
Herbs are always popular among health conscious people like me…i use herbs in my meals daily…and your blog is helping me a lot to build up my herb treasure.Thanks a lot.
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My knowledge of herbs is limited and my rosemary keeps dying.
O MY CUPCAKES!!!!!
I would love to learn how to cook with certain herbs, and how to infuse the flavor into cupcakes, icings, and the such, thank you so much for this giveaway, redraven, blessings to all.
I have just began exploring fresh sage…I love it! And I’d like to learn more about the various kinds of basil and how to use them.
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I would like to learn more about mint, especially peppermint. It is something that I know will grow as a perennial here. Thank you for this oppotunity.
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My favorite herb is mint, any variety. In Michigan growing and harvesting mint for the extract was a very thriving business. I grew up with a large garden plot of mint between the garage and the cement path to the back door. As we walked to the door we’d run I hand thru the foliage, smell the air and our hands, and even pick some to chew as we entered or left the house. Learned to appreciate bees while they did their job pollenating the herbs, veggies and fruit in the back yard. What a pleasure these memories are for me, I try to recreate this where ever I live. Chives are also a favorite. Another favorite is catnip. It grows wild in the backyard. I harvest a sprig for her once a week, she loves it. I would welcome the chance to learn more and grow my garden larger. Happy gardening!
I’m interested in learning about the herbs I grow currently — sage, chives, thyme, lemon balm, and basil — but mostly about thyme.
I would like to learn more about the properties of comfrey.
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I’d love to learn more about wood sorrel and plantain….since they are taking over my yard!
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I’d love to learn more about herbs and their uses, mainly in kitchen recipes.
I’d love to learn more about basil and rosemary!
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Fennel seems like an interesting herb…also the anise seed.
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Liked the institute on facebook. awesome resource
love dill and basil
I have a pretty good herb garden this year. Cilantro, Oregano, Parsley, Sage, Basil, Chives and Mint. I am new to the world of herbs and would really love to learn how to use them all besides in just cooking. I would love to win this book.
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I love using herbs in cooking and I would love to learn more about Oregano. Being Greek, we put oregano on everything, but I would really like to know more about its health benefits.
I’m just learning more about herbs.
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Thank you!
This couldn’t be more timely for me – I’ve been looking a lot into herbals for their health benefits lately. I’d like to know more about ginger.. it seems to be extremely versatile.
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I like ALBOSII on Facebook and posted a link to this giveaway on my wall. 🙂
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I would like to learn what to do with the varieties of mint I have around… 🙂 I would also like to make better use of my fennel for eating. I love the medicinal herbs- always been fascinated with them and would like to make better use of them as well…
I’m already subscribed to your blog. 🙂 and I enjoy it!
Already a fan on Facebook…
Basil- because I use it all the time in the kitchen! The book sounds great!!
Which one? How can I decide? Dandelion root, red clover, maybe plantin and yarrow. This would be awesome to win!
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I follow you, and I’ve tweeted http://twitter.com/#!/beckyjwebb/statuses/85494105270009857
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I’m a fan on facebook and posted about the giveaway
I would like to learn more about anise seeds. Thanks for hosting this giveaway!
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I would like to learn about all of the herbs! However, for the sake of the contest, let’s say fennel (as I’m growing some this year and don’t really know what to do with it!) 😉
I’d like to learn what to do with the rosemary I’ve got growing in the kitchen.
I’m a fan on FB of Spain in Iowa.
I liked the Living Awareness Institute and shared the giveaway on my wall.
I follow you on twitter and tweeted about the giveaway.