Tips for the Lush Herb Garden?

As you know, I'm certainly not a chef, but I do like to cook. One of the things I like the flavor of, particularly with lamb or a savory potato dish, is rosemary. But I really hate, as does Mr. Lush, how its like dried hard grass seed. Well recently, I saw a recipe where someone used fresh rosemary to drizzle olive oil on something and I thought perfect! A way to get the rosemary flavor without the rosemary "seed" effect.
To get some readily available fresh rosemary, as well as other herbs, I thought I'd get an herb garden going this summer......and here it is, about 3 weeks in:

As you can see (clockwise), I've got some rosemary, oregano, thyme and basil, which are some of my commonly used herbs. Its coming along nicely, but I admit, this is only my second attempt at an herb garden and I'm a little lost as to when and how to dry the herbs. I've read some tips online and think I have a good idea, but I thought I'd reach out and ask if anyone else has any tips on when/how to best utilize this herb garden?

Wines for Mother Earth

As some of you might know, I have a wine club –it's “byo” style and we try to balance some learning with some wine tasting and food pairing with a good solid dose of fun. This month, in celebration of Earth Day, our theme was “Wines for Mother Earth”. And since today is Earth Day, I thought I’d post some our favorite wines from that meeting. (I know, me and like every other wine blogger…. ;) According to the people who brought the wines, all of these are Earth Friendly (ie sustainable, organic, bio-dynamic or at least “uses many green practices”).  

• 2007 Benzinger Signature Chardonnay-creamy/oakey, despite the description of “made like a French Chardonnay”. We liked it.
• 2007 Robert Sinsky Pinot Noir-We like the Sinsky stuff. Its consistently good, the Pinot is no exception.
• 2005 McIntyre Pinot Noir-this is what we brought, its from Taste of Montery Wine Club. As noted in a post from last yr, we love our Monterey County Pinots and this one was excellent, as usual. Smokey, dark fruit, long finish. Yum-yum. This winery will be among the first to be certified sustainable, according to the website.
• 2007 Quivera Grenache/Zinfandel blend- Good, deep fruit, although needs a bit of air. Hint: this would be an excellent thing to bring should you get invited to a Lush BBQ this summer.
• 2006 Honig Cab Sauv: I got the opportunity to meet Michael Honi at a winemaker dinner, nice guy and we have a bottle of this that’s signed in our wine fridge. The cab is very approachable, and doesn’t need food. That being said, its also probably not the wine to drink with a big juicy strip steak or ribeye.

Cheers and make sure to recycle your wine bottles, either through a recycling program, or post them on craigslist and see if someone makes cheeseplates or art with them and could use them for their business. What better than recycling AND helping stimulate our economy??

Selective Tolerances?

There was this guy I knew back in the day who could drink an entire bottle of Jack and would still be standing, but give him 4 or 5 beers and he all the sudden had the tolerance of a 90 lb girl. I didn't get it and he explained it as he drinks Jack all the time and has a higher tolerance for it, but doesn't drink beer that often. I never really bought into the whole “selective tolerance” thing-you'd think alcohol is alcohol and the strength (%alcohol by volume) is the only varying factor, right? But then again since I’m an equal opportunity drinker, I typically have social occasions/dinners/outings where certain drinks are more appropriate than others so I guess whatever tolerance I have is somewhat even-spread. (like we bowl on Tuesdays. While the bowling alley does serve wine, there’s something about the bowling experience that fits with a bottle of beer, whereas a nice steakhouse calls for a nice bottle of wine, that kind of thing) But still, there’s times I feel like if I haven’t had beers in a while I might be lightheaded after just a few, or if its been a bit since I had vodka one good martini might do the same, yet wine might not affect me the same way.


Is it my imagination? Am I just used to drinking wine? It seems like a half bottle of 13.5% wine should "do more" than a few 5% beers, or at least equal? So, I wonder, taking into account the different alcohol percentages, DO people have “selective tolerances”?