Thank you, Annie, for that tip ... my kid loves almond-cookie, so I will get the almond extract. Thank you, Cloud_Swift, for the info. on Spice House to save money. Thank you, pkramer, for that tip on Rosemary indoor. It died on me last winter. I grew up near Grand Rapids MI. Now I'm in Chicago's suburb, zone 5a, much colder than zone 5b in MI. What I grew in the summer was probably Russian Tarragon ... no smell whatsoever. The right thyme also makes a big difference ... so I make sure that pinch off a leaf to sniff before buying the herb. I'm lucky to have a sage brush that survived zone 5a winters for the past decade. I sun-dried the sage leaves in the fall ... great flavor, no sage-spice can beat. One year I used Organic Spice's Hunter Herbes de Province, that gave good flavor to all my soups. Then I bought some cheap brand recently, and it stank up my entire pot. I bought "Imitation Vanilla" last year, and it had a weird & odd chemical smell, so I threw the whole bottle away. The real vanilla is what matters. A friend gave me Organic Extra virgin Coconut oil Nutiva brand. I used 2 tablespoon of that in making granola. The fresh coconut smell perfumed the entire house, and the granola was absolutely delicious. In contrast, the coconut milk I bought from Trader's Joe, or Oriental Market has this "soapy" flavor from stale coconut, or else it's so loaded with sulfites or potassium sorbate(chemical preservatives) ... that I break out in rash. I quit using coconut milk a long time ago ... so glad to find Nutiva's extra-virgin coconut oil with the most intense, delightful fresh coconut essence. This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Fri, Jan 10, 14 at 23:33

I use the granulated garlic for soups and stews and dried beans. It is super easy and had a good fresh garlic taste that holds up to long cooking in the crockpot. I use fresh for stir frys and pasta and quick cooking stews. I also like the granulated garlic for salad dressing--it is basically dried garlic granules so they rehydrate in the dressing if you store it for a while. But you can also grind it for a powder. I also keep it on hand for times when I am out of fresh. I like that it comes in a small container so I use it up before it looses all its punch. I also keep dried onions around for the same reason, not better than fresh but they add their own layer of flavor when you're out of fresh or are cooking something for a long time. Another thing I get from Penzeys is vanilla sugar, which I love in Chai but I'll bet would be good in coffee if you like that kind of thing. It makes a good gift for a chai lover or sweet coffee drink lover. You can make your own, but I rarely have time to just fix dinner let alone do much homeade gift making anymore. I buy vanilla beans in bulk from Penzeys when I need them, but that is rarely anymore these days. I used to make my own homeade chai but not anymore. The only other thing I would use the whole beans for is vanilla bean marmelade, which I don't think I will have time to make this year, but is great if you're into gourmet marmelades. I also like the sandwich sprinkle, although I hardly ever sprinkle it on a sandwich. It is just a good all around seasoned salt, I use it in soups and salads when they need to be punched up a bit. I got a seasoning gift pack from my good friends, boy was that nice. The two that I use all the time are the Mural of Flavor and the Tuscan Sunset. I have to say I really don't like the Sunny Spain, it tastes oddly acrid to me. Also I don't use the Bavarian very much but that's because I am a vegetarian and I do mostly Mediterannean cooking. I may give it to my mom next time I'm home because she does pork chops a lot cause my dad loves them. It might be good in some kinds of bean soups, but again, when I do a bean dish it is mostly a Mediterannean style one, so I haven't used up the Bavarian seasoning very fast, even though it is good. Another unusual item they sell thru Penzeys is dried Cilantro. It is no way as good as fresh, or even frozen, which is how I do cilantro these days, but if you're out and are in a pinch, (which is me most of the time) it is at least something to add for some amount of flavor. I bought a bunch of pumpkin pie spice and apple pie spice for a chai mix experiment and I still have a lot, but when I finally use it up I'm going to try Penzeys. Same with the cinnamon. I also second their chili powders, they have an amazing array. They have a lot of curry powders too, but I am not that much of a curry fan so can't speak to them. When I do make curry I usually do my own spice blends.

I can't help with finding that thread, but I've seen some lovely "adobe" colors on this website. I tried many paint samples in our last house trying to get that color. I ended up with LA 'Spice' which worked for that house, but our new house needed something more earthy. I saw this color in a model home while we were house-hunting and asked for its name. I got a sample, and have used it in my new house. Here's a pic of the tub niche in our master bath. I also used it in the Powder room and laundry room and great room ceiling, but pics in those rooms don't come out true to color. This is the best one I can get that I feel represents it (on my monitor, anyway). The color is an old Duron color called 'Basque Brown'. A lovely person on this forum found a Duron paint chip for me and mailed it to me (how cool is that?!); I had the color mixed up at Sherwin-Williams.

trance - it's probably Pratt & Lambert. P&L uses the circle shape because it's based on their logo and brand and a color portfolio they used to give out free. It's a folder and you pop out the circles and insert them into your color portfolio -- kind of like coin collecting pages with little pockets for coins. It's not based on any reasoning for visual function. They are just regular paint chips and very small - like smaller than a U.S. quarter. wormgirl, smart move sampling. Will check out your pix. Glad you see a diff with the circles! What I've finally decided to use for circles are called Chippliqué (tm) and they are not board-like at all. Not like any of the typical and ubiquitous sample boards on the market past or present. Chippliqué is literally a decal - appliqué. Thus the name Chippliqué. The whole thing sticks to the wall via a low-tac (yet secure) adhesive. It's repaintable/reusable, removable and repositionable. In other words, it's a paintable sticker. Boards just did not work for me. No matter what, they never lay flush against the wall and there is always a shadow cast around the edges - a critical area for previewing color! Can't use boards to preview color on the ceiling unless you tac up each corner and even then it always falls down, IME. And the sample boards available aren't flexible. Chippliqué is totally flexible, malleable and wraps into/around corners, into trim dado, around a cabinet door, etc, and then returns to its original flat shape, no creasing or flaking. Again, I do not directly sell these. Will share free if curious. However, I do use them as part of my process working with my clients thus making a name, trademark and a patent necessary. Because someone else might want to be in the paint sample decal business and then I would be very upset and screwed. jeannie - yes, you can paint directly on the wall. I think we've all done that. I know I have. But once you do it, you will have to live with it until you paint. If you paint right on the wall, you have to feather out the edges REALLY well or else they will telegraph through - even two full coats of good paint - you'll still be able to see the dot. Just be neat and do it on a wall that is never hit by any sort of direct light -- which might not be the best for testing color so might be a trade off.