My Christmas dinner this year includes the traditional turkey and dressing. For dessert we'll have pumpkin and a fruit pie, plus more. My dinner will include a variety of herbs and spices, which make the food taste great!

What is the difference between an herb and a spice? Definitions of herbs and spices vary somewhat but can be identified as follows:

Herbs are leaves of low-growing shrubs. Examples are parsley, chives, marjoram, thyme, basil, caraway, dill, oregano, rosemary, savory, sage and celery leaves. These can be used fresh or dried. Dried forms may be whole, crushed, or ground. Many herbs can be grown in the United States in or out of doors.

Spices come from the bark (cinnamon), root (ginger, onion, garlic), buds (cloves, saffron), seeds (yellow mustard, poppy, sesame), berry (black pepper), or the fruit (allspice, paprika) of tropical plants and trees.

Sage is one of my favorite herbs. It can be used a variety of ways. I particularly like sage in dressing. You can also use it in meatloaf, soup (my Mom makes a great bean soup that takes sage!), bread, sausages, omelets, and more.

Sage is really easy to grow and a very pretty plant. It comes in a variety of leaf colors, including the traditional green. There is also purple sage, tricolor (cream, purple, and green), pineapple, golden, and more. Sage also has a beautiful purple flower that hummingbirds will visit.

I love pepper. I'm one of those people who pepper almost all my food. Black pepper comes from the pepper (Piper nigrum) vine in tropical locations. The black pepper is obtained from the dried unripe fruit. When the outer covering is removed it produces white pepper. To get green pepper, the green peppercorns are treated to retain the green color. Pink pepper or red peppercorns are rare and consists of ripe red pepper berries preserved in brine and vinegar. You can commonly find dried "pink peppercorns", but they are usually the fruits of a plant from a different family.

Paprika is a spice of the pepper plant. In the United States, paprika is typically made of non-pungent red chile peppers. In Europe, however, you can get paprika of varying degrees of "hotness" depending on which pepper was ground. Similarly, chili powder is made of ground peppers and is typically mildly spicy in the United States. Paprika and chili powder can be made from any pepper (Capsicum sp.) including the chili, cayenne, and red pepper.

Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy this holiday season of good food with family and friends!