Handy Kitchen Tip

I love basil.  Sir Thomas Moore was once quoted as saying:

“A man taking basil from a woman will love her always.”

Maybe that’s explains why I love my wife so much.  If you are anything like me, though, you don’t have the counter space to grow a pot of basil and the cut stuff seems to dry or whither before you could ever use it.  So here’s a great, simple tip:

Place cut stems of basil (and/or other herbs) into a juice glass filled partially with water.  The basil will stay fresh, luscious, and fragrant for weeks.  Make sure to remove the leaves that fall below the water line and rub the leaves occasionally to release the scent.

Bonus tip:  Basil helps to repel flying pests (houseflies, fruit flies, mosquitoes, etc.) in your kitchen.  We keep a glass near our garbage bowl.  It’s supposed to go out to the compost bin daily, but it never does.  The basil helps keep the fruit flies away so that when we do get around to putting it out, we don’t have a swarm of the darned things.

So bring a touch of summer into your kitchen.  You don’t need anything fancy; a juice glass and some water will do.  It will be beautiful, tasty, fragrant, and keeps away those pesky pests.  Enjoy!