San Fransico Herb Co - Best Herbs Ever

I purchased a huge amount of herbs in 2008 on a group buy for a screaming deal. I figured if the economy went or there was a huge catastrophe of some type, we would all be eating some gross tasting food as most people only store the basics of wheat, sugar, etc. 

From that thought, I purchased bulk bags of many of the seasonings or herbs found in many of the foods I like or herbs that I cook with on a regular basis. I also purchased some mixed blends of seasonings such as "chili" spice or "Pumpkin spice" which are a mixture of spices that you would normally have to put into say pumpkin pie. When I was young, I would often make pumpkin pies and added each spice individually until it became common to have all those spices mixed into a tin called "Pumpkin Pie Spice" which is quite common now. 

I had never used "Italian Seasoning" as a mix blend before and had used oregano individually but hadn't really used many other Italian spices. I purchased the spice figuring I would try it out and it has by far become one of my very favorite to use in cooking. 

The company I purchased from is called "San Fransisco Herb Co." I was sharing with my friend who was over and really liked my double baked Italian potatoes. When I shared how much I LOVE the season mix, she said, "Isn't that the company that was shut down for having rodent droppings in their herbs?" 

I was totally freaked out by that. I instantly emailed the woman that did the group buy and before she replied, I did some searching on the web. I found the company that was fined and had some plants shut down for their rodent problems. I was SO grossed out by the pictures, videos and other things I found. I was relieved to find out that the company we ordered from was NOT that company even though they have a similar name. 
 
The company that was fined was called San Fransisco Herb and Natural Food Co.  Here is a link to one of the news articles about rodent infested San Fransisco Herb & Natural Food Co.  

I could breath easy knowing the items I purchased were OK but had to gross out about how many smaller containers of herbs I may have purchased from stores that came from batches of herbs from that company or eating at restaurants that purchased herbs from that company over the years. Or even processed packaged foods that had used those tainted spices in preparing their foods that we consume. It really makes you wonder... 
 
I did find a product in my storage items that someone had given me. It had been in a bag and when I put it in storage, I put it in a container and taped the label onto the front of the bottle. I never used the product but after looking at the company, I decided to not take any chances and to throw it away. If they were sifting out dead baby mice and droppings knowing it was in their product, I really don't want to use any product from such a company.  This is what their label looked like. The address and company name are the exact same as the one in the story about the rodents.

I go through lots of the Italian mix and lots of the "Curry" mixes that I purchased. I use lots of nutmeg when I bake and I thought I would share some of my favorite cooking posts using these products. I also have one soup that I have made for 20 years I got off a bag of barley and modified it for our family. My children call it "Canned Soup" as I used food storage cans to make it just adding barley and Caraway seeds and using the cans of veggies with the juices to make the rest of the soup. Here is a link to that post.

Here is a link to my using the "Italian Blend" in Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes.

Here is a link to a post where I use the Italian blend and some curry seasoning on dehydrated cherry tomatoes which ended up tasting like pizza.

Here is a link to a post where I bake a turkey using the Italian blend, there is a video link to this as well on this post.

I thought I posted about my twice baked Italian Herbed potatoes but in searching, I can't find it. It must be one of those posts that I took pictures for but getting busy in life, I actually never got to it. I will have to add that to my "to post" list. 

Here is a link to my nutmeg, banana waffles that are a family favorite.

Link to Coconut Curry Chicken Soup. 

Here is a link to our Carrot, Curry and Squash Soup we served at Princess One's Wedding. 


Since I didn't have a bottle for "Italian Season" I just made up a handwritten one out of an empty spice jar. I am getting low on the spice in my back up stash and will be looking to get more next time I see a group buy for this company. I REALLY love the herb and my girls have learned to enjoy it as well. 

I am also experimenting more with the curry and use it often in my rice dishes in my rice cooker. I haven't blogged those as they are so similar to the other rice posts I have so just know that you can substitute some curry in for other spices in those recipes. 

Here is a link to Lemon and Garlic Wild Rice.

Here is one with Rice, Arugula and Vegetables.

I made up another recipe today using lots of the curry and the Italian seasoning mix. I am hoping to post it tomorrow. There is a bit of a funny story with that and I will share it tomorrow.. Lets just say Princess Five was a bit red. . . .

I made a video about my buying and experience with the herbs and have to share that when I open the 5 gallon buckets each time to refill my little jars of spice, it smells SO GOOD in the house. I kinda wish I could make an oil blend that had the smell of all of those spices in it to diffuse all the time as it smells so heavenly whenever the buckets are opened. I have also been really impressed at how well the herbs have lasted. I don't have them stored in the fridge or freezer like is recommended but have them in the buckets in the garage where the temperature fluctuates greatly from summer to winter and I have had them out there for 7 plus years now and they are all wonderful. 


I would suggest that you don't buy whole seeds like pumpkin, poppy or other seeds as they contain oils and will go rancid so you should only purchase enough of those that you will be able to use in a year or so. You can keep them in a freezer and they will last longer but I hate taking up freezer space for nuts and seeds and would rather purchase those fresh yearly. Hope you enjoy the video and post and if you are ever in my neck of the woods, stop over and I'll make you some Curry Rice and some Twice Baked Italian Potatoes! I know those herbs are healthy for you so it can't be bad to eat them often.