It may seem a bit late to talk about processing our harvest, but that is what we did today. It was time to process the hot peppers that we had curing in the pantry. To begin...we stalled the materials out. Over to the right are the very helpful plastic gloves: Here we are half way through: Once the peppers had been taken off the string, seeds removed they were placed in the little blender for "flaking". It looks like a lot, but wait until you see the blitzed hulls: A bottom of flakes about as deep as the thickness of a finger. Then it goes into the spice bottle: It is already looking hot, isn't it? Well, at various times throughout the process we would sniff and sneeze, and remind each other not to rub eyes and so forth. At one point the cups of tea began to weigh upon me and it was with great care that the dew was shaken off the begonias. Finally the finished product goes into the herb and spice drawer. It is in the lower right hand corner, second from the end (next to the Cayenne).
Good heavens, first you have a neat pantry, and now an organized spice/herb drawer. You are setting the bar too high for the rest of us! Those peppers, dried, cleaned, and ground will give you lots of pleasure (and hopefully, not a lot of tears). Around here you can buy three or four foot strings of dried peppers at farmers' markets or from pick-up trucks parked by the side of the road. The strings are called "rastras" and some people have them hanging in their kitchens. They are supposed to bring good luck and good health.
Wow @Sjoerd - very impressive spice drawer. I actually love how people keep their spices as there are all manner of racks, stacks, shelves, containers and ways to organize, sort and display spices. I have a theory that people who actually USE their spices keep them in various utilitarian containers in drawers or cupboards while people who actually display their spices in fancy spice racks actually don't really use their spices as they're most interested in the 'display' the spices make. Personally I have a section in a kitchen cupboard that houses all my spices in all sorts of jars and containers. Nothing matches and none would display nicely on the counter top in the kitchen but I've definitely got a kickin' selection of spices (some I grow & dehydrate myself) For Stewbies - what does YOUR SPICE closet, drawer or cupboard look like?
Oh Island, you would be so happy to see my oddment collection of spice and herb jars! Most once held capers, jam, or anything that comes in a smaller glass jar. If they were put on "display" it would look like they were being collected to go to recycling. They stay in the pantry--rather dark and somewhat temperature controlled. The herbs are all grown here on the farm, and the spices I buy in small quantities so they don't lose their zip before getting used up. And of course, the empty spice jar is saved and used for dried herbs.
Hiya JANE and ISLAND--- You wanna hear something funny? My Bride took strong exception to me posting that piccy of the S&H drawer because she said that it was embarrassing how messy it was. Can you believe that !?! I think that it looks tidy albeit ordinary. You guys are right though--we just use whatever sort of little containers we come across to house our cooking stuff. Arranging it like we do, even I can find stuff should the head chef ask for something. We have herbs that come from our garden or other gardeners in there and we have great little Turkish and other foreign shops in town to buy spices that come from all over the world.
Great title Sjoerd! You can not only write well in a second language, you can make puns in it as well!
Cheers Cayu--What a nice thing to say. I try and control myself from making too many little jokes, but sometimes they must just come out.
No way on Gods green earth would I post a pic of my spice cabinet ! I have a habit of using some in the containers they are sold in and I mix some blends myself ! The ones I make are put in empty containers and are labeled with a felt tip sharpie across the original label ! I call it job security because no one but me knows what is for what !
With so many cooks in our household now, I’ve gladly given up most cooking duties. We have exotic spices and stuff I have no idea how to use. I’ve chosen clean up duty. It is nice having a chef and two sous chefs in the house. I would love to see your spice cupboard and your blends. Would love sampling your homemade goodies.
This is my spice cupboard. Definitely nothing to write home about and really no fancy containers but it works for me.
Here is ours. A bit of a jumble. We thought this drawer would make a fine spice drawer, but you can see the problem. You have to hunt for spices looking down on them. And all the caps look the same! Our daughter tries to help us out by labeling them for us.
Love your cabinets--drop dead gorgeous wood. Looking at your spices, one would get the impression you cook--a lot!
Oh thank you MG! Those cabinets came from Lowe's. They were their "custom" line. Cherry. Yes we love them. Not everyone does because of the color variation with cherry. And yes, we do cook a lot. It's one of our things.
