How To Dry Herbs

How to Dry Herbs and Retain Their Quality

Getting herbs from supermarket are not advised, since they have stored there for long time. It is advised to cultivate them in your garden and drying them personally. In this case, you will obtain the highest quality of herbs.

Considering there are many ways of drying herbs, the best of them is to dry them in absolute air. This way assists in maintaining the basic contents of herbs like natural oil. This way of drying is advised also for some herbs that have not high moisture content, such as bay, oregano and thyme.

How to Air Dry Herbs

It can cut herbs in the mid morning, as soon as confirming that the dew has dried. It must remove any insect damage or disease leaves. Herbs can put under cool water. Four or five small bundles of the herbs may be made. They may tied with string or using a band of rubber. Herbs bundles can be hanged in a ventilated place and left to be dried.

To use paper bags in drying herbs is a good method. The paper may be punched firstly. Put the small bundles of herbs into the paper bags and hang them. A couple of weeks later, you can check your herbs and see that they are dried completely.

Way of Drying Herbs with a Dehydrator

In fact the drying of herbs that include more moistures such as mint, chives or basil, will be better if a food dehydrator or freezing are used. Getting a dehydrator is a good way of drying, since it is faster and easier way. It maintains the high quality of herbs due to the controlling of temperature and air touring. Herbs may be placed after rinsing, in a layer on the dehydrator trays. Times of drying are different, according to contents of moisture, leaves’ thickness, and quantities of drying per a time. Considering that herbs may be dried as soon as leaves become crisp and stems brittle.

Best Way to Store Dried Herbs

Store herbs after having dried, is important in order to maintain their freshness. There are many methods to store herbs, such as small plastic bags or jars. It must avoid light and heat. As soon as learning the ways of drying herbs, it will be considered as the first step towards being skillful cookers.

Setting Your Holiday Table

Halloween has come and gone, we’ve made it through another big election, and Thanksgiving is now just weeks away. Now is a good time to begin planning what you’ll be serving, who you’ll be entertaining, and evaluating your kitchenware and tableware situation.

Some people have quite an extravagant dinner, setting their table with fine linens and their best silver, crystal, and dinnerware. Others have a more casual affair with a lot of potluck dinner dishes and simple festive touches. Whatever category or style you might be planning for dinner, here are some basic tips to help any holiday event go a little smoother.

There are a lot of different versions when it comes to setting the table. For instance, if you’re serving both red and white wines, it’s nice to have different glasses but not necessary, especially if space is a consideration. It’s also recommended that you include a water glass for each guest as well. Place the wineglass just above the knife with the water glass just above the wineglass on a diagonal towards the center of the plate.

With the plate denoting the center of each place setting, try to allow for about 20 inches of space for each guest if you can. You’ll want to put the spoons and knives on the right-hand side of the plate, sharp edge turned towards the plate, with the forks placed on the left side. If you’re planning on adding bread plates, these are generally situated above and to the left of the fork.

While tradition seems to recommend seating your guests in a “boy-girl-boy-girl” style, you’ll find this rule is not always easy to follow. You can keep it in mind for the fun of it, especially if you’re creating place cards or unique decorations at each setting – it will surely liven up the dinner party atmosphere.

Remember most of all that your holiday dinner will be more enjoyable for you and your guests when you get some of the small items handled early. As soon as you have a pretty accurate head count, why not begin writing up the menu and see if you can’t take care of some of the purchases early before the holiday rush. Allow for extra servings in case of a few last minute guests or just for some yummy leftovers. Browse through your kitchenware and glassware to make sure you have a complete set of everything you need to create that perfect holiday table for you and your guests to celebrate in style.