How old is that cinnamon? Where’s the tarragon? And who used up the black peppercorns?
If your spice pantry’s in a sorry state, we’ve got good news: Frontier Natural Products Co-op and Simply Organic are teaming up with Whole Living to give five winners a complete spice pantry makeover. One grand-prize winner will receive a spice makeover worth $330 in retail value, while four runners-up will receive a makeover worth $50.
All you have to do is tell us why you need help with your spice pantry. Is it disorganized? Decades old? Spattered with residue of curry and paprika?
How to Enter
UPDATE: Thanks to all who entered; the contest is now closed.
All entries must be received by November 22. Please note: While we appreciate comments left here, they will not enter you into the contest. Entry is by email only. Read the official rules here.
From: April Ziehr | 10/4/10 at 10:49 am
I have Garlic and Mrs Dash in my spice pantry. I want to start making really yummy meals for my family. I know they are bored with what I make so change would be good. This would give me the chance to make the most delicious food!!
From: Patty Hancock | 10/5/10 at 7:22 am
My spices are outdated and in need of renewal. There are so many spices I wish I had but cant afford. I've been experiment alot more with my cooking and would love a makeover to help me explore more flavors.
From: Peter G | 10/5/10 at 8:44 am
I love to experiment with BBQ cooking and spices are a great way to make the meals tasty and different. Retiring, I've discovered a passion for creating great meals (at least I think so) and would love to have many choices of spices to pick from.
From: amber jackson | 10/5/10 at 11:59 am
207 Providence hall drive
sanford, NC 27330
From: Joyce Gilliam | 10/5/10 at 12:21 pm
I moved from Alaska last year to WA and got rid of most of my spices, most were outdated anyway or not enough left to pack. I need a total redo to get back where I was before moving.
From: JANICE R | 10/5/10 at 2:45 pm
MY SPICES ARE AS OLD AS THE HILLS AND TOO EXPENSIVE TO BUY THEM ALL AT ONCE
From: susan scheibe | 10/5/10 at 3:20 pm
I hate to admit it, but I believe I brought some of my spices from Michigan when I moved to Florida, 20 yrs ago. Don't tell my daughter.......
From: Lorie ONeil | 10/5/10 at 5:04 pm
I have spices that I have had since we got married 35 years ago...I found worms in my poppyseeds, I think it is time for a makeover!
From: dorine | 10/5/10 at 5:12 pm
I am an avid home cook for my family of 4. And I have a rather small kitchen. So, though I have the best intentions of keeping a neat and tidy spice cabinet. There are so many! And I use them so often! I have yet to find a solution to the disarray! Please help so my paprika stops falling on me when I reach for the garam masala!
From: donna hughes | 10/5/10 at 6:05 pm
My spices came in one of those racks that include ur spices already. Didn't know any better-have slowly started to throw out-don't really know what is still good and what needs to go. I love to cook and experiment-would love to win.
From: Michael Rockwell | 10/5/10 at 7:08 pm
I really need to spice up my life!
From: 11 Small Pantry | 10/5/10 at 7:10 pm
[...] Enter to Win: Tell Us Why Your Spice Pantry Needs a Makeover ... Retiring, I've discovered a passion for creating great meals (at least I think so) and would love to have many choices of spices to pick from. From: amber jackson | 10/5/10 at 11 59 am. 207 Providence hall drive sanford, NC From: Joyce Gilliam | 10/5/10 at . And I have a rather small kitchen. So, though I have the best intentions of keeping a neat and tidy spice cabinet. There are so many! And I use them so often! I have yet to find a solution to the disarray! [...]
From: Karen D. McDaniel | 10/6/10 at 7:03 am
My spice pantry has not been updated in the last twenty years;and that's a FACT!!
From: Sue | 10/6/10 at 6:25 pm
I wrote a nice essay and tried to send it but the address was incorrect on the email for this sweepstakes. I really would love to repalce my spice pantry, the spices were so old I just threw the away and put the jars into storage.I hope to start over when I get into an apartment.
From: kay wolter | 10/6/10 at 9:49 pm
My kitchen is small but We are trying to cook healthy....I had a hospital scare of 5 days this week so We decided time to use fresh not preserved food was time to start so today amazing Husband stopped at spice store and bought 2 fresh spices haven't seen yet....
From: alonda lindsey | 10/7/10 at 3:35 pm
I have quite a few spices that i don't know how old they are! I could really use a spice make over.
From: Latrice Jones | 10/7/10 at 8:00 pm
I follow your blog
From: Margaret | 10/8/10 at 9:02 am
Oh boy....what a could make for the holidays to come with new spices!
From: rachel | 10/8/10 at 8:06 pm
I am try to learn how to cook with more flavor and less salt and fats. We have a very small house and are trying to utilize all of our space efficently.
From: Megan Prentice | 10/8/10 at 10:01 pm
My mom gave me all the spices i own when i got married. So pretty outdated.
From: sueli | 10/9/10 at 10:17 pm
new spices...hmmmmm...just what I need in my cabinet to replace the boring ones...
From: Paul Williams | 10/11/10 at 4:20 pm
With Simply Organics line of spices, I can say goodbye to McCormicks and Mrs. Dash, conventional ingredients and say hello to environmental and healthy organics!
From: Sherry Hale | 10/12/10 at 4:56 pm
I need help. All I have is salt and pepper. My food is blah!!!!
From: Alissia Montanez | 10/14/10 at 1:15 pm
My spices are a bit sad. I have sample packs and random bottles. Some are old and need to be tossed, I just can't bare to look at an empty cabinet. I buy a bottle here and there, but have not purchased a set. I avoid recipes that require certain spices because I do not have them. I know my poor family is getting sick of me making the same foods over and over again. This would be a wonderful prize for me to win so I can actually make something good for them. My husband works so hard to support us and he really deserves it!!
Thanks!
Alissia
From: gina stevens | 10/15/10 at 12:55 am
I have spices that I have had for years. I really love to buy organic spices-but,they are too expensive for me to stock my entire pantry. A Spice Pantry Makeover is exactly what I need!! I love to cook and fresh spices would be fantastic.
From: Justme | 10/16/10 at 2:28 pm
Judging by some of the comments on here (especially "11 small pantry"...) I don't think the comments are really moderated at all!!
From: Lacey McBride | 10/17/10 at 9:25 am
I've been using the same spices for about 4yrs now, and am bored with them! My family needs some new flavor in their food!
From: Erika Szymanski | 10/17/10 at 11:43 pm
As a food science graduate student whose professional and personal passions both involve food, exploring new tastes is a way of life. On a grad student budget, though, paying for a well-stocked spice cabinet is a struggle. After a few moves, too, the spices I have are weary. For this girl, a spice makeover would be like giving glasses to a squinting bibliophile!
From: sheila k. | 10/18/10 at 12:42 am
I have spices over thirty years old. Recently I sent them off to my younger sister and didn't tell her how old the spice rack was. Love to cook with spice and create recipes for contests.
From: Kara Humphrey | 10/18/10 at 2:56 pm
Just got married a little over a year ago and would LOVE to be more adventurous with our food! We've got the basics, but we would love to be more environmentally responsible with our spice choices! Just hard to do in a rural area where choice is limited. Moving from apartment to apartment has kept me from keeping our spices organized; we literally have small unsteady towers of spice containers looming over us every time we try and search the pantry! Adding that we have no space to keep them in alphabetical order makes me a bit perturbed every time I'm searching for something specific. Please help!
From: Terry W. | 10/19/10 at 9:05 am
I can't think of a better way to spice up our cooking and our house. There is nothing better on a chilly day than smelling some lovely, spicy dish simmering on the stove. Ahhh. Thanks for the chance to win this!
From: Darleeen | 10/20/10 at 6:58 pm
I use Organic spices about everyday. Most of my spices are old & not organic. It's to expensive to by organic spices so I occasionally by the other kind when I need them.
From: Linda Kish | 10/20/10 at 9:36 pm
My son & DIL both have OCD and I never get around to tossing out old spices. The combination has spices taking over my kitchen.
From: Sarah Mahon | 10/22/10 at 8:46 am
my spices are the "extra" spices my mom kept on hand that i took for my own when i moved into my own home 3 years ago. the spice jars have since fallen off the wall, half of them are empty, and they are just too expensive to replace. but, i love to cook, so, this would be amazing
From: conrad A | 10/23/10 at 11:37 am
My spices are out dated and can't even read the labels anymore.
From: Gretchen Griffin | 10/24/10 at 6:33 am
Choosing a vegan eating style about a year ago has highlighted the importance of using spices to keep food interesting and flavorful. Slight problem... I do not know which spices to use for what and the bulk of the spices in my cabinet are dried out spices in massive containers that have been in there for I do not know how long. Please help me add a little spice to my vegan life.
From: Phyllis Hecker | 10/24/10 at 10:22 pm
My spices are totally undated. I have no idea if they are fresh or dead! We have been married almost 30 years. I pray none of my spices are that old.
I'd love to be able to toss them and start fresh with a system to date them.
From: Gloria Carter | 10/26/10 at 2:23 pm
I come from a family of soulful,southern cooks that use fatback and salt as seasoning staples. I would love to introduce them to a new and healthier way of cooking their favorite foods by incorporating spices.I currently have a few spices (sage, thyme,paprika) but would love to have a spice cabinet overhaul and intervention to share with my family.
From: Barbara Raab | 10/29/10 at 1:00 pm
Each January I buy an array of new spices and discard any leftovers. It's almost January again and I would love a little help from Frontier Natural Products Co-op and Simply Organic to help me cook the great recipes found in Whole Living.
From: Tracie Trump | 11/2/10 at 2:16 pm
I need new spices and would love to win! tracietrump@yaho.com
From: Sandra Dickey | 11/2/10 at 9:07 pm
I still have spices that were my mothers. I just had to throw out some rusty cans.
From: Jeffrey Podsobinski | 11/9/10 at 10:24 am
in all reality some of my spices were given to me by my parents that they got when they were first married, 1955. they gave them to me in 1980 when i got married and we still use them. if they dont need replaceing i dont know what would.
From: Ambrosia | 11/17/10 at 12:40 am
I need this spice makeover more than anyone else alive today. The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama and his family are coming over to my house for dinner this holiday season. If the First Lady peeks into my cabinet and sees all my dusty old McCormick spices she will undoubtedly be most appalled, not to mention probably lose her precious appetite! I deserve this spice makeover because I am opening my home to our country's leader and I need to serve him a well-spiced, organic, sustainable, not to mention palatable meal! Please help by choosing me for the spice makeover!
From: Jenn | 11/17/10 at 11:02 am
This is so embarrassing, but I was relaxing with a DVR'd Martha show from Monday where she made this pumpkin cream pie full of spice island spices. She was talking about how spices being their freshest in glass jars and to check expiration dates often, etc. It was like 9pm and I was still worked up from this chaotic day at work, and I've never really taken the time to go all of those tiny jars of flavor enhancements. Whoa, the show could've helped me (and my family) alittle sooner beacuse I had been using smoked paprika with an expire date of 10/7/2008. I would love to be part of your spice makeover...I think my cabinet would scream the same if it could talk!
Thank you!!
From: Emily | 11/17/10 at 1:06 pm
I am a college student and would love to have a collection of spices. I only have one spice. If I received more spices I would most definitely be more encouraged to cook more.
From: Leslie Joyce | 11/17/10 at 3:20 pm
I am a new vegetarian and am learning the new ways to prepare food. I never ate much meat, just the occasional chicken breast or piece of fish. I'd love to have the full complement of spices that I am reading about in the new vegetarian recipes that I'm finding.
From: Bonnie McDougall | 11/17/10 at 4:56 pm
95% of my spices I "inherited" from my partners ex wife and they divorced 10 years ago! I'm slowly replacing the ones used most often but we live in a rural area & a number of the spices I've purchased I suspect sat on the grocers shelf for a very long time.
From: Barbara Noga | 11/21/10 at 4:26 pm
Ohmygosh, I don't feel like the Lone Ranger after reading these comments. My cabinet is full of spices from my mother, his grandmother and what I've bought over the years. I don't know why I've never thrown them out, but I know I certainly do need a spice cabinet makeover. Even if I don't win, this may just be the ticket to empty the cabinet before the holidays. Thank you for the opportunity
From: Laurie C | 11/21/10 at 10:22 pm
We desperately need a spice makeover in our house. I can count on one hand how many spices I have! Every time we try to follow a recipe, we are missing the essential spices.
From: Michelle Tucker | 11/22/10 at 1:41 am
I am trying to send my entry in for this, and it keeps getting returned with a failed error.
From: Cheryl English | 11/22/10 at 7:06 am
I have Candida Albicans and have to go on the diet for a long time to remove the yeast from my body. I have to get as many spices as I can, because this diet is so restrictive. You can have nothing with yeast or sugar. That limits so many different foods. So with spices in my life, I will be able to at least enjoy most foods. Thanks for the chance.
From: Jaymee Brown | 11/23/10 at 1:59 pm
I long for the variety of flavor that resided in my mother's spice cabinet! Plus mine is in a saaaaad state!
From: Lindsey | 12/2/10 at 9:41 am
When do we find out who won?
From: Carmen Ferreira-Mzaouakk | 12/8/10 at 12:15 pm
My rack has nothing but salt and garlic. Boring spices! I need a total pazzazz of diverse spices so my cooking is not boring and I will enjoy cooking. Thank you.
From: Teresa Abert | 1/31/11 at 6:29 pm
I am looking forward to winning.
My family and myself have had it hard financially for awhile. Thank you for the chance to win. I use spices when I prepare food,and when cooking in general . This will truly help us out.
Thank you .
Teresa
From: Kelly | 12/17/11 at 5:53 pm
I would love to win. I do not have a spice cabinet at all I have Italian Seasoning, Garlic Seasoning, Cinnamon, salt and pepper. That is it. I could really use a makeover and would love to win.