Sometimes the sweetest things in life are thorny. There is the thorny blackberry bush with sweet berries. And in the floral world, it would be roses. Most of all, I’m thinking of the thorny kaffir lime tree.

They are loaded with as much leaves as sharp pointy thorns.  Wearing leather gloves would help and clipping off the thorns when they are young is another idea.   My mom usually pick loads of them in the summer to share with friends and relatives. They live in the cold northern states (Minnesota and Michigan) and can’t grow a tree of their own. Or at least not dedicated enough to wheel them in for the winter.

These are the first matured kaffir lime leaves picked fresh from mom’s garden.  I prefer cooking with the large mature leaves as they are very aromatic.  The leaves are naturally glossy and has an unusual hour-glass shape.

Young kaffir lime leaves can also be used, especially to flavor drinks. All you need to do is crush it up and squeeze out the juice.

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I’ve been infusing these organic herbs (I’ve collected from my mom’s garden) with vegetable oils for about 1 week now. I got the idea from Pure Skin: Organic Beauty Basics by Barabara Close.

You can read my little review of her book on my “Resources” page. 

I chose some light vegetables oils such as grape seed and sunflower.  You can also use avocado, sweet almond, or jojoba oil as well.

I used two different brands of grapeseed oil.  Basso brand is much more green then Trader Joe’s version.  I infused them with dried and powdered kaffir leaves and gotu kola (Tiger grass).  Both are great herbs not just for eating but for skincare as well.

For the sunflower oil, I infused with calendula flowers (the head).

This is just an experiment, so I made a small batch and used old spice jars to fill them in.  Although I don’t have it in my photo, I did cover each glass jar with a cotton fabric.  This helps the air to circulate without making the oils dusty or dirty.

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