I use up a lot of thyme and rosemary. I wouldn't want to live without sea salt and black peppercorns, curry powder, bay leaves or herbs de provence.

My favorite Penzy's spices are the Bavarian seasoning and shallot pepper mixes.

Ditto the cinnamon and nutmeg...

seagrass

I'm a real convert to the True Ceylon Cinnamon instead of Cassia Cinnamon.

For blends, I like their Singapore mix (I don't remember the full name but its one of the salt free ones) and Mural of Flavor.

PenzeyÂs Trinidad (lemon/garlic blend) is wonderful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Penzeys Trinidad

Vietnamese cinnamon
Cardamom
Nutmeg
Thyme
Rosemary
Sage
Oregano
Fennel seed
Chipotle powder
Cumin

I love Penzey's Baking Blend, it has just the right balance for quick breads.

My single must haves... cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, thyme, sage , rosemary, cumin, oregano, chili powder

only thing you won't find in my spice cabinet is anise...it's just not my thing.

Nancy

Nancy..me too! Ick..

I don't think of rosemary, thyme or oregano..because It grows in my yard most of the year.and I just dump in Penzey's Italian Herb when I want and Oregano based flavor.

But a few good size branches of rosemary would be perfect package toppers..much like Annie's wreath!

I've never tried the baking spice..I'll put that on my to try list.

Yum...Yum...Yum....all of the above and BASIL.

Linda

Linda, you are so right. Basil is right up there also, no way could I cook without it. I even froze basil pesto this year.

Mine are thyme, oregano, cumin, coriander, chili powder, sea salt (I really can tell the difference).

For blends I love Tony's and Herbs de Provence.

For sweet I love the good expensive vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg (I use the whole nut and grate it - I also use it a lot in savory dishes) allspice, cloves and ginger.

In fact, quite a few of the sweet spices I seem to use in savory cooking for greek, indian and middle eastern dishes.

So do many people here use this Penzey's? How is the online expense? The nearest one is about an hour and a half, not anywhere I normally drive.

Salt, pepper, basil. And for something I like that I don't see mentioned much I like dill.

Mary, I buy from Penzey online. If you purchase about $30-40 in spices (I purchase most of it in 4oz bags.) then the shipping breaks down alot. And is often almost always cheaper than the things you buy in the grocery. And the quality is not even comparable.

Cumin
Garam masala
Fennel
Herbs de Provence
Tarragon
Chipotle chile, ground
Marjoram
McCormick's Lemon Pepper - the best widely-available low-salt mix

Fresh only:
nutmeg
rosemary
winter savory
basil (I make it into pesto, freeze it, and defrost as needed)

Taco seasoning (from Pendery's or Penzey's or homemade) is something I use quite a bit that I never thought I would use very much. I don't fix tacos as often as when my sons were still at home, but I like taco salads, enchiladas, quesadillas, taco ground beef and taco chicken on a regular basis.

Penzey's Sandwich Sprinkle is another thing I really love! And lemon pepper is a seasoning I must always have on hand.
Although I don't make chili all that often, I find I keep running out of chili powder.

Last week I used some of my English Mixed Spice in a Plum Cake. This spice is a mix of cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg. It is good in gingerbread, molasses cookies, and many cakes.

My two spice racks are crammed with stuff - lots of it from Penzey's and Pendery's.

I use Penzey's here too! Until they opened in the LA area, I mail ordered.
My faves are vietnamese cinnamon (my favorite fragrance!)
basil (fresh preferably)
garlic
mustard
I love their Chicago Steak seasoning, it's smokey!
rosemary
nutmeg
smoked paprika (penzey's)
sweet paprika (ditto)
tarragon
dill
curry (Trader Joe's at the moment)
sandwich aprinkle (a must for egg salad)
chipotle (ditto)
fennel
Mural of Flavor (salt free blend from Penzey's)
Murray River Salt (from Australia)
oregano

I really don't like any type of Cilantro!

I needed Smoked Paprika..and wasn't ready to order from Penzey's and found it at Costco..It's okay..but NOT as good as Penzey's.
We like Northwoods Fire from Penzey's and Galena St Rib Rub. I use the Northwoods in scrambled eggs.
I use Sandwich Sprinkle on baked pork, over french fries and sometimes on scrambled eggs.

My Penzey's addictions are:
Adobe (everything in chili except the heat, which I then add my own mix of peppers)
Sandwich sprinkle (great seasoned salt)
Vanilla sugar (I put it in chai)
All their various paprikas
Vanilla beans - just to smell, lol!

This is the stuff I will special order from them. Then I just fill out my order with whatever spices I need a refill on. And that is how I ended up with a cupboard full of Penzeys!

But my favorite spices are:
rosemary
basil
dill
cumin
ginger
cinnamon
nutmeg
bay leaves

I like all the others, but those are the ones I love the most.

I just got some of Penzy's spices last year. I never knew the difference till now or what I was missing. I like all the baking spices: Whole nutmeg, fresh ginger, vanilla beans, cardamon, allspice, anise seed, coriander, pumpkin pie spice, cloves, Penzy's Baking Spice mix and Vietnamese Cassia cinnamon.

I grow a lot of my own herbs like rosemary (huge 3ft bush), different basils, dill, thyme, and sage. The ones I buy are whole pepper blend, oregano, cumin, sweet paprika, Herbs de Provence, marjoram, curry. bay leaves, Italian blend, Greek blend, Chineses 5 spice, Mural of Flavor, Cajun spice, poultry seasoning and lemon pepper.
Clare

I just went to our new Penzey's store today and as usual, I had to buy SOMETHING. I had a free coupon for garlic powder, I haven't tried theirs yet, and I needed to pick up chili powder, I don't like anyone else's as well.

My favorite thing from Penzey's is their Vietnamese Cinnamon and their 4 peppercorn blend, I love 'em both. That's closely followed by their almond extract, just take off the lid and smell it, I could use it for perfume it's so good!

I like their Fines Herbs, their Herbs de Provence, their smoked and their sweet paprika. I have a coupon for a free sample of mulling spices, I'll cash that in next time I go. Oh, and bay leaf, I've always liked bay leaf.

My boss just loves their vindaloo and dried peppers of all types and their hot chili powder.

I grow my own basil, sage, chives, dill, cilantro so I can't tell you about those, but I do love fennel for homemade Italian sausage and I really like anise.

Annie

Salt. I ask for fancy salts from friends who travel (the Hawaiian red salt is my favorite), buy it myself when I go somewhere, and am always looking for new varieties. I like fleur de sel for the table.

Of spices my favourite sweet one is Jamaican Allspice, almost on an equal with Cinnamon.

Herb favourites are thyme, basil and bay leaf grown in my garden and used fresh. I adore Lovage when I can get it but it doesn't always grow as well, and I use flat leaf Italian Parsley every day by handfuls.

SharonCb

I starred the items that I always get from Penzey's but I buy most of my spices from a middle eastern grocery store because their spice blends are more to our tastes and style of cooking than Penzey's.

Most used herbs and spices in my kitchen are:

marjoram
granulated garlic
cumin - whole and ground
*Fines Herbs
ground coriander
dry mustard
basil
dried pimiento powder
bay leaves
*Ceylon cinnamon
*Maharajah curry powder
sumac powder
Montreal steak seasoning

There was a plane crash a few decades ago; it turns out the survivors had resorted to cannibalism. James Beard commented:

"I believe that if ever I had to practice cannibalism, I might manage if there were enough tarragon around."

My favorite herbs/spices include tarragon, cumin, black pepper, chili peppers of varying hotnesses (including smoked paprika), thyme, bay leaf, parsley and oregano.

I make a distinction between herbs and spices. My favorite herbs are basil, oregano, thyme, sage, and cilantro. My favorite spices include sumac and cumin. I like fresh ginger and fresh garlic, and so I'm not sure if they are considered spices or not. If they are, you might consider onion a spice as well.

I strongly dislike tarragon and I'm not fond of rosemary either. There are some spice blends that I like that have spices that I normally do not like by themselves, although I do prefer curry paste NOT to have cinnamon in it. The aroma of cinnamon makes me nauseous, especially at the grocery store in the bread aisle. I do like it on occasion, but those occasions are rare.

Lars

Okay Lars and/or Arley, what does Sumac do? I seen it..but never used it.

Sumac adds a tart flavor sort of similar to Amchur (mango) powder in Indian cooking. It is used in Middle Eastern and North African cooking.

I've converted from Penzy's to Spice House for most of my ordering. They are pretty similar in the quality of spices, but I find their website more convenient to use - it will remember my cart longer in case I get interrupted and need to come back to it the next day. And I like their bagging of the spices a bit better.

Cloud swift, thanks for sharing that about Spice House. They carry some things I haven't been able to find. Yippy!

I have an email from Spice House. I have ordered from them once.
I'll have to compare shipping costs.
If you are interested in their boxed sets as gifts they are offering 15% off 10 or more sets when bought online or at the store in the month of November.

Thanks, Terri.

Well, what did you find? I ordered 23.00 worth and the shipping was 12.00. But, they have spices I haven't found on pensey's or pendry's. Haven't really looked anywhere else... but it seems that they are cheaper than penzey's.

Anyway, I'm thrilled to find some things I've been looking for so - that's great.

How are your gift packages turning out?

trs, I didn't get a chance to compare shipping. That is higher shipping then Penzey's I think. But maybe the carts will even out with price differences and the shipping.
I'll open up two windows tomorrow and compare.
BTW,
I've never heard of Pendrey's.

Doing some swap fishing, bwahaha?

I have a Penzeys near me so I head up there when I'm out of certain stuff.

I love their lamb seasoning, greek seasoning, turkish seasoning.

I also love cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, smoked paprika. I'm not a spicy person so I will wave smoked chipotles over a pot.

I steer clear of tarragon, sage, lavender.

My favorite blend by far is Terri's Smokey BBQ Dry Rub that she sent me in a swap. Please post the recipe again!

I like a bit of most anything depending on what I'm making. Like Jessy, I'm not fond of dried tarragon, fresh seems different but I've not experimented much. I like blends but prefer them to be salt-free and they often have some serious sea salt in them making them too salty for us.

I recently was in Napa for business and stopped by the Oxbow Public Market. It was early and some shops were still shuttered. I bought some spices from the Whole Spice Company. Very nice man owns it with his wife. He also sells online.

Here is a link that might be useful: Whole Spice Company in Napa

Here you go Jessy.

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon chile powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Indeed this is given out as part of the gift package.
I've been using raw sugar I like the "friction" it gives..(now whatcha gonna do with that EJ?)

Oooh that sounds good Terri.

I love all sorts of herbs and spices and have a cupboard full to prove it.

I got a free jar of that sandwich sprinkle when I placed that huge order from Penzey's. You mention you use it a lot, I opened it, gave it a wiff but I've never used it.......ideas?

Sharon, I use it in scrambled eggs, over pork roast, over french fries or baked potatoes. I stir it into mayo based dressings for macaroni or potato stuff. I use it with EVOO and vinegar for vinagrette..I use it alot..Look at the ingredients and you'll see that it has alot of things in it that you might use else where..this just punches up the flavor with the blend. Rosemary, garlic come to mind without going to the drawer and looking..It just pops up so many things.

I never buy spice blends....and only very VERY rarely use them...unless its' one I have made myself.
I can't imagine cooking enough things seasoned all with the same mix of spices to use up one of those 4 oz bottles of say Penzey's Grilling spices or whatever.
The herbs I use most are parsley, oregano basil and bayleaf....sure I use sage, marjoram tarragon and rosemary fairly often but the others I use all the time.
As for spices....cinnamon and nutmeg and groundd ry hatch chilis are the staples and dried ginger a close second...or fourth!
But I do have several curry powders....they all taste very different to me.
Oh....and I sometimes use Old bay...I guess that's a blend too.
Then there's seeds....anise seed, celery seed, sesame seed poppy seed and Szechwan peppercorns....where do they fit in? I use a fair amount of that.
Linda c

Terri, Lars' Algerian chicken is very, very good. It can be served hot or at room temperature, I served it at room temp for the Michigan Run and there was none left.

I bought sumac especially for that recipe and it was well worth it. I did mine in the oven, the instructions for that are at the end of the recipe.

Algerian Chicken

1 whole chicken
4 cloves of garlic
1-1/2 tbsp Kosher salt
1 teaspoon of sumac
1/2 teaspoon of sesame seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek
3/4 tsp cumin
3 tablespoons of butter, room temperature
1 tbsp minced Thai basil (or 1/2 tsp fennel)
2 lemons
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
extra herbs, 1 tsp each minced fresh oregano and basil, optional
4-5 sprigs of thyme
Place the chicken in a roasting pan with a rack. Line bottom of pan with aluminum foil for easier clean up. Slide your fingers under the breasts to separate the skin from the meat, turn the chicken over and do the same with the thighs.

Mash the garlic with 1-1/2 tablespoons of salt in a mortar and pestle or finely chop the garlic and incorporate the salt into it with the side of your knife or back of a spoon. Add the sumac, sesame seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, and cumin and mix to pulverize the seeds. Add butter and basil and combine to mix. Tuck pieces of the butter into the "pockets" under the skin.

Squeeze the juice of one lemon allover the chicken, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle freshly ground black pepper.

Season the cavity with pepper and tuck in the lemon halves and more herbs into the cavity if desired.

Place the chicken on the barbeque and cover, leaving vents fully open to maintain heat.

Baste the chicken every 15 minutes alternating water (spritz) and pan drippings.

Midway through cooking turn the chicken 90° or 180°, depending on how uneven the heat is. Continue frequent basting. The cooking time for a 3-1/2 pound bird is about 1-1/2 hours, depending on how hot your fire is. Cook to an internal temperature of 160°, measured in the thigh.

Let rest covered about 30 minutes before carving. Squeeze fresh lemon juice into the roasting juices, and pour into a gravy boat. Add salt, if needed.

Serve with roasted potatoes, green salad, and French or Italian bread.

*If roasting in oven, start oven at 450° for at least 20 minutes, and you can reduce it to 350° for the remainder of the roasting time.

(based on recipe from Chef Farid Zadi)

Annie

Thanks Annie for giving that recipe the stamp of approval. :o) It does sound interesting.

Trs, I just did a pretty close side by side comparison.

Spice House product total $30.93, mostly 4oz bags. Shipping to me $13.17
Penzey's product total $32.73 again mostly 4oz bags. Shipping $7.95.

There was one blend at Spice House that Penzey's doesn't carry and vice versa.
But shipping alone is a big difference.

Thanks Terri. I didn't like that Spicehouse shipping was 9.00 and change for one item. So, I ordered quite a bit to balance that out, if that makes sense. But, they did have a few hard to find items. I don't know why everyone charges so much for shipping. Get's irritating sometimes.

And earlier I meant Pendery's not Pendry's. I haven't ordered from them but teresa nc7 mentioned them above. It's nice to hear about the places people like to order from.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pendery's

I know it's not practical to send fresh herbs to anyone, but I absolutely adore fresh cilantro and basil. They really loose their flavor when they are dried.

My favorite dried herbs and spices are nutmeg, cinnamon, garlic granules, cumin, lemon pepper, thyme, cardamom, sage and mace. I'm sorry that very few recipes call for mace or cardamom.

I don't like to buy blends because most of them contain more salt than anything else.

Terri, to me, Sumac has sort of a lemony flavor. Persians use it on rice, and it's common to see as a condiment at Persian restaurants here. It's a main ingredient in Za'atar, which is good on chicken and lamb. My other favorite spice mix is Cajun seasoning, and I make big batches of it and use it often. I do a lot of Cajun/Creole style cooking, probably because I'm very familiar with it and have always liked it.

Lars

Lars, will you share you cajun blend please?

I know it's not possible for everyone, or for every herb or spice, but home-grown and fresh is best IMO.

My favourites are (in no particular order) spearmint, rosemary, parsley, chives, lemon myrtle, sumac, tarragon, pepper, paprika (sweet Hungarian). I could name many more, but it often depends on what dishes they go in.

I often dry herbs, or freeze them, but I'm lucky that herbs grow in my subtropical garden all year round, so most of the time I just pick what I need. There sure is a difference in the flavour between fresh and dried! About the only herb I prefer dried is bay leaf.

I like sumac sprinkled on grilled fish instead of lemon juice, especially on the fatty varieties like bluefish. I use it with lamb kabobs too. Here's a salad we often eat in summer that uses sumac:

TURKISH SHEPHERD'S SALAD
3 large tomatoes
2 medium size cucumbers
2 medium size Green Peppers
1 large red onion
1/2 bunch Parsley
7- 8 sprigs fresh mint
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 and 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt (or less to taste)
Sumac powder

(This is not a marinated-type salad and is best when all the ingredients are chopped and mixed close to serving time.)

Wash the vegetables; peel and halve cucumbers, removing seeds; remove stems and seeds of the green peppers, and remove the surplus parts of onion, parsley and the mint. Chop the onions, green peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers into cubes about 1 cm. In size (between 1/ 4 and 1/ 2 inch.). Finely chop the mint and parsley. Add lemon juice and salt to olive oil, whisk well and pour over the salad immediately before serving. Sprinkle lightly with sumac powder. *Note: if you donÂt have sumac powder, increase the lemon juice to 2 Tbs.

I forgot to add Old Bay seasoning to my list. I think it's one of the best spice blends ever created but have eaten so many crab cakes and other seafood where the cook has used too much and allowed the Old Bay to dominate the dish instead of enhance its flavor.

We especially like the flavor of Old Bay with steamed or sauteed cabbage, where I use it instead of pepper.