It's that time of year again when magazines, herb and home related are trying to come up with something new and different for you to try for Thanksgiving. I think it must be a difficult task for writers and editors of magazines to keep their information fresh as well as relevant to readers. I applaud their efforts. I do not subscribe to very many magazines and I read the ones I do receive avidly, even the articles on a Thanksgiving Feast. Those magazines are Herb Companion and Herb Quarterly. Well, I also subscribe to Macworld, because I love my Mac Computer, but they don't have much on Thanksgiving cooking.

So, instead of regaling you with my new and exciting ways to use herbs at Thanksgiving, I thought I'd profile a commonly used herb during the holiday season. This herb is very common, doesn't get a lot of attention the rest of the year, nor is it a big seller for me. Can you guess what it is?

If you guessed Sage, Salvia officinalis, you'd be correct!

Sage is a frequent ingredient in poultry stuffing, poultry seasoning, winter squash soups and also in breakfast sausage. Sage is used because helps balance the rich flavor of fatty meat and poultry and the flavor enhances those foods. It is often combined with thyme, marjoram or savory which contain some of the same essential oils as sage to make up the flavor and scent.

The culinary use of sage extends beyond occasional use during the holidays. Sage is used in cheese spreads- it blends well with both cheddar and cream cheese. A little goes a long way, however, so use a light touch. Try a bit of sage chopped into an apple cake recipe. The flavor compliments the apples very nicely. Sage improves the flavor of soups, especially onion soup. It's used lightly in tomato sauces and even bread.

Besides being a staple herb in the kitchen, sage is used in hair care products, cosmetics and has been used for centuries for various medicinal purposes. The Greeks and Romans used sage as a calmative for the stomach and as a digestive aid. This may have brought about the use of sage as flavoring for fatty and difficult to digest foods. Regular use of sage tea was recommended to older persons to aid memory and lift depression. Since Rosemary is another herb thought to aid in memory, a tea of Rosemary and Sage might be useful.

NOTE: I'm drinking a cup of Sage Tea as I write today. I don't know if it's helping my memory, but it's very soothing and flavorful. I used about 2 teaspoons of chopped, fresh Sage to a large cup. I steeped the tea for about 7 minutes. The flavor and aroma is light and very pleasant. Not at all bitter. I decided not to add honey or lemon, but those would be delicious in the tea, too, I think.

In the Garden, the grayish leaves of Sage are a nice contrast to greener leaf plants. It likes dry open areas, good drainage, and here where I live, some afternoon shade during the hot summer months. I lost a rather well established plant last summer due to our extremely hot weather. I've also found Sage cannot take temperatures much below 28 deg. F without a lot of damage. In areas with high humidity, such as the Gulf Coast, it may only be a short lived perennial. I still plant it every year that I have to. I love the way it looks and the aroma.

In researching this Newsletter, I learned something that I definitely will try next year. It is said that Sage will deter the cabbage moth butterfly.

I've used Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) on the plants, but the damage from the caterpillars is still great. Next year, I'll plant Sage in and around the garden to see if it really repels the moths.

You can find more information on the Cabbage Moth Butterfly at this site.

As a final note, Sage is said to improve the growth of several other herbs such as Rosemary, Lavender and Thyme. I do not know why this is, but it's worth trying out. Especially if you have a mixed container, it might be an interesting experiment to add a sage plant to the mix, even if you don't use it a lot to see if the growth of the other herbs is improved. Sage does produce attractive flowers and it is much liked by honey bees.

The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust, novelist (1871-1922)