Flavored Vinegars

• Assorted culinary herbs, such as basil, parsley, garlic flowers, onion flowers, mints, thyme, sage, tarragon, oregano, lemon balm, etc.
• Good vinegar, such as white or gold cider, red or white wine and/or Sterilized bottles with caps or corks
• Old candles and/or crayons
• Raffia, ribbon or yarn
• Labels

Rinse the herbs and pat dry with clean cloth. Stuff bottle with several herbs. Good combinations are lemon balm and mint; tarragon, chervil, onion flower buds and society garlic flowers; lemon thyme, thyme, garlic flowers and sage; oregano, basil, and chive and garlic flowers. You really can’t go wrong with these. For a bite, you can also put a single hot pepper in the bottle. Fill the bottle with warm vinegar to the top and cap or cork.

Melt the wax in a small saucepan to a 2inch depth. Color the wax with pieces of crayon. Allow to cool to the point of just starting to have a skin on the top of the wax. Dip the neck of the bottle into the wax to about 1 inch below the opening, completely coating the cork and neck and sealing the bottle. Let harden. Continue to dip the bottle until a nice, thick cap of wax has sealed the bottle. Tie the neck of the bottle with raffia, ribbon or yarn, and attach a label listing the ingredients flavoring the vinegar or oil. This is just in case someone has an allergy to or just can’t stand the taste of certain herbs.

You can get terrific bottles at garage sales, or simply save bottles of wine, vinegars, soy sauce, etc. Half the fun of this activity is finding the decorative bottles. One of my very favorite bottles is Mrs. Butterworth’s Maple Syrup. I buy the syrup just to get the bottles! Another cute and handy accessory is a wine cork spigot that fits the bottle. Tie it to the neck of the bottle with the raffia.