October 13, 2008

Although October 12th is the “real” date that Christopher Columbus is credited with discovering America, we're celebrating it today and we have more than the obvious reason to celebrate it. Did you know the whole mission of the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria was to try to find a shorter route to the spices and silks in the Orient? True, Columbus and his crew stumbled upon a spot in the Bahamas and claimed it for Spain, but just as exciting (arguably) is that Columbus introduced the capsicum to Europe and that's spelled “pepper” to you and me.

What would cooking be like without peppers? Without spices? I say it would be boring. Since my favorite cuisines are Mexican and Italian, I can't imagine a New World without spice. And I can't imagine a spicy world without Penzeys.

I talked about my love for Penzeys a little bit last week in my Sunday Supper post.  Oh how I love me some Penzeys!  Even when I'm on a bland diet and can't be a very spicy girl, I just like to think about Penzeys and imagine the reunion we'll have soon.  They have a retail store here in Dallas where you can wander around and smell every item they carry.  If you aren't close to one of their stores around the country, don't despair!  You can order online or download a catalog if you prefer to browse their products offline.  My experience is that the Penzeys products are all fresh, all high quality, and all powerful so you need to use less of them. I love that you can buy the cute little baby jars of items that you never use up, so you aren't invested in a ginormous bottle of cloves or allspice that will get old before you need it all.

Plus, they have a huge assortment of proprietary spice blends that you can't find anywhere else.  And they do really cute gift boxes.  What's not to love about this spice haven!  Oh, and as a bonus they have great recipes on their web site.  I'm eying this one for Banana Bread.  It has buttermilk instead of higher-fat sour cream, plus it uses their Baking Spice which I've almost picked up a couple of times.  It's one of their special blends with cinnamon, mace, anise and cardamom.  Sounds like a great fall addition to my spice cabinet.

What are my favorites?  Let me see if I can whittle the list down a little bit.

• Mexican Vanilla

• Cinnamon

• Southwest Seasoning

• Lemon Pepper

• Shallot Pepper

• Freeze Dried Shallots

• Ground Chipotle

• Toasted Granulated Onion

• Salt-Free Mural of Flavor

• Sandwich Sprinkle

That's my Spice Hall of Fame for today, but tomorrow it may change. Hey LilSis, I know you have a different list of Penzeys loves since I turned you on to them.  What are your favorites?

~BigSis