I love all your feedback, thank you kindly! I think my next one will be top 5 herbs for cooking...breaking them down into categories. It will be fun to see what everyone picked though. I just love lavender as it calms and relaxes me (and my furbabies). ************* Bettina Thomas-Smith Herbs Editor

Hello there everyone,

Simmering herbs on the stove is a trick people use here now and then to sell property!

Potential buyers coming in like the smell and if the kitchen is a key room for such a potential buyer, I believe the scent of cinnamon and vanilla and citrus make people feel comfortable with the surroundings and they can envisage themselves as living there.

Or so says a friendly Estate Agent I know who says too she can't be scientific but swears that this trick has worked to raise sales for her. There we are then.

Cheers

There was a tie for the top 2. They are Garlic and Basil. Thank you to all that voted!! ____________________ Bettina Thomas-Smith Herbs Editor

Cmon Jill and Dianne ... you both got it right so you have to pay now! We want recipes and uses for GARLIC and BASIL!

It is written in the book of life on page 24, paragraph three lines 4 to 6 that anyone who guesses herb choices right from polls run must pay in this way donchyaknow!

Smiling I say cheeeers now

P S I can tell you all, as odd as it sounds, that raw fresh (not bottled or pickled) GARLIC sandwiches are really stinky (!) but eaten with buttered bread, they will chase away a sore throat and a cold within 48 hours. I offer that as I got one right.

Hmmm. I don't know how to cook. How about garlic, basil, buffalo mozzarella balls and slices roma tomatoes? That's a Caprese salad, adding olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Thanks Jill, that sounds great and tastes even better I bet! And it uses both the top voted ingredients and not just one.

We have a cheese factory outlet somewhere close to my suburb, so I should visit it and get some of those buffalo cheese balls if there is such a product here in SA. They may have to import it and do I am sure. Would goat's cheese taste similar and be a good enough alternative do you think?

Cheers

No, goat's cheese is not similar to mozzarella. You can use regular mozzarella in making a Caprese salad.

To the best of my knowledge, there are South African producers of bufalo mazzarella

Thanks for this FrankJBN, I will do both ... find buffalo cheese and use regular mozzarella.

Funny how some things are on the menu for some people and not for others to the extent that these simple questions seem out of place.

I was speaking to a friend earlier on who was astonished that I had not heard of a Caprese salad. She laughed with glee and in seeming wonderment! Ah well. I say thanks, got something new to pursue!

Cheers

Lestie, surely the time for the raw garlic sandwiches is before catching a cold to keep germ-laden folk at a distance.

Yeah, i'd try that. goat cheese is good with anything! They are not the same taste or texture though.