Stop and Smell the Roses

When I went outside this morning (to see if Spring had returned after the rain over the weekend!) I was met by this glorious red rose still wet with rain drops. And with a heavenly smell to match. I am very pleased with this picture I took with my Blackberry phone. They say the best  camera is the one that you have.

There is a certain mystery about roses which dates back thousands of years. Roses have been found in Egyptian tombs where there is evidence of its use in religious ceremonies. The Romans started the custom of scattering rose petals on the bridal bed to ensure a happy marriage, and hung roses from the ceilings during banquets to protect themselves from drunkenness.

Sometime around the 10th century, a Persian called Avicenna, first distilled essential oil from the rose. Only a small amount of oil can be extracted from the petals which have to be hand-picked during a very short period when the plant blooms, leading to the high cost of pure rose oil.  Four kilograms of petals are needed for just one gram of oil!

In Aromatherapy, rose oil is traditionally recommended during childbirth, to balance the hormones during menopause, as a skin tonic (for eczema or aging skin) and can also be used for stress and anxiety. It can be nurturing and balancing and deeply relaxing. 

Bulgaria and Turkey produce the best quality oil which has a geranium-like scent whereas the oil from Egypt and Morocco smells more like the flower itself, but has a different chemical composition. Rose essence is also widely used in the perfume and cosmetic industry as well as in food flavouring. And what can be more elegant than a simple chocolate cake decorated with rose petals? 

Take time to stop and smell the roses...

Lavender, Travel Stamps and a Potjie: Part 1

Lavender Biscuits

The smell of biscuits and freshly-cut lavender is floating all around. These are smells I associate with holidays. I have just been baking batches of lavender biscuits and have also preparing little bags of lavender to give to friends as "happy holiday" presents.  It's a little tradition I started the first year we moved into our house.

Lavender bushes have always lined the pathway leading up to our front door. They have survived drought and at one time were almost the only plants left in our garden because of water restrictions. I love that it looks so delicate and pretty yet can be so hardy and withstand such adverse conditions. I love how the scent fills the air when we trim the bushes or after the rains. I love walking in through the gate with my arms outstretched so that I brush up against it and release the aroma as I walk in. Ever since I did the aromatherapy course it has become my signature - the colour, the oil and the smell. You'll usually find bunches of it in jugs and vases all over the house.

Lavender is pretty much the aspirin of aromatherapy - used for pain and comfort. It is calming, soothing and balancing.  It has been used for thousands of years for healing and cleaning (in fact, "lavare" means to wash in Latin). Charles VI of France apparently used to sit on pillows stuffed with lavender, bunches of lavender were used to scrub floors and the oil was used to clean furniture (remember lavender floor polish?).

St Hildegarde of Bingen recommended lavender for "maintaining a pure character" and in North Africa, women planted lavender to guard against ill-treatment by their husbands. My favourite anecdote, though is about Rene Gattefosse, a famous French scholar and pharmacist. After a suffering a burn in his lab, he plunged his hand into a bottle of neat lavender, the nearest liquid he could find. He was amazed at how quickly his hand healed and this led him to greater research about essential oils  and their properties. He experimented with different oils on soldiers during WWI and became known as the father of modern aromatherapy.

On my bucket list is a visit to the lavender fields of Provence in late summer - I have a mental image of row upon row of lavender and can imagine the scent that must fill the air on  a hot summer's day! See here for more pics. So now you have some idea of what the lavender on my blog-header is all about. I'll explain the potjiekos and travel in subsequent blogs. 

Here is the recipe for my lavender biscuits:

100g castor sugar
200g butter
300g flour
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of lavender flowers

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the flowers. Sift the flour and salt and mix to make a dough.
Refrigerate the dough for one and a half hours then roll out and cut with cookie cutters.
Place on a baking sheet and sprinkle with castor sugar.
Bake at 150-160 deg C for 15-20 minutes.

Happy Holidays!