IT'S HOW OLD????

Last week was Brandon's birthday and he requested a chocolate pie from me. So this weekend I got everything ready to start baking the pie. I had the hardest time looking for my chocolate sprinkles to put on top of the meringue! They were on the top shelf of the spice cabinet, way back at the back. When I finally found them and got to looking at the near empty bottle, I wondered, just how old was this bottle? Then I looked at all the other shelves in the cabinet and realized it was time to do some organizing! This has been on my to do list for quite sometime. Now was the time to tackle it! Here's the before picture.

You can't imagine how much I had in such a small space. And how old is some of this stuff??? There's a great place to find out. McCormick will tell you how fresh your spices are. Remember these?




Well, if you have any of these on your shelves, then they're at least 15 years old! I've been married for 31 1/2 years, and I think at least one of these spices were probably bought in 1976! Now take a look at where your spice was bottled. If your spice is from Baltimore, MD, then it's at least 15 years old, too. WOW! Where did the time go?

McCormick is not the only brand of spice I buy. My favorite is Penzey's. Their Chicago Steak Seasoning and English Prime Rib Rub are my favorite! You can receive their catalogs which are full of recipes and all kinds of information on spices. In fact, you can probably learn more than you ever wanted to know about spices and their origin. I've never been to one of their stores, but they have one on Preston Rd. in Dallas and I can hardly wait to go there. After all, I now have a little more space to fill in my cabinet!

Now for the after picture:

Okay, I know you're all sitting there laughing and going back and forth from the before and after pictures. You're just trying to tell if there really is a difference, but trust me, I did get rid of a lot of old spices! But I couldn't get rid of everything. After all, I would hate to have to run out and buy another jar of marjoram leaves or mace for just one recipe. Here's a few of some of the old spices that got tossed out:

Oh, and for the pie that started it all. Here it is:
Now, what's in your cabinet? I would love to hear from you on what some of the oldest things you have sitting on your spice shelves. Aren't you glad I didn't ask what old things you had in your dresser drawers? That may have to wait for another day.