Culinary sage, or Salvia officinalis is a member of the salvia family. If you have landscaping you probably are familiar with at least some of its cousins.

 Russian sage is common in landscaping with its tall waving purple flowers on top socks of gray-green foliage.

 Deadnettle (also known as Lamium) and mints are also in the same family.

 Sage is an herb commonly used when cooking poultry or soups. It is an evergreen perennial with a very strong musky flavor. You definitely know it's there if you put too much into your recipe.

 One of the more popular uses is to make brown butter sage. That is a sauce where you cook the chiffonade leaves in butter that has cooked until it has started to turn brown. It has a wonderful flavor that goes with pumpkin and squash which are available this time of the year.

 In the summer you will get pretty blue or purple flowers from this small shrub which is why it is also used in landscaping. It's wonderful when you can have dual purpose plants.

 Enjoy your sage this Thanksgiving.