The Spice of Life
I’ve so often heard, “Family is the spice of life.” Or reading is, or even knitting. But I think spices are the real spice of life. No?
Birthdays Are Made Better By The Spice of Life!
Many of you know that Thaddeus’ birthday is Valentine’s Day. So we always have a dual celebration on February 14th.
After 3o-some-odd years together, we really don’t exchange gifts very often. It’s usually more like…”I’m going to by myself a new computer chair for my birthday.”
But a couple of weeks ago, Thaddeus was looking for marjoram in our spice drawer. We didn’t have any.
Despite the fact that we probably had spices in that drawer that were older than our relationship, we didn’t have any marjoram. As Thaddeus started cleaning out some of the older spices, he also started talking about spices he wished were in there.
For the first time in a long time, I finally came up with a thoughtful gift for his birthday. I ordered two custom boxes of spices from Penzeys. Not only are they well-known for their spices, but they’re also well-known as supportived of progressive causes.
Thaddeus was pleased. It was nice to have come up with a “thoughtful and appreciated birthday gift” after all these years.
Current Knitting
So close!
Finished the sleeve. Also finished the button-band. Now I just need to finish the button-hole-band, the pocket edging and sew it all up. I have to admit, I am definitely in the final stages of knitting on this project.
We love Penzeys! Ten years ago, we lived very close to one of their stores and we could stop in whenever we felt like it. Now we order online. We really had no idea what their political leanings were until 45 came into the picture, but it’s been good to know they stand on the same side as we do, and Bill Penzey is not afraid to speak up.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/ceo-who-called-trump-racist-penzeys-spice-mix/amp
What a motivating post, Joe! I’ve been meaning to put an order in to Penzeys for the red pepper flakes my husband uses on his pizza and putting it off until I needed more things. But I too have spices older than, well, they don’t smell like spices any more. So I have just put together an order and made a promise that when it arrives I am going to clean out the spice cabinet. Thanks for getting me moving!
genious gift!!!
that sweater really pops with the mustardy yellow!
Never heard of Penzeys. I had to look up Adobo and Epazote. Great gift!
Thaddeus has gotten very good at Mexican cooking lately. Both adobo and epazote are used in some of his dishes.
Who knew that a blog post about a thoughtful birthday gift for Thaddeus would get me thinking about social, political, intellectual, cultural, and economic (SPICE) themes?
Penzey’s had a retail store in our local Mall but it closed about 5 years ago. The spices were good- but I found them to be expensive. I’ll have to check out the online store.
I’m just curious- were you able to substitute oregano or thyme for the Marjoram’? Or did you have to make a spice run to the store?
You both look too young to have been together over 30 years. Does Thaddeus knit, too? Happy birthday. That was a really thoughtful present. I love your sweater, too!