Kitchen

[mizree]

@MildredM i enjoy reading about your husband's help in the kitchen.  Bless their hearts!.  I  assigned a lazy susan in the cupboard for spices he uses and a larger lazy susan on countertop to corral vinegars and sauces.  i keep spices i use as most of you ladies do according to frequency of use.  Recently my husband asked why the red pepper flakes (in my spices) did not have shaker top.  I told him I have to measure.  It took too long to remove/replace so i discarded.  Then i reminded him where his pepper flakes were.  I guess it's best to pick and chose your issues.  Best to you.

[jannabelle1]

My spices are in the cabinet to the left of my stove, with the most frequently used always in the front, and I try to keep baking spices kept together. For that reason I would not want them all arranged alphabetically. Unless your hubby does most of the cooking, I'd change them back to the way you had them, and nicely tell him that it just creates more work/time for you to find spices you use all the time in the back of the cabinet. If there are a few that he likes to use, just put them on a different shelf in alpha order!

I don't tell my hubby how to organize the garage.....or his tools. Enough said! Good luck to you!

[noodleann]

I arrange my shelves alphabetically and always have. I have things I use frequently like pepper and garlic powder on the counter next to the stove, but single notes are otherwise in a dark cupboard, in rows, alpha order.

The exception is unusual blends. Things like Cajun, Italian, and Greek blends are in with the singles, but Global Fusion blends are with other specialty seasonings on their own lazy susan. Then there are the small bottles that need a home--Tabasco, liquid smoke, etc.--and wind up in a basket in the fridge. Plus there are always the oddballs, like Bell's Seasoning in the little yellow box, which usually gets stuck in a little rack on the inside of the spice cupboard door along with an ancient box of food coloring, so I'd always forget I have it. I make my own now--it's just a blend of rosemary, oregano, sage, singer, marjoram, thyme and pepper.

 No one else uses my kitchen, so I don't have experience with someone messing up my system.  But I will say that only the cook who orders seasonings idiosyncratically will know where to find what very easily, but anyone, including that cook, can find things (most things) easily if they're labeled and alphabetized.

[froggy]

I used to use the risers but still could not quickly find what I wanted easily. I changed to the one below many years ago (except mine has 3 tiers) and it's much easier and more accessible. I have two of them - they fit perfectly in the narrow cupboard next to the stovetop. It comes with lables to paste on the front so you can read them when the shelf is closed.

[take a hike]

froggy - I have the same Spice Stack you do, with three drawers. I admit it, mine are arranged alphabetically.

[ECBG]

I buy large bottles of spice at Sam's.   I keep them in the freezer.  Small, often used bottles are kept in a spice cabinet I painted when I taught tole painting. 

[Free2be]

This thread encourages me to weed out my spices and blends which are mostly organized alphabetically but there are so many they are all over the place.  I had big ideas for a few I've never used, seemed like a good idea at the time and some have no doubt reached their pull date.  Some I refilled with fresh because I use so often.  If he puts anything in a wrong place, I move it back where it is supposed to be but he never reorganizes my stuff.

[dimin]

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@froggy wrote:

I used to use the risers but still could not quickly find what I wanted easily. I changed to the one below many years ago (except mine has 3 tiers) and it's much easier and more accessible. I have two of them - they fit perfectly in the narrow cupboard next to the stovetop. It comes with lables to paste on the front so you can read them when the shelf is closed.

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I think those are good spice holders of all I've seen. 

[beach-mom]

Mine are arranged alphabetically too. It's the one thing in my life that, when everything seems like it's spinning out of control, makes me feel good!  They are in a cabinet we got as a wedding present hanging on the wall. DH's crushed red pepper flakes and my sea salt, peppercorns, and dry minced onions are in a cabinet next to the stove. 

[Sooner]

My guy now cooks more than I do because we are retired and are at home.  So he gets more say about how things are arranged and what goes where.  I'm just happy to have him here and having fun cooking.

I don't care how spices are arranged as long as they are arranged in some method and kept that way.