Herb question

[mrissa]

So I went out to harvest the herbs before it gets frosty enough to kill them all. Ohhhhh goodness. If it had been the basil, we'd be in business: tons of fresh basil means tons of fresh pesto. But the basil seems to have died off on its own, along with the cilantro, which I also could have used. Instead it's oregano and sage and chives.

Help! What does one do with a metric ton of oregano? sage? chives? And is there any point to fresh lavender, or should I go with the "it smelled pretty and now it's dead; such is the way of the world" attitude?

And a word to the wise: sage goes nuts in Minnesota, apparently. Now you know.

Comments

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

lavender's delicious on turkey, chicken, and game, although I believe you only use the flowers.

It's one of the foundation herbs in "herbes de provence"

[wilfulcait.livejournal.com]

If you dry it and put it in sachets, it makes your drawers smell nice.

It's also good in madeleines (the cookies).

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

How good of you to be concerned with the smell of my drawers.

Oh. In my dresser. Right.

Uhm...

[ammitbeast.livejournal.com]

Oregano dime bags for the gullible? (Just kidding.)

I like the sachets idea, sounds nice. However, some sachets last a long time (I finally threw out a two-year-old one), so you might end up giving away lots of gift sachets. Or just give away bottles of oregano seasoning. But be sure to tell people, "It's for seasoning -- don't smoke it." (Yes, I know -- typical Californian joke.)

I also recall that lavender is used by some people during yoga meditation, and some massage practitioners use it to scent the massage room. (Guilty -- typical Northern Californian answer.)

Where is that icon picture from? Sort of reminds me of the statues in front of the Egyptian Museum in San Jose, but I don't think that's it.

Re: Uhm...

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Actually that's exactly where it's from. I went there for my birthday not this last year but the one before. It seemed appropriate for questions.

Re: Uhm...

[ammitbeast.livejournal.com]

Wow... guess I'll have to check that closer next time I'm near the museum.

Yes, a sphinx-like statue is very appropriate for questions.

give it away

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

There are people (probably including me) who would be happy to take some of it off your hands.

And it's possible that some food shelves would accept it.

[flewellyn.livejournal.com]

You could donate a lot of that stuff to food pantries. Trust me when I say that they WOULD appreciate it.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Some of them really, really, really appreciate fresh foods. Others won't take it at all. I haven't heard much of a middle ground.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

You can dry it and give it to your friends. You can get pill bottles from the pharmacy to put it in.

Hanging it in bunches in a non-damp place will allow it to dry very well.

K.

[jenett]

Sage makes decent tea, if you like that. (I do) or can be dried for use in smudging spaces for magical work. (I know you don't care, but you may have friends who would find it handy.) Also good in stuffings, chicken, etc. Soup. Roast potatos.

Lavender is fantastic dried. You can throw some in some muslin and throw it in the bath, use it for a hair rinse (you can do this with tea, too), add it to tea, put it in drawers (already saw that conversation).

If you have lots you don't know what to do with, I go through tons of it, and will happily give it a good home.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Tons of which? I will see what I have when I've got it all used or dried, and I will definitely let you know.

[jenett]

Lavender, by preference. (I have a fair bit of sage, and I use less of it.)

[(Anonymous)]

You can actually make pesto with oregano, sage, and chives. I can't attest to how they taste other than sage pesto, which I have tried and enjoyed. If you google for oregano pesto you will find links to a lot of recipes for it. Same goes for sage and chives. I also just googled chives recipes and found a large list of different items to try cooking with them.

As for lavender, I have had it in several baked goods including lemon pound cake and sugar cookies and I like it in them very much. If you're considering this, you will probably want to give it a small trial go because while I like it, I have to say that David was not particularily fond of the flavor and it does have a distinct taste.

At any rate, take care and I'll talk to you soon.

Heathah

[wshaffer.livejournal.com]

Eggs scrambled with lots and lots of sage and a bit of goat cheese or feta are yummy.

I second the recommendation of sage tea - I've never made my own, but Republic of Tea's blackberry-sage tea is one of my favorites. I'll have to try mixing some sage with a good loose black or green tea, and see how it turns out.

Oregano says "tomato sauce" to me. You could probably make a huge batch and freeze some of it.

You can make a pretty nice dip by mixing chopped chives with plain yogurt or sour cream (maybe with some other herbs thrown in as well).

[mamapduck.livejournal.com]

One dries it and gives it to people for gifts.

Lavenders main point is to be dried out and used as sachets or bath salts. Bath salts a glamorous and easy. Get those little filmy bags that they use for wedding favors and fill them with rock salt and some dry lavender. Tie them tightly. The whole thing gets chucked into a bath and it's heavenly.

[sculpin.livejournal.com]

This is a month late, I know, but when I've had armloads of sage and lavender that I couldn't use or even give away, I've steeped the herbs in cheap white vinegar to make an herb-scented cleaning solution. It cuts the vinegary smell quite nicely, I think. (I'm not particularly smell-oriented, though, so ymmv.)

You can also try rooting some clippings to give to your friends.

If you're non-vegetarian, try stuffing a chicken with a metric ton of sage and roasting it. The flavor's amazing.