Stocking the spice cabinet
Hi all. I'd like to get a house warming present for a friend. I know she needs to restock her spice cabinet. What dried herbs and spices would you include in a gift basket? What are your must haves?
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11 Comments:
It kind of depends on what kind of food she likes to cook, but a good basic kit would include:
Thyme
Oregano
Savoury
Marjoram
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Cloves
Cumin
Coriander
Cayenne
Paprika
Dry mustard
SqueezeBottle at 10:37AM on 12/08/08
first of all, i would buy the spices from penzey's.
i would include thyme, bay leaves, paprika and smoked paprika, vanilla extract, tellicherry peppercorns, whole nutmeg, and cinnamon.
those are the things i simply could not cook without, but you might want to quiz her and find out what she uses most often.
cybercita at 10:37AM on 12/08/08
I'd vote for a gift cert from Penzey's, tucked in a small basket with one of their nice pepper mills.
lemons at 10:40AM on 12/08/08
get her a gift certificate to Penzey's. As I clicked on this thread, I thought to myself, maybe I could tell my parents that I want a gift cert to Penzey's since I couldn't think of anything when they asked what I wanted
... and then I imagined having to very thoroughly explain that a gift cert really was best becase I keep too many spices to fit them into one rack and that our cooking styles differ so much that just picking some stuff out for me wouldn't be toooo productive.
Now if you know how your friend cooks for the most part, then go ahead and pick stuff out. Otherwise, give her the gift of free reign through the Penzey's catalog. What a great gift idea, btw!
joyyy at 10:43AM on 12/08/08
Here are my favorites:
Cayenne
Good sea Salt
Good pepper corns
Paprika
Smoked Paparika
Garlic salt
Cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar
Thyme
Oregano
Parsley
Rosmary
Cream of Tartar
Cumin
Chili poweder
Red Pepper Flakes
Chicken broth shaker
ryan112ryan at 10:53AM on 12/08/08
If you live near a penzeys store go there. If not try online.
http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html
They have the smallest bottles for a quick spice collection. Unless she cooks a lot and bakes often the smallest ones are your best bet.
The 1/4 cup jar is the spice rack pick of choice and at about a buck or two apiece you can get a good collection going.
JerzeeTomato at 12:16PM on 12/08/08
Here is the reality, most of what you buy will never get used. Is it worth paying $8 for a little glass jar of some nice ground spice that will be tasteless in a couple years?
When we redid our spice cabinet, we went with these rules:
Whole spices over ground. You can even get dried ginger from Tampico, tastes better than any pre-ground I've ever had.
Cheap spices with the best expiration date are always better than fancy brand old spices. We filled most of our jars using a newly stocked Tampico section at our local market. They are all $1 to $1.50 in plastic bags (not jars).
Your own glass jars instead of overpriced supermarket jarred spices. You can buy nice jars, and label them, and fill them with Tampico for less than pre-jarred spices. Most metal tins are not air tight, we went with tiny little mason jars from Italy.
Avoid light, and heat. Put your spices in a cabinet, not on display.
peekpoke at 2:03PM on 12/08/08
You might want to get your friend a selection of whole spices (cinnamon, peppercorns, coriander, cumin, cloves, allspice, etc) and a small, inexpensive spice grinder if she doesn't already have one. I have a Proctor-Silex, and it's been my faithful spice companion for about 4 years. Fresh-ground spices are always better than the months-old preground stuff. Then she'll have a fun new kitchen toy to play with, too!
butterface at 4:07PM on 12/08/08
Parsley,Sage,Rosemary and Thyme
onepercent99 at 5:09PM on 12/08/08
Lets just say from A to Z........
pjracz10 at 6:38AM on 12/09/08
Spices have gotten very expensive, so large quantities that will not be used quickly are a huge waste of money. Locally, small round containers of spices by a company called Tone's are available, usually about $1.00.This approach to the spice problem seems to make the most sense to me.
dmcavanagh at 11:56AM on 12/12/08