A Day in My Winter Kitchen

As many of you who visit regularly know, I get my flours, sweeteners, spices, oils, noodles, pastas, etc. from a German Baptist lady who has an awesome little shop built onto the back of her house - The Flour Barrel. I LOVE this place; I like to just go in there and BREATHE all the spicey, herbal smells. She also has teas, treats and snacks that she buys whole sale and sells cheap and she has a wall full of Christian books. You can take a quick visit by clicking here --> http://marmeespantry.blogspot.com/2010/01/inside-farm-stores.html

But today, I'm going to show you how I store the herbs and spices and a few other things that I get from her. Since she packages these items herself you can lose the freshness if you simply fold over the wrap and put the unused portion of the herbs/spices back into your cabinet or drawer.

I 'collect' all sorts and sizes of glass and plastic jars and containers. Here are some of my extras waiting to be used...

I save Spike Seasoning jars and mushroom jars for spices, the larger jar on the back-left was from a restaurant BBQ sauce and now I put my own homemade BBQ sauce in it. Glass pasta sauce jars and canning jars make great cannisters; Kraft Parm. cheese shaker containers are perfect for my all-time favorite herb mix (http://marmeespantry.blogspot.com/2010/01/kims-absolute-favorite-herb-mix.html) OR for homemade scrub cleaners and for sprinkling carpet deodorizer. Squeeze-type honey bottles are great for homemade face wash, shampoo, and lotions. What I don't have a photo of is a pump-type bottle; I use those for my homemade facewash - one squirt is the perfect amount.

Here's a peek inside my spice cabinet...

On the top are some of my spice mixes that I use while cooking. I put the recipe on the labels b/c I give them away so often. That way, whomever I give it to can make more. Below you can see many of my herbs/spices. See those neat little gasket-lid jars? Aren't those just the cutest?! I am so happy w/that little find - from Hobby Lobby. I also found a couple that were a little more decorative...

Many times I make my own butter - nothing fancy, just shake 2 containers of heavy whipping cream until your arm nearly falls off - and it's worth it. But when I don't have the time, or I just plain don't feel like it, I will get a roll of Amish butter, straight from Holmes County! The Flour Barrel also has that.

Does that look GOOD or what?! I like my butter soft, so when I buy a roll I cut off an end, about 2" thick, and put it in my butter crock that sits out on my dry sink.

This way, it's already soft for baking and spreading.

Here's where I spend a lot of our winter days...

There's water on for hot tea and broccoli and cheese soup on the stove and chicken breasts were about to go into the electric skillet. Here's my favorite way to prepare chicken: put 1 boneless/skinless chicken breast for each person in a skillet w/olive oil, sprinkle Spike seasoning and my favorite homemade herb mix that I gave you in the in the link above, add a pinch of Rosemary on each breast. Re-apply once you have turned the chicken. Prepare until cooked through. My favorite sides are broccoli and yellow rice or long grain and wild rice. YUM!

Here's what also used to happen in our winter kitchen...even when it snowed...

SCHOOL!! No snow days, here! lol

Blessings from snowy Ohio, Kim Wolf<><