Cooking with essential oils ahead on show

Information on using essential oils in cooking, texturizing fabric, and discussing how colors affect us psychologically will be the featured topics on “Creative Living” 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and noon Thursday (all times Mountain).

Kris Wrede is an aromatic alchemist and natural perfumer, and her business is Kismet Potions. In the aromatic kitchen, Wrede will show how to prepare unusual recipes using essential oils to make life more sensual and to help one appreciate the vibrancy of food. She lives in Albuquerque.

Have you ever seen a technique that you wondered “How did they do that?” Barbara Crawford is a designer and owner of Crawford Designs, and she’s going to demonstrate some ways to texturize the surface of your fabric, older clothing or newer clothing to add something special. She’s from Amarillo.

Interior designer, Kimball Starr will discuss and show basic colors of paint and explain the difference between warm and cool tones using paint chips and images of painted rooms. She’ll discuss how colors affect us psychologically and tell what items to consider when choosing paint. Her company is Kimball Starr Interior Design in San Francisco, California.

Information on machine embroidery, making desserts, and “almost cooking from scratch” will be the featured topics on “Creative Living” noon Tuesday and 2 p.m. Saturday.

Roberta Amundson is a sewing expert, and she’ll show how easy it is to add embroidery to ready-made garments as well as to home décor items. Her company is Roberta’s Creations, and she’s from Oceanside, California.

Rowena Fullinwider is the President of Rowena’s Foods, Inc. in Norfolk, Virginia. She will show how to make several quick and fun desserts by combining a pound cake with various ingredients.

Linda Eckhardt is a cookbook author who will demonstrate how to “almost cook from scratch.” Her ideas and recipes are based on her recent cookbook, and these recipes are designed for one or two member families. Eckhardt’s company is Eckhardt Enterprises, and she’s from Maplewood, New Jersey.

Spiced figs

Soak about 20 dried dark Mission figs in a covered glass jar for a few days in a cup of Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum or any kind of dark rum. If you don’t have enough time, soak them overnight and heat a little to plump up the figs. To the top of the mixture, before closing, add 1/8 cup of honey with the following drops of essential oils mixed in well:

Lemon — 20 drops

Cardamom — 10 drops

Ginger — 5 drops

The figs are ready when they are nice and plump. Stir every few hours. They are now perfect to use as an incredible topping for desserts, salads, yogurts, pound cakes, and are wonderful on top of cooked squashes. For dessert toppings, you can also mix in a few teaspoons of the rum sauce as well, or they can be used added into fruit cakes and coffee cakes.

Spiced fig salad

Heat on low 1 tablespoon of olive oil and stir in 10 drops of lemon essential oil. Add 2 one-inch sprigs of fresh chopped rosemary. Take 6 of the drunken figs, strained, and cut into small pieces. Add this to the heat along with 2 tablespoons of the rum sauce and 1/4 cup of pecans. Heat about 10 minutes until the liquid is soaked in. Serve warm over salad greens and goat cheese. Serves 2.

“Creative Living” is produced and hosted by Sheryl Borden. The show is carried by more than 118 PBS stations. Contact her at:

[email protected]