Friday, November 6, 2009

Do it Yourself Herb Blends

I am going to take a week off of research, (Maybe two) because my computer is terminally ill. I think I will end up braving the crowds on the dreaded Friday after Thanksgiving to buy a new desktop system. I am writing this on my wife's computer, and I don't have access to my links and secret info sites.

But I did want to share this little bit of herbfomation.

I know that all the experts say that you should leave your herbs whole after you dry them, to preserve the flavor. All the experts don't live in our tiny home with two adults and 35 pounds of wild child.

Space is a premium, and a whole bunch of dried herb branches hanging around just aren't compatible with our world, so I crush them and store them that way. I may lose a bit of the flavor, but since we add herbs to taste anyway, rather than measuring, it isn't too big a deal for us.

I have found that those plastic canisters that little tubs of sugar free drink mix come in make excellent dried herb storage containers.

But we got so many of some of our herbs this year that we filled up a canister and had crushed herbs left over.

Those of you who have seen how many branches of herbs it takes to make a handful of crushed herbs may recognize now why We can't keep our herbs intact, We would need to add on a room just for herb storage.

But anyway, I filled up the canisters and had some herbs left over, so I decided to play.

I put about 1/2 cup of each of the following herbs into a big bowl and mixed it all up.

Rosemary
Savory
Chives
Sage
Basil
Oregano
Marjoram

Then, I added about a cup of Parsley flakes, and mixed it some more.

My measurements were not based on any scientific formula, but on the fact that I had about 1/2 cup of several of the herbs left without a place to put them, so I added equal amounts of the others. Then I discovered we had two separate containers of open parsley flakes in our cabinet. I dumped as many as would fit out of one and into the other, and what was left went into the mix.

It all went into a fancy glass jar, and we have a universal herb blend that will be good on meat, in soup, in marinades, salad dressing, in stuffings, or casseroles, you name it.

A pinch here, a spoonful or two there, I don't expect it will last very long.

The neat thing about growing your own herbs is you can blend and play and mix to your heart's content and nobody will stop you.

What blends do you use?

5 comments:

  1. Why is everyone's computers going kaput lately? Yours is the fourth one this month that I've read about. Your herb blend sounds wonderful!

    Jane

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  2. Troy,
    I woke up and nothing would turn on -no computer printer zelch. Scary- I guess it was the plug in -I switched it and it popped on --thank God.

    This herb blend sounds good- I like it because you can use it for everything.
    vickie

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  3. Fabulous job, sounds like a great blend!

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  4. So far my herb production isn't enough to worry about, but I have harvested a bit and stuck them in plastic bags. I think I need to crush them and mix like you did. I think I would use them more that way. Now I tend to forget I have them and being uncrushed it seems like too much work to use them. So thanks and come back soon. Linda

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  5. It sounds like you've got a wonderful herb garden going! Came over from Grown Your Own roundup, by the way. It's good to meet you :)

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