Question of the Day, Friday, Oct 28

Good morning!

Today's question has to be with spices.....I love cooking with spices and herbs and I enjoy experimenting with different seasonings. We probably have well over 50 spices in our spice cabinets and on our spice shelf.

How many spices do you use and what is your favorite spice?

I've fallen in love with cumin. I love using cumin in chili and in various stews.

I dont really use spice at all.

Garlic. I love it its awesome on anything and everything. I even 'spice' up box mac and cheese with a dash of garlic powder.

Lol this if funny to me... I use about every spice I can get. But I love cajun spices. I was raised with a lot of spices and to experiment with different ones.

I have noooo idea how many I have! My cabinet is full! I'm not sure what one is my favorite. I like cooking with the Adobo seasoning my Mom got me. I know it's a mixture; but I couldn't tell you of what!

I'm still learning a lot about spices; so I like the ones that are pre-mixed. Especially if I find a good salt-free one.

I love doing roasted veggies with rosemary and thyme. I found one recipe last year that uses those with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. It's sooo delicious but I hate chewing the rosemary! It's like eating pine needles! But the flavor just isn't the same without it!

I have no one favorite lol
I love cumin, and rosemary, and oregano and sweet basil and, and, and...

I like taking baking potatoes, scrubbing them, slicing them in half lengthwise, then rolling in olive oil, rubbing in oregano, basil, parsley, thyme (whatever appeals to me at the time), and wrapping in foil and grilling them.

Gosh, that's hard to answer, because it depends on what I'm cooking...sweet or savory. Cinnamon is a favorite, I go thru lots and lots of that, and not only in baking, but also on cereal (OMG, I found a cinnamon-basil plant yesterday at the nursery...how trippy is that ). Cumin is good, the mixed spices are great (like allspice, or Montreal steak seasoning, which is wonderful porcupine meatballs).

But if we're talking herbs too, my favorite in the whole wide world would have to be tarragon. It's the best.

My favourite would probably be garlic, but for mixed ones I love the Italian seasoning. I usually use garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and Italian seasoning. I have some others too that I don't use as often (chilli powder, cumin, french fry seasoning, lemon basil...and more).

The spices I use the most are oregano, parsley, thyme and garlic salt (what can I say, my mother was Italian ) Seriously, I use them in probably 90% of the meals I make regularly.

When I was cleaning out mom's house she had a ton of spices and I kept all of them. I know most aren't any good now (7 yrs old at least...what is the shelf life for spices?) but I don't know what half of them would be used for. Allspice, I know, goes into some cookies but what else? What about mustard seed? Cumin, I've never used but I know it's in chili powder. I used to have a book called that covered cooking related things from A to Z that had a chart of the spices and herbs and what they can be used for, but somehow moving so much it got away from me.

A friend at work made up a whole batch of herbs de provence and gave me some - (alot, actually). I have no idea what the mixture is, but I'm using it on everything!! Chicken, fish, I put it in pasta, I put it in scrambled eggs. Yum!

Originally Posted by Arlyn

I have no one favorite lol
I love cumin, and rosemary, and oregano and sweet basil and, and, and...

I like taking baking potatoes, scrubbing them, slicing them in half lengthwise, then rolling in olive oil, rubbing in oregano, basil, parsley, thyme (whatever appeals to me at the time), and wrapping in foil and grilling them.

Click to expand...

she knows!... ..

I love herbs and use oregano, basil, rosemary most often.

Spices - usually only use in stews, some soups, spaghetti sauce, etc.

I hate garlic powder and onion powder. When I use garlic and onion, I want to use real garlic and real onion.

Spices and dried herbs have only a 3 month shelf life but could be stretched to 6 months. Anything older than a year is certainly not as good as it could be. For herbs and spices that I use frequently that's not a problem but for those I use seldom, the ones I have aren't probably much good anymore.

I have waaaay too many, I realized when we moved

Fresh basil--I LOVE the smell. I grow it, and love to walk past the plants, and rub a leaf to release the scent.

I can't stand cilantro! Yech. (Especially after finding out that the word corriander [corriander is the seed of the cilantro plant] is derived from Greek for "bedbug".) I hate tarragon, too.

We don't have many dried spices. I can't handle curries of any kind (pregnancy changed some things). I've always disliked cinnamon, yuck, don't even like the smell of it.

I do like to use garlic and fresh herbs when I cook, or in salads: oregano, parsley, chives, sage, rosemary, thyme, mint, cilantro (local kind grows wild) do well here and are in the garden most of the year.

Well...My name is Martha and I'm a Penzy's and spices addict

I have 1 and a have shelves of spices. Garlic is probably my favorite spice. I make my own spaghetti sauce and lets just say the garlic last in your body for days after eating it

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I love herbs and use oregano, basil, rosemary most often.

Spices - usually only use in stews, some soups, spaghetti sauce, etc.

I hate garlic powder and onion powder. When I use garlic and onion, I want to use real garlic and real onion.

Spices and dried herbs have only a 3 month shelf life but could be stretched to 6 months. Anything older than a year is certainly not as good as it could be. For herbs and spices that I use frequently that's not a problem but for those I use seldom, the ones I have aren't probably much good anymore.

Click to expand...

During the summer, I'll go out to the flower bed and take some rosemary, basil, and oregano leaves to use fresh....I really should try to dry them for the winter, but I'm not sure where I can store them while they're drying. I've been tempted to try the basement because, after we bought the new dehumidifier for there, we've gotten that area to stay right around 40-45%....I don't know if that's dry enough to dry herbs.

I try to use my dried herbs and spices within a year of buying them. Then we'll do our Penzey's run in the fall.

I have both granulated garlic and dried minced onion so that I can use them in a pinch if I'm out of regular garlic. We probably use garlic in something almost every night, not a lot, but even one or two cloves.

Like I said before, I love cumin. I'm a big fan of smoked paprika, too. And sharp paprika. I keep Hungarian sweet paprika on hand for the summer when we do a lot of BBQ-ing and I use it in sauces and rubs.

Not a big cilantro fan, although I use it in some recipes. I do love tarragon, though. I think those are two of the love-it-or-hate-it herbs. There's no in between with those two! I use tarragon in asparagus dishes.

LotsO'Cats, I'm a Penzey girl, too! We don't order much online or via their catalogs because we go into the store annually. Have you ever been to one of their stores? The first thing we do when we first walk inside is inhale. Deeply. That store smells wonderful.

calico2222, I also use whole allspice berries when I'm brining chicken; pork would be good, too. You can use it in cooked fruits and some puddings, too. You can use cumin in chili (my favorite use), but also in rice and in egg dishes, like scrambled eggs. Oh, and in salsa, too. As for mustard seed, it's commonly used when you're pickling vegetables and making salsa. You make mustard with mustard seeds.

Nanner, I've never made my own herbs de provence. I should try that.

Hey Mooch.....my MIL gave me a Cuisinart coffee grinder one year. She had had it in her kitchen for quite a while and never used it. I use it now to grind spices. My brother doesn't like the needle-like rosemary leaves either, but he likes the taste, so when he comes for dinner and if I'm serving something with rosemary, I'll grind the needles to a powder and use it that way. I'm careful because sometimes the powder will be stronger than the needles. I also use the coffee grinder when I'm making seasoning blends. I just throw my ingredients in the grinder and turn it on. You have to be careful because you don't want your blend too fine. It works.

We don't have a store where I live but anytime I go to Houston and have time to go I do. I agree it smells sooo good!! But if I need something in between times I'll go ahead and order it through the internet.

Originally Posted by Winchester

LotsO'Cats, I'm a Penzey girl, too! We don't order much online or via their catalogs because we go into the store annually. Have you ever been to one of their stores? The first thing we do when we first walk inside is inhale. Deeply. That store smells wonderful.

Click to expand...