Oh my do we have an abundance of chives! We inherited all this chivey goodness from our home’s previous owners who filled, it seems, any available space with chives. The benefits to us are many. We’ve been able to add this zippy little allium to salads and slaws and marinades all spring and summer. The wall of pungency that the chives make up along the edges of our vegetable garden no doubt are one of the primary reasons our vegetables remain relatively insect-free. And, as I discovered last year, chive vinegar makes up just about the prettiest little kitchen gift you can muster (and mixed with a little olive oil, salt & pepper, it makes a very fine salad dressing).
This year, Jeff’s stepmom blessed me with bottles! She saved up a whole bunch of bottles from her fancy specialty vinegar and offered them up to me. I was overjoyed. The graceful long-necked bottles make up an even prettier batch of vinegar than last year.
I so love that this punchy, pretty vinegar is becoming a annual tradition! It’s just one more glorious way to celebrate the season.
*A total anecdotal side note: Just recently, after a pretty heavy-handed cold I wound up with a whopper of an earache. Trying to avoid a course of antibiotics I looked into natural remedies for ear infections. It turns out that I had the very best remedy right there in my kitchen all freshly made! A 50/50 ratio of chive vinegar and water made up the perfect ear drop solution. The mixture helped the hurt instantly and now after a few days of treatment, my ear is back to its shiny little self!
How beautiful!
-Phyllis