27th
Annual Herb
Day Symposium
From Everyday toGourmet
Held
Saturday,
April 25, 2009
Houston Civic Garden Center in Hermann Park
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Thanks to our Door Prize Donors and sponsors.
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Pam
Harris promised to share her recipe for the delicious chicken dish she
demonstrated at during her talk.
Easy Chicken and Pasta
Serves 4 to 6
Chicken
strips, pre-cooked*
2
cups grape tomatoes
24
seeded calamata olives
3
T capers
2
cups chicken broth
8
marinated artichoke hearts
1
tsp. dried oregano
1
T olive oil
1
tsp. lemon juice or white wine
1
pat butter
salt
& pepper
Warm olive oil in the skillet and add the tomatoes, stir gently and cook until tomatoes begin to soften slightly. Add capers and olives, cook for approximately 1 minute more. Add 2 cup chicken stock and the oregano, cook over medium heat until stock begins to reduce (by 1/3 to1/2) and thicken and the tomatoes soften but do not fall apart. When stock has thickened add lemon juice, butter and salt & pepper to taste. At this point add the chicken and the artichoke hearts. Warm through and serve over hot pasta. Garnish with fresh basil and parmesan cheese.
*You can cook your own chicken or use the breast of a roasted chicken, I think shrimp would be wonderful also. This makes a great vegetarian meal if you leave out the chicken and chicken stock and use vegetable stock instead, the cooking method is the same.
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Gift
shop* open during registration and
between sessions
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9:00
am
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Registration (Refreshments available)
*Gift
shop open
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|
9:30
am
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Welcome and Introductions |
9:40 am |
“Bees in Your Herb
Garden”
- What we can do to
encourage this most useful insect
by
Donald Burger
|
10:45 am |
Break * Gift shop open |
11:00 am |
“There's
an Herb in My Soup?!”
-
Creative
uses of herbs in the kitchen to make gourmet meals from simple
ingredients – everything from dressed up packaged foods to
beautiful salads
by
Pam Harris & Mary Versfelt
|
12:30 pm |
Box Lunch – Garden Tours available *Gift Shop open |
|
Herbal
Snapshots: |
| 1:15
pm |
"Herbal
Sorbets"
by
Benée Curtis |
|
1:40
pm
|
“Sex in the Garden”
-
Butterfly culture in the garden
by
Margaret
Lloyd-Bingham
|
|
2:05
pm
|
“Planting a "Thyme" Out” Chair - planting a unique garden chair with a seat of beautiful thyme varieties
by Gloria Cabrera
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2:30-2:45 pm |
Door Prizes & Closing Remarks |
* Cash and checks only accepted in the Gift Shop Gift shop will feature plants appropriate for spring planting in the Houston area, and handmade crafts and goodies.
Due
to a computer glitch between two computers, the recipes
using the Herb Seasoned salts included in
the booklet were printed with a few errors. The corrected recipes are
available here as a downloadable version.
Many
that attended the 24th Herb Day, Tea Around the World requested a copy of
the poem, "I
Need My Tea," (click on title) that was read in the
morning. We've included a copy here. Enjoy!
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Our
Speakers -
Margaret
Lloyd-Bingham became a master gardener in 2001.
She developed a passion for gardening while growing up on her
grandfather's farm in England. She became interested in learning
more about insects while developing a butterfly garden in her back yard.
She loves to share this information with others.
Donald
Ray Burger teaches
"Beekeeping in Your Backyard" through Leisure Learning
Unlimited. He has kept bees
in his backyard for ten years. He
is the immediate past president of the Houston Beekeepers Association and
is their current webmaster and editor of The
Houston Skep, their official publication.
He is frequently interviewed by local newspapers and television
stations and is the featured beekeeper at the new insect exhibit at the
Museum of Natural Science, where you can see a film of him at his beehives
explaining how to keep bees. Donald
is also a practicing attorney in Houston and you can read his article on
"Bee Law in Texas" at his website
www.burger.com. The
website also features an extensive section on gardening in our area.
He will be speaking to us on "Bees in Your Herb Garden"
and what we can do as gardeners to encourage this most useful insect and
pollinator.
 |
Gloria
Cabrera has
been a member of the South Texas Unit for 9 years. She is a past
Unit Chair and has also served in other capacities within the Unit.
Her love of gardening and herbs prompted her to move to the country in
Conroe two years ago .
Benée
Curtis has been a member of the South Texas Unit for 19 years.
She is a past Unit Chair and has served in many other capacities
within the Unit and at the national level.
She likes to incorporate herbs into her cooking in new ways.
A recent fresh batch of strawberry sorbet inspired the research
into making sorbets.
Pam Harris has
been a member of the South Texas Unit of the Herb Society of America since
1996 and a Master Gardener since 2000.
A native Texan and ex pre-school teacher Pam enjoys growing,
cooking and crafting with herbs.
Mary
Versfelt is
a native Texan and holds a BS Degree in Vocational Home Economics from TWU.
She taught school in Midland, Texas, married and raised a family of four
while living, gardening and cooking in five countries and many "oil
patch" towns across the U.S. She receives great pleasure
from sharing and encouraging happy thymes in the herb garden
through herbal classes and presentations. |
Thanks
to the Local Businesses that Support Us
A
big thanks to these area businesses and supporters that generously
donated door prizes or supplies for Herb Day 2009.
We’re very grateful to these businesses for their donations.
The door prize drawings are, without a doubt, a feature our guests always
anticipate.
·
Buchanan’s
Native Plants
611
E. 11th St. 77008
713-861-5702
http://www.buchanansplants.com/
·
Elm Tree
Creations
Pam
Harris Proprietress
·
Lucia’s
Garden
2216
Portsmouth St. 77098
713-523-6494
http://www.luciasgarden.com/
·
Té
House of Tea
1927
Fairview St. 77019
713-522-8868
http://www.tehouseoftea.com/
·
The
Arbor Gate (2 gifts)
15635
FM 2920, Tomball 77375
281-351-8851
http://www.arborgate.com/
·
Wabash
Antiques and Feed Store
5701
Washington Ave. 77007
713-863-8322
http://www.wabashfeed.com/
·
Another
Place in Time
1102
Tulane 77008
713-864-9717
http://www.anotherplaceintime.com/
·
Joshua’s
Native Plants and Garden Antiques
502
W. 18th St. 77008
713-862-7444
http://www.joshuasnativeplants.com/
·
Member Lois
Sutton (2 gifts)
·
House of
Coffee Beans (coffee for
refreshments)
2348
Bissonnet 77005
713-524-0057
http://www.houseofcoffeebeans.com/
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I
Need My Tea
|
|
by
Lois Jean Howard and Wanda Bell
|
|
My
checkbook won’t balance
The
house is a mess
And
now I remember,
Too
late, I confess.
He
asked me last week,
And
I said, “It’s all right.”
He’s
bringing the boss home
For
dinner, tonight.
(sigh)
(Sip of tea)
I
need my tea
To
comfort me.
|
My
hairdresser told me
I
need to beware
That
with all of this madness
I’m
losing my hair.
My
heart skipped a beat,
“A
thin spot, you say?”
Next
thing you’ll tell me,
It’s
all turning gray.
(sigh)
(Sip of tea)
I
need my tea
To
comfort me.
|
|
I
can’t find my car keys,
I
haven’t a clue.
I’m
late for my meeting,
It
started at two.
Oh
why did I say
I
would give that report?
Now
they’ll all know
My
preparations came up short
(sigh)
(Sip of tea)
I
need my tea
To
comfort me.
|
My
boys have been crazy
This
week, night and day.
I
love them all dearly,
But
I really must say,
My
garden’s a shambles,
First
base was my mint.
They
broke my new rosemary
Where
they pitched their tent.
(sigh)
(Sip of tea)
I
need my tea
To
comfort me.
|
|
I’m
tired of this carpooling
I’m
out of my head.
I
spend more time driving
Than
I do in my bed.
With
three little boys involved
In
9 different sports,
My
body, my psyche,
They’re
all out of sorts.
(sigh)
(Sip of tea)
I
need my tea
To
comfort me.
|
Through
all of life’s troubles
If
misfortune’s your lot
It
will all fade away
When
you pick up this pot.
For
tea is our comfort,
Our
solace in life.
Each
cup will bring gladness
And
wipe away strife
I
love my tea
It
comforts me
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