Sunday, February 7, 2010

Herbs as Life -- Or How Old is Old for an Herb?

Part of my "need for control" spree Saturday included organizing my herbs and spices. I prefer to have all of the spices in alphabetical order, though they don't often stay that way. (I know they don't stay that way because I found four cans of sage and two large containers of creole seasoning!)

After taking all of the bottles and cans out of the cupboard and arranging them on the counter, I noticed that several of the containers looked a little old. I started looking for expiration dates and was amazed at how few of them had expiration dates. What year did expiration dates on food products become the norm?

It was about this time I noticed that some of these spices were pretty inexpensive. How did I get allspice for 45 cents? Then I had to think: What is allspice and why would I have used it? I do remember when I bought that jar of cardamom -- back when I worked at a library 12 years ago and baked cardamom cookies for a medieval festival!

I was beginning to think that some of these containers might even be antiques. (The dry mustard was from my mother-in-law's house. She died 22 years ago!) I know the package designs have changed several times since some of the stuff was purchased.

So, using expiration date, price or assumed age of package design as criteria, I threw out anything that appeared old.

All that is left: red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, oregano, peppercorns, sea salt, basil, cumin and bay leaves. The cupboard is nearly empty and it feels pretty good!

Based on this one cupboard that I access almost every day, it made me realize that I can get pretty complacent. I am so used to having things around, I don't think about whether they are still useful or need to be replaced or pitched. What other areas of my house or my life can use this type of scrutiny and review? What else can I pitch or organize?

I know they were only jars of old mustard and allspice but it feels like so much more!
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BTW: This was actually the first cupboard I attacked this weekend. I got SO frustrated with the shelf paper, I threw out the pieces I cut because I could NOT get them to fit the cupboard. And I did end up thinning the coffee cup supply. They will end up going to Goodwill.

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