I’ll admit, I have not been doing so well with my new year’s resolutions (including cleaning out my drawers). But it’s not too late to renew my commitments, so when I had a free hour this week, I headed straight for a drawer that I use daily and has been driving me nuts—the spice drawer.

Here is the embarrassing before photo. I buy most of my spices in small amounts in bulk (I re-use the little plastic baggies when possible). After a busy holiday season of cooking, the drawer was full of aromatic baggies (many spilling their contents) along with all the random kitchen tools (apple slicer, pastry cutter, citrus reamer) that didn’t have an obvious home elsewhere in the kitchen.

First thing I did was to remove all the excess stuff, the odds and ends that needed a new home. This little bottle of Tabasco (from room service on my travels last year) will go in our camping spice kit.

All the bulk spices found their way into a labeled jar. I use small canning jars with plastic lids. They are easy to see and their wide mouths allow me to grab a pinch easily or to dip in a measuring spoon with less mess. A china marker is great for labels that can be rubbed off when I replace it with a new spice.

A quick vacuum and wipe out and much better! On to the next drawer.

—SCB

Save