Lovin' the reduced asile....

Sorry - still busy and even more so with the Olympics now on the telly!  Have had loads of things at work to accomplish and home has been a whirlwind of activity which I cannot discuss just yet but soon!  Nothing bad just cautious before I say it is a fait accompli.

So I have lately been finding herbs reduced - parsley, lemon thyme, lemon grass stalks, coriander.  As I've said before I go in spurts of something all the time then never.  I know weird!  So what to do with them and those lovely big bunches of them?

Well I did a bit of a test on them as the one I had gotten I couldn't use all of the parsley I got reduced so chopped it up and put into a small baggie I had from home - they are half the size of a sandwich bag - so cute and great for those little some thing's that are too big for a container or larger baggie.  Froze the parsley and used in a sauce a few weeks later.

Verdict?  Not a lot of difference in taste (it had lost a bit of it's punch but not enough that I didn't know it was parsley by it's taste) and excellent for when you want a bit of something to add to that sauce.  Now I've tried a few different ones and thought I'd report back what ones seems to freeze well.  Coriander, parsley, lemon grass stalks (for those lovely doodle noodles as I call them!), and lemon thyme so far all have worked out quite well.  Chiles not so great and mint really did lose it's zing (not my words as I hate it but J loves it and he could hardly taste it in the final product).

I know I've seen all these fresh herbs in the freezer section and I must admit that I looked at them but they stayed there for the price they wanted.  And I've never understood the garlic thing - it's really not that hard to peel and it is nothing like the 'real' thing.  So why bother?

I have thought of trying to capture the flavour in an ice cube tray but that will have to wait until I have a bigger freeze - cannot spare the room for that at the moment.  Unlike American fridges, British ones are in a whole other class!

And when I say reduced herbs - I'm talking less than 25p for a huge bunch of corriander or parsley - otherwise it's not worth my time.  I'm keen to try others but obviously only when found reduced so it's a wait and see but hope this is useful.

Next posting will be the bed - sorry - haven't as yet downloaded the pictures from the camera nor the ones from the Olympic torch that went past my work a few weeks ago.  Saw the opening ceremonies and really liked it.

How does your herb garden grow?

Well it has been a while without posting but time flies when you are so busy. I have a few pictures though to keep you interested. I took a few of the herbs that I planted. However, since these were taken they have grown mighty big. I have already begun to harvest them and use them.

This one is coriander which I love to use in just about everything!

This is my parsley which again is used everywhere imaginable. They rather look the same but they are different!

I have also sown a few more since taking these. I planted chervil, lovage, basil (two kinds), and some oregano. The lovage however, is not co-operating and refuses to grow. I will give it another week and then pick something else. I'm not sure why the seeds didn't take.

Anyway, that's all for the moment...more soon!

Busy Bee....Buzz...Buzz

Well it seems life as always is on the super-fast speed. Why is it that things always just go by so fast but when you are in a meeting it goes so slow?

Yesterday was non-stop as I had to run to the hospital to have blood drawn that I couldn't have done at the clinic. What makes it bad was the doctor should have told me it needed to be done there. Instead I made an appointment at the clinic which wasted money (phone call to make appointment), and time (clinic's and mine). As they say 'It's annoyin'.

Weather was just lovely today but hear it will soon go back to cold. I only wish it would make up its mind and go one way or the other but the roller coaster ride is doing my head in.

Finally got around to beginning my herbs from seeds. I hopefully soon will have Italian flat leaf parsley, coriander, lovage, and chervil. Unfortunately, now I need more potting soil! I have never tried lovage before nor chervil - both I got as organic seeds from some place on-line and it will be interesting to see what they taste like. haven't a clue what I'll use them in but I shall find something that you can be sure of.

Off to find some pudding post dinner - perhaps some crepes. So easy to make and wonderful with just about anything but as usual I prefer the simple things - vanilla sugar or chocolate spread. Lovely....