Lately, there has been a lot of change, some very exciting and interesting, but it all adds just a little stress to life. I have also had some unresolved health issues creep up again, which adds its own element of stress during a busy time (not to mention expense). I having been feeling a strange mix of discouragement and excitement about my life right now. And it was starting to balance out more in the discouragement side when I had a happy surprise.
One of the readers here at The Nourishing Gourmet, Evi, sent me a surprise package. I was curious what my package from Greece was going to be after she asked for my address. I love surprises! When I walked out to get my mail yesterday, a strong, lovely smell filled my porch.
My eye caught a package stuffed into my mailbox, and when I eagerly grabbed it, I noticed the label. It was from Greece! I quickly brought it inside and opened it, as I continued to get whiffs of herb-y scent.
I was delighted to find a large bag of freshly picked and dried wild oregano, sent just for me from Greece along with a sweet card from Evi! I can’t wait to start experimenting with it! It has so much more scent (and I imagine flavor) then even the high-quality regular oregano I buy here. (Give me ideas, people! I’d love to hear some!)
As much as I loved the gift, and look forward to using it, most of all I am thankful for the encouragement the gift was to me. It gave me a lift to my tired legs, and a warm happiness in my heart. And this herb is so fragrant, its constant perfume in the air reminds me throughout the day of the gift!
As I look forward to a busy year of school with my children, writing, and a husband with new opportunities (and as I hope to get some answers soon for my health), I am truly thankful for this gift giving me a lift. It’s such a good reminder of how simple acts of kindness can mean so much.
I’d love to hear from you, not only ideas of how to use my wild oregano, but also how small acts of kindness have given you encouragement. Plus, I’d love to hear your ideas on how to encourage others, whether with gifts of food, texts/letters/emails to friends, or ?
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Encouragement. Oh, such a very helpful act. And it can be a small act with a great reverberation. I like to give people praise and gratitude for their unique gifts they share with the world.
Also, I use oregano oil for the onset of strep throat. I gargle with it and paint it (diluted in olive oil!) on my tonsils. It works better than antibiotics. My guess is a tea or herbal steam with the dried herb would be similarly useful for any sinus/lung/throat infection.
I love oil of oregano (from wild oregano) for colds. Works wonders!
And I agree, appreciating people’s specific giftings and telling them so is worth a lot.
On the topic of wild vs greek oregano, I had heard that they were different species but I can’t seem to find a straight answer about it online (This is when too much information can be a hindrance). Several websites provided contradicting information (including wiki) about oil of oregano, wild oregano, spanish, and Mediterranean or greek oregano. I was just trying to find out how they were interrelated but then got lost in the murky web. Any clarifying knowledge out there?
Yes of course there are many different oregano species even for Greek oregano, which is different than say the Italian one.
You’d get a different oregano (aromatic- and flavor-wise) in the islands for example than the one you get growing wild on a mountain top.
Unless they are not different species after all but the (end-result) oregano is different because of varying growing conditions, eg rainfall, weather, near the sea or not etc.
I’ll have to ask someone who is more knowledgeable! 🙂
This is off topic..sorry 🙂 But I happened to see your exchange with Evi a few weeks ago in the comments section, and as I am planning to make gyros as my meal on my husband’s upcoming family vacation, I actually had wanted to ask Evi if she had a simple, nourishing recipe (s) for authentic Greek gyros and a simple side?
I think a note from the heart can be so encouraging! Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”
Rebekah,
I second your request! I’d love a recipe for a authentic gyro. Evi, if you see this, do you have one? I’d love to get your advice on making a good gyro. 🙂
Hi. Just thought you may like this from Penzey’s Spices http://www.penzeys.com I recently bought their Greek Seasoning and it’s yummy. Here’s their description of this seasoning: Greek Seasoning (is) hand-mixed from: coarse salt, garlic, lemon, black pepper, Turkish oregano, marjoram. And here are some ideas they give for its use, including for gyro: To make GREEK SALAD DRESSING: Mix 2 TB. seasoning with 2 TB. water, let stand 5 min. Add ¼ Cup olive oil, ¼ Cup salad oil, 1/3 Cup red wine vinegar (or ¼ cup balsamic vinegar and 2 TB. water), plus 1 tsp. sugar if desired. Use to dress vegetable salads, tomatoes and red onion with feta cheese and olives, chicken and pasta salads, or a plain lettuce salad. For GYROS, mix 1 TB. in 1 TB. water. Let stand 5 min., add 1 TB. olive oil and 1 TB. lemon juice. Combine with 1 lb. cubed lamb (traditional), pork or chicken, refrigerate 2 hours. Broil until browned. Mix 2-3 tsp. with 1 Cup yogurt and 2 TB. cucumber for gyro sauce. Also great on grilled, baked or fried fish or chicken, rub on 1 tsp. per lb.
Actually this is something that noone makes at home as you need a special machine to make the authentic gyros (at least I think so!).
Too bad though as it is a delicious dish but we never have it as they tend to use the worst cuts of factory-farm pork 🙁
But if you like to make your own sausages you could use some good quality pork meat along with garlic and lots of oregano. We buy these sausages from a gourmet butcher that sells only organically raised semi-wild pigs and although it is such a simple dish we all enjoy it a lot at my house.
Oregano is also nice to springle on pork chops or any kind of grilled meat, grilled veggies and even homemade french fries.
I do not use that much while cooking (if at all), I prefer to springle it on food after it has been cooked to avoid the sometimes bitter taste that burnt oregano has.
Jesus has healed my family. The journey he has had us take is this. I encourage you to look up the websites Yurkovsky.com FTC has accurately identifed and treated Lyme disease, Mercury poisioning, other heavy metals + chemical toxicities, and dental infections in me, my three sons, and my husband along with having our jaw non-surgically straighten. Heathcentereddentistry.com Blessings be upon you and your family :).
‘ Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. ‘ Jeremiah 33:3 NIV
Thanks for the recommendation, Kimberly. I appreciate it. 🙂
Maybe a roasted leg of lamb?
I love oregano! I use it everywhere. Sausages, stir fry, mexican dishes, italian, everything. Or just with oil as a dressing. Mmmmm!
I hear you about the stress and health issues. I’m struggling with some new-old issues too, which are very frustrating, but maybe my pride needed a little checking 😉
There is nothing like ill-health to bring humility to a health food blogger. I am feeling really humble. 😉
Hi Kimi, what a lovely gift, I would make little sachets from fabric and put some of the oregano in and put it in my kitchen pantry etc… and cook with it of course…I’m thinking greek lamb with oregano, lemon juice &zest, garlic and olive oil …I’m salivating thinking about it ….
Lamb would be lovely, wouldn’t it…….
My grand daughter recently found a parakeet in our yard. We were quite concerned because there is no way one could survive very long in Alaska – even in the summer. We have so many obstacles for such a tame bird. We took the bird in & gave it a home, a day later we put up a sign so that our local neighbors could see it. After a bit more than a week, we thought we would have to find a new home for this lovely creature but then received a phone call from someone who lives very close but not on our road. Luck would have it that someone mentioned our sign to her. Today she returned the cage we purchased for the bird & brought by 2 dozen freshly laid eggs from her hen house to thank us. We live in a wonderful town!!
How sweet! Enjoy those eggs. 🙂
I bought seeds this year for a wild Greek oregano which I grew in my garden. I love it far more than any oregano I’ve grown–so fragrant and flavorful! I wonder if it’s the same or a similar type to what you received. It’s a perennial so I am looking forward to it coming up again next year.
My neighbor (with whom I shared some of my precious oregano), shared that her oregano didn’t seem very flavorful from her garden. Perhaps we need to plant wild oregano instead!
Actually planted oregano is not that good, especially if it has been watered a lot.
This year even the wild oregano is not that aromatic as it usually is because we had lots of rain.
The one I sent Kimy is mountain oregano (from northern Greece), it differs quite a lot from even wild oregano found in other parts of the country but it is my favorite as a little bit goes a long way! 🙂
wow, what an awesome gift! looks like you’ll have some delicious italian dishes to look forward to!
I am definitely looking forward to using it. 🙂
Hi Kimi,
I have been following your blog for about a year now. I was just thinking about you and this post. Thinking that I hope you find your answer and thinking that I hope you will be willing to share your answer if you find it-because I am suffering too (along with so many others) and maybe something that helps you can help me.
Then I started thinking about your Gaps diet post-the one where I think you popped the question if it was for everyone. That came at a really crucial time in my life-because at the time I was finding no relief, up every hour with a very colicky baby , exhausted, my body seemingly unable to break down anything.
Someone listed in the comments of that post that a cultured food with every meal cured their daughter of IBS. That comment made life so much better for us. At so many points I felt like I honestly could not make it another day. I began making sure that everything I ate had some kind of cultured food or beverage with it and that has certainly not cured me, but it made my baby boy finally start having regular bowel movements, and it helped enormously with my digestion.
Now thinking back to your post while doing dishes, I also just thought about a lingering vitamin B12 question thats been on my mind. Someone recommended to me that I get a book called Could it be B12? a while ago but I have had so much going on, I haven’t pursued it yet. And then I began to think-why were the ferments so crucial for me-I guess because they help with my stomach acid production to help break down my foods. I have been doing a parasite cleanse, helping some but not enough…is there maybe something else separately or along with thats also inhibiting my stomach acid production? So I looked up B12 and stomach acid production and those topics seem to go together. I have a lot of fatigue and go through a roller coaster of flares-wondering if you have a lot of fatigue too when you say your tired legs got a lift. Wondering if B12 is a piece to the puzzle for me or you or both of us.
Anyway, it is late and I am rambling. Shots in the dark, needles in haystacks, prayers sent your way…
Blessings,
Bethany
Hi Kimi – I just found your site this morning and enjoyed reading and seeing the picture of your adorable family and very healthy looking and bright-eyed little girl! Oregano, one of my favorites for cooking. I use it lots in summer when zucchini is plentiful. I slice it thin first and make little slices again-think matchsticks- and fry them up in ghee. After it is nicely browned- could be even crispy, throw in the oregano for a quick last minute fry along with celtic sea salt and fresh ground green peppercorn and voila. My favorite way to have zucchini in summer.
Wow, great post. I can smell that oregano myself! Maybe it’s because I had some oregano tonight that I had picked from the yard and dried. We grow it (it’s perennial in Atlanta) and I found that just laying it out on the counter it dries beautifully and yes, SO much more aromatic. I’m confident that as your remain prayerful, everything will settle. They say it’s the year of change and thus far, it sure is!
I make my own version of Gyros all the time using ground lamb– I know it isn’t authentic, but we love it. I got the idea from an old La Leche League cookbook, and have been making it for years. Sometimes I sub half ground beef for the lamb, especially if I double it. Enjoy your oregano!
Alicia’s Greek Gyros
1 lb ground lamb
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp dried mint
½ tsp garlic powder
(or use 1 clove fresh garlic, crushed)
Salt and pepper
Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and mix thoroughly. Form into small hamburger patties and cook on a grill or fry in a cast iron skillet. Or form into a large flat patty and bake in a 13×9 pan at 400 degrees until done. Then slice, (if using the large patty) and serve on warm pita bread, topped with cucumber slices, tomato slices, onion slices, lettuce, feta cheese, plain yogurt and kalmata olives.
I’ve been looking for for sites dealing with wild American oregano.
I’ve noticed the name American Dittany comes up often. Haven’t had much luck.