Drying Herbs in Still*Life~Style

One of the great things my husband did for me this season was build me a wonderful raised herb garden. I was planning on planting my herbs in railing boxes, but he thought they would be too high and hard to reach. So he took this on as a bit of a project, and I ended up with a 3' by 4" garden situated at the end of our deck, where I can easily access it from the kitchen or yard.



I really love it, always having fresh herbs to cook with and use in photos is so awesome. For me, there is something very relaxing about gardening as long as it does not become too time consuming. Tending this little herb farm is just enough to enjoy and maintain on my schedule.



Bonus: storage space underneath to tuck in some of my collection of vintage rusty garden junque!




It's pretty amazing how much one plant can yield. My oregano was growing much faster than I was using it, so this morning I harvested a huge batch to dry. There was some good info here to get me started. Some I'm drying on cooling racks in the oven, using the heat from the pilot light of the gas range.



The rest I bundled to hang and dry.







I had found these great bentwood hangers (have a thing for old hangers, too) at a sale a few months back and recently thought maybe I should put them into the
Etsy shop, but they weren't quite food related like my other items...



until now! They work out great for herb drying, just tie the bundles on, and move the hanger wherever you need to throughout the drying process.
Of course, I have been trying to cook with the herbs while fresh as much as possible, and scanning my favorite food blogs for great recipes. What have you been doing with your bumper crop of herbs?

Paula

Finding Props that can Multi-Task

Recently I took an overnight road trip into Wisconsin and Iowa, ready to load my car with lots of vintage prop finds. My friends Josephine and Kim, both amazing food stylists each with their own great sense of style, were eager to come along on the hunt. We had a super time together, but actually came back with very few purchases. For me, part of the reason is that I now have tightened guidelines for purchasing my personal props. The checklist helps keep me focused and take deep breaths when I am in a propping frenzy...you know what I mean. A few simple rules:

1) The prop has to have something special about it in terms of color,texture,shape,size etc, OR be classic and timeless

2) Has to be VERY reasonably priced, less than I can rent it for from a prop house.
OR it has to be something I have not seen before, a true antique, or a prop I absolutely know I can use on an assignment, to justify paying a higher price.

3) Has to have some versatility so I can re-use it in a different way.

Here's one piece I found that is a good example of sticking to my rules, this enameled cake plate.

I was drawn to the summery blue border contrasting the white finish, the handles, and the chippy spots. It was quite a dusty mess when I dug it out of a pile of old pots and pans at the flea market, but it cleaned up well. I was so happy to see that the center (where food would rest) was clean and bright. As much as I like rust and distress, I'm not always comfortable with it being right under the food.

Because the piece is so flat, it offers lots of possibilities. Here are some quick thoughts I have for using it:

a charger plate for a casual meal...



as a cutting board surface ...




or a serving tray...






maybe layered with a cooling rack for pastries



or just keep it simple.





I paid just a few dollars for the plate, slightly over a hundred for my portion of gas, lodging, & meals to find it.

Rule #4 just added: keep the hunt closer to home!


Happy 4th!


Paula