Herbal Gifts for the Holidays, Part 2!

Yesterday I gave you a tiny selection of herbal books for the herb lover in your life. Today I thought I would give you ideas for gadgets, spice blends, cookbooks and calendars that you may not have thought about in this busy season.

The Herb mill chops up both dry and fresh herbs and you don't have to be right-handed to use it! The Herb Keeper keeps three bunches of different herbs fresh and even keeps asparagus fresh. The mortar and pestle grinds all of those spices and there is also those small coffee grinders that work for spices also. I like hand powered gadgets! The garlic press is a must for anyone trying to mince their garlic cloves. You can also use a small grater like Rachel Ray. The nutmeg grater is a staple at The Rosemary House and on their blog, Rosemary's Sampler. A lot of these gadgets are at your local kitchen stores; but please if you have an herb shop in your area, patronize it!

I enjoy using herb blends. Two of my favorite places to get those blends are The Rosemary House (no surprise there) and The Village Herb Shop. The Village Herb Shop is a great herb shop in Chagrin Falls, OH outside Cleveland owned by Kathleen Gips. Chagrin Falls is a charming village with falls and lots of small businesses and good places to have lunch. Kathleen has great herbal classes (I helped her teach a class on lemon verbena!) and special events for her herb club members. It is a great way to spend a day. The pictures below show The Rosemary House's famous Roastmary, The Mayor's Magic Mustard and Susie's Garden Herbs and Garlic. There are two blends from The Village Herb Shop are for Herb Butter and a herb blend for pasta. They each have recipes and suggestions for uses.

Don't forget herbal cookbooks and calendars. Nancy Reppert's outstanding cookbook, Sweet Remembrances Recipe Collection can be purchased and I'm sure she would be glad to autograph it through The Rosemary House and her own website, Sweet Remembrances Tearoom. The other cookbook, It's About Thyme is by Marge Clark, who tragically died in an automobile accident several years. It is available through Bookfinder or your favorite search engine. Also, Amazon has a lot of herbal gadgets and herb books. The herb calendar is by Maggie Oster and is one of my favorites because it gives you herbal hints with a new topic each month.

Don't forget homemade items like jelly, homemade pasta sauce, apple sauce, herbal cookie mixes, breads, teas, and herbal blends to name a few. Your family and friends will appreciate the time you gave to put your herbal products together. I know mine do! Tomorrow more herbal gifts that you can do yourself! Hope you will join me.