QUESTION: Do you have advice on how to freeze fresh herbs, particularly basil, oregano, mint, parsley and cilantro?

ANSWER: For herbs with tender leaves, one of the best ways to freeze them is in ice cube trays.

First, chop and mix them with a little oil to make a paste, or cover them with water. Bag the cubes in freezer bags, and you can drop them into soups or stews all winter. If you mix them with oil, you could even make them into salad dressing.

For mint, mix with a little simple syrup — 1 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup hot water — and freeze for use in beverages.

To preserve the green color of basil, dip a bunch into boiling water for a few seconds, then dip it into ice water to shock it. Remove the leaves and mix with oil.

QUESTION: I’ve been disappointed twice by strawberries I’ve bought this summer, both at a farm and a farmers market. Is it just me?

ANSWER: The quality of fruit depends on so many things. A year with a lot of rain can mean the fruit is too juicy and gets soft too soon. A cooler year may mean less strong sunshine to develop the sweetness.

You can’t change the weather, but you can use a trick chefs use: Always give fresh fruit a good sniff. Chefs like to say “It will smell like it eats,” and that’s very true with fruit. If it smells sweet and fresh, it should taste the same.

Otherwise, try a recipe that involves adding a little simple syrup or stirring some jam and lemon juice into a sauce. That will help bland fruit.

QUESTION: My cracker recipe calls for rolling the dough thinly between two sheets of parchment paper. When I try it, the parchment slips all over the counter. How can I hold it in place?

ANSWER: Parchment paper or plastic wrap can both help you roll out a thin dough without adding flour. To keep it in place, try the old kitchen trick of spreading out a thin dish towel, then place the paper on top.

Make sure you use natural parchment that isn’t coated with silicone. It isn’t as slick as white parchment.

QUESTION: Several times I’ve seen the word “nage” on menus. I can’t find a definition. What’s a nage?

ANSWER: Nage (usually pronounced “nah-zh,” not “nay-zh”) is a stock used to cook shellfish, such as court bouillon. But it also refers to the technique of simmering something gently in a flavorful broth. In French, “a la nage” means “in the swim.”

But some chefs have been getting creative with the term. Some now refer to a nage as sauce made from whisking butter into a little wine-enriched cooking stock, even into pasta-cooking water. Others use it to mean vegetables poached in stock and wine.