Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Spice(s) of Life

I like to cook. I don't always have the time for it, but I really like it. Friends and family know this. Dad and I occasionally swap recipes, Mom has been known to send me a box full of recipe books, a good friend sent us a box of spices for a wedding present, another gave me a cookbook at our bridal tea. I love trying new things, too. I have some old standbys, but it's nice to go outside the box sometimes.
We happened to be at the grocery store last night, and I decided to check out the spice aisle. Not usually something I do, since we're pretty good in the spice department, but you never know. Lo and behold, Spice Island (or maybe just my grocery store) is discontinuing a chunk of their spices, and they were on sale TEN FOR $10. I started grabbing bottles left and right. I mean, some of these spices go for $10 or more for just one bottle.
Some of the bottles I bought, like the sea salt and the cloves, are going to get a lot of use. Others I'm going to have to research so I can find more of a reason to use them. But I figure they're all in nice sealed glass bottles in our pantry, so they should keep for a while.
If you happen to have any recipes for tumeric or cardamom, please pass them along. I found a few for cardamom, and my Indian co-workers tell me they traditionally put some in their tea (and I'm a big tea drinker). Not so many for turmeric--at least, not many recipes I could see my husband eating.
Bon apetit!

1 comment:

trina said...

Is the cardamom whole or ground? I've been making chai lately with cardamom seeds and cloves and cinnamon and ginger. So good.

Turmeric is what makes curry powder yellow - use a little along with other Indian spices.

Also, ground cardamom is used in Swedish baking.

And Paul says hi.