There are many ingredients that we don't use a lot of, and recipes that call for the use of a little fresh oregano, the teaspoon of lemon zest, or a sprig of mint can leave you with a bunch of wilted herbs, or a dried up lemon. It's not like you can buy just one or two sprigs of thyme or that you'll suddenly be in the mood for lemonade!

I have been working a lot lately with drying herbs and such, and making flavored salts. I have found that most herbs dry really nicely in the microwave. The method is fairly simple, and can be done in a few minutes. You take one large piece of paper towel, sandwich your herbs in between, place something (a plate) atop the paper towel and zap them in the microwave 15 seconds at a time.

The wonderful thing about this method is that you can use it for just about anything. I used it yesterday for celery leaves and ultimately made some celery salt (great on popcorn, even better rimming a large Bloody Caesar!). So far, I have dried out sage, mint, thyme, oregano, lemon peel, orange peel, geez, this could be a long list! What a great way to keep my spice wall fresh!

When making flavored salts, I like using the herbs while they are still a bit warm. It's as simple as putting herbs and salt in a blender (or grinder) and pulsing a few times or if you prefer a finer salt, pulse a little longer. You can choose to use any salt you like and any ratio you like, I prefer using kosher salt, or sea salt and use a ratio of 1-1. I don't have table salt in my house, but I have read that it is more "salty" so if you choose to work with table salt, start with a little less salt and a little more flavoring. You'll end up with a very delicate salt, but something so delicious it will surprise you, it surprised me!

Put the salts in wonderful clear bottles, they are colorful and make an excellent home warming or hostess gift. Store your new spices and salts in air tight containers and enjoy often.