Weekend Herb Blogging Round Up #140

I am so delighted to be this week's host for Weekend Herb Blogging! I hope everyone (in the US) had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. Don't you love when holidays fall on, or really near, a weekend? So much better than a Wednesday or Tuesday! Anyway, without further ado, let's begin the round up shall we?

First up is Gwen from Intoxicated Zodiac. To help Gemini's recover from their birthday month, she posts the most fabulous cleansing cocktail called a Celery Sipper. It's made with gin, and limoncello, and celery, and parsley, and all kinds of good stuff, you really must check it out!

Have you ever used watermelon in a savory dish? I haven't, but the following submission definitely makes me want to try it! It is Watermelon Curry with Cucumber. Wait till you see the size of the watermelon! This is brought to us by TS and JS from (eatingclub)Vancouver.

Is there anyone nicer than Bee and Jai from Jugalbandi? I don't think so! Their Fundraiser for Briana has been a wonderful and heartwarming success, but then we knew food bloggers were nice, didn't we? Their Baby Carrots and Homegrown Roasted Veggies is such wonderfully simple way to enjoy the goodness of baby veggies.

Did you know that Willie Nelson had a famous recipe for chocolate banana bread? I didn't. Nora at Life's Smorgasbord, brings us this absolutely to-die-for bread, or is it a cake, you decide.

You know that I have to love Virginie from Absolutely Green. Why do I love her, you might ask? Well, she used my very favorite herb, cilantro, and not just one way, but two ways!!! Her Tarinade verte aux deux coriandres or Green Spread with Two Corianders is so simple and sounds so fabulous! Really, I love her.

I love learning something new, don't you? So, when I received an entry from Maria at Organically Cooked entitled Vlita Pita with Homemade Pastry, I was intrigued. I mean I know what a pita is, and I know what pastry is, and I know what homemade means, but what the heck is vlita? Follow the link, and read and learn and admire her precious daughter!

When I saw that Srivalli from Cooking 4 All Seasons had a link to cluster beans, in her post titled, Cluster Beans with Tur Dal Medium Saute, I followed the link. I have never heard of cluster beans, but it turns out they are used to make guar gum! It says that it is mostly grown in India, I wonder if I can find it anywhere around here.

Dani from The Kitchen Playground brings us a Brussel Sprout Quiche that will make even people who aren't too sure about Brussel Sprouts (like me) sit up and take notice!

The Chocolate Lady (my very favorite name ever) from Mol Araan offers a post cleverly titled Peas de Resistance with a recipe for Peas with Pistachio and Parsley Sauce. I'm not really a pea person, but I love the alliteration in the title of the recipe (I know I'm easily amused by such things), and the combination of peas and pistachios sounds really good!

With everyone trying to eat healthier these days, this next entry could not be more perfect. Mansi from Fun and Food tells us how to make a gloriously healthy snack Handvo-Vegetable Cornmeal Cake. It is loaded with healthy vegetables!

Syrie from Taste Buddies is addicted to this Raw Broccoli Salad. After a read through of the recipe, I can see why! Isn't it pretty?

Sometimes all I have to read is a word or two in the title of a recipe and I know it's for me. Arfi from HomeMadeS, had me at Gruyere and Gratin with this Donna's Silver Beet and Pumpkin Gruyere Gratin .

I am so pleased to bring you our next entry from Stickyfingers at Deep Dish Dreams! This is her first time entering Weekend Herb Blogging! Please go and look at her fabulous Likin' Daikon - Char Kway Kak and give her a warm WHB welcome!

You know how sometimes you just have to have something cheesy and creamy? Well, the lovely and talented creator of Weekend Herb Blogging, Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen has just the thing for you with her entry. She calls it Mashed Cauliflower with Cheese and Dill, I call it must have some soon.

I all ready love Chris from Melle Cotte, so she didn't have to go an use my favorite herb, cilantro. But she did, boy did she, with Pineapple Cucumber Gazpacho!

Sue at Coffee & Cornbread has an informative and yummy looking entry all about Texas Tarragon. Her Crustless Zucchini Quiche would probably even sway my zucchini-hating-but-cheese-loving daughter!

Sra from When My Soup Came Alive really wows me with the most beautiful vegetable curry ever, Mixed Vegetable Curry. If you can tear your eyes away from the gorgeous curry, be sure and read the entertaining introduction!

I just recently discovered Wandering Chopsticks and within just a few minutes of browsing, quickly added it to me reader feeds. Just look at the wonderfully simple and unbelievably beautiful Chinese Steamed Oysters with Black Bean and Scallion Sauce.

Sherra from Our Taste of Life showcases a healthy steamed dish using tilapia and sayote tops. I've never tried sayote tops, but this sounds good, Steamed Tilapia Fillet on Sayote Tops Ensalada.

I have always been curious about miso, and purchased some from my local grocery store. I wanted something simple and Ning from Heart and Hearth has the perfect recipe for me to try, her Fish with Miso Glaze sounds absolutely great for my first foray!

Anna from Morsels & Musings has posted an entire week of blueberry recipes! She uses them in a lovely sounding Venison with Juniper, Blueberries and Thyme from Jamie Oliver.

Zora from Kochtopf features an eggplant recipe Crumbed and Grilled Eggplant, that is just drop-dead fantastic looking! Lucky Zora gets to harvest her own fresh eggplants every two or three days!

I am so jealous of Haalo at Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once!! You have got to check out her meyer lemons! I have never even had a meyer lemon, and I am positively eaten up with envy! She showcases these incredible lemons in her Meyer Marmalade.

Katie from Thyme for Cooking gives us a healthy recipe using garlic chives (which if you don't grow them, you really should, they grow abundantly, and as Katie points out, are actually really, really good for us), Chicken and Vegetable Salad with Hummus Dressing.

I love the name of Natasha's blog, Living in the Kitchen with Puppies! Doesn't that make you want to sit down with a nice cup of tea and read through every single post? Natasha plays matchmaker this week with Strawberries and Basil. The pasta looks great, but I'm telling you that cocktail is really calling to me!

Magpie at je le vous diraiscalls her
Roasted Mei Quin Choy (Baby Bok Choy) a non-recipe! But I call it just-the-kind-of-recipe-that-I-love! Simple and tasty!

Pam (gotta love that name) from The Backyard Pizzeria has really wowed me with her, fresh from the backyard, fennel and she puts it to fabulous use in her Fish and Fresh Fennel Tagine.

I have had some interesting strawberry recipes this week and Jerry at Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants comes through with a Strawberry and Cream Cheesecake . What's so unusual about a strawberry and cream cheesecake, you might ask, well as Jerry explains, these strawberries are roasted! The roasting really concentrates the flavor!

Sher at What Did You Eat? is trying to stay positive while coping with anemia. She should feel pretty positive about her lovely Lentil and Spinach Patties!

Windy from Windy's Food Corner hasn't been blogging for a while, but she comes back with the prettiest rustic Rhubarb Pie. I love it when crust is all folded over like that!

If, like me, you love growing lavender, then you must go see Chriesi at Almond Corner. She tells all about lavender and it's many uses, including lavender sugar, lavender vinegar, and lavender syrup.

Christine at Kits Chow explains two different ways to make her Ginger Scallion Sauce, the dangerous way and the not dangerous way! I have only two things to say: one - I'm making this the not dangerous way and two - why have I never made this before???

Oh my gosh, you're not going to believe this! On second thought, regrettably this is probably very believable. Last night while I was taking my shower, feeling all pleased with myself for getting this all finished and ready to post bright and early Monday morning, I realized I hadn't done my own entry! How funny would that have been if I hadn't included myself! My entry for this week was a Buttermilk and Herb Chicken. Keep it simple, that's my motto!

And that's all folks! Wasn't this an amazing roundup! Everyone is so talented and it all looks, and sounds, so good! If you'd like to join Weekend Herb Blogging, and my goodness, you know you do, please read the New Rules. With these new rules, Kalyn, the lovely and talented author of Kalyn's Kitchen and creator of Weekend Herb Blogging, is helping us stay focused on using herbs and unusual plant ingredients. Next week, Simona from Briciole will be hosting.