I got mint - so experimenting

[Artful]

I had a pot with mint in it that appeared to have died off so I dumped the pot in a low spot and put in new potting soil and planted something else - well I guess the mint wasn't dead - now it growing in my lawn.

So I decided to harvest some and figure out something to do with it. I of course thought Mint Julip, but with my wifes health she doesn't drink alchohol and can't have sugar - so I looked for alternative ways to use it and came up with this.

Start water on to boil -
I use Herbal Sweet & Spicy Tea bags

(one per cup of H2O)
take some sprigs of mint and strip the leaves from the stalk.
about 1/2 cup pack per every 4 cups
In a container large enough to put all the water
add the mint leaves & enough boiling water to cover
and muddle (bruise with a hard object)

put in your Herbal tea bags and add remaining water
let steep - when coolish add juice of 1 citrus fruit
Lemon, lime or even tangerine per each 4 cups or
per taste and stir. Then strain into a bottle for storage.
Once cool enough put in the fridge.

When you want a cool mint sweet tea fizz
(caffeine and booze free) add about 5 oz
of your newly minted mix (PUN)
to a tall glass of ice and one can of
Diet Ginger Ale - garnish with small sprig of mint
and sip thru a straw on the
Veranda

You can kick it up by using Ginger Beer instead of
diet ginger ale and you can add Whiskey or Bourbon
to make it a true adult beverage.

[waksupi]

After working mint harvest and the distillery a couple seasons, I can not stand the taste or smell of mint.

Of course mint would come back. It's just a weed, with friends.

[skeettx]

Mint will die if you spray it with Resolve fabric refresher
or Spray and Wash.

Mike

[MT Gianni]

Tear a few leaves apart and add them to a salad. Like Ric said, if you have ever been in a barn full of mint, ready for extraction your system is overloaded for quite a while.

[GhostHawk]

I have mint growing in several places around my yard. My biggest consumption is dried mint for Iced Tea.

Just before the plants start blooming I'll go out early morning with a 4' long window screen. Cut mint stalks leaving a couple of green leaves on the bottom. Once the screen is pretty well loaded I slide it into what ever car is parked outside. A good dry day might do it in one, will almost always be bone dry after 2 days in the hot car.

I strip the dried leaves off the stems, then rub them through a corner of the screen, catching the fine powder in a small cardboard flat or box.

Put it all in a zip lock bag with the year, first or second cutting. I keep a small jar in with my coffee tea supply's.
Add 1 teaspoon into the pot along with a couple of teabags or loose equivalent. You can pretty quickly fine tune it so that it is light and refreshing without feeling like your being chased by a jungle of mint gone wild.

Also works in hot tea but I mostly drink mine cold. And I ussually have some Korean Gingsang powder to add to my tea also.
In hot weather I'll drink a half a gallon a day just myself.

Mint is handy stuff and it is easy to pick and dry. Stores well.

It is a weed, and it will take over the world if given half a chance. I'd suggest planting it where you can keep it isolated.

[Bad Water Bill]

I enjoy the fragrance as I walk by my patch all summer long.

Before it starts drying in the fall I cut it down and dry it.

Next is a trip thru the blender turning it into a fine powder.

In the winter I pull my furnace filter, lay the filter on a flat surface and cover with a square of paper towel and spray with water.

Remove the ziplock bag of powdered mint from the freezer and apply a pinch of mint to the wet towel and put the filter back in place.

A nice refreshing aroma for several days at no cost.

[MaryB]

My corn stove has this removable grate on top that exposes the top of the firebox. I wrap a little herbs in foil and set it there. It is part of the hot air outlet so as it gets hot and releases the oils they blow into the house. I will have to start a patch of mint out back and try that! Cinnamon stick and nutmeg(whole) make it smell like apple pie baking...

[Artful]

MaryB, my mother used to sell real estate, and for an open house she would bake an apple pie before it openned. And if she couldn't do that she'd turn on a light (old style incandecent) and put a drop of vanilla extract on it - you might try wrapping a vanilla bean in foil and putting on the stove.

[MaryB]

Not a huge vanilla fan... to sweet to me.

[DLCTEX]

Mint should be planted somewhere it can be contained. It is a very invasive weed.