Thursday, November 11, 2010

Aloysia Citrodora

Otherwise known as Lemon Verbena. This past year I grew Lemon Verbena and wow was it prolific! It is native to Argentina and Chile, therefore cannot withstand long cold winters and because I am in Northern Virginia I have to cut it down or just watch it wither away. But alas do not worry as I have made quite some use out of this luscious lemony scented herb...

Exhibit A:
I think it looks charming above my fireplace and as you walk in the front door you get a slight whiff of its citrusy wonderfulness (i tink i see a puddy tat)...

Exhibit B:
Not only does it impart a lovely scent, but it also looks pretty...

Exhibit C:
Side shot (wow how artistic ;)...

Exhibit D:
The plant was enormous about 4ft wide by 4 ft tall, so I had a lot to work with and I decided to make Lemon Verbena Vodka...


I thoroughly cleaned the lemon verbena and added just the leaves to the bottle of vodka and after 2 days it turned this sweet pea shade of green and it smells delicious (remove the leaves after about 2 days..I just left them in for the photo because I thought they looked neat). 

I'm thinking mixing in a little Lemoncello and sugar syrup and hey hey I've got happy hour at my house...anyone want to come? And since I don't drink I could provide a taxi service. 

Honestly, I made Lemon Verbena Vodka to use as a natural deodorant. I have been using Weleda Citrus deodorant for years and love it, although it is a tad pricey it lasts a long time...
 Citrus Deodorant
From what I can tell it is an alcohol based spray with fragrance, so I decided to make my own and fill my saved bottles with my home-made mixture...


A close up...

Don't they look lovely? I now have a full supply of deodorant that will last me a long long time. It can also be used as a room spray, kitchen counter cleaner and is great at removing smells from clothes, so you don't have to dry clean all of the time. It works by killing odor causing bacteria and don't worry you won't smell like a lush because it doesn't leave a scent. Check out The Daily Green to see 10 more weird uses for Vodka here

And no need to worry, not all of the vodka was harmed in this story...I have saved some for friends and family to imbibe at their leisure!

Cheers!

2 comments:

  1. A recipe in an edition of Cook's Magazine uses vodka in place of water in pie dough. The alcohol evaporates, so there is no smell or taste. Perhaps, you like lemon verbena so much because you were born in Turkey where "Limon Cologne" is widely used for everything...including disinfectant, smelling salts, deoderizer, etc. The cologne has a pleasant lemon/herbal smell. What will you think of next?

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  2. You know what's weird? I have this idea of a lemony/herbal smell in my head that I have been hunting down for years...have tried every citrus perfume out there. As you know I am not a huge perfume fan, but I can't seem to escape this idea that I love something out there and haven't found it yet. I think my search is over and I will now look for Limon Cologne...

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