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!
Alas, 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.
Here we have my er, “harvest”. See those little blooms? They are very sweet and tasty.
The 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.
And when it gets all dried up and crinkly I take it off the stems and chop up the leaves.
And the dried goes into my designated basil jar. I haven’t bought any in years and mine is so much fresher.
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.
18 comments
Comment by Mr. Corvette on September 25, 2009 at 6:42 pm
To the self-proclaimed Queen of Basil, I have a question. Is this herb (or is that erb?) pronounced “bay-zul” or baa-zul”? This quandry has plagued me for a number of years, and now I am confident I will finally get the definitive answer to my puzzlement from you, Oh HIgh and Exalted Herb Mistress.
Comment by Krissa on September 25, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Er, that’s Erb Mistress and Exalted Bay-SIL Purveyor to you, sir! 😉
Comment by Aunt Becky on September 25, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I would marry Basil if I could. I can’t grow herbs, instead I focus my energy on stuff that doesn’t really do much besides sit there and look pretty, you know, like my zillion orchids and roses that, well, could probably kill someone. Seriously, my roses are like attack roses.
.-= Aunt Becky´s last blog ..As Thick As Blood =-.
Comment by Chief on September 25, 2009 at 8:36 pm
So, Im not much of a green thumb. Are you sure i wouldn’t kill it?
.-= Chief´s last blog ..My Conversation with Ms. Lucifer =-.
Comment by Karen on September 25, 2009 at 8:44 pm
And this is why you’re much smarter than I am. I’ve been growing basil for a whopping 3 years now and have yet to realize that I could bring it inside in winter, or dry it when it gets old. Guess what I’ll be doing with my basil tomorrow? Oh, yeh. I am.
.-= Karen´s last blog ..Well Aren’t We Just All Slap Happy Today =-.
Comment by noe noe girl on September 26, 2009 at 6:56 am
You go Mrs GreenJeans!
Comment by Simply Savvy Girl on September 26, 2009 at 7:56 am
SSG LOVES that idea! She may need you to write a savvy guest post! Have you been able to keep herbs alive in the winter? My kitchen window faces south and I was thinking of trying it this winter.
.-= Simply Savvy Girl´s last blog ..Simple Saturday Spent … =-.
Comment by witchypoo on September 26, 2009 at 8:38 am
My basil always got et by bugs.
It doesn’t seem happy in this climate.
.-= witchypoo´s last blog ..Mah Drawahs =-.
Comment by Nan on September 26, 2009 at 12:12 pm
I bought a basil plant in my Very First Grocery Shop upon moving in here. We are eating it all up, yum yum! There may be nothing left to dry… My mum plants basil HEDGES, (and that’s BAH-zil, dahling!) and of course it never gets cold there. Mine is on the kitchen windowsill next to a bright yellow orchid, where I can luuurve them all day and the frosty nights won’t get them.
I also bought cilantro, and it started to DIE so I chopped it all up and used it in a fishy thing. Yum. But why, cilantro? What did I do wrong?
.-= Nan´s last blog ..Quote Of The Day =-.
Comment by Mither on September 26, 2009 at 5:46 pm
My mother, Krissa’s grandmother, had the greenest thumb ever with my daughter a close second! Mine is brown. I can’t grow basil. I can’t grow thyme I can only grow rosemary and that is a very sad testimony.
Comment by Krissa on September 26, 2009 at 6:00 pm
@Mither
You grew me. 😉
Comment by Ree on September 27, 2009 at 9:08 am
Well, look at you, all “How to” and shit. 😉
Have you grown lemon basil? It smells wonderful.
.-= Ree´s last blog ..Haiku Friday – Written late on Thursday night =-.
Comment by Hyphen Mama on September 27, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Now you’re making me all jealous that I’ve failed to even TRY to grow basil. I tried catnip this summer and couldn’t get it to dry out nicely so I gave up.
.-= Hyphen Mama´s last blog ..Another unfortunate naming dilemma…. =-.
Comment by Kori on September 28, 2009 at 7:41 am
The plants will also keep growing in a sunny window, but in MY experience, you should start again from seed in the winter, by the sunny window; for some reason the already-established plants don’t do so well that way. I have never dried it, and I don’t know why because i, too, love bay-zil; nothing better than a sandwich with mozzarella and hard salami and a little olive oil and some fresh basil…
.-= Kori´s last blog ..And this is what makes me happy… =-.
Comment by grandma j on September 28, 2009 at 10:36 am
You make me feel so inadaquate! And I probably can’t even spell it. I should probably try growing something because I love herbs and spices…including basil!
.-= grandma j´s last blog .. =-.
Comment by JennyMac on September 28, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I love it too and am growing it at home as well! I will now steal your idea for the winter. I havent tried drying it but I will be testing it out next month. Its still 80 here.
.-= JennyMac´s last blog ..Young Adult Wasteland: School is now in session =-.
Comment by mike on October 1, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I am currently watching the “do it yourself/ even a child can do it / seriously, how can you fail at this” potted basil and parsley wither and die in their little pots of peat, only an inch and a half long (and it’s been growing for three months). Clearly I have messed something up.
But yours looks nice.
.-= mike´s last blog ..Rum Runners Relay =-.
Comment by habanerogal on October 3, 2009 at 3:02 am
My fave way to keep the basil lovefest going all winter is to puree it with some olive oil and freeze the sludge in thin sheets. It retains more of the fresh-like flavour. When I run out I just go to the local Vietnamese grocery since they go through tons of it in their cooking and sell it for way cheap compared to the regular or gourmet shops
.-= habanerogal´s last blog ..My TV husband this year will be… =-.
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