The Special Herb Mix

I do love cookbooks.  I find they contain little gems of wisdom and sometimes great recipes I end up incorporating into my life so much so that they become my own.  One of the cookbooks in my collection is one called Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread, A Country Inn Cookbook.  This is definitely a make-everything-from-scratch cookbook, and if you have the time and inclination, it's pretty awesome.  One thing I took from this lovely collection of recipes and cooking tips was my special herb mix.  They say it's for bean soup, however, I'd like to respectfully disagree.  It's not only great for bean soup; I have reached for this mix too many times as a remedy to the boring soup or stew.  Let me give you the basic recipe, but don't just limit yourself to the rules.  Take some liberty and use what you have on hand, or what you can find locally.

Herb Mix for Bean Soup

Mix together the following:

1/2 cup dried parsley
1/4 cup plus 2 T dried summer savory
1/4 cup cumin seeds
2 T each:  fennel seeds, caraway seeds, dill seeds, cracked coriander seeds, sweet basil, and dried chervil
1 T each:  celery seeds, dried thyme (lemon thyme, if available) sage, oregano, rosemary, lavender, sweet marjoram
1/2 - 1 tsp cayenne pepper

Makes a not-quite-full quart of herb mix.  Store in an air-tight container.

That's it.  Tweak as needed to make your life easier or spicier, whichever is necessary.