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Saturday, February 11, 2017

I Guess I Am A Spice Girl After All

I have one of those corner cabinets with a built in double tray lazy Susan.  I tried putting all sorts of things there but found it did not fit my cooking style, so I finally declared it would be my spice cabinet.  Eventually I had to add 3 more free standing shelves to it so everything would fit, but I have to be careful when I turn it.  Some of the containers are so light they will fall off into the dark hole at the back corner and then I have to take everything off of it so I can go fishing for the kamikaze bottle with a pair of tongs. Inevitably the item I need is the jumper.
After doing the spice inventory I found I really should have done this long ago. I had partially used duplicates of about 5 things, plus I have 3 unopened containers of thyme. Anything I could consolidate was and those 3 blooming jars of thyme are all still in there. I have the bottom shelf with my savory items.  I use them much faster than I do seasonings for baking so I keep them within easy reach.  I also am a little funny about how they are organized on the trays.  I lump like seasonings together, so all seasonings that are blends are in one quadrant, the hotter one are in another. seeds and pods occupy their own space and herbs share the last.  The white free standing shelves go no where. They are rubber banned together by their rear legs on either side of the center rod. it gives me one side for garlic and onion based containers and the other side holds small jars of seasoning blends.  It has an additional shelf on it so I can double all those small jars. I should never be allowed to walk into Penzy's. I tell myself the jars are so tiny and they won't take up any room__until I have about 20 of them


Savory Things

Powdered things
chipotle
coriander
hot chili
chili
jalapeno
cayenne
cumin
annatto
pepper (black and white)
paprika (regular, Hungarian sweet, and smoked)
garlic
onion
tumeric

Seeds and whole things
coriander
dill
cumin
celery
mustard
fennel
caraway
peppercorns
sesame
fenugreek
red chili
thai chili

Herb things
basil
oregano
dill weed
lemongrass
tarragon
marjoram
bay leaves
rosemary
sage
thyme

Blended things
Italian
poultry
Brazilian
Moroccan
Chinese 5 spice
bon apetit
garam masala
Old Bay
zatar
Bankok
soul
Szechuan
steak
Rogan Josh
sandwich sprinkles
hot curry
Balti
Greek

Salt things
garlic
onion

Sweeter Things

Whole things
cinnamon sticks
cloves
allspice
juniper
cardamon
nutmeg
orange peel
lemon peel
poppy seed
vanilla beans

Ground things
cinnamon
cloves
nutmeg
ginger
allspice
mace
cardamon
lemon peel
mint
vanilla powder
pumpkin pie spice

Extract things
vanilla
almond
lemon
rum
butter
peppermint
orange
coconut
sherry
brandy

Other things
baking powder
baking soda
1 quart crab boil seasoning
1 pint butt rub
4 pack food coloring
dehydrated lemon juice
dehydrated lime juice
butter buds
fruit fresh
alum
cream of tarter
Mexican fruit seasoning

My oils, salts and thickeners  live in a cabinet right by the stove

Oil things
olive
grape seed
safflower
sesame
toasted sesame
hot chili
truffle
oil spray (regular, olive oil, coconut oil)
baking release spray

Salt things
sea
kosher
pink Himalayan
black diamond
Molokai red
smoked

Thickening things
corn starch
arrowroot starch
agar agar


Vinegars I use all the time hang out on a tray on the countertop (Easy access )
red wine
white wine
lemon
champagne
balsamic (regular, basil infused, and aged)
fig
strawberry

Other than the fridge and the bread box, that is is for food stored in the kitchen.  I do have a second refrigerator and a freezer in the laundry room.  I also have a small cabinet with more food storage there.  I will have to inventory those later.  The laundry room is my big clean up/ clean out  and reorganize room for February. I will work on  those areas sometime next week.

































































































17 comments:

  1. Now that you've inventoried, you can lock your self away and cook to your hearts content.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep! The jury is still out whether I will or not though.

      Delete
  2. Whoa! You do have a lot of spices!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Until I pulled everything out, I had no idea how much I had.

      Delete
  3. You have a well-stocked spice cabinet! I have a lot of basic spices but just don't bake enough to have too many baking items.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The sad thing is I rarely bake either. I do use the savory stuff daily though.

      Delete
  4. I had one of those twirly things when I lived in Illinois. I hated it. I was always afraid I'd pinch my fingers in it, and it was so difficult to retrieve stuff that fell off in the back. Now my spaces are in a drawer. They lie down very politely, with their labels showing. They are also in alphabetical order. They are so proud of themselves.

    Love,
    Janie

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  5. I have a large kitchen but have virtually no drawer space so they are on the Susan. I tried the alphabetical approach but it does not work for me. I need them grouped with like spices, so If I am doing some ethnic meal all those seasonings are together. But then I always take the path of least resistance.

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  6. Oh my word you are the gourmet, I would not know what to do with half of this stuff. My daughter is like you.

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  7. That is a well stocked spice cabinet! You have a lot of interesting herbs, spices, and condiments!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting or just plain odd? My Beloved Sister calls it weird!

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  8. I think you have too much thyme on your hands :)

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  9. I have a ton of spices as well. They will come in handy sometime.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I truly do use the savory one all of the time, and the spices I use for baking will be used once/if I start actually baking. If not I can put some in a pot of water over low heat and at least make the house smell good.

      Delete
  10. Finally found the comments. It was a quite a scroll. A couple of years ago, I did a thorough cleaning of our spice cabinet. I had spices that had grocery stickers before they even had bar codes. I spent a while online figuring out when a certain store went out of business and on the McCormick site to see when the used different bottles. All and all, I found it a very interesting experience. It also pointed out that I'm not a big spice user.

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  11. Yes I have no clue why there is such a long scroll. About 5 years ago I tossed all my spices that were still in tins. I have no idea how long ago they stopped that, plus I still had one tin that was pre shaker top and had a cap you had to pry off with a spoon handle. I really do use a lot of herbs and spices when I cook, but honestly how much comfrey and chervil can you use in one lifetime?

    ReplyDelete

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