Rachel's Racey Root Beer Recipe

Do you love root beer? Do you love root beer floats? Here's a super easy and delicious root beer recipe that you kids can help you make.

1 cup raw or Turbinado sugar

1 tablespoon Zatarains's Root Beer Extract

1/4 teaspoon powdered baker's yeast

cold fresh, chlorine free water

You'll need measuring cups, spoons, a funnel and an empty 2 liter plastic bottle. In this exact order, add the ingredients to the 2 liter bottle: 1. sugar 2. yeast *now shake the bottle to disperse the yeast in to the sugar* swirl the bottle to try and get a slight well or indentation in the mixture before adding 3. root beer extract 4. fresh un-chlorinated water to fill bottle half way. *swirl the bottle gently to help everything dissolve. 5. more water to fill to the top leaving about an inch of head space. *swirl again to mix all ingredients* Keep the bottle at ambient room temperature for 3-4 day until the bottle feels tight when squeezed then move to refrigerator. DO NOT LEAVE BOTTLE IN A WARM ROOM INDEFINITELY OR IT MIGHT EXPLODE! Serve your home made root beer chilled and enjoy!

Home Made Moisturizing Balm for Lips & Hands

I take simple but deeply gratifying pleasure from brushing up against aromatic herbs planted in my herb gardens which then release their delicious perfume in to the air. When I walk through the garden paths, the smallest brush or gentle breeze sends lemon scented geranium, thyme, lemon balm, rosemary and lavender wafting through the air. For me it is a genuinely calming and soothing experience. In light of this, I've been researching a way to encapsulate or bottle this experience. Below is a recipe for home made, all natural, moisturizing balm which can be used for skin and lips alike.

Here's what you'll need:

2 cups organic olive oil
1 cup herbs
20 or so drops of all natural essential oils
1 cup grated beeswax, packed
A double boiler
Containers for balm

My first batch was made from pineapple mint and lemon verbena. It was heavenly. In the process, the herbs are strained out of the mixture after infusing it so the end product is smooth and creamy light yellow. You can add color, but why? By using the essential oil, I added a small amount of flavor but really, I could have simply used the herbs and it would have been mild and pleasant. I happen to like a more robust fragrance so I added just a hint of all natural lemon verbena essential oil. I purchased small lip balm tins and pretty little glass ointment jars to pour the mixture in to. Once it's in the container, it sits for two hours and congeals becoming creamy and solid.

Almond Butter

Last night I made a batch of fresh roasted almond butter. I started by blanching and roasted four pounds of top quality California almonds to a uniform golden-brown. Once the almonds cooled, I placed them in the bowl of my food processor and processed the almonds in to a thick ball of almond paste. I continued processing, adding one tablespoon at a time of high oleic, GMO free, expeller pressed safflower oil until the paste became smooth. Safflower, a heart healthy oil, is high in antioxidants and low in saturated fat. In fact it has a very similar chemical composition to olive oil but with a completely nuetral flavor. In the end, I only added about 3 tablespoons of safflower oil to bring about a nice creamy consistency. I also added a pinch of sea salt to balance the natural sweetness of the almonds.

Roasted almond butter is absolutely heaven! It beats the pants out of peanut butter both in health properties and in flavor. Almond butter at the store can cost as much as a dollar an ounce... ouch! My almond butter cost me $9.00 for four pounds AND my kids prefer it in their sandwiches and to dunk their vegetables in as well. I have replaced peanut butter with roasted almond butter in many of my recipes with great results.

In The Garden

Tomatoes, nectarine, swallowtail caterpillar on fennel, artichokes, canterbury bells in lavender and dark purple beside rosemary, more canterbury bells, pink flowers, and lettuce.

In The Kitchen

From top to bottom: Hungarian Sausages, Michael honing his knife skills by cutting strawberries for the strawberry rhubarb pie, a picture of my all natural 3C Granola which contains cranberries, coconut and cashews, Michael pretending to nosh on freshly made papardelle pasta, braised short rib ragu to sauce the fresh papardelle, home made calzones fresh out of the oven, the strawberry rhubarb pie before and after

More Garden Pics.

The raised beds are really bursting forth. Each week there is significant growth and fruit development. I have baby tomatoes on each tomato plant and lots of berries popping up everywhere. I will continue successive planting of greens and lettuce until and through June. I've decided that the new raised beds which are in the works will have Fall plantings. If they're done in time, I might even do some serious pumpkins in at least one. These beds will add another 72 square feet of vegetable growing space which will be designated as Fall and Winter crops. I figure that the addition of colorful kale, swiss chard, cabbages, lettuces and Asian greens will be cheerful Winter focal point when everything else has lost it's Spring/Summer luster.

Spring Vegetable Bed & Garden

Garden May 09'