Yesterday was the last day of my being off work due to stress of Mom's illness. As a result, I felt even more pressure to accomplish something/anything. And I feel that I failed completely. Ok, maybe I did something constructive: I alphabetized my spices! This took much longer than I expected. And I did realize I am quite a lazy menu planner. Not with everyday cooking, but with holiday meals. And this was made so obvious by the 3 jars of Allspice I owned. Their sell by dates were - November 11, 2009, December 8, 2010 and October 12, 2011.....From that pattern, it looks like I would be on target to purchase yet another jar pretty soon! And I know exactly why!
Every New Year's Day I cook a large ham for a family dinner. Living in Scotland, we really do not have access to large hams on a regular basis, at least not any I can find. You only see these at grocery stores for Easter and the Christmas holiday season. The traditional meal for New Year's Day in Scotland is Steak Pie, so I really don't get why hams also come out at this time. But I am not going to argue, I just enjoy them when they are around. Someone I knew made the most delicious spiced sauce to go with ham and this is the reason I own so many jars of Allspice and Ground Cloves. (this is another recipe I will share, once I locate it!)
October 25, 2012 Here is the link to the recipe:
Peach Ham Sauce
Holiday cooking is pressure packed and, now that I am aware, I must list all the ingredients I need for this meal and fail to take account of what I already own. So every year I take a few teaspoons out of new jars and then they are neglected and forgotten the rest of the year.
Sadly, I think I run my whole life on full speed ahead and that is why we have so much unnecessary stuff in this house. So I truly believe that after completion of this kitchen project, the rest of the house is going to be "under attack"!
“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.”
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You know, one critical spice you're missing is cumin! You just can't get enough cumin. It's really the best spice around. You. Should put lots and lots of cumin in everything you cook! Mmmmm... Cumin!
ReplyDeleteAdarsh, I always knew you were a man of many talents, but I never suspected x-ray vision was one of them! How else could you possibly know there is no cumin on the shelf?
DeleteWe just completed a kitchen reorg project of our own ...took everything out of the cabinets as if we were moving and tried to put things we use every week within easy reach and things we use once a year far away from the action. Amazing that the ceramic bacon roaster (a gift) which I long ago gave up on convincing to roast edible bacon was with the everyday dishes while the cheerful sunflower dishes I use all summer were buried in a separate small cabinet with the audiobooks. My deep dark pantry cabinets yielded up 4 bottles of corn syrup ...all WAY out of date. Similar pattern I think ...used to buy it once a year for Pecan Pie at Thanksgiving. What a great feeling, though, to now open my cabinets, slide out the new stainless steel shelves and see everything that is available. Good luck with your project!
ReplyDeleteOk, Dana, it has to be asked - did all the things you took OUT of your kitchen fit back in when you put them away?
DeleteI think I know the answer, we can't even fit half of what we had stuffed in our old kitchen!