Tip of the Month - Alphabetize to Organize...
by Peggy Hughes
Do you open your spice cabinet and quickly locate the exact spices you need? Or, do you get frustrated by having to pick up one can or bottle numerous times and find you keep picking up the same one? Ever notice that you have two, sometimes three bottles of the same spice-and each is half full?
Well, you can have too many spices! Even duplicates and triplicates of spices. And, not enough of the spices you really need. You’re also wasting some valuable cupboard space. Here’s a quick and easy way to bring order to your spices, once and for all. First, purchase an inexpensive stepped shelving unit from any home improvement or hardware store.
Second, remove everything from your cabinet, grouping like items together. “A” spices like allspice, anise seed and arrowroot, all peppers – red, black, white, together, you get the picture. Place oils, vinegars and bottled sauces and dressings in another designated area. Again, it’s best to store these items together – oils with oils, vinegars with vinegars, etc.
Now, consolidate as many open spices as you can, clean out your cupboard and begin reinserting your spices! It is my experience that it is better to start from the back, going from left to right beginning with the letter A and work forward. Often, I will have both a “ground” and a “leaf” type of spice (i.e. ground marjoram and whole leaf marjoram.) When this happens, I stack them on top of each other.
Interestingly, rarely do I have to pull out one spice to see what’s behind it, but, when it does happen, I already have a good idea where a spice should be because of the alphabetical spices around it.
There you have it – you will be amazed how much prep time you save by not having to rummage through a bundle of unorganized spices. And, you will gain valuable storage space in the process.
Happy Cooking!
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