nice post !

here are a few comments:

basil is pretty easy to grow, but it needs a lot of sunshine and wind, ideally, so it’s best outside. I am not so sure about watering.

that’s a lovely photo of the spice market stall. I am off to Jerusalem soon, and in the old city there are stalls looking very much like that!

how coincidental !

Mrs DBK and I were in France in May, where we took two cooking classes in Avignon at La Mirande (a hotel we adored). The classes were given by chefs at local restaurants (in French…just try your best to understand).

One of them did a saddle of lamb that was seasoned only with fistfuls of dried thyme. He told us that drying concentrates the flavors and that dried herbs are therefore stronger than fresh. I think I have heard that before somewhere.

By the way, I ought to publish a photo of our strawberry pot. We have a strawberry pot on the back porch. In it we have rosemary, lemon thyme, globe basil (but no regular basil), oregano, tarragon, chives, and hot peppers. It occupies no more than one square foot. I water the thing every day and it is situated where it gets a lot of sun all day. It is bursting with herbs…just doing phenomenally well. I can cut it back and cut it back and they just keep coming (especially the oregano, which I have begun cutting back and then drying…you cannot stop oregano).

You just can’t beat fresh herbs (pronounced of course with a hard ‘h’!). I always keep some chives going – lovely thrown into scrambled eggs.

Basil needs lots of sun, but if you do have a good spot I would thoroughly recommend it.

One thing to watch out for is that many herbs – and in particular I find oregano- bolts if it is not watered regularly and you are left with some spindly flowering plants and very little leaf.

As for dried herbs, I think that a great deal of uneducated snobbery has developed over the last few years. After all, so long as they are still fresh, you just can’t beat a good pinch of dried oregano in a tomato sauce, it has a totally different impact to fresh.

I was interested to see that DBK is goring chilli peppers, I have done this on my windowsill before now and they are great – but do watch out, in my experience they are often far hotter than shop bought chillies!! And doesn’t lemon thyme make a great change form its bog-standard relative – though mine is growing wild at the moment – all that great sun we’ve been having in London.

Happy cooking

Jon

So where do I get some of this lemon thyme? I’ve never actually heard of it!

I’ve had pretty good luck keeping fresh basil in a class of water on the countertop. Make sure to give the stem a fresh cut before you put it in the water. Sometimes, you’ll need to cut a couple inches off the stem. A lot of times, it wilts initially, but if you leave it for a while, it will come back and be just fine. Keep it in a cool spot, out of the direct sun. I’ve been able to keep stems of fresh basil in a glass for about two weeks.

It can also be grown inside. It will do best if you have a windowsill with direct sunlight. My apartment does not get direct sun, but I once grew a basil plant anyway. It had small leaves, but they still tasted great and they definitely beat the dried basil.

Good luck!

Could you please mail me some ideas for which spices compliment certain foods, most espically, meats? This would be much appreciated , as I am just learning to cook with spices!!

Thanks Bobbi, who knows, maybe someday I will develop a "green thumb"!

Mackenzie, Congradulations!  Not just on your engagement but also on learning to cook!  I am so very happy for you!  Let me know if you have any questions!

Hi Sara, two days ago I bought two small plants of basil at the grocery store.  They were in small plastic containers with holes on the bottom.  The directions said to  keep them sitting in two inches of water.  Yesterday I trimmed off about 1/3 of the leaves for some pasta sauce.   Today my two small plants look like they are in shock!  I'm wondering, will they last another day???

Thanks Jon!  BTW my basil from three days ago is looking so very sad - actually I think it might be dead. Perhaps I drowned it!  I'll try your way next!  :)

Great question Diann!  Environmental conditions will effect the longevity of dried spices.  I buy them individually and store them in a jar with a tight fitting lid.  The best way to tell if your spices are still fresh is to just smell them.  If there is no scent then they have undoubtedly lost their flavor.
Buying a  whole set of spices may be more economical than buying each one individually.  You can always refill the decorative jars when you have used up all the spices.