today i went out to country village to take a costume i altered to a client, and then after i got home i decided to do a little "spring cleaning" of the kitchen. after i got that into a little less of a disaster, i thought i would get to work on the kitchen cabinets that hold my herbs and spices. i thought it would be nice to open the cabinets, and not have a bag of chiles or a can of paprika hit me on the head!
i do love my herbs and spices though. when i had taken all the little jars, and cans, and boxes down, and cleaned the cabinet shelves, then came the fun of putting everything back. it seems that i forget when i buy some things, and had enough ground ginger to last for a good six months! ground cumin as well, and there are so many types of chile and chile powder, it was just ridiculous. normal people only have one or two types of salt, i guess...i had regular iodized table salt, sea salt, sour salt, black salt, and onion salt.
i love to cook, and i love to cook, 'cause i love to eat. one of my favorites is indian food, which requires lots of spices for the curries and garam masala mixes. the ones you buy already in little jars, just aren't the same as mixing the spices, and toasting them, and grinding them yourself. i also love thai food, and chinese food, and of course MEXICAN food! they all need their own special spice blends, and i apparently had most of them jammed into my cabinets! it did smell wonderful as i cleared shelves, and poured spices into larger jars, (so there were not three shakers of cinnamon going at once) and then labeling everything that was without a label. it makes my kids crazy when there are all these little jars of red, brown and green powders that no one but me knows what they are! sometimes i will dry herbs from my garden, and they will be in there in a little baggie, and my kids always ask me, "WHAT is
this mom!?" after i was finished, it felt good to look at all the little jars and bottles of spices and herbs, all lined up and labeled, nice and tidy.
i also had so many flavorings...vanilla, lemon, rose, orange blossom, maple, anise and coconut. i also had so many colored sugars, in a rainbow of colors! with all those pretty colored sugars, i think tonight, i will give a
king cake a try again. it is almost mardi gras, and i do love king cake! and it will warm up the kitchen, and make it smell wonderful...again!
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