Hi there peeps!  I am going to give you the inside scoop on something that is very very high on the HalfAsstic lurve, lurve, LURVE scale.   Basil.  I do like basil.  A lot.  I love how it tastes in everything.  I love how fresh and  slightly peppery it is.  I love how it compliments almost anything you put it in.  (OK, granted, not ice cream) I love how pretty it is growing and blooming.  I love how tasty the fresh blossoms are when I just snatch one tiny little bloom right off the plant and pop it into my mouth.  I love how easy it is to grow and the fact that I can do it with very little effort.  I do, and when it gets kind of large and rangy I cut it back and hang up the excess to dry so I can chop it up and refill my spice jar.  Free!  And fresh and tasty!

DSC00996Alas, soon I will have to lug this thing inside and try to keep it alive all winter.  While it is coolish outside it doesn’t do well.

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Here we have my er, “harvest”.  See those little blooms?  They are very sweet and tasty.

DSC01003The people who lived in this house before us stuck up these tacky black plastic hooks in the window.  They probably hung dishrags or potholders on them.  I have a better idea!  This is where the basil dries.

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And when it gets all dried up and crinkly I take it off the stems and chop up the leaves.

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And the dried goes into my designated basil jar.  I haven’t bought any in years and mine is so much fresher.

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Of course nothing tastes like fresh!  But, when there just is no fresh, I have no worries because I have the best and freshest dried there is.

I lurves me some basil.