Coming soon - American Goth

 

 

When her grandfather dies mysteriously, Trinity Goode heads home to the family farm and life in small-town Ohio. Her neighbors in Himmel don't think that a New York City artist with a decidedly Goth style will stick around for long - but the country-girl-at heart has other plans.

 

Country life suits the church-going, quilt-making, pie-baking girl dressed in black just fine, but suspicions about her beloved grandfather's death are growing faster than the corn crop and it's clear that someone has spent nearly two decades destroying her reputation in her hometown.

 

Fortunately, she's got help in unraveling the web of lies from childhood friend, Deputy Bobby Grace. Her late grandfather spent years trying to fix her up with the straight-laced lawman and it's starting to look like grandpa knew best as they work together to find out if his death is connected to a strange cult-like group that's set up business at the farm next door.

 

Can a gal in black lipstick find justice, love and maybe a blue ribbon for her jam at the county fair? Answers, action, mystery and romance are waiting for you in American Goth.

Preserving the taste of summer - how to freeze fresh herbs

I've written before about how the hearty herbs in my garden hold up over the winter.

But there are tender herbs like basil and tarragon that are done at the first frost. Fresh basil is expensive and I have absolutely zero luck at trying to grow them inside in pots. While shopping over the weekend, I noticed something in the freezer case. There were frozen pureed herbs sold in tiny cubes for three bucks a package. I knew I could do better than that.

 
So I grabbed bunches of fresh, basil, tarragon and chives and pulled out the food processor.

I pulled the leaves off the tarragon and basil. The chives I snipped up with scissors.
 

To make the cubes, I put the tarragon leaves in the food processor.

Then gave it a few good pulses until the leaves were chopped. Then I put the chopped herbs into ice cube trays.

I covered the herbs with water. I used bottled water to avoid any chlorine-type taste from tap water.

Put the tray in the freezer. I used the same process with the basil. For the chives, I skipped the food processor.  After a few hours, you'll have solid cubes of herbs.

Pop out the cubes and store them in labeled freezer bags.

You can drop a cube into a soup, stew or sauce to give it a pop of fresh herb flavor all winter long.