Old Spice(s)!

Oh my gosh! I was reading the USA Weekend magazine that came inside my Sunday paper and saw an add for McCormick spices. It showed pictures of bottled and tinned spices that are more than 15 years old! If you McCormick bottled spices say "Baltimore, MD" on the label or if they are in a rectangle tin they are at least 15 years old! It seems that they quit putting spices (except black pepper) in those metal tins 15 years ago! So go check your spice cabinet!

I was pretty sure none of mine were that old because (at least when I was still on active duty) you couldn't ship herbs and spices overseas. I'm not sure why but I do remember whining about having to get rid of all of them every time I moved. I thought that I probably bought the spices I have now in 1999 or later, since that is when I got back to the States from Guam. I used the handy date checker on the McCormick website and sure enough, most of my spices were packaged in 1999 and 2000. Now that is sad because that means they are 6-7 years old! And of course, they really should be no more than 2-4 years old! Some of them are almost gone, but some of them are still almost full! Oh well, guess I'll make a list of the one's I use most often and then pick up one or two each time I shop. I can tell you I won't be buying thyme or basil leaves anytime soon! I have almost full bottles that are 6 years old. I think I'll probably buy fresh herbs when I need them. I might also grow my own next year. This year I grew sage, just for the heck of it and I have a huge plant! If anyone wants some I do plan on freezing some of it this year and have enough to provide more sage than you could use in a lifetime, unless you make stuffing on a regular basis!

Okay, I want you all to go to your spice racks and check out how old your spices are and let me know. If you haven't moved in the past 15 years you just may have a tin of cinnamon in there!

I need to get some more homework done. I need to take Chelsea to youth group at church and I plan on using those two hours to write a paper for my English class. When we get home she gets to mow the back yard (jungle) since all this rain we've had has really made it grow!