Wednesday, June 16, 2010

I MINT what I said...




...and I said what I MINT!



It started at a plant sale at the
Desert Botanical Garden five years
ago. I bought a cute little sprig of
mint in a small pot, a bay leaf plant
that is now a tree (another story),
and a rosemary sprig that is a nice
plump bush (the only
herb to behave thus far).
For now, we'll discuss the mint.

When I bought it, no one MINTioned
that it would take on the attributes of
an invasive weed. I now have a patch
of mint that is roughly 3 feet by 5 feet
and a favorite spot for my schnauzer
Otto to rest. I don't mind as he smells
quite nice afterwards, however, the
mint is out of control and slowly
crowding out my raspberries!



Crop management is required and the only way to do it is
to find uses for fresh mint -- other than making the dog smell
pretty!

So here is a bunch of recipes for any of you who are also being
invaded by mint!





We'll start with a lovely and
refreshing sun tea with mint.
I used a one quart glass pitcher
with three Irish Breakfast
tea bags and three mint sprigs.
It is sitting out in front of my
pomegranate (another great
story). Because I'm in AZ, and
it's going to be 102 today, I'll
let it sit for 2-3 hours.
















FANTASTICALLY

REFRESHING!










And here is another yummy one for summer:




Sliced Strawberries with Mint-Lime Syrup:



In a bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup
chopped fresh mint, 1/4 cup lime
juice and 1 tablespoon sugar. Wash
and quarter a container of strawberries.
Pour syrup over berries and garnish with
a mint sprig. This can be made up to four
hours ahead and refrigerated until it's
time to serve.


And here is one more just to round out it out to three.

Mint Scented Sugar:

Place a sprig or two of mint (clean and dry) in a jar and fill
with sugar. Put on the lid and place in a cool dry place for 1-2
weeks. When done, strain sugar and ta da you have mint
scented sugar, This is great for decorating cakes (or cupcakes)
and cookies or putting in a hot cup of tea!

Thanks for humoring me as I'm going a bit MINTal. Ha! What? You
thought I was done? Never!

Oh, and just so you know, yes, I have unloaded mint on my neighbors
and friends for their mojitos and juleps, because you just can't go wrong
with either of those when the mercury rises! So, does anyone else have
any great ideas for fresh mint? Please share!

Jenn

SPRINKLE WITH MURDER***CUT TO THE CORPSE***STUCK ON MURDER

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16 comments:

  1. Thanks a mint, Jenn! I had no idea mint was so invasive...I'll surely make sure to make it a container plant if I get one. :)

    Oh, you can't go wrong with a mint julep this time of year. :) I love your mint recipes...it's one of my favorite things to pick up at the farmer's market and I'm always looking for new ways to use it!

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  2. You didn't mention what variety of mint you have. They are all wonderful, even the chocolate mint. An added bonus to your dog playing in the mint is that it helps crash away fleas. I've never tried sun tea, but I'm going to give a go now.

    Mason
    Thoughts in Progress

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  3. Hi Jenn- I don't have any great mint ideas to share, but I loved your story! Don't go completely deMINTed on us, okay? I didn't know mint spread like that. I haven't tried growing it yet, but I appreciate the forewarning.

    Julie

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  4. I love sun tea and will incorporate mint.

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  5. Oooo weee! This sounds down right scrumptious. You can make me tea anytime :)

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  6. Ha! "Thanks a mint" -- Nice one, E! Yes, definitely keep it in a container.

    Mason, I have spearmint. I'm very curious about chocolate mint, but where would I put it? I didn't know that about the fleas -- excellent tip!

    Julie- I fear I'm already deMINTed (good one), or rather I need to be de-minted!

    Dru- I forgot to mention for the sun tea take the sprigs out after the sun tea is done -- otherwise the mint flavor is too strong.

    Juju - scrumptious indeed. Summer = sun tea!

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  7. Oh, my! I made the mistake of planting mint a while ago in a perennial bed. Ahem. FINALLY I have managed to rid the bed of the millions of sneaky runners that shoot up everywhere! I do love it, though, but have started doing annual pots instead. I am crazy about fresh mint in salads, though, so I try to keep enough pots around to keep a nice supply!

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  8. Jenn - You have just inspired my Friday post! Thank you!

    Love your mint ideas and especially the tale of Otto, the mint-scented schnauzer. Have a sweet day. :)

    ~ Cleo
    Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

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  9. I planted a small mint plant in the back corner of our old house. I can only imagine what the new owners thought when that patch started coming up the spring after they bought it!

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  10. I love mint in my tea! Had no idea it was invasive. Yipes. And strawberries with mint, how refreshing!
    ~Avery

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  11. Who knew demintia could be fun. My friend lost an acre of grass to hers! I'll pass her these great recipes and the blog. But I have to try them myself, esp the strawberries. Mmmm.

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  12. I once had the bright idea to plant five different types of mint around the foundation of my house! After we finally wrestled all those under control, we got them restarted in nice sedate pots on the deck, and now they live useful, somewhat-tidy lives. My favorite is the chocolate mint--it really does smell like a York peppermint patty! I add sprigs to my tea nearly every day, especially to iced tea. Nothing is more refreshing. Sure could use more recipes, though.

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  13. It was muggy and oppressive here today, Jenn. Mint would have been just the thing to cool off. Anybody else love mint chocolate chip ice cream?

    ~ Krista

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  14. Oh, mint choc chip is a fave. Yum!
    I'm so glad I have you all to be MINTal
    with;-) Now I'm obsessed with getting some
    choc-mint plants. I need therapy!

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  15. Thanks for these ideas. I have mint plants trying to take over my gardens and need to do something about it soon, before the plants consume our house. I love the mint sugar idea and I am inspired to try making my own mojitos.

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  16. I've been making my sun tea with green tea and Celestial Seasonings peppermint tea...but I have to admit that fresh mint would make it much better. Maybe if I kept my mint in a pot, it wouldn't take over the garden?

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