Spice Racks Blog

Sometimes, you crave simplicity. Like the pleasure of freshly washed and ironed cotton sheets. Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudel. Or even brown paper packages tied up with string. Of course, simple things are all the lovelier when they are also useful. So I hope your next brown paper package contains these Unlabeled Spice Bottles.

Plain spice jars are a terrific idea if you’re starting to build your spice collection. You can go to your local store that sells spices in bulk, pick up  a few different ones, and bottle them up at home. If you like your new spice, you can create a label (or just Sharpie the top of the jar!), and add it to your permanent collection. And if you don’t like your new spice (I’m looking at you, chipotle-carraway blend), just wash out the jar and get ready to try a new herb or spice.

Besides storing spices, these unlabeled jars have many other household uses. 

• They’re a perfect way to store glitter for kids art projects. The shaker style tops help to reduce some of the mess from glitter art projects.
• Are you a beader? These jars are terrific for organizing all sorts of beads. From seed beads to hex cuts and faceted beads, these glass jars can keep them sorted. Don’t feel like you’re stranded without a craft organizer – just get some jars.
• These glass jars are also a nice way to display any sort of small collection. I know of people who, during each trip they take, collect a little bit of dirt from the area they’re in. It’s a perfect way to display collections of sand, or small pieces of beach glass. 
• You can also add a little pizazz to your desk by using these jars (with the lids off) to hold small office supplies like paper clips or staples. Sometimes you just need something a little unusual to lift your spirits, and using uncommon items to store common things is a great way to cure the blues.

What would you put in these spice jars? And yes, you could always fill them with spices and put them on your kitchen spice rack!

Growing up, salt was salt. But then sea salt started gaining popularity. Kosher salt started being used more frequently in home kitchens. And now, it seems that the traditional, iodized table salt is being left in the wake of the gourmet salt revolution!

Flavored salts, once considered a weird gimmick, are taking the culinary world by storm! Secret Stash Sea Salts, out of Seattle, are one of my favorite purveyors of unique salts. They take all natural sea salt, craft unique salt flavors using reduced sauces, spice mixes, and more. The result is hand crafted, artisan salt in flavors like Almond Orange Cardamom, and Lavender Rosemary. They also have a Pineapple Cumin Chili Salt, which I can’t wait to try!

Another fantastic salt is Hawaiian ‘Alea Sea Salt from Hawaii Salt. This sea salt has been enriched with the mineral rich ‘alea clay from Hawaii. ‘Alea Sea Salt has a mild, smooth flavor, and a distinctive reddish color. It’s one of my favorite salts to use while grilling meats.

And if you think that flavored salts are too ‘froo-froo’ for you, may I introduce you to Bacon Salt? Bacon Salt is exactly what it sounds like – salt with the delicious taste of bacon. I tried it on a baked potato – and it was pretty delicious. It’s also vegetarian, so if you or someone you know is a vegetarian who misses the pleasures of bacon, it’s a great gift.

Have you seen any great salts out there? I’m definitely looking to expand my collection!

This is the Mesh Spice Rack. This metal spice rack can be wall mounted, or it can stand on a counter. And you can mount it inside a pantry door. What’s really neat about this spice rack is that because of its basic design – it’s really quite versatile. For instance, you could:

• Mount it on the wall by your stove. Now, I know that keeping spices by the stove isn’t a great idea (the heat makes the quality of the spice degrade faster), but keeping things like salt and pepper, olive oil cruets, and other cooking essentials by the stove is a real time saver. Plus, since this rack has hooks, you can hang your hot pads and oven mitts!
• Running out of bathroom storage? The Mesh Rack is here for you. It’s a great way to supplement the space in your medicine cabinet. You can store vitamins, cosmetics and more! Once again, those little hooks will come in handy for hanging face cloths and wash cloths.
• You can even bring the Mesh Spice Rack to work with you! Mount it on your office wall, and use it as a way to office supplies (notepads, sticky notes, and boxes of paper clips – get them off your desk and on this rack!). Or, another cool idea is to mount this rack in the break room, and fill it with tea (most tea boxes and cans fit on this rack perfectly), hot chocolate packets and other drink necessities. 

And, of course, you can use it for spices in the kitchen, too!