This week, the giveaway is simply about sharing a pair of Fresh Herb Keepers that landed in my possession last summer. I was doing a canning demo at a local farmers market, funded by one of Ball Canning’s Discover You Can grants.
In addition to giving this particular market a little bit of money to help with canning education, they’d also sent a bunch of materials, including cutting boards, handled drinking jars, coupons, and several boxes of these herb keepers. The organizer had given away most of the gear but there were still a few of these herb keepers left after the crowds has dispersed, and so I went home with a couple, always intending to share them here.
Now, months later, here we are. I have two of these very clever herb keepers to give away. They make it possible to vastly extend the lifespan of your fresh herbs, which is a nice thing. Essentially, it’s an updated version of the glass of water and plastic bag approach that my grandma (and probably yours) used to use, only this one doesn’t leak all over the place if you jostle the glass.
Here’s how to enter:
- Leave a comment on this post share one way you’ve been incorporating herbs (either fresh or dried) into your cooking lately.
- Comments will close at 11:59 pm east coast time on Saturday, March 7, 2015. The winner will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog by Sunday, March 8, 2015.
- Giveaway is open to US residents and Canadian residents.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left on the blog, I cannot accept submissions via email.
Disclosure: I got these herb keepers for free, but no one is really sponsoring this giveaway. The Ball Canning folks don’t know I’m doing it. I just thought I’d share the wealth.
We use basil with our vegetables – mainly broccoli. 🙂
I just used the last dried rosemary from this year in a quinoa dish. I wish had dried more at the end of the fall… some years my rosemary has made it through the winter, but not this time!
Cilantro, mint, or parsley mixed into yogurt with cucumber, chickpeas, and raisins. So good!
Fresh herbs are a great way to add that extra zap of flavor to your dish.
The only herb to survive the winter (and the cats) is my rosemary plant – I’ve been using it in all my roasted vegetables.
I like to use herbs in almost everything. I will even add a dash of basil and cilantro to jarred spaghetti sauce to add a little oomph of flavor.
I’m all about herb salts lately
So, does this work?
I’ve been using cilantro in a beef and white bean soup. Thanks!
We use lots of cilantro, today I put it in my Chinese chicken salad!!!
I use a variety of herbs when I cook most of my meals. I use mainly dry but would love to use fresh herbs more often.
Cilantro! I use it everywhere. I don’t have a huge budget for fresh herbs so I find that just focusing on one has made it much more economical for me to have fresh herbs in lots of dishes. Plus, it’s great for a huge variety of cuisines – Mexican, Indian, and Thai… the list goes on.
Using dried basil and oregano on homemade pizza crust!
Right now it’s a lot of onion & garlic greens in eggs and such, while waiting for the other herbs to come back to the point where I don’t feel bad trimming them for the kitchen. Out in the Pacific Northwest, we didn’t really get any snow. It also hasn’t rained a whole lot, plus we’ve had lots of unseasonably dry and warm weather, so the plants aren’t getting quite as much water as they’re used to. Mix this with some more typically cold weather, and the plants are really confused! My mint is *just* starting to come back, the rosemary is okay-ish but not great right now, the parsley and catnip are just starting to show some bits of green, and the purple sage is big but really bland right now.
I made chicken stock over the weekend. I usually add fresh sprigs of thyme and parsley, but those are not available from my garden in March in Chicago so I used dried instead. It turned out great!
I use dried herbs all the time (love Penzeys!) and am trying to grow my own fresh herbs. They add so much!
I’m trying to cook more healthy, but live 37 miles to a store to buy herbs. The fresh herb keeper would really help keeping them fresh. I live in SE Idaho & we don’t have fresh herbs in our planter container for a long while, yet. Would like help on ways to use herbs more.
Fresh parsley in salads and fish cakes – any bit of green this time of year makes me feel happy. I’ve also been adding a few mint leaves to my herbal tea.
Cilantro in Thai, Chinese and mexican style cooking, and in salads.
Fresh herbs are my preference … basil is a staple in our house.
I have been bugging my Hubby for fresh herbs in pots for the winter and he came thru this year!
I have been using fresh chives, fresh parsley and fresh cilantro in lots of my recipes.
Herb dumplings and biscuits are favs and fresh herbs a particularly good on a lot of my crockpot soups and stews…added right at the end to keep the flavors fresh!
I have been using basil in everything lately.
I use herbs on a whole roasted chicken.
I use lots of cilantro, basil and chives in my soups and breads this cold winter.
I love using herbs in my scrambled eggs! Lately I’ve added cilantro and topped them with some salsa and avocado.
I’ve started putting a lot more oregano into my Mexican dishes lately. I love the depth it adds to the warm spices.
i grow herbs on a window sill near my counter so it is east to just grab some while I am cooking
I’m using them more in salads, rather than just using them in recipes where they are a main flavor note…I tend to forget they are so nutritious, and I hate to see them go to waste!
I’ve been putting rosemary on my pizzas lately, and recently realized I have been way under-utilizing tarragon. I’ve never kept it in stock, but now I keep adding it to everything!
We grow and use thyme in many recipes, but especially on oven-roasted butternut squash. Brush with olive oil, add a sprinkle of thyme and a little sea salt, bake for 40 mins… delicious!
In the midst of a Minnesota winter (and without anything growing indoors), it’s been mostly dried herbs around here. But last week I bought a bundle of cilantro and parsley for a couple recipes and I’ve been scrambling to use them in as many things as possible before they go bad! I miss that freshness. A reminder to get my garden seeds going!
I have been learning how to use pineapple sage in jelly. Yummy!!!!
I chop and freeze fresh parsley every fall. I tightly pack a freezer canning jar. I pull out and tip jar and tickle out the amount I need , adding to soups and stews mostly. I use at least once to twice a week. I usually have enough to freeze for my daughter-in-law and her mom too . Great addition in winter . I add at the end of cooking to hold color and flavor . Thanks for this great offer.
I always grow fresh herbs though out the winter to brighten pasta dishes and pizza
I’ve been using spearment from my CSA infused into my water.
I’m not entering the contest because I already own this, but I just wanted to add that this thing rocks! It honestly keeps herbs for WAY longer than the glass of water in fridge or damp paper towel methods. It was a wedding gift, and I highly value it in the winter when my herb garden is more of a brown patch of sadness. Great giveaway!
We love using rosemary, thyme and sage with our roasted chicken and turkey. I think I probably use herbs in at least one recipe a day if not more. I love fresh herbs.
We use cilantro in everything! It just adds tons of flavor.
I’ve been making a nice pregnancy tea!
I’ve been using “detox”-assisting herbs in my smoothies! Looking forward to growing my mint for summer tea.
I love using fresh rosemary wherever I can. I have two giant plants that travel in- and outdoors depending on the season. If nothing else, I love running my hands along the branches and getting that fresh herb smell! But I’ve been really loving rosemary in roasted chicken with some fresh lemon. A classic.
I love using herbs in all my cooking. I like being able to go outside and pick thyme, rosemary, and sage and use it when cooking meat. Or cilantro and basil in soup. I just love herbs.
I grow herbs in my garden, then dry them for use in cooking throughout the year.
I use the thyme and oregano I grow in my garden in soups and pastas – I dry them to store over the winter.
I have been chopping or pureeing any herbs left over from cooking and freezing them in EVOO. Easy to snip off a piece to add to soup, rice, etc.
I mostly use fresh basil, but am looking forward to this years garden, would like to plant oregano to use in my home canning 🙂 I use oregano, cilantro, parsley dried all the time as well in pasta or salad dressings
When I need a certain herb for a recipe, I find that I would rather purchase the entire plant usually sold in the produce department. This gives me my need for the recipe, saves money in the long run because I have future plants.
Have lots of dried herbs & frozen in oil herbs from the garden. So they get used in everything from sauces to veggies!
I grow my herbs fresh on the porch in the summer, and then try to bring in the house as many as I can in the winter. My basil didn’t make it this year, but my parsley is going strong and big!
This past year I started growing fresh parsley and have been adding it to a lot of my cooking. It really brightens up the food!
Fresh rosemary on roasted potatoes and in stews, basil and thyme in soup.
Vinaigrettes, which you could you use on much more than salad. In the summer, I like lemon-basil.
i love adding sprigs of fresh rosemary & thyme to potatoes that have been cut into chunks, tossed with olive oil, ground pepper & salt, then roasted. So easy, fast & yummy!
I’ve been playing with different herbs in America’s Test Kitchen’s braised red potato recipe because I’ve never had thyme on hand when making it. Fresh rosemary works well, as does Sunny Paris seasoning from The Spice House.
I’d love to have this herb keeper because I’ve been buying cilantro to make miso soup, but I don’t really know what else to do with it since I’m not really a big fan of cilantro.
For some reason (8 feet of snow, perhaps?), I’ve been on a parsley streak lately — encouraging spring? Fresh Breath? Retro? Who knows!
I like chopped basil in scrambled eggs. Parsley and coriander work too.
This summer we out our old house on the market and I planted a big herb garden there in one of the beds. Throughout the summer I went over there every week to harvest herbs, and then dried some and froze some in water and olive oil. I’ve been using a lot of chopped basil in olive oil for pasta lately.I use the Ball silicone cube things to freeze them and then put the frozen cubes in gallon-size freezer bags. I’ve also been using a lot of chopped parsley in olive oil over couscous.
I’ve been cooking up my summer canned marinara sauce and adding fresh basil, parsley and oregano. Can’t wait to plant the annual herbs for this summer’s herb garden.
I used fresh thyme and rosemary in a frittata with asparagus. Yummy!
Thank you for your blog ! I always find wonderful info and recipes to try.
I add herbs to just about everything I make to create depth of flavor. reduce salt and sweeteners.
I have fresh sage, rosemary, lemongrass and tarragon that I dug up to overwinter in the house. (I am proud of my rosemary. This is the 2nd year for this plant! In the past I could keep one going until about March and it would die.)
Lemongrass with fresh ginger in homemade chicken soup is yummy on these very cold days!
I purchase fresh dill, mint and cilantro weekly to add to everything from scrambled eggs to sardines on sourdough.
At the end of summer I dehydrate herbs from my dads garden. Mostly Basil, Oregano & Parsley. I use it all winter long in my Italian sauce & meatballs. Also use in soups. Makes everything taste so yummy!
At the end of summer I dehydrate herbs from my dads garden. Mostly basil, oregano & parsley. I use them all winter long in my Italian sauce & meatballs. Also use in soups. It makes everything taste so yummy!
I love to add fresh cilantro to almost everything!
We did an herb garden last year for the first time and I have been missing it this winter! The fresh herbs were wonderful for cooking and canning. We tried infused oil but it didn’t turn out so well. I can’t wait to try again this summer!
At this time of year, I’m using last fall’s dried herbs for cozy cups of tea.
Sadly I haven’t used many herbs lately because I can’t stand buying them when not in season. However my husband recently made a beautiful pork roast wrapped in bacon with some fresh rosemary that was to die for!
Cilantro for lots of Mexican inspiration lately.
I’ve been taking a cue from Vietnamese food and using whole sprigs of herbs in salads
i LOVE Mountain Rose Herbs & get tons of stuff from them….I will never go back to the expensive, tasteless, dried up, chemical-laden TINY bottles of so-called-spices at the grocery store again!!! So if you buy spices/herbs by the pound…you gotta have mason jars!!!
I use herbs in cooking on a regular basis.
i love using herbs in my cooking. During the summer months I always have fresh basil plant and chive plants. I like to freeze dry the chives to use through out the winter months.
I have been loving cilantro lately…on tacos, in soup, on my eggs..yummm
I use them when I juice/nutrabullet my fruis and vegetables
I add more to pasta.
Recently I have been making compound butter with dried parsley, garlic, and paprika. A great way to finish grilled meat, especially steak. I have also been using fresh parsley and basil to recreate my buddy’s grandmother’s red gravy for pasta.
I have been cooking a lot with Basil. I put it in marinara, scrambled eggs, & on grilled cheese sandwiches!
Coriander or parsley at least once a week to keep things fresh during this long Toronto winter.
We cook with fresh parsley and Basil often.I love this!
I have had to switch up my cooking to not include as much sodium so I have incorporated fresh herbs into dishes to brighten up the flavor.
I have a herb garden outside in the spring and summer and one inside my home the rest of the year. I use herbs like Thyme and Basil in all of my pasta sauces. I also use Mint in my salads and in my fresh vegetable dishes.
I have been adding fresh herbs whenever possible into my salads.
I keep pots of herbs: basil, chives, oregano. I use those fresh. Other herbs I’ve dried from my garden.
Thanks for the contest.
With homemade Pestos! I use to be so scared about making these myself, until i finally tried a few months back, and there’s no way possible my household can go back to meals without!!
I love to use fresh herbs when I am making omeletes/soup/roasting chicken….anytime really!
I use parsley in almost everything and love to use fresh basil in all my tomato based recipes. I use dried herbs in the winter months when fresh is not available or too expensive.
I grow a lot of my own herbs and put them in my chicken dishes.
My husband loves using herbs. He has been experimenting a lot lately Thank you
i put parsley in everything, yes everything
It’s a joy to cut fresh herb sprigs from my tiny herb garden and use them in my cooking.
I use cilantro when making fajitas and tacos.
I live adding fresh herbs to my Irish stew that I make/
This time of year it’s dried herbs – in pasta sauce, rice, soup…
Love to use herbs in bread and pasta recipes!
I’ve been adding herbs to my omelettes in the morning.
I have been a long time user of herbs, both fresh and dried. I use them in everything I can!
I’m incorporating more fresh herbs into my homemade salad dressings.
I love incorporating cilantro into my Indian and Mexican inspired meals. I grow some in a pot near my door.
During the summer I grow basil, make pesto and freeze it. This time of year I can dig out frozen pesto and add it to soup or a frittata for a taste of summer.
I use herbs in everything – pasta, eggs, soups, etc!
I love using fresh herbs in the summer. I pull double teaching duty the rest of the year, so I haven’t had much of a chance to use it lately.
I take fresh basil and chop it up with onions and garlic to cook with my linguine.