cordwainer's Profile
Need recommendations for a good gold and /or dark rum for mixing
I'm nuts about Mt. Gay Eclipse with tonic - it's hands down the best rum with tonic I've ever tried (which I admit is purely subjective, but an opinion shared by a surprising number of people I've chatted with over the years). Even on my sometimes below-meager budget I won't substitute. But, considering it's possible to get the large 1.75 liter bottle for around $30.00, it's not particularly overpriced or out of range.
Concerning expensive liquor and mixing: It really does depend on the drink sometimes. I've found, for example, Manhattans are actually better with the less expensive, basic bourbons, say the cheapest Jim Beam. A cheaper gin like Gilbey's for me is better in a gin and tonic, partly because some of the more expensive ones have distinctive herbal flavors that refuse to blend well - as a mixer, I prefer basic Beefeater or the regular Bombay, not Sapphire, by far, and that includes in Martinis (contrary to the sins of too many modern bartenders ALSO a mixed drink), but those are a little pricy for day to day.
That said, if a liquor is a terrific mixer, it's absolutely worth spending a little more if you can - what's the point if the only thing you taste in your drink is the non-alcoholic portion? If all you want to do is get drunk, sure. If you really enjoy a particular drink, making it the best it can be will not only be more satisfying, it can also slow down your drinking because you want to savor it longer.
The above purely my 50 cents worth (allowing for inflation).
Spice strategy revisited. Spice racks need NOT apply
OK, well, I'll chime in again about bags. I've definitely seen that happen, where a spice will go all sticky in a baggy. As I recall, it took a little while, but seemed to be a combination of humidity and a flimsy, weak, cheap, thin plastic bag, plus my carelessness in not making certain it was folded over well and clipped shut.
I lost some cumin, chili powder, and curry powder that way at one apartment. However, for various reasons they had also ended up in a cupboard above the sink, and were regularly subjected to rising moisture as a result.
There is a school of thought that bags are sometimes better than bottles because one can squeeze most of the air out easily, air being a primary enemy of preservation, hence the nifty pump&seal gizmos for wine bottles.
Oxidation, perhaps? Are the spices losing their savor, or essentially rusting? Has anyone done a study of optimal spice storage?
Other than the companies that make spice racks, that is? 'Cause I'm getting more cynical all the time about these things.
[Plastic cutting boards, for example, weren't tested until long after companies began touting them as more sanitary....sadly the testing revealed bacteria can live a long, long time on plastic, but is absorbed by wood almost immediately, through an unknown mechanism, I believe they said. A lovely study--one the manufacturers of plastic cutting boards did their best to bury, obviously.]
Capitalism, eh? Can't live with it, can't live without it.
Back on topic: I still keep a lot of my spices in the original bag, all the bags different types.
You know those cheap Mexican bagged spices? 4 ounces of cumin for 60 cents or so? Those bags are pretty impermeable, and I can clip them shut with the binder clips and free chip clips that wander into my life. The large binder clips, by the way, are GREAT! Worth blowing a buck at the dollar store. Plastic chip clips lose a lot of oomph over time. Binder clips can still cause serious pain after a couple of years.
Otherwise, I refuse to spend money on spice storage, or food storage. Too many containers one can recycle, also more environmentally friendly. Unnecessary plastic uses up a frightening amount of petroleum and takes forever to biodegrade.
Besides, a spice I use a lot is going to be gone so fast it won't have time to go stale or sticky, which must be true for other folks out there as well. Less used spices can easily be obtained in tiny quantities, to avoid waste.
And if they need to be used up before they expire? I make chili. You can put pretty much anything in chili and get away with it. Some of the resulting versions have been positively inspirational :-)
To rworange: p.s., i had the coolest idea for self-storing spice bags, but unless you have a free source of small Flexies, retractable keychains, and/or talking dolls, it would involve having to spend money. Still, I'll work on it. [second gin and tonic]
Spice strategy revisited. Spice racks need NOT apply
Alcohol does bring out something for sure :-) As far as brainstorming and drinking, sounds like a great idea. I'll buy the first round of spiced rum!
Spice strategy revisited. Spice racks need NOT apply
Um...well, I'm a big fan of pill organizers myself, the big ones where each container can hold probably 20 vitamin tablets of the kind I take, plus small prescription things. There are some really cool ones where the "days" can be slid apart individually, then slid back together again.
I use those organizers for all sorts of things, like jewelry (especially storing vintage jewelry I sell online), screws, paper clips, beads....any tiny little things that otherwise get lost, or dwarfed by other kinds of containers.
The nice thing about the pill organizers is they're fairly airtight, being intended to keep pharmaceuticals fresh. If not airtight enough, you can put them inside, say, a square or cylindrical "tin", the kind with a tight fitting metal lid. I've kept loose tea in them, with just enough tea for a single cup in each one, or tea bags.
Big plus: You can find them very cheap! And some I've found are magnetized, so I could slap them on the fridge. If not, it's also easy to find adhesive magnet sheets. For that matter, you could put a magnetic whiteboard on the wall, stick a magnet to a spice bag, and toss it at the wall to put it away! (Ok, only half serious there....)
Last: never overlook the possibly of a "spiceline", like a clothesline. Run it across your kitchen, then just use clothespins to clip spice bags/loose spices/peppers/etc to the line. Make decorative loops on the line, or funky hooks for the bags from "found" objects. Save individual liquor bottles, put spices in them with a tiny funnel, and tie colorful string around the bottle neck for the clothespin or a hook. Save any kind of small plastic bottle, kids toys, colorful plastic bags, etc. Wing it with what would normally be trash. Give your friends different colored markers, and let them create personal art on a bag or bottle while they are visiting. Or just hang fun decorative stuff up with the spices, even small paintings, figurines, a mobile or a string of beads. Save decorative plastic bags to put your loose spices in. Go abstract.
With the spiceline and a magnetic board together, create a Wall 'O Spice, an abstract piece combining function and form!
Hey, I don't claim those are GREAT ideas, but you asked for different, and NOT a spice rack, and it seems you said it didn't matter what your house or kitchen were like, or how the kitchen is laid out, constructed, organized, etc. So, I tried to think of things within those criteria.
I'm not sneering or mocking, by the way. Philosophically and psychologically....and for the hell of it....abandoning the norm and attempting to come up with a different way of doing things, even a ridiculous one, is a great mental vacation, silly fun in a way, but who knows. Maybe you'll end up tacking chicken wire to one wall, growing ivy on it, then hanging spices all over in little Halloween bat bags...start a kitchen Spice Bat Colony.
Time for another drink! Cheers!
cordwainer
How to serve chili at our inaugural ball and fiesta.
If you have a dollar store nearby, you can easily find 30 to 40 nice deep NON-plastic bowls - if not enough in one color, you will be able to find similar styles/complementary colors, 10-20 of each, at least. At a buck a bowl, that's affordable for a party, especially since you'll be able to keep them for later. A dollar store will usually also have inexpensive flatware (if you run short) - and if you want non-plastic drinking glasses, you can pick up wine/highball/etc. glassware that you won't mourn if it is broken.
I bought some very nice slightly irregular, solid color stoneware bowls at our dollar store just last week; paired with a bunch of small plates I had already in various colors, it all came out looking faux Fiestaware-ish and very colorful yet tied together. (nothing neon; nice medium green, mustard yellow, deep teal, medium purple,
At our Christmas Eve chili parties, we used to have as side dishes a huge Caesar salad, a plate of crudites, and a plate of whatever fruit looked good at the grocery store. (The "arugula-y" whatsit you mention sounds like a spring greens mixture I love.) We also put out bowls of saltines, tortilla chips, a good sourdough loaf/boule, grated sharp cheddar, chopped onions and sour cream (or non-fat plain yogurt).
By the way, one year my partner accidentally doubled the salt in his recipe (he inadvertently added garlic salt instead of garlic powder). If your chili is too salty, you can do what my grandmother taught me, and what we did: quickly peel 3 or 4 largish potatoes, cut each into 3 to 4 pieces, add them to the simmering chili, and let them cook until soft. They will soak up the extra salt, and lots of nice flavor.
As an extra bonus, the potatoes themselves make a great side dish ("chili potatoes, anyone?"). Our last chili party several years ago, the diners loved the potatoes they all wanted the "recipe".
cheers, cordwainer
