Rosemary

When roasting or casseroleing meat - if you love the taste of Rosemary but dont like eating the spikey and stalky bits of the cooked herb - here is a solution ............... hang a bunch up to dry

......... take a nice bunch of Rosemary and wrap a rubberband around the stalks and hang it up in your kitchen - I usually hang my herbs on to the top bolt on my kitchen door to the garden (see photo) - they look pretty there and also keep the flies away (so I believe). Just leave the bunch of herbs several days to dry, then strip off the dried leaves and put them in your coffee grinder and grind them to a fine powder. Pour into a very (recycled of course) clean glass jar and screw the lid on.

This will keep for an absolute age, and you can use the rosemary powder to flavour steaks, chops, chicken and lots of your dishes, getting the lovely flavour without the spikey leaves getting stuck in your teeth.

Thyme & Marjoram (Oregano) also dry well, but wont stay as aromatic for quite as long - if you're air drying them from the fresh herbs. Bay Leaves also dry and powder very well. You could also make your own mixed dried herbs ..... mmm nice.