Storing Culinary Herbs and Spices

My friend Pat Meadows once pointed out that American cookbooks suffer badly from what she calls the “1/4 teaspoon” problem. 

adding spices and herbs to our food storage, and preserving/storing them correctly. 

The best way to store spices is in their whole form, grinding them as you need them, or in small batches not kept more than 1 year.

If you must buy ground spices, replace them every year, or keep them in the freezer for up to three years - use your nose - something that has little smell is not worth keeping. 

The best way to use most herbs, of course, is fresh, and chopping a few handfulls of them into food is a delight. 

If you are going to dry your herbs