Test-Shop – Recipes – Herbal Roots

This collection serves as a metaphor for noticing. Crafted from a fall garden which seemed to mirror my own state of befuddlement in the liminal space between my current Blue Eye, MO, life and my impending return to Brooklyn. The collection reminds us that those seemingly empty liminal spaces remain full of guidance, abundance, and beauty; they are auspiciously full of life.

When we think of a fall herb garden, we often picture plants on the brink of dormancy as colder nights coax them into slumber. The usually simple and predictable transition is different this year. The unseasonably warm climate confusion has coerced my plants into producing leaves, stems, shoots, roots, blooms and seeds that are deceivingly youthful, bursting with life and vigor.

The normally warm, woodsy tones of autumnal herbs — rosemary, thyme, sage, marjoram, savory, and bay leaves — are all especially potent and brighter. Spring herbs like parsley and mint are having a re-birth, resulting in flavors that are deeper and darker than normal.

Summer herbs that should be long past their prime have provided an incredible last burst of essence in unusual, more sensual, spicier notes that resemble toasted cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, fresh ginger, and vanilla-laced allspice.

Change is always coming, and this collection captures all these garden anomalies born in this season of change amidst my own explorations of liminality. These herb salts are bright, fresh, and comforting. The flavor profiles are traditional yet unexpected. They are functional, perfect for everyday fall cooking. Versatile and adaptable for weather (and food) with a chill (or a heat!) and lavishly simple…. perfect for a Thanksgiving table filled with family and friends. They are cooking and finishing salts, representing beginnings and endings.

I finished crafting these bright and warm fall herbal salts on October 14th, 2023. It was exactly then that the weather turned dark and cold. In the Western hemisphere, a rare annular solar eclipse known as the “Ring of Fire” was in full force, amplifying my already heightened sense of intuition around endings and beginnings. I could sense all of it, about to cross the threshold of my liminal space into a future unknown. This is fall, and these are my fall herbal salts. Find recipes and process notes on my blog, My Herbal Roots – My Herbal Roots

Use generously and creatively.