Honey of a Time... With Infused Honey

It's been a hectic past few months. Between Super Storm Sandy clean up and the Holiday season, life has seemed to pass by in a blur. Now that we've welcomed in 2013, I've had a little time to catch up on some of my herbal chores. Of course these aren't really chores at all. They are the favored tasks that you reward yourself with when all the rest has been done. What have I been doing? Oh, how sweet a task it is. I've been decanting and setting up my herbal infused honeys.

The sweetness and health benefits of honey are well documented. Whether you're using honey in your skin care, food or for your health, you can give it a boost with some herbal input. And it is so very, very easy.

Ginger swimming in honey.

What You'll Need:

• Clean mason jar/s
• Honey (my favorite is Herberstville Honey. Try to use local honey to aid with allergy immunity building)
• Your favorite fresh or dried herbs. Personally, I prefer using dried, except for roses. Less chance of moisture getting into the honey and causing problems such as mold or fermentation. Of course, fermentation could lead to an interesting mead, but that's another story for another day.

Make sure your mason jar is clean. Run it through the dishwasher or submerge in water and boil for a few minutes. Make sure the jar is thoroughly dried before using.

Loosely fill the jar to about two thirds full with your favorite herb, spice or combination.

Vanilla beans soaking in honey.

Pour the honey into the jar to cover the herbs. Stir with a knife or something long to remove all the air pockets. Top off with some more honey.

Cover tightly and put in a sunny windowsill or on a shelf you check fairly often.

Every few days turn the jar over to circulate the honey and herbs. Let the jar sit for at least two weeks or longer. The longer it sits, the stronger the infusion will be.

I just decanted a cinnamon infused honey that had been steeping for almost a year. I will admit that I only flip or check the jars every month or so when I'm letting it set up for that long a time.  It's divine! So extraordinarily yummy on waffles.

Here are some herb or spice combinations to try:

Honey dripping from vanilla sooo yummy!

• Rose petals. You can use fresh or dried petals (untreated, naturally). If you use fresh petals you don't even have to strain - just use eat the petals like a jam.
• Lavender
• Cinnamon - use just the sticks. Powder is OK, but it can make it gritty.
• Vanilla
• Chai - use cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, a few black peppercorns, a vanilla bean, cloves, allspice, star anise, or other chai flavoring that you like
• Peppermint
• Thyme
• Lemon Herbs - I like to combine lemon thyme, lemon balm, and lemon verbena
• Orange or lemon - use the peels cleaned of pith
• Rosemary
• Hot peppers - this is great in barbecue sauce or as a glaze for ribs or ham
• Ginger
• Calendula petals
• Elderberries - dried make a wonderful cough syrup

Use your imagination! These honeys are great to use in cooking or in teas, or straight off the spoon!

Of course, honey's not just great for your insides - it's fabulous for your outsides. I like using Calendula honey straight on cuts and scraps. We use ginger infused honey in our Orange Ginger Sugar Scrub.  Rose infused is used in our Rose n' Dew Sugar Scrub and the Rose 'n' Dew Face Spritz.

And if you want to ease away the stress of the past few months, try some Lavender honey in your tea - or in your bath!

Have fun making infused honeys. Let me know what herbal combinations you're trying, and I'll keep you posted of mine.

Lilacs and More for Mom

My lilacs are still bursting forth with fragrance and cheerfulness! My roses are starting to bloom. Spring is springing up everywhere. With Mothers Day coming up quickly, we thought we'd celebrate with some wonderful specials - for you and your mom!


We're big fans of lilacs. And we've created a wonderful linen and air spray that truly captures that light, uplifting scent of spring without smelling soapy. Our Lilac Fairy Ceo Broingloid (Dream Mist) is on sale now through Mothers Day - $2.00 off the regular price!

But there's more...


Order one of our Gift Sets and you'll receive free shipping PLUS a free 4oz Lilac Fair Dream mist! Choose our Méla Tea Set which includes one each of our fabulous all natural, herbal tea bag packs. You can use each tea bag 2 or 3 times - so this is a real value as well as a wonderful mini-spa treat. Or choose our Gardeners Gift Pack with all the things you need for outdoor care.

You can also build your own gift set and receive free shipping and a free gift. Go to our website and select the items you'd like to include in your gift. During check out, enter Chairde Special in the comments area. We'll create a gift basket of those items and get them out to you in time for Mothers Day!

The specials will be available until May 9th (to assure delivery in time for Mothers Day).

If you have any questions, you can always email us and we'll be happy to help.

Skin Care Switch Up

Autumn has arrived in its full, beautiful and chilly glory. The trees are in various states of their color show. Some have even lost their leaves already. The crisp air has us turning up the heat inside and bundling up to get cozy.

But let's face it, as beautiful as it is, and however glad we may be to stop sweating after a very hot New Jersey summer, all these temperature changes are wreaking havoc on our skin. So, just as we change out our shorts, flip flops and tee's for long pants, boots and sweaters, it's time to change up our skin care routine a little.

There are certain staples to your skin care routine just as there are to your year round wardrobe. That perfect fitting pair of jeans works no matter what the season. To keep your skin in the best condition possible - staying well hydrated is important year round. Good hydration helps to remove toxins from your body and keep things nice and properly moist from the inside out.

Even if we're diligent with applying sunscreen, our skin can get damaged during the summer. As the days grow shorter, it's more important to exfoliate and remove those dead skin cells. This removes the yuck (OK, that's not a technical term but it does describe it well) and allows new skin cells to show and glow. Our Honey Pumpkin Face Mask is a gentle exfoliant and toner for your face. Sugar Scrubs works beautifully on the rest of your body while leaving a light moisturizing oil to provide protection from harsher temperatures.

Hands take a real beating in cold weather. Keeping them protected with a good wax based moisturizer. Our Lotion Bars are excellent for providing that protection while soothing dryness and itchiness that can occur in the fall.

Another part of our skin that seems to suffer through the cold months is our lips. Keep them moisturized and protected to prevent cracking and dryness. Our Sweetest Kisses lip balm provides that barrier to the elements and adds the softening sweetness of honey. Should you catch a cold or just have a bout of really dried, cracked lips, Tingles will really help. They'll protect and provide essential oils known for their healing benefits. And it will make your lips tingle.

In the fall and winter, I also change my face moisturizer. Before I go to bed, I use a little Jazzy Lavender Body Butter on my face, especially on those laugh line around the eyes and the nasolabial folds (there's a technical term - those are the lines that go from your nostrils to the corners of your mouth). It gives a little extra softening and extra protection from the dry air.

I always like the seasonal switch up, for my skin care and my clothes. A rediscovered favorite sweater and that pair of jeans and a great skin care routine. That's a great Autumn.

Marsh Mallow ... not Marshmallow

Tonight I was making Honey Pumpkin Face Mask. The last of my pumpkins had been roasted up and we were running low. I gathered up the materials I needed - honey, green tea, milk powder, some other herbs and my powdered marsh mallow root. It made me think of summer on this cold autumn evening for a few reasons.

First, I have a lovely stand of marsh mallow plants that spring up every year. It's one of those tall, stately plants that adds a lovely touch to the back of a garden, but you have to be careful not to let it run wild!

Second, it made me think of s'mores and the other marshmallow.

Marsh Mallows are beautiful, with many healthful and beneficial properties. It has wonderful

healing properties, which are even mention in Homers Illiad. It is emollient, demulcent, and soothing to sore throats and irritations. This soothing quality is the reason it is a part of our Honey Pumpkin Face Mask.

When the dried root is soaking, it creates a gel which helps coat inflamed areas and relieve the pain and reduce redness. And the gel was used to make the original Marshmallows.

I've often thought of making marshmallows the old fashioned way, and I may yet. In the meantime, I'll just rest here with my face mask on, dreaming of summer. And maybe I'll make some s'mores.

It's Pumpkin Time!!!!! Getting the seed of an idea.

I LOVE this time of year. I love the crispness in the air, the bright color of the turning leaves, and the suspense that seems to build around the coming of Halloween. Don't love the fact that it starts getting darker earlier, but I'll accept it knowing that it leads to glowing orange globes delighting passersby and trick-or-treaters. You know - pumpkins!

Every since I was a small child, many years ago, I've adored carving pumpkins. There's something so viscerally cool and yet creepy about slicing off the top of these fruits of Autumn and pulling out all those slimy, icky insides. Cleaning and carving transform the simple pumpkin into a frightful - or playful - vision that dances in the long night.

Over the next few days I'll give carving tips, recipes and preserving ideas for keeping the pumpkin going. Today, however, lets get to the guts of the matter.

Pumpkin seeds are little gems inside even bigger gems. They are packed with zinc, manganese, copper, iron and protein. Their sweet nuttiness makes them a great addition to salads or any dish. And they are a terrific snack.

You can easily buy shelled pumpkin seeds, called Pepita's, but making your own is so easy. This is the recipe I typically use, but you can change around the spices to suit your own taste. Sugar pumpkins have slightly smaller, softer shelled seeds. We leave the hulls on for some extra crunchiness.

Garlic Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin Seeds - about 3 cups
Paprika: Sweet, Smoked and Hot
Garlic Salt
Kosher Salt
6 tbs. salted butter
Garlic Powder

Take the pumpkin seeds from your carved pumpkin and rinse them off, removing all the strings and any visible pumpkin pieces. Put 1/4 cup of kosher salt in a bowl and add pumpkin seeds. Fill with water to cover seeds. Stir, then cover with a dish towel or saran wrap and let sit for at least 2 hours, overnight if possible.

Drain the seeds and rinse off. Spread on a clean, dry dish towel and pat dry.

Set the oven at 375 degrees. In a roasting pan or cookie sheets with sides, place the butter and put in the oven. In about 5 minutes, remove from the oven. The butter should be mostly melted. Add the pumpkin seeds, 1 tsp of smoked paprika, 1 tsp of sweet paprika, and 1/4 tsp of hot paprika. Sprinkle on garlic powder and garlic salt (about 2 tsp of each). Stir into the seeds and spread them out to a thin layer. Return the pan to the oven.

Let the seeds roast undisturbed for about 15 minutes. After that time, stir up the seeds and check for browning - you want them brown and crunchy, not burned. If needed, put in to another 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and stir. You can add more garlic salt or kosher salt if you'd like. Let cool completely and put in an air tight container.

Munch away any time you want a snack. These are also great in Nuts & Bolts (similar to Chex Mix). And they're the perfect munch while watching Halloween horror movies!