When life gives you mint & getting your onions in a jam

  

            On Christmas day I finally saw a neighbor a few streets away outside and I hastened to greet him merrily and make my big ask. Could I get a few mint cuttings from his vast, aromatic spread. He welcomed me to do so and come again. After all, the mint was planted to keep some cats out of the bed, and the cats just moved to sleep by the cars, so the mint was abundant.

One day I noticed a “free mint” sign tucked into the greenery of a raised bed in my neighborhood. That made me smile. How thoughtful of the owners!

I’d always wondered if any neighborhood cameras might pick up my visits. I was always prepared to shout out “I was invited to pick the mint” to any cycylists/dog walkers passing by, while waving the complimentary herbage in hand. Turns out a another neighbor had kindly  made the owner “aware” of my foraging. So the lady of the house made the sign. Again, how thoughtful!

I made sure the mint planters knew how very many people they had made happy by saying “yes” on Christmas day. I’ve made fragrant bouquets to give to lots of people, even strangers. So many say that mint is a memory of their grandma or they used to have mint around when they were a kid.

The mint is a memory maker!

What do do with mint? These days everyone makes a joke about a mojito garden, with garnish growing handy. That’s not my go-to. I’ve soaked some leaves in water to make a water or tea fusion and many have told me theirs looks lovely floating in a cool pitcher of lemonade.

Pro tip: Mint can be easy to grow and loves water. It is very invasive, so put it in a pot. Good luck with the cats.

 

Onion Jam
     I could eat onions at every meal. The deterrent? It's not the breath thing. Family has been forewarned when I’ve had a fresh, crunchy bite. 

It's peeling the onions. It's tedious. When I found a recipe for making onion jam in the slow cooker that had you tossing in about six yellow onions with the skins on, I made haste to try it. These babies came out tender and aromatic. They popped out of their skins and were easy to remove. I couldn't wait for them to cool so I got the hot potato effect with hot onions. 

The recipe called for apple cider vinegar and brown sugar. I thought I had brown sugar but got distracted while looking in the pantry. I decided to use a