Flutterby™! : Spices 2006-06-16 19:42:12.77114+00

Spices

2006-06-16 19:42:12.77114+00 by ebradway 3 comments

I took this picture last night on the Niwot Loop Trail through the Open Space just up the street from the new condo. Colorado is an amazing place...

We're trying to fit into a smaller kitchen but also get some better organization going on. I currently have 38 jars of spices and probably another dozen in baggies. Large spice racks seem extrordinarily expensive. I already have several mixed-sized jars but it would be nice if they were uniform... Any ideas? I've tought of building a rack and buying a bunch of jars but that's not really any less expensive than buying a pre-assembled rack (about $150 through Amazon for 48 jars).

I'd like a solution to the spice issue too. Most of our jars are close to the same size, so a rack which fit 'em would work, but coming up with one at a price that seems reasonable has eluded me so far, so they're sitting on the back lip of the counter, stretched across a fairly wide span, right now.

My thoughts for construction have mostly revolved around borrowing a table saw and cutting a whole bunch of sticks that could be latticed together. Yet another freakin' project, though...

My mother felt the same way about that shot. This location is about a five walk from the new condo. Given that the Front Range of the Rockies is right behind there, the sun starts filtering about 45 minutes before actual sunset. Great place for walks!

One the spices, we opted for three photo organizer boxes from Michael's at $1.50 a box. I'm going to make standardized labels for the jars. I also found a place that sells spice jars in bulk for less than $1 each. Much more resonable! The spices will probably filter into the three boxes based on usage patterns and they fit in the cabinet nicely!

Spices: I bought a raft (half-gross) of these in the 2 and 4 oz "deep" sizes, stuck velcro to the bottoms of the cans, velcro (the other gender) to the inside of the big cabinet door, and a sharpie labels the cans. Spice rack, DONE.

Hat tip to Alton Brown for the original idea, and intarweb for letting me find a supplier of plain tins.

I don't use jars for spices because my kitchen gets good natural light. Tins keep the light out, keeping the spices fresher.