Homestead Spices - What's On My Plate
What's a garden got to have?
Can't homestead if you're not planning on having spices. It's the spice of a gardener, a farmer, a chef's life.
A soup isn't a soup without spice
A stew isn't a stew without spice
A meal or a sandwich isn't complete without some kind of a spice
Heck, wars have been fought over spices.
Crunch Time
We had to trim some of our herbs running amok. Some went to the chicken and some we let it dry.
No, I don't have a dehydrator. That'd be nice to have though.
I've had some herbs drying for a while now and haven't had the time to jar them. I got motivated one day this week and just did it so here it goes.
Sage
This smell good and is good for soup, stew fresh or dried. It's part of your Italian seasoning and it's great for marinades. It has violet blue flowers and a great herb/flower to have around the garden.
And since it's an herb, it's also medicine.
Source
Thyme
This kicked my butt. Since the leaves are tiny ones and I don't want the little stems to go with the dried thyme, I have to get on it another day.
Thyme is also in your Italian seasoning and it's great for grilled meals or anything you can think about. We add it in soups, stews. It goes well with sage and rosemary.
Hmm, I haven't tried to bathe in it but maybe next time we make soap I'll add some in there.
Onions
Yeah. These were planted in a pot. It's one of those onions I just stuck in the pot and there you go. I have onions again.
I'll have to dice them up next time too... OUTSIDE
Chipotle
Well, we harvested jalapeno peppers. And there's not enough for a pint to pickle it so I diced them up.
I have it drying in a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Waiting waiting waiting... for it to dry completely and then turn it to powder for chipotle seasoning.
I forgot to wear gloves and I paid for it afterwards. My hands were burning.
But all in all, we are thankful and grateful for our blessings. Life can be good.
Oh no! I cook with jalapeño a lot, sometimes Serrano and never use gloves but always regret it. The burn can last for hours, it’s pretty impressive. I can’t wait until we can have our own garden to grow all sorts of goodies like this. Looking forward to the stews you create from these spices.
I might only remember to snap pictures when the stew's gone hahaha.
Yes, those hot peppers can get you when you just go about your kitchen business. I unconsciously used my jalapeno hands when I touched my face...
But, peppers are great. I like them hot (not too hot like the Thai hot).
Oh my, can we talk about the Thai hot peppers?!? Those things are nuts! I love hot too but Thai hot is another planet. Haha
Cooking with peppers is a real problem and I can often recall touching my face, my nose, even my hands and burning for hours. I’ve asked professional chefs what they do and some say they use gloves, others say they are immune to it now. I just try and deal with them very carefully. Haha
WOW! I have only ever used the herbs I grow fresh. You have made me wanna give this a try now. Yummo, everything always tastes better when you have grown it yourself!
Gosh everything should be growing like crazy when you do grow them in Siem. Growing them yourself is wonderful, I'm glad you do!
It's not a spice though, but we'd like to grow more pineapple here. The first freshest pineapple we had we planted in pot. My baby boy posted about it.
We are blessed with a variety of fruits and vegetables able to be grown in the tropics. My kids want to add to their patch almost every day. We replant the seeds from almost everything now my kids have gone garden crazy! I will have to make sure I do a post when their next goodies fruit.