Slice of Life: The Spice Rack

We’re moving … in three days. Three days is all we’ve got to finish getting out of our house! Yesterday I started working on the kitchen. I packed some kitchen essentials that went to the lake house already (where we are moving), and they actually got unpacked last Saturday.

But, as anyone with a kitchen that has lots of cabinet space knows…there are hidden caches of everything from candy to special glass wear to unused “novelty” tools to spices. In the last few years, we’ve tried cooking differently (the Keto Diet) and that necessitated buying a lot of alternative flours and some additives (xanthum gum and Psyllium husk). Since our boys have all flown the coop, so to speak, we also tried to cook new recipes, and some of them require new spices.

This morning I attacked the spice rack, which in our house meant one of the two corner lazy Susans we have in the kitchen. (The other holds the dog treats, bowls, and monthly meds.) It also held my coffee grinder, food processor, and a few knickknacks. Everything but the dog “stuff” from that corner has been packed.

But, back to the spices. There was a lot. Some expired (2016 was the oldest I saw), and some were barely used, but new. They all came out of the cupboard. I sorted. Expired containers were pitched. Doubles were pitched with the most full being kept or transferred into one container. Open sacks of odd flours like almond and coconut were thrown out. It thinned my supply somewhat but the truth will be in the space I have in my one lazy Susan at the lake…