Barfday Blogging

I would like to start out by saying thanks to all the well wishes on my birthday (and during my pre-birthday weekend).  I appreciate every single person who took time out of their day to contact me and especially those who ran out and bought me amazon gift cards to support my kindle habit.  Oh wait, no one did that? Eh, maybe next year! ;) Kidding.  Anyway, it allowed me to get in touch with people I haven't spoken to in a while.  



My girlfriend Vikki is a perfect example. We have known each other since we were 10/11 (gosh are you that young in 4th grade? and has it really been 18 years?!?!?!) and throughout the years our friendship has never stopped evolving.  It is always fun to see how when we haven't spoken in a while we find we've ended up interested in the same things anyway.  Today, during a birthday monopolizing conversation (she's such a hogger!) we started discussing dehydrating herbs.  It reminded me that I had just recently done that very thing, and actually thought to photograph the process for a blog post.  I subsequently forgot to post about it. Duh! 

Anyway, without further ado....

The Process

My oregano, parsley, and basil plants were running amuck and I realized that it was time for a trim. (displayed in the photograph in that order)

Then, a good rinse and a thorough (but gentle) pat dry.

Next, lay them out in a single layer on your trays.  No need to remove the stems, the leaves will be easier to remove after everything has dried.

About 4 hours at 125 degrees (check on yours throughout the process because baseline humidity where you live makes a difference in temperature and duration) and voila!

I stripped the leaves off by pinching the stems right above where I cut them from the plant and dragging my fingers to the end of the stem.  The leaves dropped right into my mason jar.  

 The Results

The jar on the right is the one I filled with all three of the herbs I dried.  I didn't measure the final amounts of each, nor did I grind down the individual leaves.  I think they look prettier when they are recognizable.  The jar on the left is parsley from my CSA that I dried a few weeks before.  It yielded the entire jar full and looks and tastes beautiful.  

Final Thoughts

The whole process was super easy with way less prep work then most things I've dehydrated in the past.  It smelled awesome, too!

The Moral of the Story

Grow your own herbs you lazy bums and then dehydrate the extras!  Vikki and I think homemade herb mixes would make awesome (and retardly cheap) gifts!

What's Next?

I think I'm going to buy myself some mint and maybe chamomile to attempt to make my own tea blends!  Stay tuned for that.

I also stumbled onto a pin (follow me on pinterest!) about canning your own beans.  I thought that was genius because:

1. Dried beans are wayyyyy cheaper then canned
2. You can control the salt content and exclude preservatives
3. and it seems relatively fool-proof (and inexpensive if I fail) for a first time pressure canning experience

I have many exciting new hippie adventures on the horizon.  I'm so excited! I can't wait to get started!  Can I quit my job and become a fulltime hippie?! Can I?! Please?!