herbs

Fresh herbs in reach

Having fresh herbs within reach while you're cooking may seem like a luxury, but with a small hydroponic garden, like the Power Plant Herb Garden, it's actually quite possible. Going the hydroponic route eliminates dirt and requires little more setup than pouring some water. It's an ideal way to grow a variety of herbs--basil, parsley, cilantro, thyme, and even mini tomatoes do well in the Power Plant Herb Garden. Because of the wide variety of growing options available to you, this hydroponic set does not come with seeds, but you can use any seeds that you might … Read more

Pint-size herb gardens, sans sunlight

Spring is almost here and stores are starting to carry herb seeds again. Every year, I plan to grow an herb garden, and every year something gets in the way of my dream. I had a parsley plant that kicked the bucket after a cat mistook the pot for a litter box; a basil plant that flowered and soon after grew some sort of white fungus; and a little pot of oregano that shriveled because of a shortage of light in the kitchen.

On my more frustrated days, I've vowed to abandon the idea of growing my own herbs, … Read more

A gadget that makes shredding herbs a snap

Every good cook knows that cooking with fresh herbs beats using the dried stuff, but doing so can sometimes be a real pain. Thyme is fairly straightforward and can be stripped off easily, but some herbs, like chives, basil, sage, and rosemary, are tough to slice, especially for those with big fingers.

With these herb scissors from RSVP, cutting tricky fresh herbs is a snap. You can easily chiffonade basil, mince chives, and snip scallions into tasty miso-soup-size rings. Since the scissors have several blades, you can cut an entire stalk of herbs in only a few scissor strokes.

The … Read more

Garden-fresh greens without the garden

I don't know whether to laugh or to cry when my friends tell me they just spent $7 for a package of "fresh" basil. Me, I just head to the backyard with my kitchen scissors and cut off a handful of leaves. The seeds I planted about a year ago cost me 89 cents. The pot was $1, and the soil was about $3. So for less than the cost of a single package, I've got myself a permanent supply of truly fresh herbs.

But I live in Houston, where year round gardening is no problem. … Read more

Triple Herb Pot: Keep your herbs fresh

Like most enthusiastic home cooks, I love to use fresh herbs in many of my favorite dishes. And lacking an herb garden of my own, I regularly pay outrageous prices for those little plastic packets of fresh herbs, then race to use them all up before they spoil. It's rarely a race I win.

Enter the Stoneware Triple Herb Pot ($40) from Swedish firm Sagaform. You can put one bunch of herbs in each of its three chambers, and water them all through a single corner watering hole. The design of the base ensures all the stems have access … Read more

Will Poole tapped as NComputing co-chairman

NComputing, the start-up that aims to provide cheap Internet access by allowing one PC or server to be shared by many, is set to announce Tuesday that former Microsoft executive Will Poole will join its board as co-chairman.

Poole, who left Microsoft earlier this year after more than a decade, will share the chairmanship with Stephen Dukker, the eMachines founder who has been NComputing's sole chairman and remains its chief executive.

Through its own virtualization software, the Redwood City, Calif., company allows a single server to serve up to 30 users a PC-like experience--allowing an entire classroom or business … Read more

This kitchen tool's a long thyme coming

Even though fresh herbs beat the pants off their dried, ancient counterparts, most people I know don't have any kind of herb garden at home.

That can be for a lot of reasons. For one thing, most of us city folk don't have a lot of space. And even those lucky enough to have some outdoor space might not live in herb-friendly climates. Indoor gardens can be tricky (not to mention major countertop hogs in a space-challenged kitchen), and the AeroGarden gets only mixed reviews.

So what's a cook to do when she needs that extra flavor … Read more

A jet lag cure from Silicon Valley

Has Silicon Valley acupuncturist Ted Ray come up with the cure for jet lag?

FlyRight is an herbal concoction that Ray says will ameliorate the effects of jet lag. Jet lag is often caused by the disruption in a person's circadian rhythms--the rhythms an individual establishes with the day/night cycles where they have been living.

But there are other causes--canned, recycled air; stress; dehydration; and poor blood circulation. All of these symptoms can be attenuated by the various herbs in the liquid, he says. Ginkgo? Good for swelling and fatigue caused by poor circulation. Linden works on circadian … Read more