Folkways
by Maya Brown Zniewski
ROSEMARY:
Rosemarinus officinalis
R
osemary is a wonderful all-
around plant with all kinds of
uses. Rosemary is frequently
used in xeriscape landscaping
because it will grow in climates with
little to no water. An example of this
is available at the Marathon Coffee
Shop. Look in the planter boxes and
you’ll see huge, glorious rosemary. If
you’re lucky it will be in bloom with
dark purple flowers. This is the
largest example I have ever seen in
person. It truly makes me happy to
see it. I find interesting both rose-
mary’s medicinal uses and the folk-
lore surrounding her. Rosemary is
used as a memory enhancer (“rose-
mary for remembrance”). If you wish
someone to remember you, give
them rosemary. Other folklore says
that rosemary gave The Virgin Mary
shelter during her flight from Egypt;
hence the name Rose of Mary. The
tinted blue flowers are where Mary’s
cloak touched the flowers, coloring
them blue.
Rosemary tops, leaves and soft
branches are distilled into essential
oil. English rosemary essential oil is
considered the highest quality but is
rarely, if ever, available in commerce
of any kind. Spain, Japan and Italy
also produce rosemary essential oil
which is of fine quality. One hundred
pounds of rosemary tops and leaves
are required to produce eight ounces
of rosemary essential oils. Lest you
think this is only true of rosemary, it
takes 60,000 roses (whole roses) to
produce one ounce of rose essential
oil.
Medicinally, rosemary has tradi-
tionally been used as an antiseptic.
Rosemary is a primary ingredient in
a well-known essential oil blend I call
Five Thieves. It is thought to have
been created by grave robbers during
the middle ages – the plague years –
as protection from the Yesinis Pestis,
the plague. Although I love this blend
of essential oils, I doubt the veracity
of the tale. Distillation of essential oils
has not changed greatly in a thou-
sand years and the availability of the
distillate by someone making a pau-
per’s living would not be very likely.
Nice sales pitch, though.
Why not blend your own? You
can get good quality essential oils
from the local market, health food
store or online and save a huge
amount of money. In a small, dark
glass bottle combine 35 drops rose-
mary essential oil, 35 drops lemon
essential oil, 10 drops cinnamon
essential oil, 15 drops eucalyptus
essential oil and 10 drops clove bud
essential oil. Shake well. Use this Five
Thieves essential oil blend to make
an incredible hand sanitizer. In a
four ounce bottle combine two
ounces (about one shot glass worth)
aloe vera juice or gel, one ounce alco-
hol (I use vodka or isopropyl alcohol)
and up to 12 drops of the Five
Thieves essential oils blend. Shake
well. Use it as a hand sanitizer. I
make a spray to use as a kitchen and
bathroom cleanser, combining ½
cup white vinegar, one teaspoon liq-
uid soap and 20 drops of Five
Thieves. As a home vaporizer for a
cold or the flu, add 10 drops Five
Thieves to a pot of simmering water
and breathe in the steam deeply.
Do not take any essential oils
internally, no matter what you read
or hear as a sales pitch. Would you
eat the aforementioned 60,000 roses?
No, probably not. Then please, do
not take essential oils internally.
I love a wonderful rosemary hair
rinse. Add a few sprigs of rosemary to
two quarts of water. Simmer a few
minutes. Cool with the rosemary
sprig still in the water. Remove the
sprig, reserving the water, basically
making a rosemary tea. Use as the
final rinse for your hair.
Rosemary provides a
healthy glow to hair.
You can create a fabu-
lous infused vinegar by
infusing apple cider vine-
gar with a sprig of rose-
mary. Strain infused vine-
gar as you use it. The
vinegar infusion will get
stronger over time, more
delicious I think. It is fantastic over a
number of dishes. Why not try tacos
with rosemary marinated fish? Add
rosemary vinegar to salad dressings
or in a glaze for chicken. It’s a great
addition to your bone stock recipe.
My bone stock recipe is fairly easy.
In a gallon freezer bag put all your
scrap veggies, onion peelings, garlic
skins, chicken, beef, fish and pork
bones (or the bones of deer or what
ever else you have.) Keep filling that
gallon freezer bag. Every time you
cook, take out that freezer bag and
keep stuffing it with all your scraps.
When it gets full, which really only
takes a month or so depending on
how much you cook, empty out the
bag into a big pot or crock pot. Add
water until the pot is near full, add
about 2 Tablespoons of rosemary
infused vinegar and any additional
herbs you like. Simmer for a total of
about 24 hours until the bones are
soft. Strain through a sieve or colan-
der, reserving the liquid, that’s the
good part. The vinegar extracts the
vitamins, calcium and minerals from
the bones into the stock and finally
into your body. I use this stock
instead of water in a savory dish.
When cooking rice, or making a
marinade or soup, it is so good! Oil
infused with rosemary can be made
the same way as infused vinegar. Is
just as wonderful on salads, baked
potatoes or in place of any plain oil in
a savory dish.
Cenizo
Flavor chevre (goat’s milk cheese)
like that available in the Alpine or
Marfa farmer’s market with finely
chopped the rosemary leaves. I also
make my own super easy rosemary
butter. Using room temperature but-
ter, add finely chopped rosemary and
mix well. This is about my favorite
thing on fresh bread. You can use the
stems of rosemary as kebab skewers
for chicken or tofu and veggies on the
grill or in your oven.
A drink I enjoy is rosemary
infused lemonade. Use your favorite
lemonade recipe and in the pitcher
add a sprig of rosemary per gallon of
lemonade. You can also add a few
leaves to ice cubes in and serve the
rosemary ice cubes your favorite
summer drink. As the ice melts the
flavors change and combine in a
wonderful way.
The same rosemary infused oil
that you use for cooking can be used
as an intensive reconditioning hair
oil. Rosemary is reputed to help with
dandruff, hair loss and split ends. It
will make your hair shinier and well-
conditioned. Use by massaging about
a Tablespoon, depending on the
length of your hair, into your scalp
and brush your hair to blend the oil
into your hair. Leave it on for a cou-
ple of hours or overnight and sham-
poo it out.
However you use it, rosemary is a
wonderful addition to life!
Second Quarter 2015
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