Quips & Anecdotes - Spice Gift

So one day when I was out and about, I saw a cute package of "miniature novelty test tubes" that I thought would befit one of my friends. It was so near her birthday that I figured I'd do something with them. The idea popped in my head of making her own tiny spice set so I set about looking on how to do it. An avid fan of lemons, she made me think that zest in spices would be a great idea.


So I did just that. Since there were 5 different types of test tubes (2 of each color), I decided to create 5 concoctions using zest. For zest, you want it to be fairly dry before adding with other spices lest it mold. Alternatively, you can mix it in with sugar, for example, when it's fresh so the citrus oils get rubbed in but then you'd have to dry that out too. I just opted for sticking the zest in the oven on warm for a few minutes just for drying purposes.


I decided on lemon pepper (with freshly ground black peppercorns), lemon sea salt, lemon sugar, lemon basil, and lemon poultry seasoning (she's a chicken person). It was actually quite fun mixing things up. I felt like a mini-kitchen chemist.

The end product of the tubes was playfully wrapped in Chenille stems of appropriate color and tied together with green tissue paper as if a bouquet. I gave it to her Friday night and hopefully it will be of use. It makes me curious about making actual blends with a grinder (I'll need to buy one). Anyhow, think of it as a gift idea! Make spices for your friends, and let me know if you've got any recommendations on grinders for me to look into. I'd love to experiment.