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[coraa]

Silly quiz time (but this time not an LJ poll, because it doesn't lend itself to that):

I need to rebuild my herb and spice collection. I had a fairly good one, but moving a couple times messed that up -- plus, in the last move, the last thing I wanted was an extended determining of 'which spices did you buy and which did I?', so I left most of them; all but the ones I knew she hadn't bought because they still had a label from a little Indian grocery in LA. But it's time to rebuild the collection.

What herbs and spices do you consider to be essentials? What do you make sure you keep on hand -- fresh or dried, whole or ground?

(Right now, I have: whole mace, whole cardamom, whole cloves, wasabi powder [yes, I know it's not the real thing, but the real thing is $50/lb at Uwajimaya, outside my price range if I just want some kick in a stir fry], whole cumin seeds, black peppercorns, dried whole chiles, and fennel seeds; in my window is a miniature herb garden of basil, flat-leaf parsley, rosemary, tarragon, sage, and thyme, although the sage is sadly withering and I can't figure out why.)

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[coraa.livejournal.com]

My tarragon (traditionally finicky) is doing peachy, but my sage is dying and my thyme isn't doing so well -- and I'd never had trouble with either of them before. I'm not sure whether I just got weak plants, or if they're not happy with where I put them and how I'm treating them.

The basil, parsley and rosemary are very happy, though.

A bay tree is *very* tempting. I'm also looking to get some lemon verbena and lavender, and some kind of mint.