Some people grind their own herbs and spices using a mortar and pestle, but a compact coffee grinder can do the trick too. To clean out your grinder and get it ready for coffee beans again, grind a couple spoonfuls of uncooked white rice in the bowl. And just like ground coffee beans, ground herbs and spices lose flavor more quickly than when whole, so only grind as much as you need.
This weekend might be a good time to go through all your spices and herbs so you can replace any that are beyond their prime. Open every jar or tin and take a pinch of the contents - rub between your fingers. If it smells like hay, it is past its prime. Toss it out and replace it.
McCormick & Company have a way to electronically figure out how old a McCormick herb or spice might be. Go to www.mccormick.com, click on Spices 101, and enter the code found on the container. One little hint: if the container;s company address is Baltimore, you can be sure it is over 15 years old. After I found a tin of dill seed hiding in the back of our cabinet, I went to www.mccormick.com, and entered the stamped code. It was made on March 7, 1985, some 20 years previous.
Just for the record, McCormick also stopped using tins for everything except black pepper 15 years ago.
