Managing the variety of spices in your life

Admit it. As someone who enjoys cooking, you've succumbed to the siren song of exotic spices, gourmet salts, and flavored oils and vinegars that promised to elevate meals to haute splendor.

But now they're just a jumble of jars in your spice cabinet, pushed to the back in favor of the latest and greatest new condiment, or of your old standbys - the herbs you use much more often.

Since so many people make getting organized their New Year's resolution, your spice cabinet is a good place to start. In fact, disorganization in this single cupboard may actually be detrimental to the quality of your cooking, not to mention the state of your pocketbook.

Your spices may be significantly older than you realize. Ideally, ground spices should be used within a few months, whole spices within a year. As they get older, they lose flavor and can even become bitter or rancid. Just remember: Old Spice belongs on your grandfather's face, not in your kitchen.

Ounce for ounce, herbs and spices are probably the most expensive ingredients in your kitchen. Some of us probably have hundreds of dollars invested in them. If you don't know exactly what's in your cabinet, you're letting that investment sit idle. And you're probably spending far too much time searching for a jar that's buried in the back of the cupboard.

By using tips from a professional organizer, knowledge of your own cooking habits, and some simple culinary wisdom, you can start the new year with a clutter-free spice cabinet tailor-made for you.

Put everything on a countertop or table so you can see what you have. At that point, says professional organizer Susan Kloss, the jars and bottles will start to speak for themselves. "You can see that you have five jars of mustard seed," she says, or that "the jar of ginger is sticky, cloudy and has dust on the lid." Then, ditch the old and excess.

You already started this step by discarding duplicates. Now take it further by grouping all your oils, vinegars, salts, and other similar items together. Since people tend to cook more often than they bake, Kloss says she puts baking items like baking powder, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a box on a higher shelf.

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"We tend to use 20 percent of our stuff 80 percent of the time," says Kloss. "The other 80 percent is 'squatting' on precious real estate and making everyday items harder to find." If you don't want to get rid of 80 percent of your spices, at least make sure you keep the most-used 20 percent near the front.

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This includes countertops. Kloss says it's OK to leave a few things that you use every day - salt, pepper, and olive oil, for example - out in the open. She suggests putting them on a tray or a nice lazy susan to make it look purposeful. Consider storing poppy or sesame seeds, which tend to go rancid quickly, in the freezer to extend their shelf life.

Grow parsley, chives, and basil in a sunny window or keep a pot of rosemary outside. These herbs are much better fresh than dried.

Kloss recommends writing the date on the jar when you bring it home, and tossing it after a year. This method might actually make you find recipes to use things up instead of letting them languish for years in the back of the cabinet.

Most seasoning blends are made with things you already have on hand. If you have cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg, you don't really need pumpkin or apple pie spice. Conversely, buy the blend if you're going to have to buy two or more new items to make it.

Do you really need cumin seeds and ground cumin? Whole cloves and ground cloves? It may be worth it to get a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind them yourself. You'll spend a few extra seconds, but the flavor of freshly ground spices is superior, plus whole spices last longer.

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If you mostly cook Mexican and Italian food at home, do you really need a whole jar of fenugreek for that once-a-year Indian feast? Consider buying just what you'll need for a recipe from bulk spice bins at gourmet or organic markets.

If space is an issue, don't buy big bulk containers of spices just because they seem like a good deal, unless you'll actually use it within a year. Sometimes space is more valuable than the few pennies you'll save.

Makes 1 tablespoon EndTextStartText

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch dried mustard

Pinch cayenne

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Mix these dried spices together as needed for recipes.EndText

Makes 1 tablespoon

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1 teaspoon marjoram

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon sage

1/4 teaspoon rosemary

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Mix dry seasonings together as needed.EndText

Makes 2 tablespoons, enough for 1 pound ground beefEndTextStartText

2 teaspoons minced onion flakes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon oregano

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Blend ingredients together in a small bowl. Use it as you would a commercial packet of taco seasoning, by adding about 1/4 cup water to the ground beef along with the seasoning.

Note: Instead of buying packets of taco seasoning at the store, you can make your own with common spice cabinet ingredients. Not only does it cut down on cabinet clutter, it's less expensive, too. This tastes the same but without the telltale orange color. If you want that, add a little paprika. Use less salt for a low-sodium version. EndText