Storing herbs and spices

[Cheryl J]

But I didn't have an empty drawer, Cheryl. I had to make an empty drawer by moving all of my cooking spoons, scrapers, and flippers to a 2-quart Longaberger pitcher that is on my counter. Any kind of container that holds cooking spoons would do. Voila, empty drawer!

I store my whisks, spatulas, tongs, etc, in a crockery jar, too! I emptied out a drawer and did that several years ago. I MIGHT be able to empty out another one, but that is more of a project than I'm willing to deal with right now.

 

[Addie]

I used to have a love affair with the Pattern Blue Willow Then when I started to lose the strength in my hands I had to switch to Corelle. Much easier to handle. But my sister one year gave me a Blue Willow jar to hold utensils like my collection of wooden spoons. Blue Willow became too heavy as it is made from a heavier clay formula.

I love that jar. And because it came from my sister who is no longer with us, I will always treasurer that jar.

 

[pepperhead212]

Nothing like those ceramic crocks for freeing up drawer space!
Ceramic crocks by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Somebody in the family gave me that "Drippings" crock when I set up my kitchen, sort of as a joke, as Dad used to save bacon grease in a container by the stove (one of the things that finally did him in). I used to have a much smaller container along with it, but through the years, got way too much for even another small one, so I got these larger ones. Imagine all that junk in drawers???

 

[Cooking Goddess]

pepper, I have a lot of kitchen junk and few drawers - 3 15" and 1 9", to be exact. We moved an old dresser of my great aunt's from OH to MA, Himself shored up the drawer floors and refurbished the rails and gliders, and I cleaned it up with furniture oil. I never could decide how I wanted to finish it off, and I wanted to get it into service. It's at the end of my counter run and holds all of the goodies that don't fit elsewhere.

 

[pepperhead212]

Great idea, CG! It's nice when you can fix up an old piece of furniture, and put it to good use like that.

 

[rodentraiser]

I have a ton of spices on a rack on the kitchen wall and another 10 jars on the back of my oven. Now that I know what I use and don't use, I'll probably weed a bunch of them out. Some, like Cream of Tarter, I don't think I've ever even opened. But I go through a jar of parsley, onion powder, and garlic powder about every other month. I've even started shaking some parsley on to scrambled eggs to make them look nice.

 

[profnot]

This is a great thread. Thank you, OP!

I have been storing my vitamins and medications in drawer in an end table near where I drink morning tea. Lids are labeled with a sharpie.

Thanks to this thread, I know I can organize a spice drawer well away from heat the same way. I'll be moving soon and will implement this idea.

I live far enough north that herbs only grow in the summer here. So I usually buy lots of fresh herbs and make simple and compound herb butters in the summer.

I cook minced shallots in unsalted butter and broth then add them to fresh minced herbs in a food processor. Batter is poured into ice cube trays. Frozen cubes are transferred to labeled and dated baggies and kept in the freezer.

It's so nice to enjoy fresh herbs in the winter!

Mostly I toss a cube into a skillet for cooking chicken or pork chops. Melting a cube to pour over popcorn is fabulous. Allowing another cube to come to room temp to spread on warm toast is a winter morning treat.

 

[Dawgluver]

Oh I'm so glad you found that fun thread Cheryl...

Me too, Cheryl! A fun trip down memory lane! Mine are also pretty much as they were. I did pitch a bunch of oldies and questionables.

 

[Cheryl J]

Same here! Over the past couple of years I've tossed some, and put some in the freezer. I keep learning new things here.

 

[pepperhead212]

After starting this thread, it made me realize that I had a number of things I had to toss - mostly freebies - though I kept the jars, after putting them through the DW!

And today I went through the sauces and vinegars on my turntable and dumped the end of some, after looking through them all when making those Chinese dishes. Back when I used to make a lot more Chinese food, they would store at room temp until used up, with no problem. The Chenkiang vinegar was the item that opened my eyes (or rather, my nose!) to the perish-ability of some of them. I learned this early on when using fish sauce - though most books will tell you that it will store forever at room temp, it does go bad! So that, kecap manis, oyster sauce, and now a few others get stored in the fridge.

 

[Addie]

Management has provided the tenants plots for those who wish to garden. I am going to ask Frank the maintenance manager to have his workers build me a raised bed. I can't be bending down in the dirt with a prosthetic on, and I can't do what I want with just the one leg. A few plants of herbs, and the rest of the space for tomatoes and English cucumbers. Two of my favorite summer veggies.


If I get brave enough, I may ask for two raised beds.

 

[pepperhead212]

Good luck with the garden, Addie! Something you may wish to look into for the cukes and tomatoes are Subirrigated planters. I have them grow in those better than anywhere else, and last season, after my knee surgery, I had almost the entire garden growing in SIPs. And I hear that HD and Lowe's have their own, cheaper versions of them. They are even higher than most raised beds. Here's a photo of my tomatoes plants in them, only 6 weeks after transplant:
DSCF0716 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[rodentraiser]

Hearing about a raised bed makes me remember the time I brought my Doberman over to my friend's house. Her mom had raised beds in the back yard with fences around them. My friend Kathy was showing me all this stuff and my dog was running around, when we turned to go back in.

"That's funny, " said Kathy, "I could have sworn there were cherry tomatoes on that plant when we came out."

Then we both watched in silence before laughing until we were crying as my dog leaned over the fence and picked off another cherry tomato to eat. We never told her mom.