Herbs and Spices

Whenever I eat an orange or use a lemon, I always use my microplane to grate the zest. I then put it in a small plastic container and freeze it. I always have zest for any recipe.

When I bring my groceries home, I immediately wash the chives, wrap them in a damp paper towel and place them in a large storage bag, roll them up to remove as much air

For years, I have kept small containers easily at hand in my spice cupboard, away from heat and light. But I have also kept larger amounts in a shelf in my freezer, which

I grow a lot of herbs, after I take and dry them I remove it from the branches and grind them. The jars are perfect to store it in until I want to put it in smaller jars

I got all these different leftover spices which were taking a lot of space in my tiny kitchen. So I just picked one larger spice container and dumped all other spices in it and mixed

All cooks have their own secret ways to make the dish special. This time of the year, we are using spices that may have not been even thought of in 10-12 months.

Ginger is great for your health and home. With the holidays and cold season approaching it's time to stock up on some ginger. For your winter supply of ginger, here's a

When you are chopping up hot peppers of any kind for cooking, canning, or drying, save the seeds. Separate as many as you can from the pith, but don't use the pith. Line

Paprika has always been the first spice to end up with bugs in it. If you will keep it in a jar with a tight-fitting lid in the refrigerator from the time you buy it

Here is a quick reference for making every vegetable even more delicious.

I have a lot of leftover taco seasoning packets left over from when we were always cooking Mexican. I found that if I put one package of taco seasoning into 2 cups of sour cream

The prices of some of the herbs and spices are getting way out of my budget. I started reusing my spice bottles and buying the herbs and spices in the plastic packets in the Hispanic

Easter leaves most of us with A LOT of eggs for egg salad, etc. I like to add a little flavor to mine with my dried and powdered mixed veggies from my garden.

When your salt shaker doesn't want to work for you, you can solve the problem by adding dry rice in with the salt. This way your salt won't ball up in little balls. I

Recycle those bigger shaker bottles that spices come in. I reuse them and fill with cinnamon sugar or flour. It is so much handier to have one bottle to grab

To prevent heartburn from garlic, slice garlic in half lengthwise, you will find a "root" in the middle which often has some green color on the ends. Remove the root, and

When great garlic begins to go soft in storage, it's time to make garlic powder. To prepare this multipurpose seasoning from scratch, first peel the garlic cloves. Then cut them into

To get a good start on peeling a whole head of garlic; separate it into individual cloves and put the cloves in a Mason jar (or any container with a tight-fitting lid).

Don't you just hate it when you are ready to prepare something special for the holidays and realize that you don't have ALL the ingredients? Well, this happened to me

Grate lemon peel, lime peel, and orange peel when you buy those fruits on sale or any time. Allow the peel to dry on waxed paper. When fully dry, store in glass jars and label.

Steeping basil in olive oil in a glass jar is a good way to make a good addition to sauces and soups. Add dried tomatoes, and top with a garlic clove. This sounds

Because dried out vanilla beans are nearly impossible to split and scrape, I store whole beans in a jar filled with vodka, bourbon or brandy. They stay soft, making it easy to scrape out

I do a lot of cooking and have always had problems with where to store my spices. My solution? Mount the spice rack on the wall

After you've taken the seeds out of your vanilla pod, place your pod in sugar. The vanilla flavor adds a nice touch to coffee, tea, and your baking.

Keep packages of French onion dip or onion soup mix in your pantry. For flavor enhancement, sprinkle a tablespoon into homemade macaroni and cheese, cooked vegetables, or add

I always have so much basil in my garden and it can turn black so fast. Here's what I do to have that garden-fresh basil flavor all year. I put fresh, cleaned basil leaves

I make almost all of my own spice, herb, and salad dressing mixes I read the ingredients on the label and reproduce it without all of the unpronounceable names added, I start

I love fresh herbs, garden grown and store bought, but I DO NOT like having to waste what isn't used. So this is what I do after cleaning and separating what is necessary for

Always store spices in a cool, dry, dark place. The rule of thumb for how long spices stay fresh is: 3 to 4 years for whole spices and seeds, 2 to 3 years for ground

Since I am the only person in my family that likes onions in my food, I use the dried onion powder in the spice section and sprinkle it on my food only. You

Store spice jars upside down so air cannot get into the bottles. Spices last so much longer when stored this way. This also works for any jarred or bottled food whether

I know pesto is traditionally basil, thyme, etc. mixed with olive oil. But the other week I had some parsley and cilantro that I knew was going to go bad by the end of the

For your cilantro to last longer, put them with the roots in a cup or container of tap water and leave it on the kitchen window sill.

Herbs and spices are expensive to buy in grocery stores. I discovered that my local natural food store sells herbs and spices in bulk and it's so much cheaper

To prevent salt from clogging with moisture, I put 1/4 teaspoon of dried parsley leaves into the salt shaker. I then add the salt. It works every time.

We like to use the sea salt and pepper grinders that are found in the grocery stores, but when I had to measure for a recipe it was awkward. One day I came up with a very

I save the little silica packages that come in bottles of vitamins and place them inside my containers of dried herbs. It really maintains their freshness for a longer period of

If you like to use freshly ground pepper, try this tip. Roast the peppercorns in a 325 degree F. oven for 10-15 minutes, or pan roast on top of the stove for about 5 minutes

Here is a new way to preserve basil from the garden for winter use without drying it. You can not freeze basil by itself because it will turn black in the freezer. You

I use fresh mint from my overgrown mint patch for air freshener. I gather a small handful and crush it up a bit, put a couple of bread ties or rubber band around it and hang

Next time you make mashed potatoes, use onion salt in place of plain salt. Really makes a difference (a very tasty one)

Cinnamon is so good in my coffee (plus nutmeg and some cocoa!) for a designer coffee taste-a-like. But one of my cinnamon spice jars came without a shaker on top and