Spice Racks Blog

This weekend I am going to a housewarming party for my friends from college, and I found a great gift idea. So great in fact, I decided to blog about it and share this incredible, extremely useful, low cost gift.
The gift I made for my friends involves just a few components and takes just a little bit of time, but when you are finished, I think you will be very impressed with the result. The gift is homemade spice mixes in customized glass spice jars! It is a great gift because you get to exercise your creative / gourmet side by creating the spices and decorating the jars, plus it is also very low cost, and it’s a gift your friends can reuse for years!

set of 16 glass spice bottles

First, I purchased a set of 16 glass spice bottles from stacksandstacks.com. Then I headed down to my local farmer’s market to find all the herbs and spices I would need to fill 16 jars. (I designated 6 to be mixes that I create, and 10 to be just the spices I purchased as is.) Then I decided what spice mixes I would make; I decided on Montreal Seasoning, Italian Style Seasoning, a Herbs de Provence Mix, a special Beef Dry Rub, Santa Maria Style Seasoning, and a special Chicken Rub. I mixed up all my spices and prepared them to go into the jars.
Then I headed down to the local arts and crafts store and bought some glass paint, which should not be too difficult to find at any arts store. I then decorated each jar to match its respective contents. After the paint dried I filled my six spice mix jars with the mixes that I had prepared earlier, and then I filled the remaining jars with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, etc.
There you have it, a great, low cost way to give your friends a home-made, well thought out gift that they will be able to use for years to come.

When I was younger, I hated cumin. There was something about it that just made me, and let me quote my 10 year old self -”Oh my gawwwd – it makes me want to diiiiiiiieeee”. If I recall correctly, I assume I would have also dramatically flounced out of the kitchen at that point. And now, let’s have a moment of respect for parents – for they have to put up with their children having fits about spices.

Anyway, time has passed. I love cumin now! It’s definitely a staple in my spice rack. Cumin is a member of the parsley family. The seeds are often ground, or simply toasted and added to dishes. Cumin is a staple in many different cuisines, including Brazilian, Mexican and Cuban – as well as Moroccan, Indian, and even Thai.

Cumin also has some interesting history. In medieval times, it was thought that cumin would keep chickens and lovers from wandering. I’m not really sure how that would’ve worked – would you sprinkle it directly on your chicken or significant other, or feed it to them? In Germany and Italy, cumin seeds were baked onto loaves of bread – it was thought that the seeds would prevent wood spirits from stealing the bread.

Are you looking for a way to store cumin – the wonder spice that will save your relationship, keep your chickens near, and keep your bread away from the land of the fairies (Oh, and it’s delicious – there’s that too!)? How about these Spice Storage Cans? I found these at StacksAndStacks. These stainless steel storage cans will protect your spices, and well as providing a modern accent to your kitchen. Each Spice Storage Can measures 1 3/4″ H x 2.5″ Diameter, so they’re easy to stack in your cabinet or your spice rack.

What about you? Are there any spices that you used to hate, that you now have a taste for? Let me know!