Lemon Pot-Pourri

Since ancient times, herbs have been used for a multitude of purposes; providing shelter, floor -coverings, fire, weapons and utensils; imparted flavour to dishes, produced beautiful scented arrangements for Pot-pourri and used extensively in medicines and homeopathic remedies. I have had the pleasure of growing quite a few species in my garden- amongst these; Lavender , thyme, rosemary, rue, fennel, mustard, parsley, mint, coriander, rocket, Lemon and Rose Pelargoniums, Lemon verbena and many others.

Recently I have begun researching uses for the Lemon-scented Pelargonium.(European name = Geranium) which grown profusely in my garden It has a wonderfully powerful, lemony scent. rubbing it between your fingers produces a wonderful fresh aroma and is great for removing that slightly fatty feel after you have been washing the dishes or cleaning the table tops.
According to our local Fundy, Margaret Roberts, lemon-scented pelargoniums have a variety of uses.
Medicinal Uses of Pelargonium limonseum:
Used to relieve tension. A pillow stuffed with the fragrant leaves aids sleep.

Culinary uses:
Lemon -scented geranium scones: (Rose -scented pelargoniums can also be used)
3 cups cake flour
1 cup nuttiwheat flour
250g butter
2 Tbs chopped scented geranium leaves
4 Tbs sugar (optional)
1 tsp salt
8 tsps baking powder
1 1/2 cups milk

Rub butter into the dry ingredients. Add chopped leaves.Mix in milk to make a fairly soft dough. Turn out dough onto floured surface, pat out to about 2 cm in height. Cut out shapes. Bake at 200 degrees C for about 15 minutes until light brown.

Elizabethan Pot-Pourri

A quarter of a 9 litre bucket filled with Rose petals
85g (3 oz) salt
50g (2 oz) fine rubbed bay salt
50g Allspice (Pimenta dioica)
50g Cloves
50g brown sugar
5g (1/4 oz) Gum Benzoin (Styrax benzoin)
50g Orris root (Iris germanica)
2 Tbs brandy
110g (4oz) Lavender heads
110g Lemon Pelargonium leaves
50g Lemon verbena leaves

Sprinkle the fresh Rose petals with the common salt and leave for 3 days. Stir in the remaining ingredients, then place the mixture in a stone pot. Stir every 3 days for two weeks, adding a few drops of brandy if the mixture appears too dry and lacking in scent. A moist pot-pourri like this will have a more lingering perfume.

Popcorn-maker for President?

Elections spring many surprises. It is open season for spin-doctors and popcorn-makers to set up their stands and market their particular brand of waffle, candy floss or popcorn.
Obama and Clinton show all the signs of being good popcorn-makers , giving Americans the usual corn-laden speeches and making light and airy or oily promises.
Why not give the crowds the real thing? Buy yourself a Popcorn Maker and set up a business at the next election rally.
It seems there are three basic shapes of popcorn-makers available. Those that look like little sputniks that sit sweetly on your kitchen counter, a square box-type one, large glass-sided ones like you see in the movies and the same thing with wheels. Prices range from about $40 to about $300 so there are popcorn-makers to suit all pockets.

ThePresto 04821 Orville Redenbacher's Popcorn Maker seems to get mixed reviews, describing it as a machine which uses no oil. It produces healthier popcorn, but rather bland.
The one that sounds perfect for election-fever is the West Bend 82306 Stir Crazy model which is easy to use, makes great popcorn, and you just turn it upside down and it's in it's own bowl. looks neat too.
Go on, do it - set yourself up in business and give the crowds the real thing.

I need a new Fan!

My house is West-facing and gets is very hot in mid-Summer, which is now! Much as I would love to install an Air Conditioner, current finances dictate that the family has other slightly more important priorities, so a ceiling fan seems to be the next best thing.
Choosing a reliable brand proved quite a daunting task as there are literally thousands of brands of unique ceiling fans and ceiling fan accessories vying for attention.
Casablanca ceiling fans range in price from about $300 - $700 with simple elegant designs and superior engineering as outstanding features.
Ellington ceiling fans come in at a cool $50 and there is a fascinating range of fanimation ceiling fans available from Hunter Fan Company, Matthews Fans and Modern Fan Company.

If I had young kids I would be tempted by the Luceplan range which offers a special kid's fan starting at around $740.

However, our budget favours the more reasonably priced ranges such as Minka or Monte carlo ceiling fans.
With the energy crisis as it is, fans are a good option, lowering cooling costs alone by as much as 40 percent.
Other brands which caught my eye were the NuTone, Quorum and Westinghouse ceiling fans which also offered a large range of styles.

Time for a new Waffle-maker

Why would you want to compare waffle-makers? I suppose with elections looming Americans may have a tough choice here.
Maybe it will come down to this- which one looks best in your cabinet.
If you fancy a dark, sexy, slim-line, rather serious model, look no further than the Krups 65475 WaffleChef Waffle Maker, which according to reviews,"works great, looks attractive, stands on end, cooks 4 waffles at once." Sounds like a good deal to me.
I suppose the VillaWare 5555-15 Pooh and Tigger Waffle-Maker could give some stiff opposition, making waffles that "turn out nice and brown" - what more could you want? And it's nice and cheap too at a mere $40.
I guess if you prefer your waffle on the lighter side, have a look at the Hamilton Beach 26200 Flip 'n Fluff Belgian Waffle Maker, which makes a waffle which is "easy to handle (cool-touch exterior),wonderful, airy, and delicately crispy.
Another of the Hamilton Brands, round and white on the outside gives you waffles whcih turn out perfect, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. And it has a lovely wide smile to greet you as it stands firmly on your cabinet.
You may find you are disappointed with the Toastmaster TWB2 Cool Touch Belgian Waffle Maker, though. It seems that it got some bad reviews -69 Users "Dislike It " mainly because if you "overfill it a lot, and it gets all over the white, well then that will take a little scrubbing with a scrub pad." Will that bring out all the white again, one might ask? I doubt it as the Waffle Iron is decidedly black all over, and will certainly stay that way, no matter how much scrubbing you do. Pity though - seems like the Price is right - at $17, maybe you can buy a whole lot - just throw them away if they get dirty and replace it with another one in your cabinet.....