When cooking with dry herbs they should be added early in the cooking process. The flavor in dry herbs is derived from the essential oils, which are concentrated in the herbs after the excess moisture has been removed from them. Adding the herbs at the beginning helps to draw the oils out of the herbs and provide maximum flavor. Yes, by crushing herbs with the side of a chef's knife you break down the cells of the herbs, allowing it to release the natural oils.

The best time to pick herbs is first thing in the morning, just after the dew has dried from its leaves. Herbs picked at this time seem to be the most flavourful and aromatic.

Since herbs are food, you can take them whenever you want. Most people will take them before meals so the liquid they take them with won't dilute their digestive juices. Some people who take their herbs after meals may experience some minor burping. Others on a busy schedule will prefer to take them the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. Herbs for insomnia and cleansing are mostly taken at night.

How many products to take depends on the individual.

The best time to take the herbal remedies is about half an hour before food. If digestion is weak, about half an hour after food. If you have forgotten just take them anytime.

Next to the summary of any recipe, you'll see a block of links. Simply click on the link that reads Add to My Recipe Box. The next screen that appears will be your personal Recipe Box with that new recipe title added to it. In order to establish a recipe box, or access one you have already created, you need to first sign in. After you have signed in, you will be returned to the KadaiCuisine.com home page.

Herbs can be purchased as teas, tinctures, tablets, and capsules. Teas and tinctures, being liquid, may be absorbed by the body more rapidly than the other forms. Many herbalists recommend the liquid forms because, in tasting the herb, we begin the process of allowing it to heal us. Tablets and capsules are made from measured amounts of herb, and are the most common and convenient forms.

Yes. Open the Edit Recipe dialog and click the Photograph ellipsis button to select a photograph for the recipe. Images saved as JPEG or GIF files use the least space on your hard drive. If you own an image or photo editing program, resizing the recipe images to a width of 250 pixels works best. See the application help topic titled "Edit a Recipe" for more information. No. Your recipes will be imported into the new database.

Soon, we hope. We only add recipes with pictures, and that takes time. We also test the recipes as best as we can before putting them on the site. Please be patient. Or bribe us.

You may include a picture with any recipe in Home Cookin Recipe Software. This could be a photograph of the prepared meal, a diagram of the assembly method, or a chart showing nutritional information. You can add the picture when you first enter the recipe, or you can edit an existing recipe to add the picture. The photo must be in the BMP graphics format, and be 600x400 pixels or less (400x300 is recommended). The BMP format is used internally by Windows any time you copy and paste an image.

Herbs should be stored in closed containers away from direct sunlight, and in a cool, dry area. Avoid exposure to extreme heat and humidity, or extremely cold temperatures. Herbs can vary in these ways, depending upon weather conditions at the time of growth, the soil in which the herbs are grown, and the time of year at which the herb is harvested, dried, and processed.

A general rule of thumb is to use one-third the amount called for in a recipe. As the herbs join the rest of the ingredients, they will start to disperse their flavors.

Traditional sweet and sour pickle recipes have you boil a vinegar and sugar brine and pour onto the cut up vegetables. In considering the health benefits of culture active pickles, we want to consider a couple ideas. Adding sugar at the beginning of pickling (in the first four days of primary fermentation) would have the sugar interfering with this natural process.

A recipe must contain ingredients and the directions for assembling those ingredients. A recipe may contain your suggestions or comments relevant to that recipe. From time to time the Lead Moderator may decide to post an article explaining a recipe or technique in more detail. For this newsgroup, a recipe is defined as a list of ingredients with a set of instructions on how to put those ingredients together.

You can also access our recipe sections. These are at www.vrg.org/recipes and www.vrg.org/journal. VRG also publishes several cookbooks including Simply Vegan, Conveniently Vegan, Meatless Meals for Working People, The Lowfat Jewish Vegetarian Cookbook, Vegan Handbook, and more. You can also go to the search engine of your choice and type in "vegetarian recipes" and you will discover thousands of websites.

Salsas are usually mixtures of acid and low-acid ingredients; they are an example of an acidified food. The specific recipe, and sometimes preparation method, will determine if a salsa can be processed in a boiling water canner or a pressure canner. A process must be scientifically determined for each recipe. To can salsa at home, use our recipes for Hot Chile Salsa or Mexican Tomato Sauce. Your county Extension agent may have additional tested recipes for salsas.

For the most part you can continue your Western medications while taking Chinese herbs. It is crucial that your practitioner know about all of the medications (prescription and over-the-counter) that you are on, so that they change the herbal prescription if necessary.

Yes. Just be sure to read the dosage instructions and any warnings associated with the herbal products. Remember to use moderation. If you start taking multiple herbs at the same time, you may notice the desired results, but will not know if only one of those herbs is responsible. It's best to start gradually.