Spice Racks Blog

“Once you get a spice in your home, you have it forever. Women never throw out spices. The Egyptians were buried with their spices. I know which one I’m taking with me when I go.” – Erma Bombeck

What would food be without spices?  Bland.  Every dish needs some seasoning, even if it’s just salt and pepper.  And when we want to develop more complex flavors, we start delving into other spices and broadening the range of flavor.  Typically, we only think of adding spices to food.  But what about cocktails and other beverages?  I asked myself this question today while planning a garden party for next weekend.

Are you tired of serving the same old drinks as well?  I’ve searched far and wide to bring you some ideas for “spicing” up some basic drinks!

  Cardamom:  Commonly used in Indian dishes, this spice has a distinctive and strong, smokey taste.  Think of Chai tea.  So it pairs well with lemon beverages, whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic.  Use it in small doses though, so as to not overwhelm the drink.

Pepper:  Everyone knows what this is.  It’s hard to imagine pepper in a cocktail, but trust me on this.  You don’t want to grind it into your drink, but rather, infuse the alcohol over a couple days with whole pepper corns.  You’ll end up with a slight undertone of rich earthiness and a little bite!

Ginger:  You can buy it whole and fresh at the grocery store, or use the dried spice sitting on your spice rack.  Here’s a favorite go-to recipe of mine for a refreshing summer cocktail:

~1 Ounce quality Vodka, 1 Cup Fresh Lemonade, 1/2 Cup Ginger Beer,
1/2 Teaspoon Ginger, Dash of Bitters, Stir and Serve Over Ice~

Mulling Spices:  A classic during the winter holidays.  Usually contains a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice but some recipes will vary.   Warm wine in a saucepan over the stove and drop in a bag of mulling spices.  The best thing about them, is that you can use a cheap wine and people won’t know the difference.

Now, don’t feel intimidated if you’re not that familiar with spices.  I’ve kept this to just a few simple ideas so as to not overwhelm you if you’re new to spices and only keep the basics in your kitchen.  If this is something you want to get into, here’s what you do:  get yourself a good spice rack like this Carousel Spice Rack by Fox Run.  It has labels and an easy way to select and dispense seasoning.  Fill half the spice jars with commonly used spices but be a little adventurous and fill the other half with more rare ones you want to experiment with.  If you really want to do it right, buy only whole spices and grind them yourself.  That’s how you maximize flavor and aroma!

I hope you enjoy experimenting with beverages and spices as I will over the next few days.  Let your creative juices run wild, and discover the many ways to enhance and enrich classic drinks.

Don’t let messy drawers slow you down, whether you’re working in the office or the kitchen. A basic drawer organizer can help save you time and effort when searching for what you need. Throughout your home, drawers in any room can benefit from a little help.

Use a drawer divider to sort toiletries or makeup in your bathroom, by creating smaller compartments within your bathroom drawer. This is a great way to speed up getting ready in the morning. Make sure you choose a drawer divider that is made of a material that can be wiped clean like plastic.

For knife storage that helps keep the blades sharp, try drawer knife storage with individual slots for each knife. This is a great option for a home with small children, since this keeps knives out of reach. Spice drawers can get messy, but with an drawer spice rack with angled ledges you can ensure that spices don’t spill and labels are readable.

Have an extra wide drawer with the contents rolling around? The expandable bamboo kitchen drawer tray allows you to fill the drawer so you really get the most out of your drawer storage. Made of environmentally friendly bamboo that is easy to clean, this tray is great for the kitchen where spills and crumbs can be difficult to clean up.

To help contents stay in place choose a drawer organizer lined with a nonslip material. A nonslip coating on the bottom also helps the organizer itself stay positioned in the drawer, important when using an organizer smaller than the drawer itself.

From post-it notes to pens and pencils, a drawer organizer provides slots and spaces for all your office supplies. Also great for crafting supplies, the junk drawer or even the garage, drawer organizers have as many uses as you can think of!

When you’ve run out of cabinet space it can be time to hang out with your spices. There are all sorts of spice racks that can either be mounted under your cabinet or inside a cabinet to the bottom of a shelf. Using up the empty space in your cabinets is a great way to add storage where there wasn’t any before.

Create custom storage with the versatile design of the Organizer Spice Rack 20 Clip 10″D x 5″H. Individual clips can be placed wherever they’re needed for custom storage, so this spice rack holds your entire spice collection. This card can either be used on its own in a drawer or choose to hang it inside a kitchen cabinet.

For even more storage the Organizer Spice Rack 40 Clip 10″D x 10″H provides all the space you need. Perfect for larger spice containers, this spice rack can hold them all. The great thing about these card spice racks is that you can use as many as you need to store your spice collection, large or small.

For easier access the 16-Bottle Pull Down Spice Rack mounts underneath the cabinet, so all you have to do is pull down the drawer for your favorite spices. Place this spice rack close to the stove or wherever it is in the kitchen that you use spices the most.

For at your fingertips access the Spice-n-Store Spice Rack is the best. With a low profile design, this rack makes it easy to find the spice you need in a snap. This rack can also be used in the workshop or craft room for storing smaller items like nails or buttons.

Get spices organized and free up cabinet space with these hanging spice racks and you’ll find you had storage in places you didn’t even imagine.

Always opening up your cabinet to find a shelf full of disorganized cans and pot lids falling out? Sometimes certain items need a little extra organizational help in the pantry. By adding special cabinet storage you can transform you kitchen into an easy to manage, organized space.

Pots and pans can be difficult enough to store, but the lids can be a real hassle. The best way to deal with them is a specially designed organizer like the Cabinet Organizer – Lid Tray. Individual slots provide storage for each pot lid and help keep them in place. Set on sliders, this tray can be placed in a cabinet with other pots and pans, then simply slide out when a lid is needed.

Storing cans in an efficient way can also be challenge. How to keep your cabinet easy to manage, but with access to everything? Add the Double Can Rack to your pantry or cabinet and gain easy access to canned goods. Combining several levels of storage with rolling shelves, this rack can be used to sort different types of canned goods, so everything is organized and at your fingertips.

There’s more than one type of can that can prove a challenge to store, soda cans also can be an issue. By adding the 12-Can Beverage Dispenser to your pantry a soda is always easy to grab. The special rolling design means this rack can be filled with twelve cans of your favorite soda, so it’s doesn’t have to be refilled very often.

The china cabinet is another place full of difficult to store items. From coffee cups to plates, make the best use of all your cabinet space with a china rack. By combining hanging coffee cup storage with plate storage you will no longer have all that unused space floating above your dinner plates.

Dressing up your favorite dishes is a breeze when you have the right tools. From herbs to spices, onions to nuts, there’s no end to ingredients you can add. Often using a knife to work with smaller ingredients can be difficult, that’s why it’s nice to have your kitchen outfitted with specially designed choppers to help make prep work that much easier.

With a curving blade for an easy back and forth rocking motion, the Compact Herb Chopper is ideal for chopping up everything from herbs to nuts. Two blades help cut your prep time in half, helping to ensure everything is finely chopped. Coming with it’s own cover, this chopper protects hands from cuts as the blades are covered when it is not in use.

When it comes to garlic keeping the scent contained can be a challenge. The Garlic Prep N Store easily dices garlic and then stores it all in one place to keep everything contained, for mess free cooking. This chopper can be used for both slicing and dicing garlic.

For a food chopper with a little more power the Mini Food Chopper can do the job. This chopper both cuts and stores food all in one place. Lines on the exterior help with measuring. This chopper also comes with a spoon for scooping out your diced ingredients.

Onion chopping is no one’s favorite choir, which is why the Onion Chopper makes any kitchen a little more tear free. With a design that dices onions into a sealed container below, this chopper keeps onions contained until you’re ready to cook with them.

Of course no meal is complete without a little seasoning of salt and pepper. Having fresh ground pepper and salt is best with a set like the Salt and Pepper Grinder Set.