Garden mint is taking over my little corner of the world! I've been on a quest to find new ways to use this wonderfully aromatic herb. Happened upon a recipe while looking for different pesto recipes and had to give it a try.

2 cups mint leaves
1/2 cup walnuts
1/3 cup honey
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

So out to the herb bed I went and I snipped and snipped, hardly making a dent in the abundance of mint (I think that just rhymed somehow!).

I rinsed my mint and shook it dry...

Then stripped all the leaves off into a measuring bowl...


I had four cups of mint leaves if I pressed down on them.

Pay no attention to all the squash in the background... it is also trying to take over my world!

So, I doubled the recipe... In my blender I combined the mint leaves...


With the walnuts (any nut will do... Mmmmm Macadamia would be yummo! But I had walnuts... which are yummy too!


I added the honey...


And the vanilla extract (which I made last year, by the way, and it's wonderful! I'll never go back to storebought vanilla! Never!)


Then I blended it all up! This took a little doing and I almost grated the handle of a wooden spoon in there a time or two... but at last I got it all blended and smooth... Oh the SMELL!!!! I wish you could smell the smell!!!  Too bad we don't have smeller-net!


Then I poured (and scraped) it into a couple of freezer cups to store in the freezer (kept some out for eating NOW!)

My imagination is going WILD thinking of things to do with this stuff... I'm thinking sandwiched between two chocolate cookies... stirred in chocolate ice cream... as a filling between two layers of chocolate cake... (am I seeing a chocolate theme here or is that just my imagination?) or just with a spoon right out of the cup (well maybe not, but it's really really good!)

Mint is growing like wildfire in my front yard... I grabbed some tools from the garden sheds and snipped off the above bounty and you can hardly tell I touched it. The rest of the mint will continue to grow for other recipes on another day but for today this will be more than enough.

I used my harvest to make Traditional English Mint Sauce... delicious served with lamb or pork dishes.

Here's what I did...

I gathered the mint... loads of it! I washed it well, then removed the leaves from the stems, discarding the stems and any yellowed or brown leaves.


I finely chopped 4 cups of freshly washed fresh mint leaves... OK I STARTED finely chopping 4 cups of mint leaves and realized that when finely chopped, mint leaves will take FOREVER to accumulate to 4 cups... so...

I used my blender and some of the vinegar called for in the recipe... if you're a purist, feel free to hand chop... I had Season 2 of Downton Abbey on DVD to watch and wanted to get finished in time to watch an episode or two before bedtime. Priorities you know!

I poured my chopped mint leaves and vinegar mixture into a stainless steel stockpot, then added...

4 cups granulated sugar


1/3 cup lemon (or lime) juice


2 12-ounce bottles English malt vinegar


2 cups vinegar (the original recipe called for white vinegar, I used apple cider, this is the vinegar I used to aid in blending/chopping my mint leaves)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper


I brought the entire mixture to a boil and simmered until the leaves were softened. (took about 10 minutes of simmering)


After simmering, I ladled the hot mixture into hot, sterilized pint jars, leaving one inch headspace.


I wiped the rims of the jars with a damp cloth to remove any residue or spillage.


I tightened the lids on to fingertip tightness.


... And processed the jars in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. (cover the jars with water, bring to a boil, and gently boil for 15 minutes)

After processing, I removed the hot jars using my jar lifter...


...and set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool.


And now for a nice leg of lamb... Mmmmmm!!!

For a printable copy of the recipe, click here.