Hurry! Before the killing frosts come (if it’s not already too late)!  Try these herbal ice cubes as a way to preserve the last of your culinary herbs.  

A few days ago, I was spending a day with my mom when she mentioned that she still wanted to harvest a few more of her herbs to preserve for winter.  It wasn’t long before I decided that we would preserve them in oil, frozen, to easily melt onto pastas or potatoes, into sauces or soups, or wherever else a little fresh herbal flavor would be desirable!

The process was very easy, too!

All you need is a mound of herbs and some olive oil.  We made ours with parsley, oregano, and basil (each one individually).

Pluck the leaves off of the stem so that you have around 2 cups of fresh herb.

Pour about 1/3 cup of oil over the herbs, and then process in a food processor until the two are mixed together to your liking.  I just pulsed it several times — I wanted the herbs and oil to be well-mixed, but not to be completely liquified.

Pour the mixture into an ice cube tray, place in the freezer, and you have herbal ice cubes!  After they’re totally frozen, you can pop them out of the tray and store them loose (in bags or another container) in the freezer.

One additional piece of advice:  don’t fill the cubes to the very tip top.  This way, if need be, you can go back when they’re frozen and add one last bit of olive oil to make the top smooth (and then freeze once more).

Also, remember my mom’s impressive garden?  I think I might be more impressed than ever now that this magical milkweed pod ornament has appeared!

I love how intricately the seeds are arranged in the pod. Usually when the pods burst, the seeds just fly out and take a windy ride to find a new home, but these ones remained attached in a beautiful star-bloom pattern. Wow, nature, you never cease to amaze me.

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