Some Like It Hot

I just read something on spices ...

I love cooking, I really do. And I am a self-confessed old-fashioned cook who HATES using packet mix, as you really don't know what you're putting into your food, and subsequently into your body. As a result I have rather an extensive collection of spices which have a rather eclectic bunch of best-before dates on them.

After reading this (see below) last night care of my FlyLady mailers that seldom get looked at, I had an amusing cleanout of my collection of spices so now nothing is kept if the best before date predates 2007.


The shelf life of spices are as follows:
Ground spices: 2 to 3 years
Whole spices - 3 to 4 years
Dried Herbs - 1 to 3 years

You may need some new spices if:
*The date stamp on the bottom of the jar was from when you were in high school
*The company who made the spice in the first place is out of business. Since 1980!
*The can is rusted and the label indistinguishable—you don't know what's in there.
*The label is missing so you smell it to identify it and can't!
*The smell of the spice smells oddly like the garage on a rainy day.
*You mistakenly grab ground ginger for white pepper and it didn't ruin what you were making because it had no flavor!

To keep spices fresh and nice, I will now attempt to buy only what I need and mark the bottom of the container with a Sharpie, indicating the date purchased.

Also I'd love to copy Donna Hay's idea of installing a magnetic knife wall thingie on the underside of a shelf, superglueing a metal washer to the top of the jar, and suspending the jars from the magnetic strip. Actually I'd love to copy everything by Donna Hay.


Oh and to explain the FoxyMoron, it comes from Kath & Kim, my favourite Aussie Dramedy / Mockumentary where they constantly muck up words and it cracks me up.

This desperate housewife is signing off.