On Saturday, I attempted to make cheese. I won't even get into how that went ...

I decided to use some of the fresh basil I was growing outside -- but I wanted to dry it first. (You don't have to use nearly as much dried basil as fresh, because fresh looses much of its flavor into the cutting board.)

I had been using Miracle-Gro, so I wanted to wash the leaves very well. After doing so, they turned into little smooshed-up blobs of dark green. I painstakingly unfolded each blob and flattened it on a paper towel. After trying to press the water out of them, I realized that I would need something more powerful. I added another layer of paper towel, and used masking tape to secure all four edges to the side of my bed. I then took my fan and placed it about 6 inches away and set it on "high".

After about an hour of fanning the basil, I checked it, and it was still quite damp. It was getting late, and I had to think fast. What had more power ...? The blow-drier!

I then moved my paper towels and tape to the floor, grabbed my blow-drier and got to work. It takes a damn long time to blow-dry basil. After almost 30 minutes of looking ridiculous (stopping every few minutes to make sure the drier would not melt) the basil was at an acceptable level of dryness.

Believe me -- running over to the store and buying a bottle of dried basil is far more time efficient than blow-drying it.