Making a batch of basil salt

Every fall one of my Whitworth friends holds a backyard “Canning Exchange Party”. We all bring something we have created out of our gardens or summer produce, and then everyone takes one of something else and goes home with however many items they brought. It is really fun, and I usually come home with some unique and interesting things that people have made.

This year since I did not can anything, I decided to bring basil salt made from basil that Montana grew in one of her hanging baskets. Basil salt smells amazing and honestly can complement pretty much anything from Italian meals to eggs to grilled chicken to potatoes. So I found some super cute little jars and spent an afternoon making a nice batch to take.

I dried half of the basil leaves in the countertop dehydrator.

I used plain kosher salt as the coarse salt base.

I started by crunching up the dehydrated basil in a baggie and then adding it to the salt as a base.

I wasn’t sure how much basil I would need, so I took it step by step. But this initial amount was clearly not enough.

I decided to pulverize some fresh to add to the dehydrated mixture.

Blended the fresh basil with a cup of the coarse salt and popped it in the oven at a low temp to dry out a bit.

Much better!

Funnel time

Love these cute little jars.

Dressed them up with some custom labels.

Ready for the party! Hoping someone made some peach jam for the exchange since I didn’t make any this year.