Spice up your life at Penzey's Online Spice Store
Penzey's Spices
My Grandma has congestive heart failure and also is on kidney dialysis three times a week. She loves salt, and her doctors have told her not to use it due to her health problems. A neighbor suggested that she might try savory in place of salt. It's an herb. The taste is kind of like thyme but with a spicy taste a little like pepper. It's traditionally used with beans which my Grandma just loves — pintos and green beans fresh out of the garden.
My mom looked for savory and could not find it, so she asked me if I could find it online. I buy most everything online, and searching for stuff on the net is my family specialty. It was easy to find recipes including savory, but it took a while to find a store selling it. The one I found was Penzey's.
There are some brick and mortar Penzey's Spices stores, but most of those are up north. They are looking to add a new one with votes from customers, and Charlotte is on the list. Boy, I hope they put one in Charlotte. It's an hour drive, but I would love to go to the Penzey's store.
When I ordered, I wasn't familiar with the store, but the set up online was easy, and the site looked nice. I was able to find savory and in several sizes. They have 4 oz. and 8 oz. which are like the standard sizes in the grocery for the small tubes and large full sizes. The Penzey's are shaped a little rounder, but the height is the same. So, if you have a rack for herbs, then these fit just fine.
In addition to the jars, they also sell herbs in larger quantities in bags. These are heavy duty zip lock bags that seal up nice. They also sell jars, so you could buy jars and then buy in bulk and save money. Don't do this if you don't use a lot of an herb though, because herbs kind of fade away after about a year. If you smell them, and you don't smell much, then you've lost most of the flavor.
That first order went out as a gift. I called to see if the savory arrived and see if everything went OK with the order. Grandma was thrilled to get a package and said she really liked the taste. I'm sure she would rather have salt, but now she does have something with some flavor for her foods. When I went to visit, I saw the jar and also that the savory was getting low. That's means a another gift order soon!
Since I ordered for Grandma, I was put on the mailing list. Penzey's sent a really nice catalog with all the products. I love the information included which is also on the web site. It's nice to have the paper copy to sit and drool over. Some of the things included are recipes which are really terrific. Sometimes, I'm not sure what herb or how much, and it's nice to have some recipes that feature herbs. They also include in the descriptions of the herbs the common usages for the item. I can read on an herb and know that it is good on fish or something like that. They give tips to help the buyer. For example, I love bay leaves. I read on that, and they noted that 8 oz equals a gallon due to the light weight of bay leaves. Now, I don't need a gallon, and I'm glad they mentioned that or I might have ordered a lifetime supply of the leaves.
I've really had a hard time deciding which of the Penzy herbs to order. Heck, I'd love to order them all, but spices are expensive. The Penzy prices tend to about the same as the grocery on the bottles plus add shipping, and bulk items can be lower. The thing I like about ordering even if I pay a little more here is that the spices just taste fresher and better.
One of my favorite spices is lemon-pepper, so I got that in bulk. I don't know if they made a mistake or put in a gift of the 4 oz bottle filled as well. I do know that was a nice surprise when I got the box which was beautifully packed with brown paper that looked to be good recycled.
Another item I would highly recommend is the taco seasoning. I read that it was less expensive to get the custom blend in the bag and use a tablespoon for tacos. Those little packs at the store add up, and some brands are not very tasty. With the bulk, you can use less for kids that don't like spice or a lot if you really like things spiced up. I love that option, and I don't plan to buy any more packets. I am totally sold on Penzey's taco season and getting it in the bag. It is great for tacos and for fajitas. My brother gave me a fajita cooker for Christmas, so I'm making a lot of those now.
Everything I've ordered from Penzey's has been wonderful. I have a huge wish list of items in my head that I want to add to my rack. I will also keep Penzey's in mind for gifts. They have really nice sets with things like grill spices or ones boxed for newlyweds. They even have a kit to pack your own herbs for someone. The sets run about $30 and up, so they are not cheap, but the spices are really great. If you know someone likes to cook with spices, this would be a really nice selection. I would be thrilled with a Penzy gift box myself.
Even if you don't plan to buy, you can learn a lot about herbs at the Penzy site and can get some tasty recipes. They also sell back issues of the order catalog for people wanting certain recipes. I hope that, in the future, they put out a cookbook. I would buy that for sure.
I have started growing herbs, and I enjoy the fresh ones. Some things won't grow here and some blends would be hard to do at home. Even as my herbs at home grow, I buy and will continue to buy from Penzey's. Once I tried really high quality herbs, I was totally sold. When you add in the information they include on the website and the way they interact with customers with mailings (letters from the owner and so on), I can't imagine anyone not being thrilled with this online store. I didn't hesitate for a second to press 5 stars.
