Ala Carte

Growing up, I never really understood the ala carte concept. Everything I ate at home came with something. Mainly rice. Beef stew and rice. Hamburger string beans and rice. Portugese bean soup and rice. And even chow fun and rice. My personal favorite. Ala carte was such an irregular thing to me that I often confused it with ala mode. Also a personal favorite.

For the next week or so, I will be going ala carte. Like a side of mashed potatoes. Which isn't so bad. The main dish to my side dish is on a trip far, far away. And with any luck, enjoying mass quantities of Pad Thai, Hainan Chicken Rice and Thai Tea. I'm so incredibly jealous!!

Back here, I've been doing equally exciting things (I think so, anyway)... reorganizing my spice collection! Something I've been meaning to do since...July. So it's about time.

The current state of my spice collection. It's terrible. I can't even look. But it's pretty extensive!

Step 1: Wash the little spice jars.

I searched and searched for the perfect jar, and I finally found them at Crate and Barrel. They are the perfect size, and the opening is large enough to fit a measuring spoon. A big problem with the spice jars you get at the store. And they all match! Adorable!

Step 2: Transfer the spices.

I just adore the chubbiness of the jars. Oh yes, the labeling. Despite my best efforts to use technology (2 computers and 1 wireless printer), I failed. Admittedly, my "best efforts" are pretty sad, and lasted all of 5 minutes. So I just hand wrote them. It works. Until I get that printer working.

Step 3: Spice inventory.

You may notice you have duplicates of spices as a result of the chaotic disorganization.

Or triples. In varying stages of use. Hee hee! Can't get enough of that Vietnamese cinnamon.

And now you can take a step back and admire your work.

Sigh! Lovely!

Too bad their real home is in the drawer.

I guess they still look nice even tucked away in a drawer. It makes me so happy! Sometimes, I just open the drawer for a quick peek!

I feel so accomplished! So made myself a little roasted broccoli pizza for dinner. Why broccoli? Because I overzealously bought 2 pounds of it when it was on sale at Whole Foods last Friday. And thank goodness for the Barefoot Contessa who has the recipe of the best roasted broccoli ever!