October is the month for horror movie releases. So far I know of The Thing, The Woman, and Red State. No thanks! I have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to scary movies courtesy of an overactive imagination and a childhood friend obsessed with Ouija boards. Despite this, I managed to inject my month with good dose of fear and so can you. Skip the gory movies and clean out your spice cabinets. I promise you will be horrified.
Speaking of horror: my pictures. Trust me, I know. I don’t have a wide angle lens, which is how all the DIY and design bloggers take great interior pictures. Not me! I’m slapping Vaseline on my size 14 hips and wedging myself in tight corners to take walleyed pictures of cabinets. Just so we are clear, I do not live in a circular home, no matter what my pictures suggest. I do, however, live in an older home. When the horizon points in three different directions that’s actually true to life. There isn’t a level floor or plumb wall to be found around here.
So. The spice cabinet. It’s the long pull out to the left of the stove in the above picture. The shelves inside are narrow, about two spice bottles deep. The cabinet was full and unorganized. It was due.
I took everything out an put it on the counter. The mind boggles.
There were duplicates everywhere, some items had dust on the lids (!), and some items were so close to empty you would think I was a child of the depression hoarding oregano leaves for the next batch of stone soup. Note to self: it’s okay to toss out a bottle of vanilla with less than a teaspoon left.
By the time I was done I had nothing left. I moved some items from other locations to fill the cavernous void left behind by the spice exodus and now have a rough idea of how I will purge and reorganize the pantry based on all this extra space.
That Cream of Tartar has never been opened but, since I don’t remember when I bought it, I later tossed it…
along with an entire shopping bag full of spices. The mind still boggles.
I wrote down everything I purged too keep track of what I no longer have. I will buy ingredients as I need them, and in the meantime will do some research on cooking with spices. I’m pretty sure the world won’t come to an end if I broaden my horizons past salt, garlic, dill, and oregano.
p.s. I have no idea why I have a Hello Kitty notepad. I found it while cleaning out my desk. Maybe I bought it for one of my nieces? (Sigh.)
New here? For the next 31 days Im living according to the famous William Morris quote. You can learn more about the project here.
Just look at that spicy goodness!
And Hello Kitty? Totally harmless. My mom works for an OB-GYN clinic; when I was in college she sent me the cutest sticky note pad … grey, bright colored lines, ladybug. It just also happened to advertise vaginal cream. Since I was Senior RA, the apartment manager inspected our room. I came home one day to a note he had scribbled on that notepad. I could only hope he did not read the fine lines. Speaking of horror …
You didn’t see my tweet in time! Cream of tartar doesn’t go bad. It’s an acidic salt, it keeps pretty much forever, even after it’s opened.
One advantage of moving every couple of years (my husband is in the Navy) is that I am forced to go through my pantry when I’m unpacking the kitchen boxes. It’s the perfect opportunity to get rid of those old bottles of oregano and one-teaspoon-left bottles of vanilla.
I know! It’s actually not a big deal because I never use it–clearly! That bottle has to be 10 years old.
Oh, sure! But you do realize that now that you tossed that bottle, you’re going to desperately need cream of tartar in at least three recipes over the coming month, right? ;-) (If that happens, a little vinegar or lemon juice will work in a pinch.)
Again, great job!! And way to use up the notepads you have around. Once those are used, you can buy something pretty.
Cream of tartar doesn’t go bad and it is essential for making meringues (don’t you have a lemon tree?) and you need it to make homemade play doh! :) And you have very nice hand writing :)
No, you’re thinking of my lime tree. Sucks about the cream of tartar. I tossed it because I hate meringues of all kinds and figured I would never use it (the bottle is probably 10 years old!). Had I known about the playdoh, I would have kept it!
‘Skip the gory movies and clean out your spice cabinets. I promise you will be horrified’. You never cease to amuse now do you? I purged the cabinet a couple months ago, my next challenge is putting everything in pretty jars..baby steps.
Yeah, that’s on my list of things to do, too. I like the ones with labeling on the lid. This way I can see what I have without having to shuffle things around.
I want a spice cabinet like yours!! I hate rummaging. Also, I’m shirt, so the spices can only go on the bottom shelf of the cabinet, so that I can see what I am doing…
When we were buying our cabinets, the dealer tried to convince me to lose the pull out cabinets. He said they were a waste of space, especially since they are so narrow. As a man over 5’10”, he is absolutely right. They are a horrible use of space. But, like you, I’m short. I can only use the bottom shelf of any cabinet w/o using a step ladder, and I knew from my previous kitchen that I wouldn’t be able to reach spices–even on the bottom shelf–if they were on one of those tiered spice organizers for cabinets. This isn’t a great use of space for the general population, but for me it works really well.
I love an organized spice cabinet. I have all my spices in a drawer so if I am maxed out I need to get rid of something that I don’t use or only used once. I’m like you I rely on oregano, basil and dill as my go to spices. I can’t believe no one has asked you this already. Where did you get those adorable kitchen towels? Love them!
Every other year I host my in-laws for Christmas, and every other year my sister in-law gives me kitchen towels and bowls from Anthropplogy as a hostess gift. It’s a tradition now, and I look forward to it!
“…you would think I was a child of the depression hoarding oregano leaves for the next batch of stone soup…” I can totally relate to this! I could spend an hour going over the pros and cons of throwing out a bottle of anything that has very little left in it. I hate throwing things away. My husband doesn’t really understand this about me. I’m currently down to 3 bottles of lotion that I have to bang upside down on my hand to get any lotion out. I KNOW there is lotion in there and I can’t just throw it away! Haha, I’m neurotic. :)
I’ll bet I’m more neurotic than you! Thanks to your quote I realized I forgot an “a” in hoarding. So I edited my post and then your comment, since you were just copying from my text. Cuckoo!
I always keep the almost empty bottles of vanilla because I know there will be THAT ONE TIME where I will be in the middle of baking and need a 1/8 of a teaspoon of vanilla. Ridiculous! I almost whimpered when I tossed out the vanilla yesterday–even knowing I had a brand new bottle still in the cabinet.
Not sure what this says about me lol………When I can no longer get any more out of my tubes of lotion and the like, I cut them in half. It is very surprising how much can be left in there. Usually I can get an extra weeks worth of face cream, shampoo etc. It was my beautician who told me to do this, wish I’d thought years ago.
Hey, I’ve been following your William Morris series, and today am so inspired to clean out my spice drawer too! It’s one of those things, years go by and all of a sudden I look in and “oh how gross” comes to mind. I cracked up at the Hello Kitty BTW!
xo
Kate
Yay! I can’t wait to see it, Kate.
Favorite part?
The Vaseline reference.
Just keeping it real. I was twisted up like a pretzel trying to get a picture of that cabinet.
I was so grateful when I moved into my latest apartment and realized that I finally had a wall that was shaded and away from both the stove and oven. Now I can keep my spices in sight and within easy reach and it’s so much easier to keep them weeded out.
Of course, it has also lead to an obsession with getting all matching, beautiful spice jars. I periodically fall into these black holes where I spend hours researching spice jar options before regretfully deciding that it’s unnecessary.
My mother had spices from 1981 in her cabinet and argued with me when I tried to toss them.
ARGUED.
It’s too bad we can’t do some kind of spice swap…i have extras of smoked paprika (huh?) and cumin and who knows what else…those are just in the first layer. Love this series, gotta go my girlie has peeled all the post-its.
What is it about vanilla bottles that makes it so hard to get rid of them when there’s less than a teaspoon left? I guarantee I have at least three in my spice cabinet. Sneaky things, those vanilla bottles…
Argh, don’t you hate when you type something up and then there’s an error message and you have to do it all over again. Anyway, I’m sorry I haven’t been visiting your blog much recently. A lot has gone on and I just haven’t felt up to doing anything lately. I love what you are doing though and your house is looking amazing!!!!!!
P.S. What’s wrong with Ouija boards? I love them!
Nothing is wrong with Ouija boards–unless you are easily terrified and run down hallways when you are by yourself.