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[mutti]

The ice is for putting into the brine in case it is not cool enough (in your case, maybe a few cubes for a Southern comfort?) The saltpeter is the "pink curing salt/prague powder".

[MamaLiberty]

The ice is for putting into the brine in case it is not cool enough (in your case, maybe a few cubes for a Southern comfort?) The saltpeter is the "pink curing salt/prague powder".

Check! I'll see if I can find some of that "curing salt" when I go to town next time. Don't think I'd need the ice. All I'd have to do would be to set it out on the deck for a few minutes. We hit a high of 10 degrees today. <grin>

Ok, one MORE question... why "kosher" salt? It's just salt approved by a rabbi. I suspect the beef won't care. I have lots of salt without iodine, which is what I use for pickling and meat curing. Would that do?

[Jake]

we had Nasturtiums(Sp?)

Oh yum! Did you know you can pickle the seed pod while still green to use like capers?

You can also flour and deep fry the blossoms, or use fresh in punch/ as garnish for other foods. I used to make a plate of deep fried nasturtium and squash blossoms for special company. The leaves and blossoms can be added to salads, or even used as lettuce in a sandwich. Peppery flavor. All parts of this plant are edible. They have no particular medicinal properties, but since they are easily grown indoors, could serve as a source of fresh green food during long cold winters.

But be warned... the nasturtium attracts aphids under the right conditions. I used to plant them under my roses and they would get covered with aphids. I'd then snip the stem just above the first notch from the ground, then destroy the plants to eliminate a zillion of the little pests.  The plants often put out new growth.

Thanks ML, and great to know.  I have planted Borage, calendula, Violet, nasturtium,Shungiku, and Love in the mist down one side of the garden.  If you know how to handle some of these other flowers for eating, please share.

[MamaLiberty]

Thanks ML, and great to know.  I have planted Borage, calendula, Violet, nasturtium,Shungiku, and Love in the mist down one side of the garden.  If you know how to handle some of these other flowers for eating, please share.

I think the quoting cascade got damaged, since I didn't write that... but yes, I use a lot of flowers in my diet. I buy dried hibiscus flowers (since they won't grow here) for a tonic tea, often mixed with peppermint or other teas, but especially with lemon juice. Far more refreshing than plain lemonade, much as I love that too, and better than plain iced tea from regular black tea. Or at least as a refreshing change.  I also grow and use a lot of chamomile, the flowers being the part used. Squash blossoms are also wonderful if floured and deep fried, though I've not done that since I left California. The squash blossoms here are encouraged gently to produce squash, and there are few or none to spare for other things.

Can't think of any others right now, but I'm sure there are some.

[Klapton Isgod]

Hibiscus tea has insanely high anti-oxidant content.  I brew it and mix it with store-bought berry "smoothie" beverages both to lower the sugar dose I get and to stretch that expensive juice longer.  I will also often cut it with grape juice, since that too is anti-oxidant rich, but not as expensive as the berry juices.