Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Herb-a-liscious

Next to salt & pepper, herbs might be my next favorite thing to throw a handful of into a pan, or onto a finished dish. Years ago, I used to buy a bunch of parsley or basil from the grocery store, bring it home, put it in the fridge, use it maybe once, then eventually throw the slimy, black bag of goo away a few days later.

Then I attempted to grow my own herbs in little pots in the kitchen like the TV sets on the Food Network had. However, that area of my kitchen became known as Death Row. I confess to killing many a plant on death row.

Years later, I finally moved into a house with a tiny yard and decided to plunk some herbs into the ground and see what happened. Much better success! Since then, wherever I have lived, I stake out a patch of dirt to put a few plants. It is so worth it to have your own little supply for whenever you need it.

I do better with the larger herbs like basil & rosemary that are lower maintenance, since my death row skills are still alive & well. But right now I also have sage, lemon-thyme & parsley surviving nicely but I have recently killed some oregano, regular thyme & mint.

I have also finally figured out that if you cut some fresh herbs and then keep them in the kitchen in little vases of water, they last much longer than putting them in the refrigerator, and they bring a bit of life into your kitchen!

So if you're not using fresh herbs, shame on you. If you are using them but you're buying them from the store; boo! If you have some growing outside and you don't know what to do with them, bring them inside and keep them handy to throw in your creations! Fresh herbs make your dishes and your kitchen come alive!

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