Homemade Holiday Inspiration Day 12 - Spice Advent Box Part 1

Before I share today's inspiration (part 1), I want to say "thank you" to all of you.  I have made so many wonderful friends since I started blogging.  You are always in my corner and I am truly blessed to know each of you.  All of you have inspired today's post.  Why? Because it is a project for loved ones that live far away.

What is one of the most challenging things you face over the holidays? Mine is that all of my family is far away.  "How far?" you ask. Well I'm in Ohio and the closest relatives are my parents in Kentucky.  My siblings and in-laws all live in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Alabama, Oregon and Washington (state).  So the challenges are (a) we don't see them often so I have no idea what kind of presents that they would like and (b) the cost of shipping is crazy!  So, I'm going to share with you what I am sending them this year.

Late last week I received this package from My Spice Sage.  

Yup, tons of spices.  So what am I going to do with this?  I am creating a spice "advent" box for everyone.  I  purchased 24 different spices.  "What about the 25th day?" you ask.  I am creating a cookbook which has 24 recipes!  Here are the 24 spices that I purchased along with links to the recipes that I am using.

Dried Oregano:  Easy No Roll, No Stretch Sicilian Style Square Pizza

Ground Ginger:  Spiced Candied Cashews

Hot Chili Powder:  Cornmeal Waffles with Spicy Chili

Ground Cardamom:  Indian Rice Pudding

Bay Leaves:  Pasta Bolognese

Ground Cayenne Pepper:  Pesto With A Mexican Twist

Habanero Powder:  Habanero Hot Sauce

Powdered Garlic: Seafood Salad/Dip

Granulated Garlic:  Spiced Popcorn

Cinnamon Sticks:  Indian Style Basmati Rice

Chipotle Sea Salt:  Spicy Smokey Smores Bars

Dried Basil:  Minestrone Soup

Ground Cumin:  Cumin Turkey Burgers

Whole Cumin Seeds:  Curried Potato Salad with Toasted Cumin Seeds

Fennel Seeds:  Spinach Artichoke Dip

Poppy Seeds:  Poppy Seed Bread

Chipotle Powder:  Spicy Hummus

Ground Cinnamon:  Sweet Hummus

Blackening Seasoning:  Blackened Shrimp

Creole Seasoning:  Black Eyed Peas

Ground Cloves:  Chai Latte Mix

Sesame Seeds:  Sesame Green Beans

Onion Powder:   Teriyaki Meatballs

Chinese 5 Spice Powder:  Chinese 5 Spice Cookies

A lot of these recipes come from cooking websites which give you an option to print off recipes in different ways (recipe card size, 8 1/2 x 11, etc). 

My Spice Sage is a great website for purchasing spices and they are having a great sale for Black Friday and Cyber Monday:  10% or 15% off all orders!  You can purchase spices in 1 oz packages all the way up to 5 lb packages!  What I have done is purchase spices in 1 pound packages and herbs (oregano, basil, bay leaves) in 4 oz packages.  I will be dividing these up into smaller portions to give out to everyone. 

I'll be posting  how I am packaging these items next week!

I won't be posting tomorrow as I will be busing "Black Friday" shopping.  I'll be back Saturday sharing Day 13's inspiration.

4 You