baking hutch

a few months ago patrick and i were thrifting for furniture and found a great little wooden cabinet in west philly. the shape was really beautiful, but it had an awful old finish on it. patrick sanded it down over a few weeks and painted it white. i'm planning on using it for baking supplies and equipment, and as extra counter space for mixing ingredients.

i started collecting large glass jars to use for dry storage. i also found some old glass spice jars that i've been using to store my freshly dried spices. i splashed a bit of chalkboard paint on each jar so that i could write out their contents.

i don't have a dehydrator (yet) so to dry herbs i alternate between hanging them and baking them - i found that spices like rosemary, marjoram, oregano, and parsley do well hanging in bunches to dry. after a few days i just strip the leaves from the stems and store. basil and chives don't air dry well for me, so instead i heat up the oven to its lowest setting and let it warm up, then turn off the heat right before putting a baking sheet with the herbs inside. i check back every hour or so, turning the heat back on for a few minutes as needed until they've dried.