I’ve been pondering what to do with my spices. Quite the conundrum, eh? I have a lot of them due to an affinity for Indian cooking, and I love having them out in the open and accessible. Also, they look pretty. Okay, so this doesn’t look pretty…
But spices in general look pretty. I considered tins, because they are adorable and keep out light, which can make your spices lose their freshness faster. But a lot of tins I found were a)expensive and/or b)not airtight. In my humble opinion I think being airtight trumps being opaque in matters of spice freshness, but then again I don’t really know anything so don’t quote me.
I found some cute matching jars at places like Ikea, but even they were a little pricey and the lids were cheap and not that airtight.
I didn’t really want a system like this,
because it doesn’t allow for growth and this spice family is always adopting new members. Aww.
I love this from organize.com, http://www.organize.com/stainless-steel-small-spice-board-13-piece-set-lipper-international.html , but I do not love its price tag. I have heard of DIY versions of it, which basically involve affixing your own magnets to the tins and buying a piece of sheet metal. Except I’m kinda running out of wall space… (it could be really cute on a fridge too though!).
Then Stanley the Manly came to the rescue with some half-pint Kerr jars- sweet! They do let light in, but they have an airtight seal and they just look oh so pretty like that. Aaaaaand they’re 12 for $8, versus $2-$3 each at other places. So, yeah.
The scrawled permanent marker is just temporary (ha ha) until I can get some cute labels. And I’ll probably want to get some sort of shelf so I don’t have to pick up a top one to get to a bottom one… or maybe not. We’ll see. It was a bonus that the newer Kerr jars have sleek silver lids instead of the brass ones, although I don’t mind those either. My kitchen was starting to feel a little too modern for the rest of the house, so I’ll have to try to bring back some of that cottage/bungalow charm with touches like this.
Oh and PS- the reason I need such large spice containers is because I shop for spices in bulk, the way everyone should. Really, here’s a well-kept secret- shop for your spices at an Asian or Indian store. A measly little container at the grocery store will cost you 4x as much as a very generously portioned amount at one of these stores. At least this is true in Salt Lake City, and I’m guessing it’s true in other places as well. They have exotic spices, but they also have fairly generic ones too, so it’s worth a lookie.
How do you guys store your spices? Any tips for mine?
April 5, 2010 at 2:54 pm
I have a fancy label maker you can use. I don’t think it has a Sanskrit font though, sorry.
April 5, 2010 at 7:16 pm
Holy spices! That’s a lot. Wish I could cook up some homemade Indian food, but luckily there’s a delicious joint in downtown Chicago (just a hop away from my office). I gobble up their curry and butter chicken at least once a week.
As for suggestions, your jars are adorable! Here’s an idea for writing the names of spices (since a label sticker could take away from the adorable-ness of the jars). How about swiping some chalkboard paint (a 2″x4″ patch) on each jar. Write in the spices with white chalk or different colors, just for fun?
April 5, 2010 at 9:08 pm
Oh yea that would look a lot better than label maker labels!
April 5, 2010 at 10:02 pm
Oh man. Love Indian food. I love the chalkboard paint idea! I suppose I could even clear coat it afterward so the chalk wouldn’t smudge off. Genius!
April 5, 2010 at 10:05 pm
andddd, I have left over chalkboard paint from my classroom! which speaking of, the other day my principal came in and he was all, “Oh! I didn’t even notice the classrooms had chalkboards underneath!” ah haha
April 6, 2010 at 8:24 am
I have been meaning to do something about my spices as well. They are so random. I have a couple in mason jars, a few in zip lock bags, and plenty in the stupid expensive glass bottles they come in at the grocery store.
Aha! For our next craft night, we should make spice containers!
June 17, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Thank for ansewring my Q’s about the jars on the newer post, those are so freaking cool, this is what I need! 🙂
November 15, 2010 at 8:05 am
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