3 teaspoons fresh herb=1 teaspoon dried herb. With rosemary, I'd be using half a teaspoon dried for that 1 sprig fresh, unless your jar is old, in which case you should do the taste test. (Dried rosemary is 'stronger' than fresh, but it does lose its flavour over time.) Same rule applies to many dried herbs. Gee, start a herb garden. You'll be absolutely astonished at how much better fresh herbs taste! There is no such thing as accuracy with herbs, even in herbal medicine. Measurements given in a recipe should be used only as a guide. Put those taste buds of yours to good use whenever you're cooking. They're the best judge of 'how much'.

You've inspired me this year to make some cranberry salsa to put in with my peach and tomato in my Christmas baskets. But I'm waiting until AFTER Thanksgiving when the cranberries go on sale. One should never pay over 99 cents for a bag, I still have two bags in the freezer from last year to use up! BTW, here's the canning recipe, from "Small Batch Preserving" by Ellie Topp 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries 1/4 cup dried cranberries 1/4 cup chopped red onion 2 TBLSP chopped parsely (could easily use cilantro here, but it looses it's punch when canned so also add a dash of ground corriander) 1-2 TBLSP honey 1 TBLSP each red wine vinegar and lemon juice 2 tsp. granulated sugar 1/4 tsp. each pickling salt and hot pepper flakes Combine all ingredients in a med. stainless or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over med. heat and boil gently uncovered for 10 min or until mixture is thickened, stirring frequently. Ladle into hot jars prepared for canning. (Which means washed and boiled for 10 min.). Fill jars to within 1/2 inch of the rim. Process 20 minutes for half pint jars. Makes about 3 of those jars. I might have to double the recipe, lol. You can do that as long as it is not a recipe calling for pectin, which this is not. Cranberry is loaded with natural pectin which is why they make easy peasy thick sauce. The notes for this recipe say you can add more honey if you think it tastes too tart.

No sign of mold to any other odd look.... I am going to put them in a Cranberry Almond Chocolate Biscotti... so I will give it a go. Thanks everyone! Alexa Cranberry Almond Chocolate Biscotti Makes about 36 1 1/2 cups flour 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup cocoa powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 1/8 teaspoon salt 3 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted 1 cup dried cranberries 1 cup sliced almonds 8 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat liner. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. With an electric mixer, beat the eggs and melted butter into the dry ingredients. Stir in the cranberries and almonds. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Flour your hands so that the dough won't stick to them, and divide the dough into 3 equal 8x2x3/4-inch logs. Place one log on the baking sheet and bake 24 minutes or until firm and dry to touch. Remove from oven. Reduce oven to 325°F. Transfer baked log to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut the log diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place slices, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake about 10 minutes or until dry and dark. Transfer to racks; cool. Repeat with the other two logs. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler. Dip each biscotti into the chocolate, at an angle, coating the end. Return to a cooled baking sheet and chill about 20 minutes or until chocolate is set.

I used dried lemon zest when I make Za'atar, which is used mainly on meat dishes. I think it's fine for use with meat but not with cookies. I freeze lemon rinds after I juice the lemons from my yard, and frozen peel works much better than dried. I think tangerine is perhaps closer to lemon than lime is. Lime is really quite different from lemon in flavor. The Meyer lemons that I have are somewhat similar to oranges because they are almost sweet. I haven't heard of putting lime zest in cookies, but I think any other citrus would be fine, including grapefruit. Lars