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Since starting the spring 2013 internship program at Clearly Delicious, my writing and editorial interns (here and here) have repeatedly remarked on the detailed, alphabetized spice rack that hangs from my pantry door.
Although I’m used to the 30+ spice options that cover five to six racks, it’s always entertaining to see visitors eyes widen when they realize what’s there: everything from Ancho Chile Powder to Vanilla Bean in alphabetical order (AND matching plastic containers).
An easy-to-reference spice cabinet is one of my guilty pleasures—not only can I find an ingredient easily from A to Z, but I can also indulge in my “everything in its place” mentality when free time allows.
In fact, remember these guys?
Pictured: photos from my “How To: Reorganize a Pantry” series last summer (2012). My sealed flour canisters are practical and functional (all-purpose, bread, cake, and more. Not pictured: wheat flour, barley, and almond meal). In south Louisiana, it’s important to think of ways to 1.) prevent moisture from ruining perfectly good pantry ingredients and 2.) keep unexpected critters at bay.
With the last days of the March / April Fresh Table book tour, I spent Sunday cleaning and reorganizing like a Pinterest-inspired ninja. Spring cleaning has always been a tradition in my house, and I love the opportunity to straighten up, reorganize, and create order out of the chaos that tends to ensue between winter and spring.
Or, as next-door neighbor and handyman (Butler) remarked while replacing my busted window unit – “you’re virtuous!”
[Sure, that’s definitely one way of putting it.]
But, the truth is, keeping a clean house is more than a carryover of Victorian virtuosity. It’s a real-world idea of respecting your personal space and creating a haven away from the workaholic world in which we so often find ourselves. Unfortunately, as a business woman and writer who primarily finds herself typing posts from home, it can be difficult to disconnect work space from private space since my office and kitchen keep me tethering these two together.
During one of our many morning meetings last month, my interns and I discussed the role of spice cabinets in our lives. A woman’s kitchen—especially her pantry—is much like a medicine cabinet. One peek in and you can tell the ingredients she can’t live without, the ingredients she might never use, and, well, a little something about the cook herself.
As Amy Sedaris wrote about medicine cabinets in her hilarious book, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence—
“A good trick is to fill your medicine cabinet with marbles. Nothing announces a noisy guest better than an avalanche of marbles hitting a porcelain sink.”
– Amy Sedaris
Although you’ll find no cabinets filled with marbles here (in fact, we want to show you our spice cabinets), I invite you to take a look at our community of pantries and what ingredients tell us about the women who cook with them. Some will be messy or lined with paper or filled with bulk items, but I can promise each female cook has some great reasons why.
Kitchen Spice Cabinets at Clearly Delicious
Erica deVeer
What does it say about you?
My spice cabinet shows that I live with two other people and that I must reluctantly share my kitchen space. We have three large cabinet areas in our kitchen, so my roommates and I each claimed one where we could store our food. I got the cabinet with two shelves in it, so the spices went on this shallow shelf. From the two previous years of cooking in my first apartment, I had collected various spices and herbs, which I slid onto the shelf in my cabinet area. I had my spice laid out like I liked them–in height order with the tallest on the left and the shortest on the right–but then my two roommates moved their spices in as well. I had to either continually rearrange the cabinet after any one of us cooked, or I had to accept my fate…a shared and unsystematized spice cabinet.
Pictured: Erica deVeer’s spice cabinet (spring, 2013).
What spices can you not live without?
I cannot live without my mom’s homemade Creole seasoning, which is not Tony’s as many people try to convince me to call it.
Which ones don’t get used?
Once, I wanted to make homemade carrot cake cupcakes, which needed Allspice. I found whole Allspice at Walmart–they didn’t have ground, and I am a poor college student who can’t afford the money or the time to travel to multiple grocery stores (only later did my mom tell me I could have used different, more available spices in lieu of Allspice…). I have never used the whole kernels of Allspice since. And let me tell you, if you get whole Allspice, have a way to grind it up before it goes in your batter. Chunky carrot cake cupcakes are not very appetizing….
Tara Hebert
What does it say about you?
My spice cabinet tells a lot about what is important in my life. The cabinet itself was a gift from my granny and papa, from whom I attribute my love of food, art, and my Cajun culture. They also gave me the mix of bottles I use, which would otherise really bother my OCD tendencies. I have a variety of herbs (basil and oregan’, among others) and seasonings (like Cayenne, red pepper flakes, and lots of “gahhhhlic”) that match my cooking styles: anything Cajun or Italian-inspired pastas are my fallbacks. I keep my salt and pepper on top, always fresh cracked, for convenience, and the other overflow of bottles on top all match. Inside is not so organized, but I keep everything I use most on the right side because that is just always the door I reach for first. I narrowed down my choices a lot when I moved out of my parents house, so there are a lot of things I feel like I am missing still. I guess it will just be a matter of building back my own collection after some time.
Pictured: Tara Hebert’s spice cabinet (spring, 2013).
What spices can you not live without?
Tony’s, oregano, and garlic powder are some of my classic choices. I found a seasoning mix in a local grocery store called menudo mix that I am in love with, too.
Which ones don’t get used?
I rarely use the seasoning mixes like “burger seasoning” or lemon pepper. I love lemon pepper, but you can really only use it so often. I also don’t use most of my baking spices too much, for a lack of time to bake.
Amy Laws
What does it say about you?
My spice Cabinet is overflowing with extra spices just like my New Orleans house is with visitors. My spice wheel is also quite unorganized just like me, but creative people are always a bit unorganized. Right?
What spices can you not live without?
Salt and garlic are of course my go to’s for many meals. Also, I can’t live without cinnamon, with which I make cinnamon toast way too often!
Pictured: Amy Laws’s spice cabinet (spring, 2013).
Which ones don’t get used?
I found not one, not two, but three pumpkin pie spice bottles on my spice wheel, no doubt left over from my family’s ambitions to make many, many scrumptious pumpkin pies. We end up actually making only one pumpkin pie about once a year. Is there some other recipe that calls for pumpkin pie spice, anyone?
Meredith Quinn
What does it say about you?
Considering I live at the sorority house, the large containers of spices show how often we get together over food. A lot of people believe the misconception that sororities are all about the social functions, but they are surprised to hear that the majority of our time spent together is during lunch or dinner. Even the girls who don’t live at the house usually have meal plans and it has become one of the biggest bonding experiences for all of us. We love talking about the ups and downs of the day over a bowl of Mrs. Mary’s tomato soup or discussing our plans for the night while gorging ourselves on sweet potato fries. No matter how stressful our lives get from school, work, or boys, it is a comfort to just plop right down in one of the wicker chairs, pull our hair back, and dig in to whatever deliciousness the staff has prepared for the night.
Pictured: Meredith Quinn’s spice cabinet (spring, 2013).
What spices can you not live without?
Considering the 12 or so containers filled with Tony’s, it is safe to say we put that stuff on everything. On our table, the Cajun seasoning is synonymous with salt and pepper and I’ve witnessed girls put it on the most unusual of dishes. I remember wondering to myself why one would need Tony’s for a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, but lo and behold it wasn’t long before someone reached for the colorful shaker.
Which ones don’t get used?
It is hard to say which spices don’t get used since I (unfortunately) don’t do any of the cooking. However, I think its safe to say that most of the hotter spices get left on the shelf. Most of our dishes are mild, giving us the option to spice it up ourselves (hence the aforementioned dozen shakers of Tony’s).
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