>>pass the salt

Have you ever been to a meeting of an herb guild? Here in Pecan Springs, the meetings of the Myra Merryweather Guild are always the highpoint of the month. You never know what sort of crazy thing is going to happen--they're as wild and wacky as the local Red Hatters. 

But other herb guilds are fun, too. Susan recently got an email from Carol Kelly, whom she met on book tour in Pennsylvania a while back. Carol, who is president of the Herb Guild of Historic Saltsburg PA, reported on a recent program called "Salts and Peppers" that sounds like a lot of fun. We thought you'd like to hear about it. (Yes, we know that salt is a mineral, not an herb, and that too much of it is bad for you. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy it in moderation!)

Carol began the meeting with a presentation on the use of salt from historic times. including the importance of the 19th century town of Saltsburg as a commercial supplier of salt--which, she says, also led to the discovery of oil in the area and the commercial use of oil as an tonic and cure-all. Then the group tasted a variety of salts and peppers, both black peppers and capsicum peppers, while they admired the handsome collection of salt and pepper shakers on display.

And then, of course, came the moment everybody was waiting for--refreshments, each using one or more of those delicious salts and peppers. For the salts, the Saltsburg herbalists sampled Salt-rising Bread, Scalloped Pineapple, Sauerkraut Balls, Sea-salted Smoky Almond Bark,and Carmel Sauce with Apple Dippers.

For the black peppers, it was pepper butters and Peppercorn Fruit Compote, Chocolate Pecan  Brownies, Norwegian Pepper Cookies (there's a recipe in A Dilly of a Death), Zippy Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Pffernuesse.

For the capsicum peppers: Spicy Shrimp Pasta Cheese Dip and (of course!) Ruby's Hot Lips Cookie Crisps.

Doesn't that sound like a lot of fun? If you live in the Saltsburg area, I'm sure the Saltsburgian herbies would welcome you as a guest. If you don't, look up your nearest herb group on the Internet and visit one of their programs. And of course, the next time you're in Pecan Springs, you're invited to join the Merryweathers. No telling what they'll be up to, but it'll be fun!