I found this small kitchen gadget while shopping for Christmas presents in my local Target store. I picked it up, took a look, and immediately decided this was a present for myself. I use fresh herbs weekly, if not daily, in my cooking. I grow them on my kitchen windowsill in the Winter, in the outdoor kitchen/herb garden in the Spring, Summer and Autumn. One problem I have, especially with the smaller leafed herbs, is removing the foliage from the stem without driving myself batty. When I cook up soups/stews the stem is fine for adding to the broth, it can easily be removed when the stewing is complete, but I don’t want to have pieces of stem in salad dressings and other non-cooked foods. This small gadget perfectly strips leaves away from the stem and drops them in the bowl of the spoon, or as in the case of the oregano in the photo below, forms a sweet rosette within the confines of the stripping hole.

I wish I had thought of using this technique throughout the years I’ve relied on fresh herbs. If you can’t find this amazing little gadget, priced under three dollars, you might be able to whip one up yourself using a measuring cup or spoon. I think if you drill or create graduated holes around the top of a plastic cup you will be able to strip herbs as easily as with this terrific little kitchen tool.