Do you have a green thumb?

I don't. But for the last few years I've had a garden. The first two years I had one, I didn't do any planting myself. A kind neighbor who is a master gardener/farmer took pity on me and planted an abundance of vegetables and herbs in two raised beds that I had built in my back yard. They flourished, despite the fact that I pretty much had no clue how to care for them and weeded and watered them rather sporadically. Last year I moved, so sadly, no more raised beds. We tried a container garden and had mixed results. Most of our containers weren't deep enough but we did well with green beans, grape tomatoes and green peppers, we even managed to get a few baby eggplants. But one thing that absolutely flourishes in containers is herbs. And herbs are fantastic because when summertime is over you can bring them in the house and have fresh herbs all winter long.

This beauty is lemon thyme. We've survived together for three years now.



This is rosemary...note the snow falling in the background. So beautiful. I love this rosemary plant so much. I knew someone who had one in her kitchen that was like a little tree. That's what I am aiming for. I may need to stake this one as it's a little tippy.



More thyme and more snow. I love thyme, it's a versatile herb. Nice with pork, chicken, in beef stew, in stuffing, in minestrone and bean soups...



Flat leaf parsley that I picked up on a trip to Maine at the Portland Farmer's Market. I love Portland, Maine- a foodie paradise. And home to Rabelais, a book store entirely devoted to food books! Can you imagine? I could have stayed there all day...



Curly parsley. I don't care for it that much. It's a texture thing.



But Rosabelle loves it!



So do you have a green thumb? Are you thinking about gardening? I know I am.

Constant cravings...

It seems like most of the things I end up cooking stem from one craving or another. And loving food as I do, I am almost constantly craving something. The other day I realized I still had a container of herbs left over from Thanksgiving in my refrigerator. Why I had store bought herbs when I had all of those herbs in plant form in my house is another story, but I digress. And why those herbs were still as fresh seeming as the day I bought them is not something I wish to ponder right now.

In the container there were a few sprigs of rosemary. I love rosemary, it's one of my favorite herbs. Rosemary is an herb that doesn't mess around. It's bold, if you use it, there's no disguising it. It's there in the forefront making it's presence known. Which is probably why it pairs so wonderfully with things that are on the bland side. Potatoes, chicken, foccacia, white beans...they all benefit from rosemary's herbal woodiness. As I stood there holding the rosemary, the smell tickling my nose, I thought there must be something else. Something that really let's the rosemary shine.

Just then I remembered that I had occasionally seen recipes for cookies that contained rosemary and brushed them off as being odd. Even too precious. Too food snobby. I went back to doing other things and put the whole thing out of my mind. I played some Scrabble, puttered around the house and all the while kept thinking of cookies with rosemary in them. Soon I was searching the internet for recipes. I found a butter cookie recipe on Martha Stewart that I liked the sound of. And then, as I always do I wondered how it could be improved and my thoughts turned to lemon. Lemon and rosemary are wonderful together. And thus a cookie was born.



I think they would make a fabulous addition to your Christmas (or whatever you celebrate, Festivus?) cookie platter. The cookies are delicious- buttery, lightly sweet with crunchy sugared edges. They taste of lemon with a lingering, pleasant herbal finish. Not overwhelming but you know it's there. To make the cookies I used this recipe http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/rosemary-butter-cookies and made a few changes. I used half soft white wheat flour and half white flour. I added all the zest from one large lemon. I omitted the vanilla and replaced it with an equal amount of lemon oil. And I very generously brushed the outside of the dough log with the egg white and pressed a lot of turbinado sugar into it because I love the contrast of textures.