Orchid Blooms – A Matter of Light

Orchids are beautiful flowers. They look exotic, and tropical, but are relatively easy to keep. All they require is a weekly watering and the right amount of light. Getting phalaenopsis orchids to bloom, however? That has been difficult. I have tried different amounts of light and water for the past two years, to no avail. So imagine my excitement when two beautiful red and yellow flowers appeared on my second oldest orchid plant.

I have read a variety of guides which suggest temperature, water, and light as the triggers for orchid blooms. For me, the key was light.

Orchids need Light!

It really is all about the right level of light. Most guides will say that you need indirect light, but not all indirect light is equal.

When I started keeping orchids, all I had was a north facing window. There was nothing but indirect light. This kept the plants fairly healthy, but not happy. None of my orchids would bloom. The indirect light was just too indirect.

Then I moved, and put the orchids in a south facing window. This was too much light. The edges of the leaves started burning, and the plants were stressed.

So I put my three phalaenopsis in a west facing window. They get a little bit of direct light in the late afternoon, but the window is shaded by several trees. This was just the right amount of light, seemingly. Both of my older orchid plants have grown flower stalks!

Orchid Flowers require the right levels of light

Orchids need just the right kind of light to bloom. It needs to be indirect enough to not burn the leaves, but intense enough to trigger flower stalks.

I still have a lot to learn about keeping orchids. But now that I have found the right setting for my phalaenopsis, I hope that I will get to enjoy months of blooms.

Category: Plants | LEAVE A COMMENT

June 14 2017

Lemony Lemon Balm Pudding

What if I couldn’t buy lemons at the store? Where would I get that wonderful lemony flavoring from? The answer is Lemon Balm. It has an amazing citrus-like smell – the trick is to get the same citrus taste to come out in cooking. This Lemon Balm Pudding is flavorful and lemony. There’s only the slightest hint that the source of the flavor isn’t fruit; its an herb.

I had a few unsuccessful attempts last year at cooking with lemon balm. Nothing came out very flavorful. But for this dessert, I wanted lots of lemony flavor. At the same time, I wanted to avoid turning the pudding green. So I simmered the milk separately, and then allowed the lemon balm to steep in the milk for about fourty minutes. That let the milk soak up all the flavor, and then I was able to strain the lemon balm out.

When the pudding was done, the lemon flavor was pronounced. The next day, it was amazing. Success!

Lemony Lemon Balm Pudding

A very flavorful lemony pudding, without lemons. The secret ingredient? Lemon Balm.

CourseDessert

Servings	Prep Time
4 people	10 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
15 minutes	40 minutes

Servings	Prep Time
4 people	10 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
15 minutes	40 minutes

Lemony Lemon Balm Pudding

A very flavorful lemony pudding, without lemons. The secret ingredient? Lemon Balm.

CourseDessert

Servings	Prep Time
4 people	10 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
15 minutes	40 minutes

Servings	Prep Time
4 people	10 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
15 minutes	40 minutes

Ingredients

2 1/2 Cups Milk
1 1/2 Cups Lemon Balm Fresh, chopped
3/4 Cups Sugar
1/4 Cup Flour
3 Egg Yolks Beaten
1/4 Tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Butter Unsalted
Seasonal Fruit Optional

Servings: people

Instructions

Pour milk into a medium sauce pan, and slowly bring to a simmer. Once the milk is just starting to get frothy, take it off the heat. Add the lemon balm, and stir.
Allow the lemon balm to steep in the milk for about 40 minutes.
While the milk mixture is cooling off, combine the sugar and flour.
Strain the lemon balm out of the milk. Whisk together the milk and sugar and flour in a medium saucepan. Cook the milk-flour mixture on low heat.
Add the egg yolks and salt, and allow the pudding to cook. Keep an eye on the pan, stirring occasionally, to keep the pudding from burning. The pudding will start to thicken, stirring more frequently as it gets thicker.
Once the mixture is of about pudding consistency, take it off the heat. Pour it into serving dishes, and let it cool before serving.
Top with fruit (if desired) before serving.

Recipe Notes

Lemony Lemon Balm Pudding is great the first day, but it is even more flavorful after it has had a chance to cool in the refrigerator over night. It also perfectly compliments seasonal fruit, like strawberries and mulberries.

Share this Recipe

Category: Custards and Puddings, Sweet Things | LEAVE A COMMENT

June 11 2017

The Fig Lives! Ridding a Fig Tree of Mealybugs

One of my dreams is to have a large potted fruit bearing fig tree. Fresh delicious figs in the summer – yum! The key to this plan is keeping a fig tree alive, of course, and fig trees can be finicky. The last thing they need is a pest like mealybugs attacking them.

I overwintered my fig tree in a nice south facing window, and I thought it was doing really well. It put on two figs at the beginning of spring, and I was considering moving it outside.

But then came Mealybugs

The first symptom I noticed was what looked at mold at the base of the plant. A few days later, the leaves wilted, and the new figs started withering.

When I picked up the pot, a few bits of a white moldy substance fell out of the drainage hole. I took to the internet to identify what I thought was fungus; but after searching around, I realized it was much more likely to be mealybugs. The bugs were infesting the entire pot. The tree was dying, but I did not want to just throw the whole thing out.

How to remove Mealybugs

Most of the information I found on the internet explains how to remove mealybugs from the stems and leaves of a plant. In my case, however, the bugs were attacking the root system. So I couldn’t just cut the infestation out.

First, I emptied the entire pot, taking care to remove the roots of my little tree from the soil without damage. I then washed the roots off outside to remove remaining particles of dirt. The removed most of the infection, but I did not want the bugs to come back.

Mealybugs attach themselves to the host plant with a waxy substance. So even though I couldn’t see any little larva or eggs latched onto the roots, I wasn’t sure they were entirely gone. To play it safe, I dipped the roots in water heated to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This was warm enough to detach any remaining bugs, but not so warm that it would kill the plant.

Then, to be extra and especially sure that the bugs were gone, I sprayed the whole plant (roots and branches) down with Insecticidal Soap for Organic Gardening. This last part might have been overkill.

Satisfied that the bugs were gone, I replanted the fig tree. The poor thing dropped the rest of its leaves from stress. Only little brown buds were left. I was concerned that I had killed it.

The Aftermath

A week later, however, the buds sprouted green leaves. The pot is still bug-free, and the fig tree is happily existing on the back porch. Neither the mealybugs nor I killed it. So I leave this here in the hopes that someone else faced with a similar dilemma will be able to use some combination of the above methods to save their plant.

Category: Plants | LEAVE A COMMENT

June 7 2017

Lemon Balm Cake with Candied Flower Syrup

This mildly sweet cake tastes of flowers and lemons and sunshine. And when I say it tastes of flowers, I mean that literally. Lemon Balm cake by itself is a light lemony treat, but covering it in syrup made with chamomile flowers really makes it special! This herbal cake is a great way to use the herbs in your garden. Also, Chamomile and Lemon Balm compliment each other beautifully!

I can just imagine eating this cake with tea in a lacey white dress and hat, and feeling very refined.

Lemon Balm Cake with Candied Flower Syrup

A simple cake, flavored with Lemon Balm. What really makes it special is the candied flower syrup which gives it extra sweetness. It also looks pretty!

CourseDessert

Servings	Prep Time
8 slices	10 minutes

Cook Time

20 minutes

Servings	Prep Time
8 slices	10 minutes

Cook Time

20 minutes

Lemon Balm Cake with Candied Flower Syrup

A simple cake, flavored with Lemon Balm. What really makes it special is the candied flower syrup which gives it extra sweetness. It also looks pretty!

CourseDessert

Servings	Prep Time
8 slices	10 minutes

Cook Time

20 minutes

Servings	Prep Time
8 slices	10 minutes

Cook Time

20 minutes

Ingredients

Cake

1 1/2 Cups Flour white
1 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Butter Room Temperature
1/2 Cup Lemon Balm Fresh, finely chopped
1 Cup Sugar
4 whole Eggs Separated
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Buttermilk

Candied Flower Syrup

1 1/2 Cup Water
1 Cup Powered Sugar
1/4 Cup Chamomile Flowers

Servings: slices

Instructions

Preheat over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour an 8" round cake pan.
Cream together butter, lemon balm, and sugar.
Separate your eggs. Set aside the whites (preferably in the refrigerator!). Add the egg yokes and vanilla extract to the butter-sugar mixture.
Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to your butter mixture. Then add the buttermilk. You should have a thick batter.
Beat your egg whites on high until soft peaks form. Fold into your batter until just combined. Do not over-mix!
Bake your cake for approximately 20 minutes. When its done, the top will be a golden brown.
While your cake is baking, put water and sugar in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, until the sugar is dissolved, and the water has partially evaporated.
Once your water and sugar are slightly thickened (you want a light syrup), add your chamomile flowers. Stir to cover the flowers in syrup, and allow the syrup to cool.
Pour the syrup over the cake once both have cooled. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Chamomile flowers give a syrup a lovely flavor, but you can use other edible flowers too! The orange flower in the picture is a Nasturtium. Other edible flowers include violets, and lavender.

The Lemon Balm Cake was inspired by this recipe from Magnolia Days.

Share this Recipe

Category: Cake, Sweet Things | LEAVE A COMMENT

June 4 2017

Lemon Balm Iced Tea

There is something so refreshing about cold flavored drinks during the summer. That said, I’ve never been a fan of traditional iced tea. But this summer, I am faced with an abundance of herbs (including Lemon Balm). So I decided to try my hand at herbal teas. Lemon Balm has a light lemony flavor, and makes a great tea, hot or cold. But as it is summer, iced tea sounds better!

Lemon Balm has a relaxing effect. The sweet lemony herb is supposed to help with digestion, sleeplessness, and anxiety. In other words, it is healthy! It also grows like crazy during the summer, and makes a lovely tea. So why not make a large batch?

Lemon Balm Iced Tea

This herbal Iced Tea is made with Lemon Balm for a refreshing summer drink. For extra flavor, add in your favorite summer fruit or a complimentary herb! Strawberries and Mint taste great with Lemon Balm.

CourseDrinks

Servings

8 glasses

Servings

8 glasses

Lemon Balm Iced Tea

CourseDrinks

Servings

8 glasses

Servings

8 glasses

Ingredients

10 cups Water
1/2 cup Lemon Balm Finely Chopped
3 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

Servings: glasses

Instructions

Fill a large saucepan with water, and heat on the stove. Once the water is simmering, take it off the heat.
Immediately add the fresh lemon balm, sugar, and lemon juice. Stir to help the sugar dissolve.
Allow the tea to steep as it cools. Once it is cool, you can strain out the lemon balm leaves, and enjoy with ice!

Recipe Notes

Strawberries (and other fruit) taste great with Lemon Balm Iced Tea! Feel free to add 6-8 strawberries during the cooling process, and let them infuse the water.

Share this Recipe

Category: Drinks | LEAVE A COMMENT

June 4 2017

Growing Lemon Balm (and what to do after!)

Summer is here, and my hard work all spring has been paying off in the form of harvestable herbs, flowers, and vegetables! The happiest plant in my garden right now is my lemon balm. I bought this plant on a whim three years ago. Since then, the lemon-scented herb has followed me from my porch-bound apartment container garden, to the back porch of my house, to a place in my back yard. The warm winter was very kind to the plant, and now it is bushing out like crazy!

What is Lemon Balm?

Lemon Balm is named for its light lemony fragrance and taste. I can taste just a hint of mint in the leaves as well – which makes sense given that this bushy herb is related to mint.

The scientific name of the lemony plant is Melissa Officialis. Melissa is the Greek word for bee, and this plant is known to attract them! The Officialis part comes from Latin, and refers to the plant’s place in the herbalists storeroom. Don’t confuse Lemon Balm with Bee Balm, though! Despite the suspicious similarity of names, the two “balms” are different plants.

Medicinal Uses

Lemon Balm is a fairly safe and useful herb. It can be taken to help with digestion, anxiety, and sleeplessness. Some people even think it helps improve mental function!

Some people have an adverse reaction to eating Lemon Balm straight (ironically, it upsets their stomachs). I had a similar reaction the first few times I tried the herb. So I suggest trying it in tea before adding it to a salad!

Growing Lemon Balm

Lemon Balm is a perennial herb. The lemon-scented plant will survive in many soil conditions, but prefers rich well-drained soil. Like many herbs, it does best in full sun. It also responds well to being harvested – cutting my plant back is just making it bushier!

Due to its invasive habits, many gardeners recommend keeping Lemon Balm in a pot. It will not spread via runners, so there’s no need to physically isolate it in your garden. But it will spread by seed, so it is advisable to regularly cut back your plant.

So far, my Lemon Balm is doing very well in my Zone 5 Herb Garden. It has survived being under-watered in a pot, being light deprived in a north-facing apartment, and the transition to being planted in the ground. I think its safe to say that this is one hardy herb! The only “weakness” I have noticed is that my plant droops a bit in a mid-day summer sun, but that might just mean it needs more water to get through the day. Illinois sun can be brutal!

Lemon Balm Uses

Lemon Balm makes a lovely tea, and imparts a light lemony flavor to baked goods. During the summer, you can harvest it fresh from the garden for immediate use. The herb can also be dried for use over the winter. So without further ado, here are some ideas on what to do with Lemon Balm:

Lemon Balm Iced Tea – An herbal iced tea with a light lemon flavor.
Lemon Balm Cake with Candied Flower Syrup – A moist lemony cake glazed with a sweet chamomile syrup.
Lemony Lemon Balm pudding – A deliciously lemony pudding recipe, made entirely with lemon balm. No lemons required!

Category: Plants | LEAVE A COMMENT

February 22 2017

Paint Stripping in Progress!

Paint Stripping the Ottoman - Before Picture

I am mid-DIY project, so I haven’t baked much this week. Instead, I am attempting to strip the ugly red paint from my new ottoman, and give it a nice cushion. Unfortunately, the paint stripping part is proving to be rather time consuming. The problem? I took the directions too seriously. Note to self: plastic does not strip paint worth a darn. After wasting a great deal of paint stripper, I realized that I had to switch to the dreaded metal tools which the paint stripping directions expressly forbade.

I assume the makers of the paint stripper were trying to protect me from damaging my precious wood. Unfortunately, the silly little plastic thing I bought from Lowe’s was useless. So, sure, I might damage the wood with a wood scraper or brush, but that’s a moot point if I can’t get the red paint off.

Candied Ginger Recipe

Candied Ginger. Its exotic, right? Candied Ginger is the sort of thing that you find in fancy candy shops, possibly covered in chocolate. In fact, the first time I had this candy, it was embedded in a giant chunk of chocolate. Yum!

Ginger is one of my favorite spices. In small doses, it does so well with sweet things. It is addictive! But a piece of ginger is pretty hot and spicy. Some of that heat survives the candying process; candied ginger is not just sweet, it also has a bit of heat!

Candied Ginger Recipe

Candied Ginger and Smoothie — The left over ginger water and ginger sugar have lots of potential. Potential for, say, smoothies. . .

Candied ginger also happens to be very easy to make. All you need is. . .
Ginger Root
Sugar
Water
About an hour

To start, peel your ginger root, and cut it into thin pieces. I tried to use a potato peeler, and that worked to an extent. Ginger is very woody, however, so I also needed to cut it with a knife. Thinner pieces of ginger are better. You want the sugar to really penetrate and cover your candy!

Put your ginger slices in a medium sized pot, and fill it with water. The water needs to completely cover the ginger, because its going to be cooking for a while! Cook on the stove at medium heat until the ginger is tender. This will take 30-40 minutes.

Drain the ginger, and keep a bit of the ginger water – about a fourth of a cup.

Put your drained ginger back on the stove, along with an equal amount of granulated sugar and your fourth cup of ginger water. Cook on medium heat, stirring regularly, until the water has evaporated. You know that your candy is ready when the water is gone and the sugar starts to re-crystalize.

Take your ginger off the heat immediately, and spread the candy out on a cooling rack. If you don’t have a cooling rack, I found that aluminum foil worked decently well. Separate the individual pieces of ginger candy.

The best part of this recipe? Candied ginger cools really quickly. Within a few minutes you will be able to enjoy your new candy!

Based on this recipe – Candied Ginger Recipe from Good Eats, on the Food Network.

Category: Snack | LEAVE A COMMENT

February 15 2017

All About Kumquats

I love fruit, and trying out new types of fruit. So when I saw kumquats on the shelf at my local grocery store, I just had to try the little fruits out! I took a small bag of the little fruits home.

I’ve never had kumquats before. Before I saw the package on the shelf, I’m not sure I could have told you what a kumquat looked like.

So, first off, a bit about the kumquat – it is a citrus fruit, about the size of a grape. It looks and tastes a bit like a tiny orange. The whole fruit is edible, including the rind. In fact, the rind is the best part! The pulp of the fruit is sour like a lemon, and the rind tastes like a sweet orange

I ate a few of the little citris fruits raw. I just washed them off, and ate the whole fruit.

Unfortunately, kumquats have seeds. And, as I said, the inside is a bit sour. So I’m not overly pleased with the raw kumquat experience.

Kumquat Cake — I ate too many kumquats. There weren’t enough to cover the cake!

However, it turns out that you can also cook up kumquats and turn them into a nice sort of marmalade. So I chopped the rest of the little fruits in half, de-seeded them, and then cooked them up with sugar and water. They made a rather decent marmalade! I even put it on a cake.

I’ve saved the seeds in the hopes that I can grow myself a little kumquat tree. I won’t be able to plant it outside, of course. Kumquats are fairly cold hardy citrus trees, but they can’t survive cold Illinois winters! But with luck I should be able to sprout a few and keep them in pots indoors like my lemon trees.

Category: Snack | 1 Comment

February 12 2017

Regrowing Green Onions

Maybe you’ve seen the Pinterest posts about how its possible to re-grow any number of vegetables from their roots. But, like so many things on Pinterest, you’ve probably asked “does it work?” Can you really regrow green onions from the roots?

Green Onions in a Jar — The fully regrown green onions

Well, it turns out the answer is yes! I have a healthy set of green onions growing which I have been able to use three times now for different recipes. Originally, I purchased a bunch of green onions for my Heart of Palm Dip. I did not chop them quite back to the roots, but I did cut them down to the white of their stalks.

After making my dip a few weeks back, I put the onions in a glass of water. The next day, I saw new growth. I was sure it had to be because the skin was shrinking or something, and so dismissed it.

But a week later, it was unmistakable. The green onions grew longer roots. Then they grew back to at least their original length within a week. The new growth might be a bit more flimsy than the original green stems, but it is plenty usable. So far, I’ve chopped the new growth back twice for different recipes. The hardy stalks just keep coming back.

And its a good thing they keep growing back! I find that I enjoy the flavor of green onions more than regular old white onions. I suggest using them in the Heart of Palm Sandwich instead of onion. The heart of palm salad will be so much more flavorful!

Green Onion Gravy — Doesn’t the green look pretty? It automatically looks healthier!

If my new green onion plants last long enough, I intend to plant them outside for the spring. I suspect that water is not the best medium for growing them. There’s not really enough nutrients in a glass of water to support plants long term, especially when they keep having to regrow their tops!

But while I wait for the weather to get warmer, I’m going to enjoy trying out new things with green onions. For instance, as favoring for a quick gravy – milk, flour, green onions, and a little salt. Perfect on steak and mashed potatoes. Yum!

Category: Plants | LEAVE A COMMENT

What is this Place?

Mimi's Recipe Box and more! A blog devoted to pumpkins, pies, recipes, crafts, and the occasional plant.