Q: A recipe for lip balm you included in your January, 2008, calls for beeswax. Where can I get beeswax?
Via e-mail, from Mary

A: Great question! You can purchase organic and cosmetic grade beeswax bars at GloryBee Foods. Organic Grade Bars are $39.95 for 32 ounces and Cosmetic Grade Bars are $22.50 for 32 ounces. GloryBee Foods also has an extensive list of craft supplies for candle making and soap making. If you want to recreate a recipe but you don’t know where to get the ingredients, visit GloryBee Foods’ online store. For anyone who wants to make lip balm with beeswax, here is Janice Cox’s recipe from Body and Soul: Soothing Glosses and Balms. 

 
Photo by renee @ FIMBY/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28442274@N07/ 

Bee Balm for Lips 
Makes 1 ½ ounces

Bees provide a valuable lip balm ingredient—beeswax! This rich balm will soften and protect your lips. You can use it alone or as a base for colored lipstick.
• 2 tablespoons grated beeswax
• 1 teaspoon sunflower oil
• 1 teaspoon apricot kernel oil
• 1/8 teaspoon vitamin E oil

1. On a stove or in a microwave, gently heat beeswax and oils until melted; be careful to not overheat. Stir well to combine. Pour into a small, clean container, then cool completely.

Where do you find and purchase beeswax? What kind of products do you make with it? Drop us a comment!

Yesterday morning I woke up to a story on NPR. Mark Bittman, New York Times food columnist, author of Food Matters, and cast member of Spain: On The Road Again was giving some surprising advice: Eat less meat. From the impact of industrial farming on the environment to climbing national obesity, Bittman suggested our meat eating country should ease up on its meat consumption. The long-time food columnist didn’t preach. He also didn’t push the benefits of a vegetarian diet; rather, negative affects of industrial farming and how we can eat smarter to help our planet.

“From fish farming to chicken farming to egg and dairy farming—[it] has an environmental impact,” he says in Eating Right Can Save the Planet. Indulge in seconds on vegetables and fruits and take it easy on servings of meat, Bittman also suggests. These tips come from a self-described bacon-and-eggs-for-breakfast-and-a-hamburger-for-lunch kind of guy. At the suggestion of his doctor, Bittman also says in the article that he now eats oatmeal with maple syrup and fruits, and vegetables for lunch, and the change improved his health and weight.

Another way to improve your health and the environment is to plant a kitchen garden with your favorite herbs. Flavor your food with the herbs you grow, rather than salt: It will reduce your cholesterol while enhancing the natural flavors in the dish. Last week I tried Editor in Chief KC Compton’s Parmesan French Toast, and although it wasn’t completely vegan (my roommate is vegan), it was a big hit in my house. Here are a few Herb Companion recipes I’m going to try over the next week:

• Whole-Grain Granola
• Orzo Salad With Dittany, Spinach, and Feta Cheese 
• Vegetarian Lentils 
• Crustless Herbal Quiche 

These recipes are not only healthy for you, but also for the planet.

 
Orzo Salad with Dittany, Spinach and Feta Cheese

All that stretching and breathing during yoga makes me feel centered in both body and mind. A couple of weeks ago, at the end of my yoga class, my teacher announced that she was teaching a prenatal yoga class three days a week. I opted out of the class because I’m not pregnant—but I couldn’t help but think about the benefits of yoga for you and your baby.

Your body goes through a great deal of change once you become pregnant and yoga can help your breathing, flexibility and strength. The poses provide relief to the discomforts of pregnancy because yoga is both relaxing and healing.

I study Anusara Yoga, a practice that is life-affirming and empowering. The poses are therapeutic for the alignment of your body and you learn a deep, full, steady breath. Anusara means, “Following your heart,” which is an integral part of the practice.  Every pose is expressed from the inside out, which originates from a deep and devotional feeling inside. This is a great way to connect to the life inside you when you’re pregnant.

The alignment principles of Anusara Yoga create more space in your body especially from the pelvis to the top of your rib cage. This is done by engaging your core, which can help strengthen and stretch the areas greatly needed to push the baby out. Movement and actions within every pose are coordinated with the breath, which can help prepare you for labor and delivery. Students learn a more mindful conscious breath. Taking deeper, full, steady breaths during yoga becomes more habitual and when you’re in labor it allows your cervix to open and not tighten.

Pamela Greaves, my Anusara Yoga instructor in Santa Fe, NM, says she did a hand stand on the day she went into labor. The prenatal yoga class she teaches is exactly like a typical Anusara Yoga class but some poses are modified depending on your comfort level. After 20 weeks, she discourages any pose that will compress the abdomen, like deep forward folds or twists. 

At the end of each prenatal yoga class, Pamela serves Nettle and Red Raspberry Tea to her students. Both are mild herbal teas that are safe to drink during pregnancy. Red raspberry (Rubus idaeus) is often used during pregnancy because it improves digestion, uterine tone and blood supply. Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is packed with vitamins B, C, and A. Nettle strengthens the kidneys and relieves fluid retention. For more information on herbs you can rely on during pregnancy, read Herbs for Pregnancy.

What would you use the seasoning Beau Monde with?

In our March 2009 In Basket section, Clara Johnson shared a recipe for a dip she made during the holidays that included Beau Monde, a seasoning sold under the Spice Islands label. Clara couldn’t find the seasoning in stores so she asked us where she could purchase it. In response to her question our staff posted an online exclusive recipe: Beau Monde Seasoning. Clara’s letter didn’t appear on our website so here it is for anyone who would like to use Beau Monde seasoning in a dip.

Q: During the holidays this year, I couldn’t help but think back to Christmases past, and what I enjoyed making for that wonderful time of year. I never failed to make dip that my family loved, but it’s not the same anymore, as I cannot find the herb (Beau Monde) that I always used in the dip. I call it an herb, but I’m not sure what it is. I wonder if someone at The Herb Companion could help me find it again. It has a wonderful taste. Last year, near Christmas, I looked for it again and a lady walked up and asked what I was looking for. When I told her she said, “I can just taste that wonderful stuff,” but she said she could not find it either. I had gotten it for several years at an herb store in Evansville, Indiana, near where I lived. They said all at once they couldn’t get it anymore. I was devastated, but I hope you can help me. This recipe is where I used it, as well as in cheese balls.

Wonderful Dip

• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon Beau Monde
• 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
• 1 tablespoon onion
• 1 teaspoon dill weed

1. Mix all ingredients together and serve.

A: Beau Monde is a seasoning that was sold under the Spice Islands label. We haven’t seen it on shelves lately, but you can buy it at www.SpiceIslands.com. Visit our website, www.HerbCompanion.com, for an easy recipe. –Eds.

My boyfriend is a fantastic gift giver. For graduation last June, he gave me five herbs that we potted together; for my birthday, I received two egglings to crack and grow fresh herbs in. Although my potted herbs have seen better days, I have high hopes for these two thyme egglings.

Eggling is a small white porous ceramic egg, and it is slightly smaller than a turkey’s egg. The cultivation process is easy as the egg contains a rich soil and the all of the seeds. An extra pack of seeds accompany the cute egg and terracotta tray to guarantee growing success. Requiring minimal space, water and tending, the eggling is practically fool proof. The plant can grow in the egg for five months and no transplanting is needed as the egg can be planted in the soil.  

Eggling comes in three flowers, three herbs and four special edition assortments. The flowers offered are chrysanthemum, petunia and phlox and the herbs are thyme, basil and mint. Lavender, cactus, red pepper and wild strawberry are part of the special edition.
 
I don’t have a green thumb, but I think I’ll have great success with these egglings. I’ll keep you posted on their growth. What about you? Do you have an eggling of your own? What do you think about your little Humpty Dumpty? Sound off below!

Q: What are the recipes for “Soothing Glosses and Lip Balms?”
via e-mail, from Kathy

A: Great question. As winter is the driest season, your lips are not alone in the quest for nourishment.

Here are a couple of my favorite recipes taken from Janice Cox’s January 2009 article, Body and Soul: Soothing Glosses and Balms.

From Body and Soul: Soothing Glosses and Balms.

Aloe Vera Lip Gloss
Makes ½ ounce 

This light lip gloss will protect, shine and moisturize your lips. Aloe vera gel’s high moisture content is very soothing. If you have an aloe plant, simply split one of the leaves lengthwise and squeeze out some of the clear gel.    

• 1 teaspoon fresh aloe vera gel

• ½ teaspoon coconut oil
• ⅛ teaspoon vitamin E oil

1. Mix together aloe and oils; stir well.

2. Pour into a small, clean container.

Red Cover Lip Gel
Makes 1.2 ounce

Here’s an old folk remedy for dry, chapped lips. You can find red clover blossoms at your natural food store, or possibly in your own garden. Its flowers yield a sweet, honey-like substance that has anti-inflammatory and skin-soothing properties.

• ½ tablespoon dried red clover flowers OR 1 tablespoon fresh flowers

• ¼ cup water

• ¼ teaspoon clover honey
• ⅛ teaspoon vitamin E oil

• ⅛ teaspoon cornstarch

1. In a small pan, bring clover, water and honey to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes.

2. Remove from heat, then strain liquid. Return liquid to pan and stir in oil and cornstarch, mixing well.

3. Heat mixture until it forms a clear gel (about 1 to 2 minutes).

4. Cool gel completely, stirring occasionally. Spoon into a clean container.

Click here for more lip gloss blends from Body & Soul: Soothing Lip Glosses & Balms.

When I am homesick there is nothing that takes me back to my Spanish roots than garlic, saffron and parsley. For me, it's as easy as sautéing shrimp in olive oil with lots of minced garlic and parsley. We have a spicy recipe for a very similar Spanish dish, Gambas Pil Pil, or Spicy Sizzling Prawns, in our current issue, along with six others.

Having grown up in Spain a lot of people ask me about my cooking skills. The truth is that my mother, who is American, almost always fixed American-style meals like roasted chicken with mashed potatoes or meatloaf, so my Spanish cooking is fairly limited.

But Spanish home-cooked meals are not very hard to make, the flavors come mostly from the herbs and spices, not from the techniques.

Saffron is one of my favorite spices, probably because it is so intrinsically Spanish, and I try to always have it on hand, even though it is expensive - each strand is picked by hand. The yellow rice from Paella, the famous Spanish rice dish, is flavored and colored with saffron.

Photo by mjlaflaca/Courtesy flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjlaflaca/

There are many other ways to use the spice, such as in Saffron Chicken, which probably has thousands of versions. Mine may be the simplest:

I place a couple of strands in a pan with olive oil and minced garlic, and then pan fry chicken breasts over it. The chicken turns a golden color that reminds me of the sunsets by the Mediterranean. Served over white rice with chopped parsley I feel I am sitting at my friend’s mom’s table.

The scents and flavors of food have a way to bring so many memories out of the depths of my brain. What are some of the flavors that take you to another place and time?