Let’s get something straight.
I do not make New Year’s Resolutions.
I make Life Resolutions.
Okay, I don’t really do that either. It just sounded really deep.
You ain’t getting no motivational mumbo-jumbo outta me!
But for those of you that do make resolutions, I hear getting organized is a pretty popular one. I love getting organized. I don’t love staying organized. But that’s between me and my therapist.
Organizing an entire home (or life) is a huge task. Don’t try to do it all at once or you will become overwhelmed and might give up. Use the salami method. You wouldn’t eat a whole salami all at once, would you? No, you break it into chunks. (Wait, I’d eat a whole salami at once. Okay, maybe this is a bad example.)
Here’s a chunk of the salami: your spice cupboard/rack/drawer. We’ve all got one. Stuffed full of a mish-mash of little bags & bottles, most of them purchased when there was still a Bush in office. Bush Senior, in my case.
Here are some quick tips for getting your dried herbs & spices under control:
1. Empty
Pull everything out of the cupboard (or off the rack) and place it on the counter or kitchen table. Wipe down the shelves or rack, and add a pretty shelf liner if you feel extra spiffy.
2. Sort
Immediately toss anything that isn’t labelled, unless you know with absolute certainty what it is. Dried herbs lose some scent as they age, and what you “think” is oregano might actually be parsley, and this could have a disastrous effect on your spaghetti sauce.
Go through the rest of your stash, tossing any duplicates, anything that is opened and over four months old and ones that you never, ever use. Be ruthless and be honest with yourself. Some of us never get past the salt & pepper when it comes to cooking and there ain’t no shame in that! Don’t burden yourself with an entire cupboard full of reminders that you’ll never be as diverse a cook as your mother-in-law!
By “toss” I mean, dump out the contents and throw the empty glass or plastic bottle in the recycling bin. If your herbs are in little bags, the bags might be recyclable as well, depending on where you live. If I catch you throwing glass jars in the garbage, so help me I will hunt you down and slap you with a wet fish!
Unopened jars can be donated to the food bank. Opened jars can be left in the staff kitchen at work, if your work allows those kinds of donations.
Now would also be a good time to get rid of all those pretentious flavoured teas you bought and never drank. Take ‘em to work and leave ‘em there!
3. Put Away
Wash out and thoroughly dry any refillable spice bottles. I prefer to keep my herbs in glass, as it doesn’t absorb scent the way plastic does. Stainless steel works well, too.
For goodness’ sakes, label those jars! Doesn’t need to be fancy, just legible! I use little white stickers and a fine-point Sharpie.
Keep your herbs nearby the food preparation area, but out of direct heat. Please, for the love of Moses, do not hang the rack on a wall or leave it on a counter in direct sunlight!
If I were rich and fancy and had a kitchen with more than two drawers, I’d get one of these babies:
But instead I have this sad looking thing. It sits on the counter within arms’ reach of the stove, but still safely out of reach of heat, sunlight and the fingers of 3-year-olds who like to eat cinnamon by the spoonful.
Make yourself a promise (a resolution, if you will) that from now on you will purchase your herbs & spices in minute amounts from the bulk food store and refill your bottles as you go. No person on this earth will use up a 100 gram bag of ground sage in less than four months, yet that’s the standard size for a bag of dried herb sold in the grocery store.
You’ll still need to be large amounts of the ones you know you’ll use up quickly. Salt & pepper come to mind. And in this house, it’s also lemon pepper and Italian seasoning. And chocolate chips.
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