Preservation

Not having grown up on the prairie, Grandma Google has become my resource for preserving our bumper crop this year.  On Sunday I harvested parsley, basil, and green onions, and as you can see, the bounty far exceeded the size of a crop dusting plane.  Crazy, I know.

After I washed everything, I dried the herbs in my spinner.  Believe you me, this is one of the best Christmas gifts EVER.  I used to leave them out on paper towels to dry off, and it took FOH-EVA!

I cut up the green onions and placed them in two giant air-tight containers to freeze.  This took quite a long time, and the longer I did it the more I cried, so the ol' onion goggles came out again!

I laid the herbs on baking sheets, no thicker than 1in., and placed them in an OPEN oven at 180º for about 3 hours (2-4 according to Grandma Google).

For the parsley, I cut each leaf bunch separately and placed in an air-tight container.  Took quite a while, and I felt like Mr. Miyagi.

For the basil, I crushed each cluster in an air-tight container.  This method was much faster of course, and incidentally released a great deal of stress:)