Entertaining

Holiday Edition: Spiced Wine-Poached Pears with Mascarpone

December 25, 2013 by Eva Louise Leave a Comment

I’ve been waiting to make these spiced wine-poached pears, literally for months since I first had them on an amazing trip to South Africa. I decided Christmas Eve dinner was the perfect opportunity to serve them. On top of being simple, elegant and extremely fragrant, I love the idea of serving poached pears to offset all the chocolate and cookie-eating my family does this time of year. It’s nice to have something on the lighter side. I also love these because whatever doesn’t get finished during dessert can be used to pour over pancakes or waffles the next morning.

I used Food 52’s Red Wine Poached Pears recipe. It was a great recipe but too sweet for my taste, so I’ve adjusted it slightly. I also added cloves which really upped the spice factor. And though I didn’t think of it until after, I could have added some knobs of fresh ginger left over from my holiday cocktail which would have been lovely.

Serves 6

4 cups red wine ( inexpensive, medium-dry wine)
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 cup orange juice
Peels from 2 oranges
1 whole orange (without peel)
10 -12 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
A small handful of thyme
6 firm but ripe pears, peeled, stems left intact

After removing the skin from 1 orange, pierce the orange with the cloves, making sure they are well fastened.
Combine everything except for the pears in a large, heavy saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to simmer. Add pears, and bring everything back up to a simmer.
Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer slowly until pears are tender when pierced with knife, about 25 minutes. (But start checking at 20 minutes! Depending on the ripeness of your pears, this could take slightly less or more time.)
Transfer pears to a plate or platter. Boil liquid in saucepan until reduced to 3 cups, about 20 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead — just cover and chill pears in the poaching liquid.) Before serving, rewarm over medium-low heat until pears are heated through, or simply serve them at room temperature.
Serve with vanilla ice cream or mascarpone cheese.

Holiday Edition: Evie’s Festive Punch

December 25, 2013 by Eva Louise Leave a Comment

I would be lying if I said I didn’t obsess trying to find THE perfect cocktail for this Christmas season. After many hours of googling and deep, personal reflection (at the liquor store), I landed on a Pear and Ginger Rum Punch, laced with a nutty spank of amaretto.

The drink is strong (hello, it has dark rum in it…), it’s nutty from the amaretto, sweet from the pear juice and spicy from the fresh grated ginger. I test-drove the recipe among friends at a cocktail party the other night and it went over well. I added a seltzer water floater to ensure it didn’t taste too sweet, and added a cranberry and crystallized ginger skewer as garnish (too cute, I know!)

Here’s the approximate recipe for this lil’ festive drank.

Makes 1 crazy strong cocktail:

1.5 oz dark rum (Meyers, Mount gay)
3/4 oz amaretto (go for Luxardo, not Disaronno. It’s cheaper and made with 100% almond)
2 oz pear juice (Ceres brand preferred)
1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger (peel away skin and use a micro plane/ fine zester.)
Ice
Soda/seltzer water
Garnish: crystallized ginger and dried cranberry on a toothpick

1. Fill low ball glass with ice

2. Grate fresh ginger directly into glass

3. Pour in rum, amaretto and pear juice

4. Add a splash of soda water on top

5. Stir well and serve!

If you’re going to do a large batch of pre-made punch (recommended) , just make sure to do 1 part rum, 1.5 parts pear juice and slightly less than 1/2 part amaretto. Grate in a generous amount of ginger and adjust flavors accordingly. For extra credit you can freeze the pear juice in ice cub trays beforehand, then add to the punch bowl so it stays cold.

Copy Machine Food Muses…and Salmon

July 12, 2013 by myfriendsinfood 4 Comments

I love my co-workers. No but actually… I’m obsessed with them. We have this unnaturally close bond because we are frequently required to travel internationally together, sometimes making work feel more like camp or high school (except awesomer because I’m not going through puberty and I’m now cool). We bond over champagne at 40,000 feet, over horrific food poisoning, severe colds and broken limbs, in strange and foreign countries. We bond over lost baggage, language barriers, Swiss fondue and too many bottles of wine. I really love this level of familiarity and comfort because it allows me to do things to my colleagues I’d never do anywhere else, you know, like break into their desk late at night on a regular basis to eat that salted chocolate they keep at the back of their bottom desk drawer, or ask to borrow their socks on my way to the gym.

Travel disasters and desk break-ins aside, I love my coworkers because of their support of my blog. Mind in the Butter has gained incredible traction in my office and some of my biggest fans and food muses are right here scanning documents at the copy machine. They “like“, comment, and drool over every blog post or food photo immediately once I click “Publish.” Conversely, they tap their watches, scowl and shun me when I’ve gone too long between postings. They are a huge motivating factor and source of inspiration for my food blogging and deserve to be celebrated. THANK YOU!

Yesterday in the spirit of home-cooking and coworker love, we hosted a “Coworker Potluck” to give us an excuse to swap recipes and enjoy each other’s company. With the help of one of my coworkers, I did Roasted Salmon with Lemon, Tarragon, Shallot Butter with Tomatoes Provençal and others brought incredible salads, sides, dips, and desserts. What a treat!

Roasted Salmon with Lemon, Tarragon, Shallot Butter

Filet of Salmon
1 lemon
2 sprigs tarragon (about 3 T), torn up
3 T chives, rough chopped
2-3 pads of butter
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, rough chopped
1/2 medium shallot or one whole, small shallot diced
S and P to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350

In food processor mix tarragon, chives, butter, garlic, shallot, olive oil, S/P and the juice of ½ the lemon until smooth. No food processor? No problem. Just finely chop everything and blend with olive oil and softened butter.

Rinse and pat dry the salmon and place in a foil-lined baking dish. Spoon the luscious herby mixture generously over the salmon making sure to cover all the sides. Slice the remaining 1/2 lemon into 3-4 thin slices and place on top of salmon. If possible, leave in the refrigerator for at least an hour before baking.

Pull the corners of the foil up around the filet into a loose tent, careful not to smush the herb mixture. Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes, depending on the size. White specks should form around the salmon indicating it’s done. Use a fork and pull at the corner of filet to ensure it’s ready.

Tomatoes Provençal

Small, ripe tomatoes on the vine (campari and cherry tomatoes are ideal)
Olive oil
Herbs de Provence
Italian seasoning

On a plate, drizzle olive oil on whole tomatoes. Shake or pinch herbs and Italian seasoning on around the tomatoes to fully coat. Sprinkle on salt and pepper for good measure. To avoid cleaning another dish later, tuck the vined tomatoes into the corner of the same pan as the salmon (not inside the foil tent). Roast at 350 with the salmon. They should be soft and blistered when done, so they might need a few more minutes than the salmon depending on their size.

8 things to do before Mom stays in your sh*thole New York apartment

June 6, 2013 by Eva Louise 22 Comments

***I interrupt our regular posting schedule because Mommy is in town! Final South Africa chapter forthcoming***

Mom is coming into town this weekend to celebrate her birthday with me and Sissy. (Learn more about my amazing mother here) I can’t wait! Normally she stays at Sissy’s and yet despite droning on and on about how much of a nasty, vile, rat’s nest of an apartment I have, she’s decided she’d like to stay with me. Um, OK… I’m ready for the challenge. I’m going to blow her mind with just how luxurious my rat’s nest is. I’m going to pull out all the stops and blow Sissy’s washer/dryer-gorgeous-bathroom-faux-fireplace-special-order-linen-couch-two-bedroom-Upper-West-Side brownstone straight out of the water! Just kidding. Mostly.

And don’t get me wrong, my mom is not snooty, she’s just a normal, concerned mom, as in, nothing is ever good enough for her precious angel. But Moms of our generation forget we’ve moved on from the womb, have gotten jobs, new lives and “different” living situations than the familiar luxuries of suburbia. That aside, she’s a guest, the most important guest you’ll have in your home and she should be treated with the utmost thought and care. She’s Mom, she deserves this.

So here are the eight things I’ve decided will make my (and perhaps your) reception of Mommy Dearest go smoothly.

1) Get the apartment professionally cleaned. It doesn’t matter how clean you can get it with your platoon of Duane Reade cleaning supplies. She will walk in and either let out a really dramatic sneeze and say “Oh my…Evie, it’s awfully dusty in here…” Or later, you’ll see her standing precariously on the kitchen table trying to wash the ceiling with one of your gym t-shirts, then when she realizes you’re standing there, look at you sheepishly like “Oops…hi… I saw a cobweb up there….”

2) Bring in fresh flowers. You can’t change the fact that your floor is painted a crayola brown or that your bathroom looks like the set of one of the Saw movies. Fresh flowers are a great way to divert Mom’s attention from these horrifying details.

3) Get all the ingredients for her favorite cocktail.

Whether she’s a plane or bus ride away, even if she herself has lived in the Big Apple before, she’ll be all flustered and overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle when she arrives. It’s also likely that in addition to her huge suitcase (“What? I didn’t know what pack…OK, Eva?!”), she’s brought you a bag of homemade goodies (in my case it’s always salmon, fresh herbs, homemade preserves and a kitchen tool of sorts) that makes maneuvering through the city to your apartment more cumbersome. Diffuse this situation quickly by making her favorite drink* immediately upon getting her settled in the apartment.

*We all know Mom doesn’t actually drink, but loves the novelty of it, so just shake something up for her. In my mom’s case it’s a Tequila Sunrise that she’ll take one sip of and forget about.

4) Strategically place family photos throughout the apartment.

You are Mom’s greatest achievement in life (duh); you need to play strategically on this. If she starts to associate your garbage apartment with such amazing greatness, she’ll start enjoying your garbage apartment. In my case, I went for the gusto and placed photos by her side of the bed. Make sure the photo of you specifically is prominent and precious (remember, we’re creating seemingly impossible, positive associations here).

5) Leave her favorite candy on the coffee table.

To my earlier point, we’re trying to trick her into enjoying herself in a space she’s decided is wretched. Candy is tasty and fun. If she eats the fun candy in your apartment, science states that she is having fun in your apartment!

**********************************************************************

Now we’ve set the stage for Mom’s amazing visit and have taken steps to intercept her comfortably. Here a few other things you can do ensure that ~~you get the vacation home in the will~~ your apartment firmly becomes the favorite apartment throughout her stay:

6) Leave an eye mask and earplugs on the bedside table.

The Mom-approved bedside table: fresh flowers, carafe of water, eyemask, earplugs and lotion, family photos

The Mom-approved bedside table: fresh flowers, carafe of water, eye mask, earplugs, lotion, family photos

She’s not going to be used to sirens, garbage trucks and drunks screaming in the night. In my case, we come from a pretty rural area, so given my noise machine isn’t furnished with a “fishercat eating screaming bunny” setting, I’ll attempt to go for full silence.

7) Prepare some breakfast foods and a tea/coffee station.

This is important, especially if Mom arrives on a work day and needs to be left unattended. Make sure to have some fresh eggs, cream, fruit and yogurt placed prominently in the center of the fridge in case she’d like to take her breakfast at home. Because she won’t know where everything is, set a tray of morning tea on the counter so all she has to do is boil water. At this point, you can confidently assume that you are definitely the favorite child.

8) Make Mom a city survival kit.

It’s likely Mom has grand plans for her trip to New York so it’s important to get her prepared to maximize her time. I put together a little “city survival kit” to make sure she’s as comfortable as possible:

An umbrella: there’s nothing worse than being a tourist trapped in the rain, soaking wet and not quite sure where to go next. This is especially true in the summer months when the storms can hit unexpectedly.
A water bottle: Mom is always heckling you to drink more water, make sure she does the same. This also helps her avoid the bodega and street vendor racket of $5.00 water bottles.
A tour book and map: this will allow her to discover some things she didn’t plan on doing. Make sure to provide a map that includes subway and bus routes if the guide book doesn’t already have it.
A fare card: provide her with a pre-loaded fare card to really make her feel like a New Yorker. She’ll likely take cabs everywhere (yessssss!) but it gives her the option.
Trail mix: With all that museum-ing and shopping, ~~you are~~ Mom is going to need a little snacky. Avoid ~~your~~ the low-blood sugar induced tantrums and pack something delicious to keep the day going in a positive direction. For my mom, I made a mix from almonds, dried apricots and cranberries, chocolate covered pretzels.
A tote bag: Everybody’s all about going green these days, so make sure to give her a cute, sustainable tote to carry all this stuff.

Mom, happy birthday. I love you so much; I’m really looking forward to a great weekend with you!

Bosc Pear and Goat Cheese Tart

November 22, 2012 by Eva Louise Leave a Comment

Sometimes we spend so much time obsessing about the main course, we forget about the appetizer. Last night, Mom was busy baking her homemade lasagna. Starving, I scrounged around and found a quart of gorgeous Bosc pears and 3 (yes, 3) logs of goat cheese, so I made myself useful and put together a simple goat cheese and pear tart. Here’s what I did:

I rolled out a sheet of puff pastry (thawed) and placed it on a cookie sheet.
Crumbled a log of goat cheese on the bottom of the pastry dough, then placed thinly sliced pear slices on top.
I drizzled it with raw honey and popped it in the oven at 400 for 25-30 mins.
I made the crust extra brown by brushing with an egg wash before placing in oven.
I let it cool 5 mins before transferring to cutting board, drizzled again with honey and served.

Dinner Party Meal Planning

October 8, 2012 by Eva Louise 2 Comments

I’ve had several friends ask me about determining portion size for dinner parties, an essential part of hosting a successful one. I sketched the drawing above as a simple snapshot of the “trifecta” I use when meal planning for large parties. It’s totally unscientific but I think it’s really helpful. The idea is simple — dinner is made up of 3 parts: starch, veggie, protein. Once you pick your recipes remember these rules before heading to the grocery store:

1 cup of dry starch (risotto, rice, polenta etc.) = 4 servings. If you are using potatoes: 1 russet for 2 people, 2-3 red potatoes for 1 person, 3-4 fingerlings for 1 person.
1 cup of veggie = 1 serving. 1 zucchini= 2 servings, 1 bunch of asparagus = 4 servings. One carton or head of lettuce =4 people for simple salad, 6 people if you drag it through the garden
6 oz/ 1 fist of protein= 1 serving. I think I learned this from Richard Simmons so I can’t take credit, but idea is to serve 6 oz. (size when uncooked) of protein which is about the size of your fist. The butcher or fish guy can easily help with this too since they normally weigh everything for you. I could recommend rounding to the next 1/2 lb for good measure. So, for a 6 person dinner party: 6 people x 6 oz = 36 oz or 2.25lbs —> ask the counter for 2.5lbs. For shrimp and scallops: 4 scallops=1 serving, 4 colossal shrimp= 1 serving, 6 jumbo shrimp= 1 serving
Add an “Elijah” serving e.g. always add 1 more person to the meal planning for leftovers/in case something burns/someone arrives who didn’t RSVP (gasp!).

I’ve kept the post short so you can print and post onto the fridge or add to your recipe book for easy reference. This is how I meal plan but would love to hear other tips and tricks!

Tofino Time: Steamed Shrimp and Crab Shumai

August 13, 2012 by Eva Louise 2 Comments

Crab and Shrimp Shumai

This next week is the Tofino edition! The family and I are nestled in the balmy Pacific Northwest for a week of action-packed fun: fishing, prawning, crabbing, hiking, camping, and best of all – dinner roulette: where dinner is entirely dependent on whatever Dad catches on his 16-foot boat. Given that I’m with the fam damily this week, I’ll have some guest contributors!

Guest Contributor//Emily: There are about 1 trillion things that I adore about my sister – one of the biggest ones being that she has a true adoration and admiration for all things food. Of course, it’s always a pleasure to dine on whatever Eva “whips up”, but, since she always makes it look so fun, I thought I’d jump in. We cranked the Reggae, poured two glasses of wine and let the fun flow! Sissy and I are very similar and very different – in this case, our differences in the kitchen really do keep things smooth sailing. As her honorary sous-chef for the evening, I was keen on ensuring that she had a clean workshop to let her creativity flow. It’s really something to watch her work – a certain smell or color or texture will inspire a whole new direction, only more delicious than the previous one. I enjoy following her direction – in a life of constant unknowns, she is precise with her guidance and is mindful of being kind to a novice (like me). One of the greatest parts of this experience was capturing her creativity, documenting the magic that she really does create, and being able to celebrate it time and time again. – EJSF –

Last night, Emily and I decided to make shrimp and crab shumai because, you know, we just happened to have them fresh from Dad’s boat. For our shumai, we used my knight in shining armor – wonton papers – to make these delicious seafood dumplings, perfect as an appetizer. This is definitely an activity meal, so enlist a sous-chef before you get started and prepare these little pinwheels of delight in advance. Conversely, if this is part of the “performance” make sure guests have something to nosh on while watching the action.

Ingredients:

Fresh crab, shrimp, scallions, ginger

Shumai Filling

12 small shrimp, (can be raw or boiled)
1 cup fresh boiled crab
2 scallion, white and green chopped
1 T Fresh ginger finely chopped
Egg wash: ramekin of 1 scrambled raw egg and 1 T water

Asian-style goodness

Dipping Sauce

2 splashes Soy sauce
1 dash Rice wine vinegar
1 splash Sesame oil
Sesame seeds
1 t. Dijon mustard
1 pinch sugar
1 T fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 scallion, white and green chopped

The Gist:

The idea of the shumai filling is to have multiple textures, achieved by staging the mixing process. I was without my trusty Cuisinart for this recipe and used an old blender making it difficult to control this. We ended up simply rough chopping several ingredients by hand and mixing them in a bowl after we got the pasty base.

Shumai Filling

Make the dipping sauce first. This mixture will season the filling.
Add half the crab and shrimp and 2 T of dipping sauce to the food processor and mix until paste like.
Add the rest of the shrimp and crab and scallions and pulse.

Fake it ’til you make it…

To wrap the shumai:

Let’s be honest here – Emily and I had no idea what we were doing and had a blast taking creative license making our little dumplings. The nice thing about shumai too is that it’s actually opened on the top, so it made it easier to hide our neophyte skills. I’ve had shumai before and really like the pleating of the dumpling wrap so I attempted to replicate it. Regardless of your style, it’s important use the egg wash before pressing any two corners of the wonton paper together so they stick together.

Finally, steam the shumai, 3-5 minutes ideally in a bamboo steamer lined with cheesecloth (to keep the shumai from sticking). We didn’t have this luxury, so I poured enough water to cover 2 inches of the bottom of a large pot and fashioned a pedestal in the bottom using a trivet (so the bowl was not in direct contact with the burner) and an overturned bowl, then placed the plates of shumai directly on the raised surface one at a time. Worked out pretty well, thanks Sissy for all your help!

My oh my, shumai!

Summer Dinner Party

July 24, 2012 by Eva Louise 6 Comments

Last week after realizing it’s been way too long since we’ve had a dinner party, Ray and I had some friends and their +1s over for a Monday night cocktail/dinner party. Of course, fitting ten people into any New York apartment is challenge so I kept it really casual and served dinner in the living room around our retro coffee table.

Hosting dinner parties is one of my favorite things in this whole world to do, and I’m finally establishing some good entertaining rules and formulas to keep myself un-stressed, out of the kitchen and in the mix with my guests. While I don’t follow them all the time, here they are:

1) Make absolutely everything you can the night before, including the cocktail. (I didn’t follow my own rule and did not have drinks immediately available for my guests upon their arrival, which leads to #2)

2) Have something to eat and drink on the table 30 minutes before your guests are supposed to arrive, even if it’s just some radishes and a bottle of wine or a pitcher of water. Someone is always likely to show up exactly on time.

3) Make sure the night of the dinner party works for the rest of your week. I chose Monday night so I had all of Sunday to shop and cook. It allowed me start off the week with my friends when the rest of the week was filled with business dinners. Friday nights are impossible because you’re tired and there’s no way to shop, cook and clean in time for guests to arrive at a reasonable hour. Saturday and Sundays night are of course great too.

4) Get the 411 on food allergies and check the menu over with them beforehand. Ray doesn’t eat meat and I have another friend who’s, well, allergic to everything so instead of getting really creative, I kept it simple. I made sure my one-pot dish could be easily adapted to serve (almost) everyone. For my friend, I made a “hypoallergenic” pork chop- seasoned with sesame oil, Dijon mustard, rice wine vinegar served with white rice.

5) You must have a co-pilot/extra Indian/Sous-chef. I don’t care if you’re Martha Stewart, you need an extra host. Ray always does an amazing job setting the mood with music, candles and lighting. For this party he had the genius idea to pull a Charlie Chaplin film off of Netflix to play in the background while we ate. Thanks, babe!

6) Candles and music are a must. Films noir and cats to entertain your guests are a plus.

7) When you’re friends ask if you need help…say yes! I am very verbal and eager to have my friends help me in the kitchen when I am in the weeds, even if they just stand there and give me the latest gossip on their lives while they completely assault a tomato.

8) Eva’s (generally fool-proof) Food Formula: 2 appetizers (at least 1 vegetarian option) + 1 signature cocktail + 1 one-pot dish (that can be made the night before) + vegetable + 1 dessert = dinner party success.

Here are some highlights after implementing the formula for last week’s dinner party:

The Coconut Crusher

The Coconut Crusher

As my signature cocktail, I served a drink I completely made up: Coconut Rum, Vodka, pomegranate and blueberry juice with a mint garnish. It’s possible that I subliminally stole this idea from a photo my brother’s girlfriend posted on my sister’s Facebook wall, but I think it’s safe to say, I made it completely my own. My original recipe called for white grape juice, but the pomegranate was an awesome substitute.

To make this divine cocktail: tear 6 mint leaves and put at the bottom of a glass, fill to the brim with ice, then add 1 oz vodka, 1 oz coconut rum then top it off with some slammin’ juice–pomegranate, raspberry lemonade, peach, white grape juice, surprise me. Stir. Sip. Smile. Ah.

White Bean, Prosciutto and Arugula Crostini

Smashed White Bean Crostinis with Arugula and Prosciutto. This is a riff on a crostini served at our local Italian restaurant. My interpretation involves 1 can of rinsed, smashed white beans with 2 cloves of garlic, a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper. I spread a little salted butter on the sliced baguette before spreading the white beans. Top it with prosciutto and/or arugula and then the party is in order!

Arugula, Radish and Pecorino Salad.

Arugula Salad

My formula calls for a vegetable, this salad is by far the easiest most delicious solution to a large group: washed arugula, shaved Pecorino, sliced radishes. Add tomato and/or hearts of palm if you have them handy. For the vinaigrette I simply squeezed the juice of one lemon over the lettuce with a hefty splash of good olive oil, salt, pepper. I could eat this salad everyday.

Chocolate Flourless Cake, Black Cherries and Fresh Whipped Cream

Chocolate flourless cake with black cherry coulis and fresh whipped cream. Normally I use this recipe for the cake and jazz it up with a berry sauce. Last week I chose black cherries, so I heated them on the stove with 2Ts of sugar, 1t of vanilla extract and reduced it until it was a syrupy sauce. Served with homemade whipped cream, it’s divine!

Herb Infused Oil – Best Gift Ever

June 8, 2012 by Eva Louise 3 Comments

Herb Bounty

Herb infused oil, really…the best gift ever. It’s elegant, luxurious and very easy to make. Make it in batches and give as holiday or hostess gifts or use at home, you really can’t go wrong. In my case, this is a thank you gift for my co-worker EBAY. Not only does EBAY, help me with the printer and crazy espresso machine in the office kitchen, but she even babysat my cats while I was away. It doesn’t get any better than that. To show her my appreciation, I decided to make her homemade herb infused olive oil. I used sage, rosemary, peppercorns and garlic, but the possibilities are endless (lavender, chili flakes, salt, oregano, orange peel, thyme, sun-dried tomato, roasted garlic, to name a few). I stopped off at TJ Maxx to pick up pretty bottles, some good olive oil and really cute gift tags. I bet a hardware store would also have good supplies for this project.

Ingredients:

several bottles with proper tops (the suction cup tops are best for traveling gifts, cork is good if you are keeping at home)
1 big bottle of olive oil
Red and Black whole peppercorns
Garlic cloves*
Fresh herbs
Twine and scissors
gift tags, a pen and someone with good handwriting

Keep oils infused with garlic in fridge to avoid botulism!!*

Wash bottles with soap and water to remove price tags. Dry thoroughly and set aside. Rinse and pat dry herbs. I recommend doing this the night before so they air dry. DON’T put fresh herbs in oven to dry. I may or may not have done this and completely ruined half my herb rations…

Drop several peppercorns, 1 sprig of rosemary, 1 leaf of sage and 1 clove of garlic (unpeeled) into each bottle, bending and bruising the herbs as you drop them in to encourage infusion. I chose to slow the infusion of the garlic by keeping the peel on the cloves, but do as you wish.

Using a funnel, pour oil into each bottle.

Write a nice little note on the gift tags, wrap around neck of bottle et voila!

Since infused oil doesn’t actually need that many herbs to create flavor, I had lots left over. I wrapped them with twine, then hung them on my fifty dishtowel rack. I’ll stop by the hardware store this weekend to pick up a pretty jar and I’ll have rosemary for the rest of the year.