Thanksgiving - The Fresh Herbs

Apart from the Turkey, what got me excited about Thanksgiving cooking was the generous usage of herbs in all the recipes. Having a cabinet full of Indian spices had kept me content for a long time but the chance encounters with fresh herbs here (read thyme, sage etc) had always left me intrigued. Thanksgiving gave me a chance to be acquainted with them on a personal basis. I am a much happier cook for this encounter.

The first thing was to make a list of the things I would need. Many are not in our regular list and I had some bad experiences looking for just one or two of even the dried items in regular grocery chains. Most likely because although the associates tried to help, I just didn't know what I was looking for:-) On your own, you can spend hours and hours looking for that one thing and still not find it. I had been to Wholefoods before for something and was quite enamored of it. there are no Wholefood stores that close to us but there is one next to where my son goes for Piano. So I made a list of all possible things we would need and not have and set off on this journey. Came back quite a satisfied customer with every single item checked off!! The staff was incredibly helpful and you know their customer service policy when you see 3 or 4 associates in each aisle helping people in need. I even saw oven bags there within $4.00. I won't need it to use in the oven since the Turkey is already brined but am planning to check it out as brining bag next time.

All the fresh herbs were together as if waiting for me right next to the entrance. If it were not for the labels I wouldn't know one from the other. Have taken snaps of the ones that I got this time and hope to add to it later on.

Before I forget: If you get a bunch of fresh herbs and won't be using it all at one time, then here is a trick to make them last longer. As soon as you come home, wash the leaves under water and drain in a colander. Then wrap them in paper towels and keep in the refrigerator in a ziplock bag or in a closed paper bag. They will keep fresh for a good while. I always keep curry leaves this way.

Here they are in no particular order:

Tarragon

Thyme

Curly Parsley

Italian Parsley

Bayleaves

Rosemary


Chive


Sage

Of course I will not recognize any of them in the dried form either! Since that can be found in nicely labeled containers, this will not be a problem.

Stuffing/Dressing is next.