I love my herb garden even though it is sleeping now covered under a blanket of straw. This past season, I had to start over because many of the herbs died from that bitter cold winter we had last year. I didn’t realize how much I use them in the kitchen. I babied the new plants all summer. In the fall I picked a few of the herbs for drying and friends gave me lots as well.  I made bundles using a rubber band at the base of the stems and hung them upside down to dry.  After they dried, I put them in plastic bags and squished them by hand so the dried leaves fell off in the bag leaving me holding most of the stems. I took out the remaining stems, poured them into 1/2 pint jars, labeled them and put them in the pantry. I also have smaller jars of herbs that I keep close by in the kitchen on a shelf ready to use for cooking. There is nothing nicer than the aroma of the fresh air-dried herbs unless it is using them in your kitchen when you cook.

I may have to buy this  just to get the beautiful little ceramic crock!

My dried herbs wouldn’t be complete without my favorite blend of herbs, Herbs de Provence, which is a mixture of some common herbs created in the 1970s found in the southeast tip of France, where it borders Italy and includes all the French Rivera. These herbs should be used during cooking, not put on afterwards. It is a mixture of thyme, marjoram, savory, rosemary, tarragon, basil and lavender flowers. It can be used on vegetable stews, grilled meats, fish and oven roasted meats and vegetables. Crushing this mixture on a whole chicken and then roasting it with some fresh root vegetables is simply divine in the middle of winter. The smells that come out of the oven are fantastic and the taste is even better. There is no set formula for making Herbs de Provence but a mixture of the herbs above is basic. Many people put in oregano instead of marjoram and fennel instead of tarragon. You can add others as well. Here is a recipe below for making Herbs de Provence:

Herbs De Provence

2 TLB thyme

2 TLB marjoram

2 TLB savory

2 TLB rosemary

2 TLB basil

1 TLB tarragon

Mix it all together and store it in a jar.  If you don’t grow your own herbs, you can still make this combination from your jars of herbs or you can buy it. I just find homegrown herbs fresher and more flavorful. Magnifique!