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[CortJstr]

The board membership is clearly down with the tasty food. So what I want to know is where do you crazy chefs get your spices?

Alton swears by mail order, and Penzeys was the first hit on Google but I don't know if they're any good. I don't see myself grinding at home (not yet at least. I don't even have room for a blender in my current kitchen) so is it even worth ordering if I'm just going to buy ground anyway?

[Choop]

You can almost always find fresh spices and herbs at your local farmer's market, usually more than you'll ever use for less than you'd pay for a standard jar/bottle at the grocery store (like $2.19 for 8oz of nutmeg). If you do want to grind at home, just get a cheap $8 coffee bean grinder, and dedicate it to spices -- our coffee grinder is black, and our spice grinder is white, but otherwise, they're identical.

[wombat]

I order from Penzey's and I've always found that it is good fresh stuff.  I always buy more than I need, though. There is no point in buying good spices and then keeping them around so long that they go stale.  So remember that spices are very light and four ounces of powdered ginger is a lot more than you probably think.

[CortJstr]

You can almost always find fresh spices and herbs at your local farmer's market, usually more than you'll ever use for less than you'd pay for a standard jar/bottle at the grocery store (like $2.19 for 8oz of nutmeg). If you do want to grind at home, just get a cheap $8 coffee bean grinder, and dedicate it to spices -- our coffee grinder is black, and our spice grinder is white, but otherwise, they're identical.

I wish it were that simple. For some reason my farmer's market only has herbs, no spices. Plus I was recently looking for Szechuan peppercorns. I went to Whole Foods and two asian markets with no luck. Amazon has it for like $6.50/oz while Penzys has it for like $2.25/oz. I figure it also wouldn't hurt to get a couple other high-use or long shelf-life items such as a nutmeg nut, chili powder, and maybe cumin while I'm there.

[wombat]

I got regular peppercorns from Penzey's and thought they were better than the ones I bought recently from Whole Foods when I ran out.  That's something with a long shelf life that you could get.

[littlefallsmets]

I actually mostly eat frozen boxes of things I find at the local Albertsons.

The world of the gourmet would require either a large amount of time or a large amount of money... or some lesser combination of both... having none of those three options, I mostly eat frozen boxes of things from the local Albertsons.

The world of the foodie is a far away world that only exists in my television and, occasionally, in wonderful cookbooks that people get me for my birthday or Christmas.

When I was a little kid, my mother would watch probably two hours of QVC a night when she got home from work. She worked a very difficult job as a floor nurse at the local rural hospital, she flat out needed to sit for a coupla hours when she got home. You're essentially walking for eight hours when you do that job.

She would do her bills and drink tea and... passively watch QVC, full of gadgets she would never have a use for and clothes she probably wouldn't enjoy wearing and... so on and so on. But here's the thing:

In my entire childhood, from five to the day I left for college at eighteen?

I think she bought five things from QVC. I think two of them were gifts for me, one for my brother, one for my father. I think in thirteen years, she bought... like... one thing from QVC for herself. Maybe a dress she couldn't find at the Hess in Utica or the Macy's in Albany. Something like that.

It was passive and calm and happy stuff for her to zone in and out of while she was resting. A world she'd kind of like to live in but... ultimately... it wasn't enough of her reality to invest any real time or money into. Her world was being a mom and then a nurse and... somewhere down the list... a wife.

The Food Network, I guess, is my QVC. There's a world full of people using... white peppercorns and brining and specialty vinegars that... I love learning about and love thinking about but... isn't my world. There's no plausable way I could really be a part of that world.

Yet its pleasant white noise that I enjoy and project myself into.

And sometimes I even heat the frozen boxes from Albertsons first.

[CortJstr]

I was exactly like that until, like, July. The SO and I realized that we ate out too much and Lean Cuisine's weren't cutting it as dinner any longer so I bought Help, My Appartment Has a Kitchen and went from there.

I've progressed to the point that for Christmas I got a Microplane grater/zester and was actually excited. That thing effortlessly zests like a motherfucker. I'm also looking for more things to use my miso in, besides soup and this one chicken recipe from Eating Well.

[Turbo Ninja]

Columbus is lucky enough to have a meatspace Penzey's.  It's the bomb and worth every penny beyond the McCormick bottles at the megamart.  I consider buying ground spices as another step in mise-en-place and I'm willing to tolerate a moderate loss of flavor because I ain't got time to fuss around with grinding anything other than pepper.

'Tis true that dried, ground spices weigh MUCH less than you might think.  Buy light and buy often if you're really concerned about freshness, even though a well-sealed bottle of Penzey's that sits on your shelf for three months is probably still fresher than a brand new bottle you'd get from a big chain grocer. 

[linnea]

Oh, shit, dude! GO TO AN ETHNIC GROCERY.

I go to the Filipino and Asian grocers here to buy spices. They come in huge, honkin' bags for pennies compared to the teensy bottles of Spice Island that you get at the regular supermarket.

The other alternative is to go to Health Food Stores where they have spices in bulk. This is HEAVENLY. You can get anything you want, and it's usually available both in whole form and in ground-up form. You can buy them in smaller amounts so there's no waste.

In Colorado, I always just went to the Indian grocery stores. You can buy fenugreek, tumeric, cardamom, etc. and make your own curry powder. Toast the spices in a hot, dry skillet before grinding them in a spice grinder (a coffee grinder works great for this, and you can get those for $10 at places like Target). Alternatively you can crush them in a mortar and pestle, if you're down with that.

[wombat]

I was exactly like that until, like, July. The SO and I realized that we ate out too much and Lean Cuisine's weren't cutting it as dinner any longer so I bought Help, My Appartment Has a Kitchen and went from there.

Lately the Technical Staff is constantly uttering those five words no woman - or at least, not this woman - wants to hear from her spouse ("we eat out too much").  I know perfectly well how to cook, but have decided that the value of this skill is to know whether I am getting my money's worth when I pay other people to cook for me.  But, he thinks he is getting fat. And he is unable to A, stop ordering too much in restaurants, or B, take half of it home for lunch.

So right now I am cooking a curry with, in fact, some spices from Penzey's.  But I am cross about the whole thing. For one thing, eating out does not leave the kitchen in such a mess.

But back on topic... We used to have an Indian grocery where we bought spices, but it's gone. It was fine for whole spices but I still think that the ground spices were fresher from Penzey's. We also used to buy in bulk at health food stores, which is good as long as you trust yourself to judge the freshness by smell.  But I find that none of the local stores sell spices in bulk anymore.

[jaydub]

Cooking is something I think I'd be good at, if I had any interest in it.  I brew good beer, and I always get compliments on stuff that I do cook up (generally from Mexican or Italian cuisines).  My mom is a born cook who uses cookbooks when she wants to try and make something specific, but otherwise makes wonderful savory concoctions apparently from thin air.  She just knows what things would taste good together.
Spices-wise, I know a few people with rosemary bushes, or where some wild fennel grows or the like, and use that when I can.  It really does make a difference.  Otherwise, Schillings is my purveyor.

[theinevitable]

ok, so, just wondering... what counts as Eating Out Too Much? My family never eats out, so, I have no basis. Other than "if you eat (dinner) out more than once a month, it is too much."

[Drygioni]

ok, so, just wondering... what counts as Eating Out Too Much?

My girl says there is no such...

Ahem. No comment.

[CortJstr]

Oh, shit, dude! GO TO AN ETHNIC GROCERY.

I went to two. But no luck on the peppercorns. I did find crazy cheap dried shiitake mushrooms though.

Growing up we ate out once a week. Mainly because I'm a very picky eater and I hate American food. So as I child I was down with some tasty restaurant food. Also: behaving in public.

[wombat]

My girl says there is no such...

Correct answer.  My position is that as long as you aren't spending more money than you can afford, of course, there is no such thing as eating out too much.

In fact, I feel we have a moral obligation to eat out as much as we can afford.  It is a boost to the economy. It supports many more people than eating at home would.  We have no children, so shouldn't we be spending enough in tips to put other people's children through college?  It takes a village, and all.