by Ethan Johnson
November 17, 2006

Note: The following is unpaid, unsolicited shilling by me without the knowledge or consent of Penzeys Spices. For more, read my Food and Drink Ethics Statement.

UPS finally came around today with my latest spice order from Penzeys. There is a store "locally", but it's not incredibly convenient to drive to, and they keep banker's hours. Rather than futz around with driving there and back, I ordered online, figuring that shipping was about the cost of a gallon of gas each way to the local store. Plus, they tend to throw in a bonus spice with your order when you order online/by mail. I put the spices away in our cabinet, and realized that all other spice brands are pretty much dead to us.

Think I'm kidding?

Does this look like I'm kidding?

Worse, that shelf is filled mostly with "evaluation" spices. Plus a couple of freebies from the few times that I have ordered online. If the "evaluation" stuff pans out, then it's on to larger jars, or worse, resealable bags.

All of the above can be blamed on my Uncle, who took one look at our hodge-podge of dried herbs and spices and wondered why we didn't "just" order from Penzeys. What what what? A URL later, and I was ordering a box of "tryout" stuff. Then I found out about the local store, and we easily dropped close to $200 USD our first time out. Lots of other moldy oldy spices and whatnot got tossed in the trash shortly thereafter. The least we ever spent at the local store was $3. It gets cheaper to maintain the collection after that initial blast. And yes, for those who care, I've been to the HQ up in Wisconsin. The front yard is fragrant, never mind the store part.

Turning to the photo at the top of this page, here is a quick rundown of what the stuff is, and why you might be tempted to get some for yourself. I will note here that we are quite the carnivores, so veggie folks will have to grin and bear some of the following, if at all.

• Chicago Steak Seasoning: A smoky-tasting blend of 8 different ingredients. Mar is crazy for the stuff. She prefers it on steaks and mixed into burgers.
• French-Style Peppercorns: Penzeys is all about the "Tellicherry" black peppercorns, and this also come with green peppercorns. I use it all the time in my special Penzeys pepper mill (so I know where it is at a glance). You will notice the difference over many other black pepper offerings if you cook with it or grind it onto things directly.
• Fines Herbs: OK, here's the scoop: Mix this into your omelets and scrambled eggs. I know! I can't believe it either! I don't know where it's been all your life! You're welcome!
• Sunny Paris Seasoning: OK, here's the scoop: Mix this in to your mashed or smashed potatoes. I know! I can't believe it either! I don't know where it's been all your life! You're welcome! Dude, seriously: We ended up buying the larger, obnoxious jar because we use so much of it. Not bad for a blend that they almost killed off, until their customers demanded that they keep selling it for slightly less than a barrel of oil. It's that good.
• Adobo Seasoning: I'm a fool for cumin. This blend contains other Mexican-themed ingredients that really take my grilled chicken places. It's a good "coat it and grill it" solution to casual grilling.
• Old World Seasoning: I use this on steaks and pork chops on the grill. A nice spicy number without being obnoxiously hot.
• Northwoods Fire Seasoning: I use this on steaks and mixed into hamburgers for ultra obnoxiousness. If you want to be turbo obnoxious, toss in some Tabasco.

Yeah, so anyway, we like Penzeys. Do a Google search if you want to raid their site. Or don't, if you descended from the McCormicks. Meanwhile, I have more sorting and chucking to do. <EM>

(The full, ever-expanding In the Kitchen recipe list may be found here.)