Dried Herbs

Just before our first freeze back in early December 2009, I picked everything that was frost sensitive and put it in the garage. The veggies were dealt with quickly (see the pickled pepper blog), but there was a basket of random herbs that just sat... until now.



The basket contained Stevia, peppermint, and pineapple sage cuttings. Just sitting in the dark dry garage for 2 months let them dry very nicely. They kept the green color and were not as crisp as the herbs I dried in my dehydrator last year.

I was able to get a large baby food jar full of dried stevia, which I am enjoying in my tea right now.

I had more than a jelly jar's worth of dried mint. There is much more, but i"m not sure what to do with it. I'm just so-so on dried mint tea, it tastes a bit like hay to me. I also made a salad dressing with the mint for tonight's dinner. I'll see how the family likes it and may post the recipe if it is a winner.

Finally, my favorite... a jar of pineapple sage leaves and blossoms



The flowers kept their amazing red color, even dried, and they made such a pretty edition. The taste of the flower is really good, sweet pineapple-y and almost citrus-y.


I have found that my two favorite spices this year have been my home-made dried parsley and dried thyme. After finshing nearly a baby food jar worth of thyme, I've decided to try to make more of my own dried herbs and blends. No sense in wasting money on old store bought stuff when I have all of these wonderful things growing right in the yard.