Christmas is a time to give as Jesus gave for us. The trouble is most of us have zero ideas of what to give to our loved ones and friends. BUT WAIT!!! The Frugal Catholic has one of her best ideas to share with your loved ones, neighbors, and friends. Give a Parsley Jar for Christmas: They will love it.
Now one of the crucial facts I gleaned from the Covid 19 scarcity was "keep fresh goods on hand." That includes fresh vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, and potatoes, And PARSLEY. Parsley, if you don't know, is a great "blood purifier." Suitable for the innards. The trouble is that it goes bad so quickly in your refrigerator. So to combat "parsley fatigue," try storing it in a jar with a snap-down lid and watch what wonders you can make. With fresh parsley constantly in your refrigerator, you can add it to salads, soups, and stir-fries, and the rest of this fluffy green herb will remain crisp like the day you bought it because of the "parsley jar."
A "parsley jar" is nothing more than a clear plastic or glass jar with a snap-down lid; and when you rinse the parsley, shake off the excess water, and place it in the jar, it miraculously stays fresh forever. Well, almost forever. Please don't ask me how this works. I have no idea. I found the concept in my favorite cookbook, The I Hate to Cookbook by Peg Bracken, dating back to the mid-1900s, and my friend Jolene Schroeder, whom I had over for lunch the other day, said I needed to share this hot tip. So here are the steps required:
Purchase a clear food storage container, the kind you'd use to store pasta or one with a tight snap-down lid. A 72 ounce one is the best size, and the height is about 9 inches tall, which is high enough to enclose a standard bunch of parsley or cilantro. I have found them in Goodwill or on Amazon. My Goodwill one was a dog bone jar until it cracked. Now it is my refrigerator parsley jar patched up with duct tape. Necessity is the mother of invention!
Rinse the parsley under water, shake out all excess water, and snip off the old ends so that the herb can absorb moisture in the jar.
Stuff it into a parsley jar, snap down the lid, and put it in your refrigerator. When you need some, pull it out and use it.
Having the fresh goods on hand helps separate the thrifty from the unthrifty cooks. So give a parsley jar to your friends and neighbors for Christmas, and throw in one for yourself too.
For neither herb nor poultice cured them, but it was your word, O Lord, that heals all people.
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Martha Wild King, M.Ed., Author
The Frugal Catholic: Learn to live on less to give and save more.