Under the Texan Sun

The air was fragrant with a thousand

trodden aromatic herbs, with fields of lavender,

and with the brightest roses blushing in tufts....

-William Cullen Bryant

I decided early yesterday morning to begin drying some of the herbs I'm harvesting hand-over-fist around Freeman House. It was a lovely way to occupy a few minutes... walking through the dew, quietly snipping herbs, dropping them in the basket, listening to the birds and the breeze. If I squinted hard enough I could almost imagine I was a young Diane Lane in Tuscany. Almost. [Sigh]

Anyway, I brought in some Greek Oregano, regular Oregano, Sage, Thyme, Rosemary, Parsley, Basil and Lavender and went to work filling the kitchen sink with water. Then I played, pretty much, sloshing and swishing the green stems through the water, letting the dirt whirl away and settle at the bottom of the sink.

For those gardener/cooks out there: how do you dry your herbs? I know there are several ways folks swear by, but I usually hang mine upside down in a paper bag and let them dry that way. I decided yesterday, though, upon the advice of a friend, to try sun-drying the sage and oregano. Does it make much difference? I'm not sure. All I know is that while visitors had to step over rack after rack of cheesecloth-covered herbs to get to the kitchen door, the herbs were dry and crunchy by the end of the day. Texas' fierce August sun wouldn't have it any other way.

Uh-hum. Point being, I figure clipping and drying herbs now will yield plenty of spice blends to hand out as holiday gifts. (Consider this your fair Christmas warning.) While in Dallas recently I loaded up on these glass spice bottles, and plan to fill some of them with these mixtures:

Freeman House Chicken/Fish Blend

2 T. dried basil
2 T. dried oregano
1 T. dried thyme
½ t. dried, grated lemon peel
1 t. celery seed
2 T. onion powder
1 t. black pepper

And, of course, this one, for all things pasta and tomato-y that come out of the kitchen, including Italian herb bread...

Freeman House Italian Blend

2 T. dried basil
2 T. dried oregano
2 T. dried thyme
1 T. dried sage
1 T. garlic powder
1 t. black pepper

I'm also putting together some bath herbs... you know... tying them up in little bags so when guests come they can take their glass of wine or hot tea to the clawfoot tub, settle in, and soak in the smells of homegrown lavender and chamomile and mint....

Hmm. Never, in a million years, would I have guessed that at 28 years old I'd be drying herbs and putting spice blend recipes on a blog like a little old lady. (And teaching knitting classes? I'm halfway to becoming Miss Marple already!) But just so you know, I'm taking off for a mountain adventure in Mexico on Sunday and will be out all next week. So before I go, these herbs really need to get dried.

Besides, it's actually kind of fun to watch your hard work sitting all labeled and dried in shiny spice bottles and sweet bath bags. Just goes to show, I guess, how life really can be terrific under the Texan sun.