The Spice Cupboard

Saying that Stephen hates my spice collection is probably a massive, huge understatement. Stephen likes things ordered. He has often expressed a wish to put all my spices on a spice rack in equal size matching jars. But I'm adamantly against that. I don't like this idea. I like to keep my spices out of sunlight and in different size jars. A big jar of coriander seeds make sense, I use then often, but other things I barley use. It makes sense to buy Chinese Five Spice in smaller quantities otherwise it would end up tasting like nothing but dust before I'd get a chance to finish it.

I have to agree with Stephen though. The cupboard is a mess. I sometimes can't find things, that means I end up buying duplicates, and I can never find things quickly. Inexplicably there was even a container of muesli in there. And I haven't bought muesli since I left university. So I was on the lookout for a new system of spice organizing. I was also on the lookout for other things. 

I agreed (and possibly even suggested) to teach the Guides how to make sushi rolls. I though we could also do onigiri and apple rabbits at the same time and have a little feast. So it's from that completely different google search that I landed in the Lunch in A Box archives looking at this reorganisation. 

Baskets. Perfect. So I bought a four pack and started organising my spices. I went for loose categories. I started with 'Spices Common in Indian Food', because that was where my spice collection started, and then 'Spices Common in Indian Food - Overflow'. I also have 'Herbs', 'Spice Blends', 'Spices Used in Baking' and other odd categories.  I left a space in the front of the cupboard so I could slide the baskets out. It is a lot easier to find things this way and the cupboard has much more space.