Variety, it is the spice of life.

As I have mentioned in previous entries, I love to drink tea. Until recently my tea selection demanded the largest portion of my kitchen real estate. Recently, however, my spice collection has begun to eclipse my tea collection. I love variety in my cup, and also on my plate. As much as a painter needs a full palette of colors, so too, I need a full spectrum of flavors with which to create.
The more that I work to create tasty and safe dishes, the more that I find new herbs and spices that I want to try. After going to several stores searching for certain items, and coming home empty-handed, I finally decided to try an online source. As a result, a package of organic spices are on their way to my house. As per usual for a mother hen like me, I check for updates on the shipping tracking information. No child ever watched the Santa Radar more avidly than I monitor incoming kitchen goodies.
This order has a selection ranging from rosemary powder to marshmallow powder, mullein to rose hips, dill seed to juniper berries, and more. They are all organic, and many of them are new to me. Fingers crossed that they are all of good quality and that the projects that I have in mind work as well as I am imagining. I still have to find a good source for cassia, and I would like to get a bunch or organic vanilla beans to play with, along with a bigger selection of salts on hand, but I am getting there one flavor at a time.


Update: The order arrived and I am happy with what I see. Here are a couple photos that I took of some of the spices.

Cinnamon sticks,
rose hips and basil

Spice order cinnamon sticks, star anise,
brown mustard seed, coriander seed powder, bay leaves, dill seed,
coriander seed, dill weed and juniper berries