Spice Set and Spice Rack Giveaway

I was interviewed recently for an article that ran in the New York Times on Wednesday. It was by Matt Richtel and it was all about the difficulties dads can have eating healthy meals around the house. If you are new to my blog because of the article, I welcome you. I hope you find useful tips about how to feed your family and bring more joy to your life. (And if you're looking for the recipe for the dish I cooked that is discussed in the article—the chicken, red pepper, and arugula salad—it is here.)

I was delighted to be in the paper of record and among such good company (check out Mike Vobrel Dad Cooks Dinner, for some real cooking; he has three kids and he kills it in the kitchen), though this is a slightly odd time for me: With Santa Maria and my girls out of town, I haven’t been cooking for anyone but myself. One thing I have been doing is going through boxes. We moved last year, but with the launch of “Man with a Pan” and various other things (know collectively as “life”), I never really unpacked.

I put boxes and boxes of stuff in our basement storage space, and others I stacked around the house. I won’t bore you with the details of going through all of them, other than to tell you I had a kind of loaves and fishes experience. The more boxes I opened and sorted through, the more I seemed to have. I wish I could say I put everything in its place, and had a place for everything, but I still have a lot more to do.

Santa Maria and the kids are returning soon, though, so I had to call it quits and put the house back together. In the spirit of organizing things and improving my living space, though, I want to give something away.

One of the things I found was a completely intact, unopened set of spices, and a nifty metal rack. There must be at least a dozen bottles of every dried herb you might ever want in the kitchen. It was given the set a few months ago in exchange for some web writing, but I don't need it. I have all those spices, and I don’t have room for the rack in my kitchen. So I want you to have it.

I'll ship the whole glorious set—at my expense—to any reader who really needs it. Tell me why, in a comment below or by email, and I’ll look for the one that makes the most sense and give that person the set. I’m looking for someone who is new to cooking, someone—can be young or old—who is trying to get started in the kitchen. This collection of herbs and spices will really help. Tell me your story, and I’ll share it with others. 

Comments

[Emily]

I know I could make good use of those spices! I'm currently working at my first, full-time, big kid job. I moved back in with my parents, in part because the job required me to relocate to their area and in part because my parents can no longer afford to live there without some help. Part of my rent deal is cooking dinner at least once a week. I'm glad to do this, but I'm used to cooking for my vegetarian, lactose intolerant self. My old answer when cooking for my meat-and-potatoes-loving parents was some kind of pasta with cheese.

Cut to my mom's recent doctor visit where she was diagnosed with pre-diabetes. I can no longer with good conscience offer her the food she's used to, but she doesn't like the way I cook for myself, either(admittedly, I make a lot of simple stir frys). I am unpracticed in making food flavorful.

My hope is that experimenting with spices would help make theh food my mom doesn't want to eat more appealing. And it couldn't hurt to be kinder to myself by doing more than settling for food that's easy but boring.

[Karen Edmunds Simpson]

I am looking for some type of rack that sits on top of the back of my stove. Stove doesn't quite go back to wall. I want to clear up some counter space and have my everyday spices right at hand. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.