Every year I'm looking for creative and thoughtful holiday gifts. Sure, my sewing, knitting, and baking provide many little gifts but I also wanted gifts that would travel far & wide to my friends and family. Enter Spice blends! Thanks to import stores like World Market, with their spice jars waiting to be filled, the cooks on my list will find a spicey surprise under the tree. I'm a connoisseur of spices and I like to purchase my spices in bulk from local natural foods stores, or better, order them from here or here. Once you have the spice bottles, you only need to order a little bulk bag each year to replenish them (plus, buying in bulk reduces the waste of throwing out old bottles).
Sometimes a certain spice blend will perk up the blandest of dishes and raise it to an all new scrumptious level (be sure to include recipes)!
Recently, Angelina over at Dustpan Alley listed some of her favorite blends (they sound wonderful). I also recommend this spice rub or this homemade garlic salt. With these basic formats, you can mix up garlic-parsley salt, or garlic-parsley salt with parmesan (great for garlic bread but must be refrigerated), or garlic rosemary salt--yum! Use your own tastes and a little imagination.
