One of our chores for today is to cull out old spices and replace them with good fresh spices from Penzeys. They do most of their business via mail order, but we have one of their 20 retail stores here in town. Very high quality spices.

If you want to try ordering something from them I suggest their Vietnamese cinnamon. Just amazing. Mom tried it at my suggestion, and I don't think she believed it was going to be noticeably better than the cinnamon you get at the Safeway. She is a believer now. Very intense flavor, but extremely sweet. They say you only have to use 2/3 of what a recipe calls for because it is so strong. Let me know if you try some.

Anyway, I went downstairs to pull out of the old containers of spices to see which ones we should replace first. I laughed when at the back of the cupboard I saw a tin of Kroger's rosemary leaves. I think I have had this tin since my first apartment during my junior year in college, which would have been 1987. Eighteen years ago! That means it has lived in three apartments and two homes. I just did some quick routing calculations and I carted this tin around with me for a about 815 miles. The price on the bottom is 15¢! I am not going to throw it out. I think I will put it right back in the pantry. Maybe it is my good like spice tin.

Last weekend I listed all of the spices I use and then rank sorted them. We will start at the top, and every now and then go buy a handful of the spices from the top of the list and throw out the old ones. Here is my list:

1 garlic powder
2 whole tellicherry peppercorns
3 onion flakes
4 onion powder
5 cumin
6 cinnamon
7 cayenne
8 chili powder
9 fennel
10 oregano
11 basil
12 coriander
13 bay leaf
14 ginger
15 nutmeg
16 rosemary
17 celery seed
18 mustard
19 cloves
20 allspice

arrow root powder
dill
majoram
paprika
sage
tarragon
thyme
vanilla

The eight unnumbered ones at the bottom are ones that I use, but not regularly for my type of cooking. I will buy replacements for those only when the need arises. I think the Penzey's shopping list for today will be:

tellicherry peppercorns
cumin
cayenne
oregano
basil
chili powder
bay leaves

My guacamole turned out very good last night. It would have been better if I had fresh ingredients on hand (cilantro, onion, tomatoes, limes, garlic), but for what I had on hand it was excellent. I used:

One large and two small avocados
lime juice
a few tablespoons of fresh pack salsa from Trader Joes
cumin
garlic powder
Frank's hot sauce
salt

My philosophy on guacamole is to go very light on all of the ingredients so the delicate taste of the avocado is not covered up.

I got my first check as a consultant yesterday! They only do direct deposit for employees, so from now on my checks will be mailed to the house. I have to figure out how to file estimated quarterly tax payments with the IRS.