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Spicy Gifts

My sister in law Sarah  (whom we call Sha) is quite the gourmet chef. She loves food and is a great cook. She and her husband Matt (whom we call Mateo or Smatty) live in Chicago, where they both go to school. This year for Christmas Sha and Mateo gave me an awesome gift.



This gift box of baking spices is from The Spice House. It's called the "Baker's Spice Collection" and it contains Ginger, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, and Double Strength Vanilla. I wish you could all smell these spices. They make you want to drop everything and just start "Bake-fest 2011."

They are powerful.

The Spice House is a local speciality store that imports spices and grinds them in house. All of their spices are freshly ground each week giving them superior flavor for the best possible cooking and baking.

I can't wait to go visit Sarah in Chicago and experience The Spice House for myself. Thanks, Smatty and Sha, for such a great gift.

The Spice House has a great website that's easy to order from and even has some recipes and ideas for using their great spices. Check it out HERE.

I think a gift box of spices would make a great Valentine's Day present for anyone who loves to cook. There are endless jokes to be made about Valentine's and Spice, but I'll spare you. But who wouldn't like to have a spicy Valentine's Day?

I'm particularly interested in trying their Back of the Yards Garlic Pepper Butcher's Rub and the Fleur de Sel French Sea Salt. The website provides a great description of the flavor of each spice and many ways that it can be used. So helpful...

Next week, I've got a great recipe for you using my delicious Spice House baking spices. Get ready. It's really good.

Keep it spicy, people.
M

4 comments:

  1. Wow...double vanilla. I'll have to check these out. I really like that there are recipes. I get so stuck in a rut.

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  2. The "Double Strength Vanilla" reminded me of a trick Ina does... she has a jar filled with regular white sugar + 2-3 fresh vanilla beans split. She has done it for years. I thought it was a great idea! Vanilla sugar... YUM!

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  3. Omg omg omg I made a blog topic!!! My life is complete! Thanks for saying I'm a gourmet cook! That's a sincerely kind complement. Spice house is our fav! They have all kinds of much needed flavor action for any of my cooking experiences! The pullman pork chop seasoning is awesome! And so is most everything I had tasted from there. I will keep you posted about ones I taste and love!

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  4. OMG OMG!!!!! I have been to the Spice House. You would love it, Mel. When we visited Sha, we went to all the shops on Central and this was one of my favorites. You have to go visit. This place is in a shop that has been there for a million years with a screen door, wooden floors and the place smells amazing. I order a special garlic mix from there that has sure spiced up this house.....

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