^ lol a year ago I was saying the same thing jym. If you read yelpers, especially the younger folks, they get so excited about actually getting to one of the Penzy stores. Many people buy online, and yes apparently they spend $$$$ on the many blends and specialty products. Spices from around the world, and some are less expensive than grocery store. ( my husband is fond of the Galeno street rub)
What does your husband do with the rub? They are always giving free items (via the coupon on their catalog) and I have that one but haven’t tried it yet. I marinate everything (chicken, shrimp & scallops, salmon, beef, etc) but have never tried a rub on anything.
OK–I do not get excited to go into the store, and would prefer not to, but it is easier to judge quantities in person. I think the prices are definitely lower than the grocery store, as long as you purchase in bags and not those cute glass jars.
I use cumin in chicken chili and a summer black bean-corn-tomato-red onion salad. I think most spices should be tossed after a couple of years so I mark the date on the top. Freezing extends life of some.
When you use a rub on grilled meat, does the meat stay moist? I could save the time I spend trying to come up with marinades if I used a rub. I don’t always remember to have lemons & limes on hand.
Free 6 mo membership to the soon to be released Jet Insider website-- https://jet.com/#/ji/cq08y From what I have read, its going to be a great new shopping opportunity with very good pricing. Click the link to sign up for the free 6 mos trial through the advanced registration (no catch-- they will not bill any later membership or anything- its just a free 6 mo trial)
"Cumin is used mainly where highly spiced foods are preferred. It features in Indian, Eastern, Middle Eastern, Mexican, Portuguese and Spanish cookery. It is an ingredient of most curry powders and many savoury spice mixtures, and is used in stews, grills – especially lamb – and chicken dishes. It gives bite to plain rice, and to beans and cakes. Small amounts can be usefully used in aubergine and kidney bean dishes.
Cumin is essential in spicy Mexican foods such as chile con carne, casseroled pork and enchiladas with chili sauce.
In Europe, cumin flavours certain Portuguese sausages, and is used to spice cheese, especially Dutch Leyden and German Munster, and burned with woods to smoke cheeses and meats. It is a pickling ingredient for cabbage and Sauerkraut, and is used in chutneys.
In the Middle East, it is a familiar spice for fish dishes, grills and stews and flavours couscous – semolina steamed over meat and vegetables, the national dish of Morocco. Zeera pani is a refreshing and appetising Indian drink made from cumin and tamarind water. Cumin together with caraway flavours Kummel, the famous German liquer."
And that’s how I use it - in some mediterranean dishes - always put a shake in my homemade hummus and a black bean/corn/cilantro/onion/balsamic vinegar salad I make.
I use cumin on grilled or baked vegetables, adds a nice flavor, not hot spicy. I found a local Indian market at home in CT. Their prices on their spices that are imported from India cannot be beaten! I went in one day and the daughters were trying to figure out how to make Irish soda bread! I gave them my recipie and they gave me one of their mother’s coconut chicken recipie. Love a cultural exchange!
Thanks, abasket! I will repost what may have been buried amidst the spice posts above, as it looks like it will be a really good deal!
Free 6 mo membership to the soon to be released Jet Insider website-- https://jet.com/#/ji/cq08y From what I have read, its going to be a great new shopping opportunity with very good pricing. Click the link to sign up for the free 6 mos trial through the advanced registration (no catch-- they will not bill any later membership or anything- its just a free 6 mo trial)
No good deals to share but a call for help and suggestions:
In the holiday shopping season, I ordered a (lower) priced KitchenAid mixer. It had the moving head and the cheapest bowl. The price was very good as Sears had it for 217 dollars inclusive of shipping and taxes. With a 50 bucks KA discount, it came to 167 dollars. Unfortunately, dear Sears relied on my brown buddies at UPS who promptly left the big package on the door without bothering to ring the doorbell or get a signature. Since this is San Francisco, the package must have found new legs within minutes!
After arguing for more than one month, I did get a refund, but that also means no mixer. I understand that one path is to follow Kohls and check when there is a combination of ebates and Kohls bucks with a sale.
The other is to take a risk with a refurbished item at Overstock. Right now, there is one offered for 199 and the 2 year insurance costs about 25 dollars.
Any other ideas? I think that KA is deliberate in posting an overrated MSRP for the purpose of having plenty of rebates around the year.
PS I have found some great stuff by merely following this thread. You guys are awesome!
Xiggi, you won’t get a deal as good as the Sears offer with this idea, but if you get on WilliamsSonoma’s mailing list as someone who has ordered from them, they often have 15% off and free shipping. The initial e-mail sign up offers 10%off with free shipping. The next 15% offer for preferred customers will likely be around Presidents Day. I live 2 hours from the nearest WS and I order often, but mostly inexpensive (in their realm) stuff like White Chili Starter, bread mixes that I give as gifts,
@xiggi – a couple of comments. First, will you really use the mixer? I bought one with CC points when I first moved to the suburbs. I rarely take it out, but that is probably b/c I am not a baker. The thing weighs a ton. Great for what it does.
Finding it on sale. I haven’t paid attention to exact prices recently but Costco sells them as does W-S outlet. The W-S outlet now ships and I believe shipping is 11% of the purchase price (might be lower, but not crazy, especially given the weight of the mixer). I just ordered plates from the outlet store and it was very easy.
Costco has it online for $280 for 5 quart and $350 for 6 quart. Six quart says professional and I haven’t bothered to figure out the difference.
Last, today’s email brought a promo code for 20% off any one item at W-S (regular store, not outlet), so the $350 mixer would come down to $280, the same price as Costco. W-S has more color choices, but it appears they are the same.
So, if you want to buy the mixer at W-S today, send me a PM and I will send you the code as it may be single use, and is valid today only.
@2VU0609 – I have lived too long in the Northeast in that I take access to retail for granted. Three W-S within 15 miles of home. I am too cheap to pay their prices regularly but love finding bargains at the outlet store.
@xiggi – do you not receive email notifications when packages are delivered? We rarely use our front door so UPS deliveries would sit there for quite a while, were it not for the email notifications. FedEx & USPS know to leave deliveries in front of the garage.
What a hassle to have to deal with the replacement but glad money was refunded.
Fwiw, what I have so far is the 199 for a refurbished 325W model at overstock and a 197 for the 275 model on Amazon. The latter one is the same Sears was selling in December.
The notification of UPS are not working too well, but the main issue is that the drivers do not even bother to ring the doorbell and simply drop the boxes at the entrance. I was prepared to have to drive out to the warehouse, but this one took the cake. It is simply insane in San Francisco.
As far as baking, the mixer is a gift for my sister who is an avid baker. I am an avid … tester and consumer. A bit of an ulterior motive!
CT1417, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a W-S outlet. Living in a medium sized town means I don’t have to deal with large city traffic, but oh, the loss of such shopping opportunities W-S has me figured out in that I take advantage of a fair number of their 15%/20% offers, but I have them figured out as sometimes I have them ship a food item priced around $12 before discount by itself, so they don’t always make money off of me. They do seem to be trying to garner interest with some lower price points in their Open Kitchen line. I just pointed out to D that the strainer in that line that is like what I use to sift flour is $18, but the one they’ve had for years is $39.95 which is way too much, imo.
W-S has me figured out in that I take advantage of a fair number of their 15%/20% offers, but I have them figured out as sometimes I have them ship a food item priced around $12 before discount by itself, so they don’t always make money off of me. They do seem to be trying to garner interest with some lower price points in their Open Kitchen line. I just pointed out to D that the strainer in that line that is like what I use to sift flour is $18, but the one they’ve had for years is $39.95 which is way too much, imo.