quickandeasycooking

Are your spices out of control? Mine certainly are – well, were. I spent some time last weekend going through all my spices and was that revealing! Two giant containers of oregano, four cans of cumin, seven bottles of vanilla extract, three Costco size containers of black peppercorns. Just how much cumin does one family need?

I have no excuse. I have a built-in lazy susan in my kitchen cabinets. I also have a lovely stainless steel spice rack on my countertop, and while it doesn’t hold all the spices I use, it certainly has room for many of them. I ruthlessly threw away outdated spices and combined others. Now I’m looking for recipes to use creatively what’s left.

Rosemary is definitely my favorite spice. It’s an herb with a beautiful fragrance, whether in a dish or as a centerpiece on the table. I’m growing it in a pot on my deck this year. I use it all the time in an olive oil and herb bread I make in the bread maker.

Rosemary and Olive Oil Bread

1 cup of water

1 and ½ tbsp. of extra-virgin olive oil

1 and ½ tsp. of sugar

1 tsp. of salt

3 tsp. of minced rosemary

3 cups of bread flour

1 and ½ tsp. of yeast

Combine all in your electric bread maker. This is for a medium size loaf.