July 12th
2005
I'm so sick of this weather! I've had it - Gosh, it's been raining for ages! I don't even rush out anymore to grab lunch at the coffee shop just around the corner without being fully equipped - well, an oversized umbrella that is. Undoubtedly, a clear indication of too much rain - the south of Bavaria and parts of Austria are already having troubles with flood water. Hey, it's enough! Take this miserable weather, add a rather stressful day at work and a pinch of annoying customers - happiness here we come. To top it off, my iPod ran out of power during my tram-ride home. Just great. Listening to the people around me, I realized I was sitting next to an American family. The parents probably in their 50s, the three daughters somewhere late teens, early twenties I'd guess. Despite the ugly weather and rain, they really enjoyed the tram ride, wowing at almost each and every building we came by. My mood improved with every "Oh look at that!", they were so charming. As the tram got more and more empty, they started changing seats every 30 seconds or so, to get the best view on the German Museum on the right, the "Müllersches Volksbad" on the left and the "Gasteig" back on the right... "Wow"... "Gorgeous"... "Wow". My hidden smile grew bigger and bigger, I almost started giggling, their happy-go-lucky enthusiasm was highly contagious!
Entering our apartment house, I first ran into R., who lives in the apartment to our right, having a little chat about us taking care of their plants while they're away on vacation. Gossiping about a new restaurant on our block, happy neighbor C. from upstairs joins us. The subject quickly changes to the (soon to take place) annual "house (food) festivity" - and there joins neighbor M. By now we're four people in the hallway chatting away - we could nearly start a party - and I haven't even reached our apartment yet. That's what I really like about this house, in fact it's the main reason that keeps us from looking for a bigger apartment - everyone here is so open and enjoyable.
Then M. finally makes my day: She returns the empty marmalade glass of the homemade marmelade I brought them last week. Ok, not a big deal, but it is the gesture & thought that counts. Most times, these glasses never find their way back home. What do they do with them, make their own marmalade or just toss them? My gut feel tells me, it is more the latter... Anyway, back to M. She asked me, if I was curious to meet a rather rare and unknown herb. What a question! Of course :) What she brought to light and introduced me to was a huge plant of pineapple sage. She told me to rub the leaves between my fingers and smell them. Hey, this is amazing! Virtual pineapples traveling incognito as herbs! Before I can say anything, she cuts down some branches and hands them to me. Next thing I remember is myself being sucked into cyberspace and googling away for more information on pineapple sage. How could I have missed out on such a flavorful herb?
Some tidbits of info I found included..: Pinapple sage is to be found especially in Mexico and Guatemala, their leaves are pineapple-scented and therefore especially used in various sweet food combinations, like e.g. yoghurt, fruit salads or cold drinks. Even their red flowers (late summer till autumn) are edible. And I accidentally discovered further interesting herbs I have never heard before, like banana mint or peach sage... I never knew! My only problem right now: What to do with this wonderfully scented herb!?
Hi, I just found your blog, and it's gorgeous! Well done, and I look forward to reading more!
Hi Nicky,
never heard of pineappel sage either, it sounds tempting! About the jars: I'd return mine, maybe this would guarantee some more homemade jam delivery (for me!!) in the future??
oooh Pineapple sage.. My mum has it in her garden, I used to put in and lemon balm amd mint in a jug of water and lemon and ice and have a resfreshing summer drink . I didnt know the flowers were edible I will tell her thanks :)
oh yeah and freeze the leaves in ice cubes and use in drinks too
You can finde a lot of unusual herbs at http://www.ruehlemanns.de It's like paradise for herb fans. They also sell pineapple sage: http://www.ruehlemanns.de//infos/sal09.htm
Love this site, it's perfect. Nice design, good photography and lovely mouth watering food!
On the jar subject though: I would never think about returning jam-jars! If I would borrow food I would return a brand new package of what ever it was (even Glad OvenWare), and I would return utensils or other. But not a jam jar. Like Joel I would have thought it was part of the gift and might have baked some cakes in return.
Me too, I have never heard the name of pineapple sage. I feel the fresh and cool green leaves by hearing its name. Unfortunately, I love a rainy day.
Really cool site, I love it....
I return the jars for homemade things, as I miss my own jars when I give away.... I also use cool antique fabric and such for wrapping and ask them back sometimes ;), I say "inside is yours, outside is mine"....
Also try "chocolate mint" it smells like After Eight chocolates, and has a nice green-brown color...excellent for dessert decoration and such...
my first time on your site. beautiful, truly. congratulations ! :)
I do make a lot of jams for gift-giving and usually ask the person to return them to me if they don't use them and are planning to throw them out
I don't mind if the person keeps the jar if they have a use for it, but I hate it when people just trash them. I don't care if it is only 50 cents. As far as I am concerned glass is reusable. Does not belong in the trash heap.
hi nicky--i've seen pineapple sage in gardens, but didn't actually use it until last thanksgiving season. since then, i've grown some at home, and use it mainly in tisanes, but also in vinaigrettes, and granitas.
Hi Nicky, Nice writing! Thanks, also, for reminding me of taking our own two daughters(now married off) on wonderful vacations to Europe.
I, too, had not heard of pineapple sage.
Hi Joel, me,
If it is a gift for a specific occasion, of course I would not expect the person to return it – I would still hope they didn’t trash the jars, since I’ve chosen all my glasses for their looks and at least I would love to use them again (as they’re reusable and simply don’t belong in the trash). Perhaps, I’m just used to returning jam jars, because my grandma taught me to. (And apparently she also taught my grandpa, because every Christmas he returns the jars I keep mailing him throughout the summer ;)
Hi brenda and suNkurl,
Thanks! Hope to see you around soon again :)
Hi Marcella,
Good strategy! That way you’d ensure proper future supply :)
Hi clare eats,
What great ideas! Let’s see if I can get the branch to develop roots and soon I should be able to bring home a first harvest… ;)
Hey Christian,
Thanks for the link, I’ll definitely check!
Hi elif,
I like how you put it “inside is yours, outside is mine”; like you hinted it, it depends on the situation. :)
Hi Ana,
I’m totally with you! Perhaps my perception was formed by my nana, who quite some time ago now, made way over 150 jars of marmalade a year and she gave them away to neighbors, friends and family. She even took orders, but would never accept compensation. Ok, I’m not quite there yet… ;)
Hi Santos,
Let’s see how creative I can get once my little branch develops, if anything fruitful comes out, I’ll post an update ;)
Hi Chefdoc,
Missed your comment by a split second...What a great idea of yours, I'd be very disappointed though if your travel schedule did not include Munich ;)
Please do not complain to much about the rain. We are in the middle of a potential drought. The farm crops will likely have to be plowed under.
Steeping pineapple sage in a simple syrup solution would be a good way to capture the flavor. Googling "pineapple sage" and recipe yielded tons of returns.
I love how these flavors like pineapple, rose, and lemon, are ubiquitous in nature (rose geranium, lemon thyme...). Really makes me think that the forces in charge of the universe like to cook!
Our backyard has an over-exuberant resident... pineapple mint. And its a weed too (never planted it, it just popped up and has gone nuts).
haidhausen ist besonders schoen, genau wie euer blog. wundervolles design, rezepte - sehr inspirierend :)
p.s. gibt´s noch die genialen fischsemmeln am wiener platz??
I never heard of pineapple sage but in doing a little research I found out the plant with bright red flowers attracts hummingbirds! I have used pineapple mint which is really delicious in lemonade, try it if you can find it.
hi nicky, can't wait to see what you will make with the pineapple sage - sounds fascinating! cheers,j
Hi Nicky,
on the jam jars, I am with you. I would like to use them again or at least see them being used by the people who got them from me. Only one of my very good friends does this though, all the others seem to throw them away. As for me, I learned at home (in Turkey) that when you receive a food gift in any kind of container, you give the container back filled with some food you have made. Practice this upto this day and never heard any complaints.
I was sent seeds of raspberry sage from a friend in England a few years ago, and I religiously save some seeds for the year after each and every fall. Amazing aroma, chicken has never been happier! But pineapple sage!!!! Now I got to really find some of this too! Or perhaps we could trade seeds?
Hi McAuliflower,
I wish we had a backyard to cultivate all the various plants and herbs that we use for our cooking, perhaps with a next move….until then, the kitchen window sill has to do. Hopefully our new little family member will grow soon, so we can start thinking about recipes. It is probably too early now… :)
Hallo Brigitte,
Vielen lieben Dank :) Die Fischsemmeln sollte es noch geben, das kleine Fischhäuserl steht jedenfalls noch… Muss gestehen, ich hab dort zwar schon Fisch gekauft, aber noch nie eine Fischsemmel gegessen. Sollte ich mal ausprobieren!
Hi Amy,
Thanks for the suggestion, next time I’ll stroll around Viktualienmarkt I’ll keep my eyes open for pineapple mint. It seems that McAuliflower would have an endless supply on it though… :)) We watched hummingbirds, when we visited Oliver’s aunt in California – amazing creatures!
Hi Hande,
I like the way you were taught back in Turkey - it’s a such neat idea!
Hi Argy,
I’d love too, for now I only have gotten a little offshoot, so I’m not a good trading partner for seeds at this point. But it sure does look like it is developing flimsy roots and become a healthy little plant. Let’s see!
The way I was brought up, Mason & Ball jars were precious, to be refilled each summer from the garden. Not to return a canning jar was to be sure to be forgotten when next year's canning was done.
I know women that inherited grandma's jars and used them another 40 years.
I love pineapple sage. I have five large bushes, and am going out to cut them down and mulch them ahead of the frost this weekend.
Are these special jars, or regular 50¢ mason jars?
To be honest, I've never even heard of anyone returning jars from homemade jam, though I admit it isn't really a common enough gift to have its own rules of etiquette.
Generally, the rule I've always observed is to return pans and platters if they cost more than a few dollars, unless it was made clear that it was part of the gift.
Glad OvenWare? Trash.
Jam Jar? Trash.
Brownie pan? Return to owner.