Penzey's order

If anyone wants something from Penzey's, I'm going to send in an order after April Fools day. I'm already getting free shipping so I can include somethings for others as long as you don't need it before the swap. Just thought I'd offer.

Ric

When will you be placing the order?
I can think of one thing I need--caraway seed, but need to look through the catalog
to see. Will let you know here...asap.

Gita

Nice offer, will let you know- the prices are great esp if you refill your own containers.
Their Sandwich Sprinkle is DELISH on anything savory.

Penzey's? Hmmm googling now.

Ric--

My Penzeys catalog is from 2010.

--I would like to get : Caraway Seed--4oz bag #51044. Price in this catalog is $2.45 for that.
--Also--Cardamon: 1/2 cup glass jar (net 1.7oz.) #50755. Price in here is $7.09
--Pickling Spice--4oz. bag #31943. Here....$3.29
--Penzys Cinnamon--4oz. bag. #43540. This catalog...$6.35

I understand that prices may have gone up. That's OK. Add my bill up...

Will look some more when I get home..It is time for me to punch out right now (work...).

Thanks, Gita

edited to add to my order....

This message was edited Mar 26, 2013 4:36 PM

Paul--

The Penzys catalog is like looking through a family album.
There are smiling pictures of whomever posted any of the many recipes.
There are kids drawings in crayons included, all through the catalog.
Makes you feel that everyone in the "family" is included--somehow.
This catalog gives you a warm feeling....

There is another Spice catalog called "spicesetc.com. ".
What I like about this one is that most of the spices are illustrated--
so you can see what they look like.

Gita

Hm Yeah. Penzys looks good, I don't do enough cooking though to really utilize it.

Some time soon.

Terp, they have a lot of good spice mixes & rubs... just get one that sounds good to you and put it on something to grill. I love that they are a company for the "serious" cook as well as for the "I'd like to cook if..." person. Their blends are a great time saver. Make a note to yourself ('cause I'll forget), and if you come up this way for anything else, you can take a run at my "stash" -- just bring some jars or little containers (1/4 c. is a great size for sampling, and yes you could use baggies, but you're probably more likely to see & use the jars!)

Gita, you probably need to tell Ric what kind of cinnamon... they have their own blend now, as well as a couple kinds of cassia cinnamon and also the ceylon cinnamon. The super-strong Vietnamese cinnamon is out of this world, but I really like the blend for all-around use.

Hmmm thank you jill

Jill--

The "Penzys Cinnamon" is a mix of the 3 different Cinnamons they list.
It is a product on its own. That is why I added the catalog numbers to each of my requests.

I never bake--so I seldom use Cinnamon. A good mix will be nice to have on hand--just in case...

Some of the spices in my stash are pre-historic. need to learn to throw things out....Oh, yeah????
G.

The bulk bags make it easy to share... I can get enough for 3 or 4 refills for the price I'd pay at the store for 1. But more often than not, that's more than I can reasonably use, so I try to share the extra.

Some old spices have uses in our gardens

Cinnamon has anti-fungal properties and can be sprinkled on wounds or fresh cuts on tubers of elephant ears, canna, etc as well as iris to prevent infection and rot. It can also be sprinkled on seed starting containers to prevent 'damping off'.

This year (because I have more old cinnamon than I know what to do with) I am going to sprinkle underneathe my tomato transplants to see if 'blight' will be decreased since most of it comes from splash up on to leaves. I'll do this with impatiens if I decide to plant them, as well as coleus. Can't hurt, may help!

Good reminder, Judy!
I do remember reading recently about Cinnamon being anti-fungal.
Do you really think that it would help in the bed my Tomatoes had that blight in the last 2 wears???

I am also considering digging up my old iris clumps and 'cleaning them up" and then,
doctoring up the soil, which has not been ammended in ages..replanting the iris etc..
So--you know there will be a lot of raw ends on the rhyzomes...
Get out the Cinnamon.....

What other spices have good uses in the garden? Gita

iris and cinnamon

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1274705/

Orchids and cinnamon

http://www.repotme.com/orchid-health/Cinnamon.html

All of my tomatoes will be in new locations, in fresh soil, with good air circulation and watered from below, thus minimizing the conditions for blight. I will also promptly remove any suspect leaves or plants and keep hands and tools etc sanitized as I work from plant to plant. I'm not waiting to see this year. Cinnamon is a bonus as I have plenty and like I said, it can't hurt.

Terp -- no need to mail order from Penzey's -- for those of us in this area, there is a store on Rockville Pike just north of Congressional Plaza. Penzey's bulk sizes are quite large -- for most herbs/spices you'd have a hard time making a dent in the bulk bags in a year, but they are good to split with a friend and prices are excellent if purchased that way. Unlike Critter, I haven't been happy with their mixes (I haven't tried the rubs, but I've tried some of the seasoned salts and herb mixes) and we make our own. That isn't to say you wouldn't like them, they just didn't do anything for me. We do love their whole peppercorns and buy huge bags.

We get all our herbs/spices from Penzey's (other than vanilla -- we use the Costco vanilla except for items where the vanilla will really shine). "Cooks Illustrated"/"America's Test Kitchen" periodically does taste tests of herbs/spices, and Penzey's often (but not always) comes up on top. But for us it is easier to just buy everything from Penzey's than to remember where spice taste-tested better. The store is very pleasant to shop at.

Coleup -- That's such good advice about old spices -- I just cleaned out our spices and I'm sure I tossed some cinnamon. I also forgot the birds and tossed old nuts/dried fruit, which I could have mixed in with the suet cakes I made. I'll probably forget to do this next year, this thread notwithstanding. Oh well.

I'm glad I don't have a Penzey's store too close to me. LOL Since most herbs and spices degrade through the loss of volatile oils, keeping excess in a sealed container in the fridge can extend their life.

lol Ric, like the difference between catching a fish and cooking it waterside, or an ear of corninto a boiling pot in the garden...nothing like fresh. Amen

I've kept mine in my butter keeper to exclude light, too.

Our local health food store sells bulk spice and herbs. I love looking at all of the jars from A to Z.
I have a can of "Old Bay", chili powder and cinnamon in my emergency food supply stash.

Ric--a question for you....

I have WAYYY too many spices, my spice cupboard is totally full!
I have 3 lazy susan trays full of spices as well as a shelf above them--and I do not use them all that much.
So--I keep several in my Fridge and also some in my freezer.

My question is--does freezing powder-like spices make them too moist and then,
when they thaw out, are they sort of damp??? Like Chili Powder...Mustard Powder..and others??
I often worry about that. They can be in either place for years....as I said--
I do not cook all that often, and when i do--I pretty much stick to the same old--same old
spices i always use. S&P, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Thyme, Poultry Seasoning, Allspice,
Bay Leaves, and such. Caraway seed if i am doing Pork or Sauerkraut Soup.
I like it on Lima Beans as well.
They DO collect--as when you need one, and don't have it, you go out and buy it.
Then--you never use it again.

I must tell you that in the International section of your grocery Store, especially in the
Oriental section, you can buy small baggies of all kinds of spices for about 79 cents.
NO fancy brand names--and not always finely processed..but--still good.

Gita

Gita, if the container is air-tight no moisture should enter, if it's left open after being in the freezer you could get a bit of condensation, it shouldn't be enough to do a lot of harm. I often keep baking materials in the freezer (coconut, walnut, etc) for freshness and all my flours and corn meal I store in the fridge. I just hate to open a bag of flour to find it's hatching. LOL

Ric: Just an FYI, that a lot of places don't recommend refrigerating herbs and spices -- see, for example, http://www.spicesetc.com/faq.

We try to refrigerate flours (I know what you means about finding flour hatching), but it takes so much room! We have a second refrigerator in the basement that we are supposed to use for that sort of thing, but we aren't very reliable about doing that.

Refrigeration or freezing is fine, I think, for your "refill stash." You just don't want to put most spices or herbs in there for daily use, because that's when they get moisture in them, taking them in & out repeatedly.

There are a few exceptions -- Poppy seeds should always be kept in the fridge/freezer to keep them from becoming rancid (unless you'll use them right away that week), and a couple of Penzey's blends do better in the fridge because fridge air is drier, and they're less likely to harden into a big lump.

My extras are in a box in a corner kitchen cabinet... cool, at least, and dark. It works.

No order from me, don't want you wondering...

Thanks Sally.

Ordering closed!!!

Discussion of spices be my guest!!!

Ric--I answered your D-mail.
There was an error on my ordering cardamon PODS instead of GROUND cardamon.

Hope you can still correct that--before you send off the order. Thanks, Gita

I have a 2 oz plastic jar of Seasoned salt that came with the husband I got, what oh, 24 years ago...think the seasoned salt is still any good???????

Why do I not throw it out?????

I once read that dry mustard might prevent nematodes on roots of green peppers in the garden.