Confession of an Involuntary Spicer

For reasons often beyond my control, I keep accidentally spicing my food with the wrong seasonings!  First of all, I'm a cheapskate and have failed to find a spice rack that suits my taste and budget.  Consequently, if you spend any time in my kitchen you can't miss the eyesore of a spice shelf that sits above the stove ... it's completely atrocious, but it seems to work for me most of the time!  

Due to my lack of spice organization, I have stumbled upon some unlikely flavors while cooking under pressure (aka - hungry, cranky toddler and husband).  I'll admit that most of my involuntary spicings have caused my poor husband to dry heave; however, on the brighter side, I have discovered spice pairings that are out of this world, awesome!  I'm a glass is half full type of girl, so let's concentrate on the awesome involuntary spicing incidents:

1)  The "Nutmeg In Chicken Salad" Incident

In a late lunch, crying toddler tizzy, I grabbed for the paprika to finish off my chicken salad dish.  Unbeknownst to me, I had previously placed the identical bottles of paprika and nutmeg beside each other with the labels facing the wall.  I shook a pretty hefty sprinkling over my gourmet chicken salad before I took in the distinct aroma of pumpkin pie.  Let me tell you, this was a happy accident!  Try it and you'll never go back to paprika in your chicken salad!

2)  The "Cumin In Rice Pudding" Incident

I love using leftover rice to make pudding for breakfast.  Most of the time, I cook a few tablespoons of quinoa into my rice for added nutrients and protein, so our version of rice pudding for breakfast isn't exactly junk food!  Same situation this time: identical spice containers + haphazard shelf + labels facing the wall = involuntary spicing!  To my surprise, a dash of cumin along with cinnamon creates a pleasingly smoky flavored rice pudding.  Who would have thought?!   I'm just thankful that the dill container has no resemblance to the cinnamon container ... we would have had a much different result, by far!

Try out an unlikely spice pairing today!  It's oddly freeing to a by-the-book cook!  One of my favorite unlikely pairing is adding a pinch of cayenne pepper to chocolate.  Try making hot fudge sauce for ice cream and add a little zing with cayenne, or hot chocolate with a punch.