Freezing Basil

Or, how I turned this...

into this....

I've got several basil plants this year and they've been growing like crazy... producing far more than I can use or even give away at the moment. So, I decided to take some of it and freeze it for use later on. There are several ways to do this. Do a search on Google for "freezing herbs" and you'll find countless pages on the subject. This is the way *I* freeze herbs for later use... I don't pretend to say it's the only way... but the way that I've found works best for me.

I took several bunches of basil and discarded the stems, leaving only the tender leaves. I washed the bunch and spun them dry using a salad spinner. I placed the bunches of basil leaves in my food processor with only a tiny bit of water and processed it until the basil was chopped quite finely. Once that's done, I fill ice cube trays with the basil and water mixture and freeze until solid. Finally, I pop the cubes from the tray and place them in labeled zip-lock freezer bags. I go by the rule of thumb that the basil cubes will be at their peak for about 6 months when frozen. Of course they will keep longer than that... but it won't have as fresh a flavor as the first 6 months of storage.

These small cubes I made are about a teaspoon each when thawed, if I use the larger trays, it's about a tablespoon. Fill one of the compartments on your tray and measure the amount so that you'll know about how much herb you have in each cube.

Easy Cheese Danish

This is a quick and easy recipe for cheese danish that my family simply adores. Honestly, I don't know where the recipe comes from originally, since my Mother and Grandmother both made this for as long as I can remember. Despite being so easy to make, it's satisfying and wonderful for a quick weekend breakfast treat. We love it best still warm from the oven, but it will keep well for a couple of days if it's well covered and placed in the refrigerator. It also reheats well in the microwave for a few seconds. Try this simple recipe for your own family one of these days and see if they don't rave about it too!



Ingredients:
2 cans ready to use refrigerated crescent rolls
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg white

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:
Preheat oven to 350* degrees and grease a 13X9-inch baking pan. Lay a pack of crescent rolls in the pan and pinch the openings together. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg together until smooth. Spread the mixture over the crescent rolls evenly and then lay the second pack of crescent rolls on top of the cheese mixture and brush with egg white. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the top is golden brown. Top with glaze after cooling for 20 minutes.

Kitchen Notes:
I have made this danish using low fat cream cheese and splenda (sugar substitute) and it was delicious! Also, the amount of filling the original recipe calls for makes a VERY heavily filled danish. I have halved the filling using 1 package of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 whole egg, and a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and it was still very good. If you use the half filling method, bake for closer to 30-35 minutes.