Spice Things Up

Let’s spice things up!

Pictured: 3 large filled spice jars – curry, cinnamon, and cumin – all labeled with bold black marker.

So for anyone who likes to cook and for those of us who do not cook at all, spices are essential to making things taste great.  And spices are expensive, too, so we do want to use them with some care.  We want to be able to use them with some inkling of knowing what we are doing, and without any waste.

Pictured: There are four spice jars – curry, cinnamon, and cumin and paprika has joined the others. The paprika is being prepared to be labeled. The label for the paprika is on the table, ready to be applied to the jar.

I prefer a labeling system.  I take 3 by 5-inch index cards and cut them in half horizontally so that I then have two 1-1/2 by 5-inch strips from each card.  With a bold marker, I write the name of the spice across the strip and then wrap it around its spice jar.  I secure it in place with a rubber band.  With that system, I can keep my spices on the shelf above my food prep area and I can usually make out what each bottle contains. Braille can be added to each card, either alone or in addition to the big bold writing.  The label can easily be removed when the jar is empty and that label can be placed on the new jar.

When you are working in the kitchen, add some pizzazz- with spices, and be comfortable with what you are doing and how you are doing it.  And enjoy!

How do you find the spices you need?