And so...the great failure

So what do you suppose this is? I'll give you a hint - it's NOT a close up shot of corpuscles...

Okay, I'll tell you!

I got this BEAUTIFULLY photographed book called Preserving last year and was so excited to try the Basil Oil! After I grew a lovely crop of Sweet Italian Basil, I set to work squishing each plant into a quart jar to receive the gently heated extra virgin olive oil.

The recipe said to heat the oil slowly to 104 degrees, pour into the jars over the fresh basil and after sealing them, leave them for 6 - 8 weeks. I thought that this seemed like a low temperature - certainly not a sterilizing temperature - but I forged ahead, then went to New Zealand after straining out the solids from this lovely dark green olive oil, again as instructed. Great things were to come from these jars.

When I came back a month later, I was all set to look upon this beautifully flavorful liquid and give away many bottles triumphantly at Christmas. "Why yes, I did grow the basil first - uh huh, then I used a recipe in this GREAT book..."

But this is what I saw when I went down into my basement to check on my holiday lovelies... I checked with the National Center for Home Food Preservation and was told in multi-syllabic terms that I would make someone very ill if I distributed this now evil tincture. I believe the term was Clostridium botulinum bacteria, my goodness.

So over this past weekend, I poured every one of these bottles out into an old washer fluid container and put them in the dumpster. What a sad waste after such lofty expectations. My oil last year turned out so well! Is this what I get when I don't listen to my inner chemist?

Okay, so lesson learned. Dry the basil first and then use the sunlight to create the carrier oil. There will be no more of this fresh Basil Oil Recipe Tom Foolery for me. And I just hope my garden will forgive me this Spring.