Most people reserve bubbly for special occasions, but I happen to love it with tacos on Tuesday, salad on Wednesday, or steak on Friday. Any day and any occasion go. For special occasions, I like to herbalize my bubbly.
Birthdays have always been a source of extreme joy for me. Something significant lives in the celebration of one’s own birth and life. As I age I find it one of the biggest indicators of my own self-love and acceptance. Like the pencil marks on my childhood walls, I can watch the growth with each year. As I celebrate, I honor this evolution, despite some years feeling more like a setback. This year is great cause for celebration as I move into the next notch of growth that is my life.
I haven’t always had a garden. In fact, a good portion of my adult life (the part where I lived in Brooklyn for 13 years) didn’t include one at all. Those times I did have a garden, many creative and good ideas sprung forth from it. Making seasonal fresh herb salt-and-peppers was one of those ideas, and they are by far one of my most versatile and useful herbal endeavors
Back in Brooklyn someone writing a magazine article once asked me - along with about 10 other food folks - “what is the one ingredient you can’t live without?” Most gave answers like Sriracha, salt, fish sauce, mustard, and good quality extra virgin olive oil. I said parsley. It is the one thing that I never run out of in my kitchen, and, in my mind, parsley is both versatile and one of the best fresh flavor enhancers I know.