Herb Ideas - Making Flavored Vinegar and Oil in Decorative Bottles or Jars

Make it for Yourself or an Inexpensive Homemade Gift

Many cooks love to use flavored vinegar and oils in a variety of recipes. Skip the high-dollar gourmet shops and make your own flavored vinegars or oil right at home. It’s easy and inexpensive!

Before gathering the ingredients for your flavored oil mixture you should find suitable jars or bottles. You will need a larger glass container for mixing and steeping. In addition, you will need decorative glass jars or bottles for storing, serving, and gift giving. Be sure you have corks or stoppers the appropriate sizes for all of your glass containers.

Preparing the Bottles

You will first need to sterilize your containers. You should wait to sterilize your decorative jars until you are ready to use them. Wash all bottles, jars, corks and stoppers you will be using now. Wash them in warm soapy water and clean the insides with a bottlebrush. Be sure to rinse everything thoroughly. You do not want any soapy reside left. Now you will need to sterilize the jars with boiling water. If the containers are small enough to be submerged in a pot it can be done right on the stovetop. All containers will need to be completely submerged, allowing them to fill completely with the water. Boil the water for 10 minutes. Use a clean, dry towel to drain the bottles on. If the glass containers cannot be fully submersed in the boiling water you will have to pour boiling water in them instead. Fill them completely and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Drain on a towel when finished.

Oil and Vinegar Recipes

Flavored Rosemary Oil
You will need several sprigs of rosemary and some olive oil for this recipe.

First you will prepare the rosemary. To release the flavor, gently roll a rolling pin or the backside of a spoon over the rosemary sprigs. You want to bruise the rosemary, not crush it.