Earthbound co-founder Myra Goodman offers thoughts on a delicious shortcut that's no sacrifice at all.

Yesterday afternoon I did the first of two big shoppings at our Farm Stand in Carmel Valley in preparation for Thanksgiving. My list seemed endless: cream to whip, potatoes to steam, yams to bake, ice cream for my apple crisp, ingredients to make turkey stock out of my carcass...and on and on it went.

So much enjoyable hard work to do in the kitchen in the next couple of days! So I wanted to make the easiest possible dinner that night to save up my enthusiasm for time in the kitchen over the next few days. The newest addition to the Farm Stand shelves were Earthbound Farm's organic herb purees, and they seemed like they would be such great time-savers, I bought three: garlic, basil, and ginger. We were really impressed by their quality!

My daughter turned up her nose at them at first -- she's a purist about using the freshest ingredients possible -- but once she tasted them she was a complete convert. They are truly delicious and fresh-tasting. That night we tossed pasta with the garlic puree, olive oil and parmesan for a great side dish, and we also used the garlic puree to make quick and easy garlic bread. The basil puree is great squeezed onto quick grilled chicken breasts and pasta. The ginger makes stir fry seasoning easier than ever. We're thrilled to have these delicious purees just waiting in our fridge.  I'm sure the "ease of the squeeze" will make our food more flavorful than ever before!