It's still not Spring here in Philadelphia. In fact, it's currently about 50 and rainy, but I've been pretending that Spring is here by planning my imaginary herb garden. Yes, my herb garden is sadly imaginary since I'm moving this year, but as a result, it's actually much greener, fragrant and exciting than any live herb garden I've ever grown for real (my thumb is not the greenest one out there). I mean, I love rosemary and mint as much as the next person, but I'm ready for a little more excitement! Here's what I'm thinking:
Chocolate Mint - I tasted this for the first time recently at a Farmer's Market, and it was delicious. The chocolate taste is slight, but definitely there, and I'll definitely be using it for imaginary iced tea, or even in cupcakes and baked goods.
Lemon Thyme - How easy it will be to make a roast chicken or even lemon-thyme frosting with these two ingredients already combined into one! Just kidding -- you apparently can't really count on it for a full lemon flavor, but it still works great for roasting anything, and for great fish and meat dishes as well.
Cuban Basil - The belle of my garden. After seeing/smelling how delightful these leaves are, I couldn't resist buying some for my mom for mother's day. Not so much into it? Check out this long list of interesting basil varieties here.
Lavender - Maybe this would be in my grandmother's garden too, but I just love the scent so much that it's going in my imaginary one as well.
Looking for more exciting herbs like juniper or fenugreek? Check out this list and these hints and tips. And if anyone has suggestions for additions to my imaginary garden, please share! It's imaginary, so no there are no limits!
Wildcraft is a cooperative board game that teaches kids about edible and medicinal herbs. The premise of the game: "Grandma needs huckleberries to bake a pie. You and your cousins embark on an adventure up the mountain to collect berries as well as herbs she uses."
There are playing cards representing 25 edible and medicinal plants. In the video about the game on Learning Herbs, the happy customer talks about the kids taking the cards outside to help identify the plants. I love the idea of an indoor game getting kids interesting in the outdoors. However, it could be frustrating if they don't have any of the game's plants in their backyard.
I mentioned Wildcraft to a friend of mine who teaches survival skills classes. He said that he'd love to play it at our next games night. I'm sure he'd win, but I'd be willing to give it a go. It sounds like fun - espcially if we all got to eat huckleberry pie at the end of the game.
I first spotted this recipe on Tastespotting and knew instantly that it had my name written all over it. I am a sucker for baked goods that incorporate herbs and so this one called to me (I also have a recipe for Lemon Basil cookies that I want to try). I made some adjustments to the recipe. It didn't come together easily, so I added several tablespoons of milk. For the first time in my life (I normally reduce the amount of sugar in things), I actually added more sugar than the recipe called for, because when I tasted the dough, it tasted like there was hardly any sugar in it at all. I was happy with the way the cookies turned out and I loved the fact that it didn't hurt the dough at all to hang out in the fridge for a full 24 hour period. Check out my adapted recipe after the jump.
According to conventional wisdom mothers have fought to get their little ones to eat veggies since before the earth was cooling. Cruciferous varieties, like broccoli and Brussels sprouts are often cited as particularly challenging.
Last week at my nephew's tenth birthday party, I was reminded of his surprising appetite for a particular green. It's not broccoli, kale, spinach, or even broccoli rabe, my Sicilian father's favorite. I don't know where the little guy stands on those. The object of his appetite isn't even a vegetable. It's an herb. He goes gaga for fresh parsley.
What reminded me of his parsley passion, was the birthday present his Aunt Dawn gave him: two fresh bunches of parsley. Ever since he had it in a salad his grandmother made for him when he was six he's been a parsley fanatic. Besides wanting to make her nephew happy, one of the reasons for Aunt Dawn's gift is that he once ate the better part of her parsley patch before anyone noticed.
By now you're probably wondering why this kid likes to eat what many regard as mere garnish.Taking a break from his hectic Lego-building schedule he provided me with the following quote: "I like it because it doesn't have much of a taste. How can you dislike something that has no taste. And it's healthy."
As for me, I was never into fresh parsley as a kid. I was too involved with my own food quirks, like slicing a notch in apple and stuffing it with a slice of bologna.
Jamie, the cheese lover behind the blog Curdnerds.com, posted an interesting food question today: "What is your favorite cheese to cook with?"
I've been pondering that thought for the better part of the last hour and I think I have to say that when it comes to cooking, I'm a big fan of the goat and sheep cheeses. Feta, Chevre, Basque Shepherd cheese or Pecorino Romano are all good ones in my book.
Using fresh herbs in your recipes is a sure way to brighten up your favorite chicken dish or add some dimension to a rice pilaf. The flavors from fresh herbs are more vivid and complex than those from dried herbs. Once way to obtain said herbs is by choosing bunches of fresh at your local market, but growing them at home is going to be more convenient and less expensive than buying them every time you need a few tablespoonfuls. These garden-in-a bag kits are perfect for anyone interested in trying to grow some fresh herbs who doesn't have the space - or gardening abilities - to handle something bigger. The indoor-friendly options include organic chives, mint, basil and lavender, along with a variety of flowers. To get your herbs to grow, all you need to do is stir the included seeds and water into the bag, full of already primed soil, and wait. Germination takes a few days and, depending on what you're growing, you'll have fresh herbs within a couple of weeks.
And no, I'm not talking about that scene in Casino Royale (those who have seen the movie will know what I'm talking about).
This is a recipe from Ian Fleming himself. The author gave James very specific tastes, and the new issue of British GQ gives the recipe. Speaking of specific, there are some very precise instructions on how to make these eggs, even down to what type of bowl to serve them in, so, as Q would say, pay attention 007!
"Functional" foods have no official definition or regulation at the moment, but the FDA is hoping to change that soon, giving both manufactuerers and consumers some guidelines to go by. Functional foods are those that have something extra added to them that promises "a special [nutritional] punch," one which may or may not be backed up with solid science. For example, some products with herbs like ginseng and kava kava promise, respectively, to "energize" and "enlighten" - and because these things are directly attributed to the two herbs, that makes them "functional" foods. The functional label doesn't just apply to herbs, however. It applies to cereals that are fortified with extra nutrients, or juices that have calcium added to them.
Right now, adding extraneous nutrients to foods is a huge trend in the food processing industry. Consumers are looking for quick fixes to getting all the nutrition that they need, so when they're offered a soda with calcium added, they're going to opt for that over the regular product.
Calcium, of course, is not really the biggest problem. The FDA is more concerned with the companies that hint at claims of increased intelligence, stamina or energy, things that are difficult to prove and can be confusing for consumers. The companies themselves say that as long as their foods meet the existing food safety standards and the ingredients themselves are considered safe, they should be able to continue on as they are doing.
We'll have to wait to see what restrictions, if any, are implemented, but it seems likely that there will at least be some. After all, we live in a world where toy superman costumes come with warnings that "cape does not enable user to fly," so it is reasonable to assume that we will also see some sort of warnings associated with "functional" foods.
The nearest grocery store to my house is very convenient -- at a couple of blocks away, it wouldn't be much hassle to bike down and pick up a few things. But it's a very ordinary store as well, and doesn't always have what I might be hunting. And when it doesn't? Well, the half-hour drive downtown is usually worth it for the abundant selection of fresh fruits and veggies, but sometimes I simply don't feel up to it. So, facing up to the coming winter, I've cleared off a sunny kitchen windowsill as an ideal place to attempt to grow my own selection of herbs. And while I don't claim to have a green thumb, a couple of weeks into the experiment my little plants -- basil, oregano, sage, rosemary, and lavender (I've never cooked with this last, but it smells lovely in the kitchen) -- already seem to be growing a bit. Want to test your own green thumb?
However, if you're looking for authentic pesto, the kind made from basil grown under the Genoa sun, then you're facing increased prices or even shortages of the stuff. The area of northern Italy was destroyed by unseasonable hailstorms, leaving 35 producers affected and about $6.5 million of damages in its wake. I guess you'd expect that from hailstones "the size of tennis balls."
As Nicole already mentioned, you can get a lot of picnic mileage out of simply prepared fresh vegetables. Another way to get a salad to your picnic without the hassle of bowls, forks and dressings is just to wrap it up in a tortilla or other flat-bread. Lately I'm fond of making wraps with hummus or soft goat cheese topped with peeled carrot, cucumber, tomato, dill, spinach and lemon juice. The main thing to keep in mind is the water content of what you're wrapping. Seed things like tomatoes and cucumbers first, and if you plan on using a dressing, go easy. Bringing along a lemon to squeeze into the wraps at the last minute will help keep the tortillas dry.
It can be difficult to gauge the freshness of dried herbs simply from looking at the bottle on the rack in your spice cabinet. Ideally, you should just periodically replace the herbs in your spice cabinet as just about everything will lose flavor over time. The easiest way to see how fresh things are is to smell them. If, for example, you dried basil or rosemary has little to no scent, it is likely that it is past its prime. It could even impart a slightly musty taste to your food, as you will have to increase the amount you're using if you want to get any flavor into your dish.
The best bet if you are in doubt is to replace the product in question, either with something fresh or a fresh bottle of dried herbs. If you find that you are often replacing full jars of spices, consider switching to fresh herbs for those ingredients. There is no sense in buying a new bottle of dried rosemary/ thyme/tarragon, etc. every year when you only use it for one dish. Buy the fresh herb on that day, get a better flavor in the finished product, and don't worry about it again for another 365 days.
Bartenders don't usually use a whole range of vegetables in their mixing unless they are particularly fond of bloody marys and celery garnishes. More and more often, however, fresh herbs are cropping up in cocktails. The Seattle Times had an interesting look inside a bartender's herb garden this weekend. Herbs can generally be grown indoors and require only a small amount of care relative to maintaining a whole garden. The taste of a fresh herb is unmatched and, if you're going to be using them frequently, they are nice to have at hand without a trip to the store. Their suggested list of herbs and cocktails, which is practical for pros and weekend mixologists alike, includes:
Spearmint, for classic mojitos and anything that needs a refreshing touch.
Sage, works well with tequila and "will raise your margarita to the next level."
They also recommend cilantro and tarragon, but for me, mint or basil is a better choice for an addition to summer lemonade than cilantro, which the Times suggests. Basil, thyme, rosemary and sage can all be used in cooking, too, though I don't necessarily endorse adding spearmint to, say, a grilled chicken dish. And a word to the novice gardeners: basil grows quickly and aggressively. Fortunately, you can make a killer pesto with the leftovers.
Magnetic spice racks are certainly not a brand, spanking new innovation in storage and space-saving, but MOCHA has made one in different colors. The beauty of it is that the small containers that have see-thru tops so instead of having labels that say "rosemary" and "tarragon," you can see all your pretty herbs and spices inside. Of course, that means you have to be able to identify all your herbs and spices by sight.
Each strip holds five containers and costs £13.99. As mentioned earlier by a commenter, it would be a great gift for a graduate, pre-filled with common spices.
Have you ever stashed a Coke in the freezer, hoping to chill it quickly, then forgotten all about it, only to have it explode all over your frozen peas?
Wildcraft
According to conventional wisdom mothers have fought to get their little ones to eat veggies since before the earth was cooling. Cruciferous varieties, like broccoli and Brussels sprouts are often cited as particularly challenging. 
Using fresh herbs in your recipes is a sure way to brighten up your favorite chicken dish or add some dimension to a rice pilaf. The flavors from fresh herbs are more vivid and complex than those from dried herbs. Once way to obtain said herbs is by choosing bunches of fresh at your local market, but growing them at home is going to be more convenient and less expensive than buying them every time you need a few tablespoonfuls. These 
And no, I'm not talking about that scene in Casino Royale (those who have seen the movie will know what I'm talking about).
"Functional" foods
The nearest grocery store to my house is very convenient -- at a couple of blocks away, it wouldn't be much hassle to bike down and pick up a few things. But it's a very ordinary store as well, and doesn't always have what I might be hunting. And when it doesn't? Well, the half-hour drive downtown is usually worth it for the abundant selection of fresh fruits and veggies, but sometimes I simply don't feel up to it. So, facing up to the coming winter, I've cleared off a sunny kitchen windowsill as an ideal place to attempt to grow my own selection of herbs. And while I don't claim to have a green thumb, a couple of weeks into the experiment my little plants -- basil, oregano, sage, rosemary, and lavender (I've never cooked with this last, but it smells lovely in the kitchen) -- already seem to be growing a bit. Want to test your own green thumb?
Don't worry, you can still get fresh basil here in the US and 
It can be difficult to gauge the freshness of dried herbs simply from looking at the bottle on the rack in your spice cabinet. Ideally, you should just periodically replace the herbs in your spice cabinet as just about everything will lose flavor over time. The easiest way to see how fresh things are is to smell them. If, for example, you dried basil or rosemary has little to no scent, it is likely that it is past its prime. It could even impart a slightly musty taste to your food, as you will have to increase the amount you're using if you want to get any flavor into your dish.
Bartenders don't usually use a whole range of vegetables in their mixing unless they are particularly fond of bloody marys and celery garnishes. More and more often, however, fresh herbs are cropping up in cocktails. The 
Magnetic spice racks are certainly not a brand, spanking new innovation in storage and space-saving, but 
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
