My Spice Cabinet

Along with the big trip to the farmer's market yesterday, we hit the pet store (to browse), the Indian buffet (so delish), and Penzeys (to buy). Have I mentioned how much I love Penzeys?? Probably not, considering you've only known me for 5 days. I was first introduced to them when I got married and received a lovely gift box of herbs and spices from a friend who worked for The James Beard Foundation. I figured that a girl who works for James Beard has got to know spices. Penzeys had me at "Hello"; they were fantastic smelling and tasting and the bottles looked so pretty sitting in my spice cabinet. The great thing about Penzeys is that they are high quality AND reasonably priced (which is the part my husband loves). Once you have the pretty jar you can refill them by buying a bag which gives you more bang for your buck.

Can you imagine my thrill when we moved to Columbus and I discovered that there is a Penzeys Store not 5 miles from my house!! It is a delightful little store lined with rows and rows of pretty jars filled with faraway spices and herbs. They have smelling jars of every product so you can smell/taste the difference between, say, Mexican Oregano and Turkish Oregano, which is what I went there to buy(I got the Turkish), well, that and peppercorns (I got Tellicherry).

See that jar that says Taco Seasoning in my own handwriting up in that picture? Well, you can buy empty jars too and fill them with whatever you want. Tomorrow in honor of Cinco de Mayo, I'll share my homemade taco seasoning recipe that was made with the spices I bought at Penzeys. Bet you can't wait.