Sage is one of the most versatile and delicious herbs. It loses it’s flavor, in my opinion, when it is dried, so the best way to preserve it I have found is in honey and apple cider vinegar. Another absolutely delicious way to serve sage is to coat it in olive oil or melted lard and sprinkle with salt and bake in the oven until crispy. So incredible as a crunchy addition to Thanksgiving.

I made three pints of preserved sage with these three bunches of sage I bought at the farmers market, as I can no longer grow sage here in a cold climate, as compared to the bumper crop I grew in Texas. I find it hard to live without flowers and am grateful my favorite farmer, Thistle Whistle Farms, sells these too.

Wash, dry and take off the leaves of the large stems. You can leave the smaller stems on and stuff your jars, leaving some room at the top.

Slowly pour in raw honey and let it ooze down into the jar. You will need to get a knife and slip along the edges so the honey can get to the bottom.

Leave a little over 1/4th of room in the jar and fill the rest of the way with raw apple cider vinegar. You can put the lid on and shake, and then stir so everything is well incorporated. Do not fill all the way to the top, as you do not want the lid to touch the mixture with apple cider vinegar in it. Let it rest in room temperature for a day, then refrigerate. When you pour out the sage honey liquid, you can keep filling with honey and ACV for quite a while to continue to make sage flavored honey. It is incredible to use for a base for salad dressing… and the sage leaves with some liquid are a must for homemade aoli.