He loves these cans

How small a kitchen can you handle? Maybe smaller than you think. When we last moved, a year and a half ago, I went from a kitchen that held all of my cooking equipment to one that held less than half. The rest went to a shelving unit in the dining room (an IKEA Ivar, who you may already be on a first-name basis with).

Now, the dining room is not so far from the kitchen. It’s basically the same room. I don’t have to walk down a moldy corridor, just around the sink. In fact, what I should really do is perfect a trademark over-sink vault, but as I am not Mary Lou Retton, instead I’ve figured out how to migrate certain important items back into the kitchen.

Last December, I successfully reclaimed the sugar using some new Tupperware. Now I’m after the spices, and my tool of choice is Bed Bath and Beyond’s magnetic spice jars. They cost $2 and look like this.

Spice jars

That’s the side of the fridge. I bought two jars to see if I liked them, and this meant I had to decide what my two most valued spices were. (Incidentally, upon entering the store I also cursed myself for forgetting to bring one of those ubiquitous 20 percent off coupons, then realized it would save me 40 whole cents.) I chose cumin and was all set to put chili powder in the other jar, when I realized I was defining “spices” too narrowly.

It occurred to me that I use cornstarch, baking powder, and baking soda more often than any given spice, and these should really take the places of honor. I guess it’s a good thing these ingredients aren’t generally considered spices, because then they’d be sold in small quantities for $7, but they’re spices in the sense of “relatively nonperishable dry ingredients used in small quantities.”

I wonder how many of these I can stick on the fridge before they cause more problems than they solve.

10 thoughts on “He loves these cans

  1. Jenny

    I still havent got round to using mine, but I found that one cracked when I had it on the fridge, possibly due to the variations in temperature. Just a thought…

  2. katre

    Would it be worth it to get a bunch of these, transfer the spices, and then keep them in the Ivar? Before you start cooking, you can just grab the half dozen or so you need, stick them on the fridge till you need them, and then forget to put them back until Iris pulls them off and plays with them. Or is that still too much fetching from the dining room?

  3. Jason Truesdell

    I bought a bigger magnetic board than they sell at Bed Bath & Beyond, hung it on the most useless wall in my kitchen, and filled it with 35 of those magnetic canisters. That cleared out an entire cupboard, eliminating the need for one of my lazy susans, and providing a good home for some new glassware.

    By the way, those $5 off coupons they have on the back of the Bed Bath & Beyond catalog mailings come in handy for tiny purchases like this.

  4. Kathleen

    This is starting to sound like a good plan — I like the magnetic board idea.

    I have to add — I’m a bad person and I like to have my spices very close to the stove, which I always hear is bad for your
    spices. I’m just too lazy.

    Speaking of herbs, which go with spices, are you planting any this year? I overwintered some marjoram, oregano, and chives, which are doing very well — especially the chives, which I’ve already cut and used twice.

  5. mamster Post author

    Jason, there is only one wall in my kitchen, and it’s covered by a grid that holds skillets and many, many other things.

    Kathleen, the magnetic spice jars are right near the stove. We replace nearly all our spices every December, so I feel free to abuse them.

    I had some luck with cilantro last year and would like to plant that again. I spend way too much on cilantro and parsley at the supermarket, probably $20 some months. The cilantro did end up dying like everything else I plant, but I was able to harvest some while it was briefly thriving.

  6. Lauren

    What a great New Years task – replacing all your spices. My boss just returned from New Orleans and brought me back a jar of Joe’s Stuff spice blend. When I went to put it in my spice cupboard, I discovered a partial jar from my first visit to New Orleans……..15 years ago!

  7. Molly

    Ok, so I have always coveted these magnetic containers, but heard that you are not supposed to expose your spices to light . . .? Or is that not a big concern?

  8. mamster Post author

    Molly, I was worried about that, too. Then I realized I was already keeping the spices in glass jars on an open shelf. And have been doing so for a couple years now, with no apparent ill effects.

    Here’s another way of looking at it. If you buy fresh, high quality spices (from, say, Penzeys or Spice House or World Spice), they’ll still be much better at the end of the year, no matter how you treat them, than lousy supermarket spices.

  9. Kathleen

    Parsley’s quite easy to grow. I bought a plant in a fundraiser last year, and it did great. I lazily let my cilantro go to seed, and ended up harvesting the seeds, which is rather tedious.

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