Yup, my name is Christopher and I’m obsessed with glass jars. Why? They are so handy in the kitchen (and decorative too)! For as long as I can remember I always stored the staples out on the counter in jars. Flour, sugar, commonly used pasta – then a few years ago when I moved to the lake in Minneapolis I discovered little glass spice jars. Before you know it I had about 18 jars lined up on a shelf in my kitchen with all my favourite spices and herbs.
Now that I’m in New York and cooking even more the collection of jars is ever growing, and why not! There is nothing better looking in a kitchen than a row of glass jars filled with all the colors of amazing ingredients you are about to infuse into your kitchen. And the best part is that since these jars are now a part of your decor, they are easy to see, grab and USE!
That’s right – the key to all this madness in my mind is use of fabulous ingredients. Just this morning I whipped up some oatmeal, it was the run of the mill quaker instant, but did I leave it at that? Oh no. I grabbed the jar of Brown Sugar (a little extra maple sweet touch to breakfast), next was the jar of dried cranberries and then the jar of sliced almonds and then I grabbed my new Crumble Spice spice blend. And that was just one meal.
My collection of jars serves me well every day, not just because they are fun to look at, but also because it gives me the inspiration I need everyday to make each and every dish just a little more special.
So where should you start with your collection of jars? First I’d strongly suggest a trip to the local IKEA or home improvement store and invest in a few shelves. This will keep you at peace with the significant other and help keep the jars in plain site but off the counters to keep things looking neat.
Next consider the sizes of jars you’ll need and the space you have. I always consider the size of the bags that ingredients come in. 5 lb bag of flour, 1 lb bag of sugar, package of nuts, jar of spice, bag of rice and box of pasta. This will make shopping easier and storage a snap. Once you have your jars get them filled with your favourite ingredients and onto those shelves to display with pride.
I’m sure that you will start using more ingredients in your food and give it that pizzaz without a lot of digging through the cupboards.
I hope you enjoyed this little tip from my kitchen! I’d love to hear from you so feel free to comment on ways that you like to organize your kitchen to encourage your culinary creativity.
