Pit stop

[christopher575]

No walk today. My back is still really stiff and it's not getting better, so just yoga today. If school was back in session, I'd also hit the pool this afternoon. Ha.

I'm all about the self care right now. Yesterday I did something for myself that's long overdue. I was cooking a batch of Smoky Sweet Potato Burgers and had to find a ton of different spices. They've been in a drawer since we moved into the house and I've been very frustrated whenever I try to find one.

This is how I organized the spices at the apartment we had for four months before we bought the house:



That was so great and I'd love to always do that, but our kitchen here has a bar so there's a lot less counter storage. I of course prefer having the bar seating. But yesterday, I'd had it. That spice drawer is very low, and my back was killing me while I looked for liquid smoke, and I had to completely empty the drawer to figure out that I'd put it somewhere else.

Once I got the "burgers" in the oven, I did this:



They're alphabetized again. They're also taking up space I don't want them taking up, but they'll stay here until I get a spice rack figured out. I'm eyeing a wall space next to the bar which would mean walking around the bar to get spices, but I'd happily do that if they were all on display and alphabetized. There are a couple of other options. We'll see.

I will say I'm disappointed in the selection of spice racks I'm finding online. So many choices where you have to transfer everything to new jars and make labels. So many ugly ones. So many small ones. So many gimmicks.

Comments

[ozgryph.livejournal.com]

What if you got a spice rack that you like the least, then go to an op shop or thrift place and get some vintage (or what you like) album covers and then cut/trim them to a size you like to make the spice rack a bit more likeable.

Totally agree on the lack of decent racks on the internet. <--that's some goddamned irony right there.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

It's funny you should mention doing that. One of my biggest and most costly failures to follow through with a project was a screen I was going to make out of album sleeves. It was going to be 5x5, with hinges between columns 2 and 3, and 3 and 4. I even had double albums to act as the hinges. I didn't spend too much on the records, but quite a bit on the hardware, and when I started talking to people about getting it put together (like where I could find a drill press to use, etc.) everyone kept saying that the records would probably shatter if I tried it and that I should probably do something completely different and affix the album covers.

I was pretty bummed by the experience, mostly because my entire life was falling apart anyway. :)

The need for the screen went away, too. I moved from an apartment in the back of the building that had a line of sight into another unit to one in the front with an awesome view. And then I shelved the idea completely when I moved in with cats.

Thankfully, I came up with another solution this morning. I'll be posting about that later when it's done.

[frogger414.livejournal.com]

How about this rack?

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40070185/

I have 4, new in package that I could bring to you for free. Was going to use them for the kid's room for books but changed my mind...

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

Appreciate the offer, but I figured something out! You should come over anyway. :D

[frogger414.livejournal.com]

I totally want to see your place! When???

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

I work from home 4-noon so a weekday lunch visit would be totally rad.

[frogger414.livejournal.com]

I'm available today! Or Monday of next week...

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

I can do today! I would have said Monday but I'm getting a big assignment to QA Monday morning. Email me christopher575 at gmail and we'll figger it out.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

Thanks again for coming out today! It was so nice to see you. :D

[frogger414.livejournal.com]

Likewise!! Thank you for the invite and delicious lunch, that is a good bar and grill!! Hope to see you again soon!

[kazzy-cee.livejournal.com]

I have all my spices in a drawer so that you can see the labels - I hated having them in a cupboard because you can't see the ones at the back! Your solution is good, but I like my work surfaces uncluttered and that would drive me insane LOL!

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

They're moving into a drawer today. I realized that the junk drawer is much bigger than it needs to be, so spices are going there, junk is going to the drawer where towels and potholders are, and those are going where the spices were. There might even be enough room in the spice drawer for me to divide it and move some stuff like spatulas and tongs in. Fingers crossed!

[jameth.livejournal.com]

why not just use "allspice"
one jar

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

Funny you should mention it. Something I made yesterday called for allspice and alphabetizing was how i confirmed we didn't have any.