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cleaning out the spice cabinet: victory

I wanted to clean out the spice cabinet for a long time.  A year, maybe.  Ming got it all ready for me.  Moved the dishwasher, cleared the counter.

This house had spices already when we came here, from the previous tenant.  So our spices got together with those spices.

Powdered mustard–I don’t even know what to do with that.  Maybe some old fashioned sauce requires it.  The previous tenant needed anise seed–not sure why.  I’m guessing special cookies.

I found a tin of chili powder that expired ten years ago.  You know, I’m the kind of person who likes to save things and uses the whole bottle of shampoo, leaving it upsidedown in the shower, taking off the lid and getting the last drops.  But even I draw the line somewhere.  That chili powder went in the trash.  Ten years is my limit.

We have too much vanilla, especially considering I don’t bake anymore.  There’s a small bottle of Schilling imitation maple flavor that looks like an antique.  There’s still a little liquid in there.

I found some old coriander seeds and consider planting them.  The hot smoked paprika I don’t think I’ll ever use–too hot.  I’ll offer it to Ming or put it in Freedom House.  I should make an effort to use dill.  And cinnamon.

That little glass bottle of Trader Joe’s saffron–when will I ever use it?  I can make some rice with a subtle saffron perfume–it seems wasted on me.  I have a breakfast mode with mild breakfast blandness, like oatmeal–then I have lunch and dinner mode, with flavors bold.

There are a few things I want to give away–old seasoned salt and Mrs Dash from the previous tenant, an unopened bottle of anise seeds, one of the powdered mustards.

Some mint in a little bag smells like cumin, so that’s compost.

Conclusions: I need to make some Ethiopian food.  I have whole cumin but need some ground cumin.  I should label bulk WinCo spices more faithfully.

Spices are good.  I’ll wash off the lazy susan style round two-tiered spice thing and wipe out the cabinet and put most of the spices back.

By Laura-Marie

Good at listening to the noise until it makes sense.

One reply on “cleaning out the spice cabinet: victory”

I wonder in the whole world how much of those little jars of spice is wasted or thrown away? I would guess 95% of the spices ever made end up in the trash. Sad.

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