Handy Tip Thursday

Today was the first week that we picked up our CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) produce. I was so excited. Since we had paid for our 10 weeks at the beginning of summer it felt like I was filling a bag for free. Always a nice feeling! This is our 4th year with Country Garden and Farm Market. Today we picked up kale, eggplant, cabbage, lettuce, basil, cilanto, mint, tomatoes, sweet peppers, jalapenos, cucumbers, cantalope, sweet corn, and a random variety of zucchini. Needless to say I am glowing with the excitement of farm fresh local produce in my fridge. I would highly recomend getting involved in a CSA if there is one in your town. Here is a website that will search for one in your area.

There will probably not be a handy tip every Thursday, but today I thought I would share one of my herb saving tricks. Maybe you already know this one, but last year when my mother shared

this trick with me, I was pretty elated. After years of basil going black in my fridge this handy dandy idea was a life saver (or basil saver). So here goes!

First fill a small or large glass, depending on the size of your basil, with just a bit of water (enough to cover the stems about an inch). Put the basil in the glass so that each stem is emersed in the water.

Then simply place a ziplock bag over the basil and the glass. Leave on the kitchen counter for 3 days or more. The longer you leave it, it does tend to get some dark spots, but it definitely lengthens the life of the herb. Just watch out for some leaves that may have grown a bit of mold from the moisture, but if you use it in a couple days this shouldn't happen.

I hope this is a helpful tip! Throughout the summer there is almost always a glass of basil incubating on my counter.