On April 28th, I posted a recipe for Fresh Italian Herb Salt. In the comment section, Linda G. posed this question, “Why is there a 3-week storage time limit? Does the moisture cause it to break down?” Her inquiring lead me to test drying out the salt to find if that would make it pantry safe and extend its shelf life.

The answer is yes, you can spread the salt out on a baking sheet, leave it out in the dry summer sun for a day (longer or inside if it is humid in your area) and it will dry and be able to be kept in the pantry and not have an expiration date. In the photo below, the jar on the left is the fresh salt that needs to be refrigerated and the jar on the right is the pantry-safe dry salt.

If you are like most people, you are finding yourself making more meals at home than ever before, maybe even up to three meals a day. Well, I have a wonderful herb salt you can make, store in the refrigerator and use on beef, pork, chicken, fish, eggs, and vegetables. Basically, it is wonderful on just about everything.

Fresh Italian Herb Salt

• 7 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 3 sprigs fresh sage
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 3/4 cup Kosher Salt

The third of the six recipes I taught at my “Gifts of Food” cooking class at Les Gourmettes was the gift of flavored salts.

You don’t need to be a wonderful cook to make these. But every wonderful cook you know would love to receive them!

The Wild Mushroom Salt is fantastic to use in soups and sauces and makes the perfect seasoning for all meats or for sautéing fresh vegetables.

Use the Smoked Paprika and Ancho Chile Salt in every Mexican, Spanish, and Southwest recipe you can think of! Or be adventurous and rim your margarita glasses with it.

Lime-Ginger Salt is also great to use to rim a cocktail glass and is fabulous to sprinkle on chicken or fish before grilling.

The most versatile of the four salts, use the Herbes de Provence Salt to season everything from meats and poultry to soups, vinaigrettes, and sauces.

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Fleur de Sel (Flower of Salt) is French sea salt that is hand-harvested by workers who scrape only the top layer of salt from the sea before it sinks to the bottom of large salt evaporation ponds. Traditional French fleur de sel is collected off the coast of Brittany, most notably in the town of Guérande, making Fleur de Sel de Guérande the most revered of all sea salts.

I’ve used Fleur de Sel de Guérande to make my Vanilla Fleur de Sel before, but it is a bit too pricey to use for multiple gift giving. A more budget-conscience but still very lovely salt to use is Pink Hawaiian Alaea Sea Salt. It is conveniently found at Cost Plus World Market in a 1-pound bag. While you are there picking up the salt, grab a couple vanilla beans as well. That’s all you’ll need for this Eleventh Day of Christmas Gift.

That’s right, only two ingredients to make this gift, the easiest of the dozen!

On the eleventh day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:

A Jar of Vanilla Sea Salt
Tins of Bacon Toffee
Rum Glazed Eggnog Bread
Fennel Cured Salmon
Spicy Guinness Mustard
Two Jars of Mustard
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Homemade Kahlua Liqueur
Lemon-Sugar Hand Scrub
Cranberry Citrus Vodka
and a bottle of Tomato Dust

Vanilla Sea Salt is a wonderful condiment to have and to give. It brings out subtle flavors in sweet and savory dishes from seafood, poultry, salads, and vegetables to sweet bread, chocolate, and popcorn. I love how it brings a delicate sweet tone to foods without adding a drop of sugar.

It is perfect for making salted vanilla bean caramels and is an extravagant addition to the extravagance of Foie Gras.

Or how about using it for a Vanilla Fleur de Sel, Chocolate, and Caramel Buttercream? Now that’s what I’m talking about!

Most importantly, you can not beat it as a margarita glass rimmer. Especially on Elote’s De Lujo Margarita. The vanilla salt on the rim brings out and enhances the warm vanilla flavor already present in the margarita – awesome stuff!

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