The Spice Tin Blog
Our shop-nanny, Emily is really getting wrapped up in her job.
After months of planning, dreaming and at times stress-filled decision making, The Spice Tin opened on Saturday, May 9, 2009. It would not have been possible without our friends who measured, weighed, packaged and organized all the spices, salt and jars with us. Again THANK YOU'S are not enough. On that opening Saturday, the shop was filled with the oooh's and ahhh's of those who entered for their first visit. The Spice Tin is just what we dreamed it would be -- a fun, creative and sharing environment for locals and visitors alike .
The Spice Tin just received its first shipment of spices. The new paint smell disappeared within hours to be replaced by assorted whiffs of cinnamon, chili, oregano, etc. My favorite so far has been the deep, sweet and rich smell of Marash Chili Flakes. I can't wait to use this chili on grilled steak. We have been blessed with the support, good wishes and manual labor of so many friends. Jim, the best man for our wedding many moons ago, drove over from San Fancisco, John, our neighbor and resident expert on spices and Jenee are our spice-packaging and labeling crew. Michelle, Jenny and Gloria are still instrumental in helping us make design decisions. And to all who have dropped by to admire and give support -- a great big Thank You.
Spring has definitely sprung in Murphys, the interior of The Spice Tin is finally being painted, and it is time to joyfully think about BBQ's. On a side note, we just received a beautiful card from my brother Terry and our "sister" (in-law) Peggy. These two plus their three handsome sons are known as "The Cowboys" by our grandmunchkins since at any one time they will have 12 - 16 beautiful Quarter horses on their ranch. Cowboys, BBQ and spring time = Tri Tips! While some have said tri tips are a region specialty, you can't beat the smokey aroma from the grill or barrel - the juicy suggestions of cattle drives, horses and the red-neck days of old. At our homestead Jan smokes the tri tips in the barrel, but our family cowboy grills his tri tips.
Thanks to the persistence of Nanette Tanner and the Calaveras Winegrape Alliance, we participated on Saturday, March 7th in the "WineGrape and Gourmet" event at *Frog Town. While we prepped and stressed over this first-ever booth event, it turned out to be an incredible experience. Our booth display featured salts -- Himalayan Salt Blocks, salt tasting, peppers, salt and pepper mills, a variety of salt cellars and friendly information. This was the second annual WG&G. Participants were given a wine glass, a plate, napkin and four hours to visit and sample 13 different appetizers paired with two different wines! Is that not a bit of heaven for "foodies"?
Where do dreams come from? How do they emerge from fantasy, a fun idea, into the passion that then springs into a life of its own? In the case of The Spice Tin, this dream began in Chicago a fews years back on a girls' weekend trip with our daughters, Amy, Anna, Emily and two of their friends. While we six women shared a weekend of big city lights, girl-talk, fine food, girl-talk, shopping, laughter and adventure, Happenstance placed us in front of an old fashioned spice store -- et voila! The dream was planted. It was nurtured and nourished by experimenting wi