Well, actually it can be about so many things!  Isn’t that great to hear?  You don’t look too enthusiastic.  Did you forget that you can easily grow almost ALL of your culinary herbs and then dry almost ALL of them to use all Winter?  No more $5.00 sprigs of basil from the grocery store when you can have jars and jars of dried basil or frozen pesto, more than you can possibly even use in one season, just waiting for you in your kitchen.  Some herbs, like chives and parsley, do better if frozen instead of dried, but they are easily grown in the garden.

Then there are delicious herbal teas.  Ron and I have not purchased teas for 25 years, especially since most have to travel many miles to brew themselves in my kitchen.  I’m a big enough girl to know that I have to consider lots of factors in the choices that I make, especially now in the foods that I eat.  So if I can grow and dry some delicious, herbal teas in my own garden, I’m going to choose those teas.  Examples?  Anise hyssop, Lemon verbena, Lemon balm, Basswood, Orange Mint, Apple Mint, and so forth.  Flavored with a local, organic honey makes them perfectly heavenly drinks and most can be made into iced teas, even flavored with fruits like peaches and nectarines.

Furthermore, you will see at the Good Food Festival www.goodfestivals.com  on March 17th, if you come to the 9:00 a.m. food preservation workshop, Chef Zak Dolezal will be there giving a demonstration on food drying.  He will show you how to dry garlic and chili peppers and make powders out of them which can then be stored for long periods of time.  Believe me these powders are absolutely scrumptious!  Your meals will never be the same!

Lastly, certain vegetables themselves dry beautifully and can make wonderful snacks.  There’s something about CRUNCHY that is what snacking is all about.  So get with it!  If you make a mistake, there’s always the compost.