Making Old Bay Seasoning (and why I love keeping whole spices in the cupboard)

Last Friday, I made a large pot of bean and ham soup for dinner. I knew I wanted to make biscuits as a side to go with the soup. And I had a hankering for Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits.

In looking at recipes for cheddar bay biscuits, I discovered that I needed Old Bay seasoning. (Well, duh, cheddar BAY biscuits, old BAY seasoning.)

Old Bay Seasoning would be one of those spice blends that I wouldn't use particularly much, as I don't cook much seafood. So, while I've always liked their colorful canisters in the supermarket, I've never actually bought any OBS.

But, I was sure I had most of the ingredients to make some sort of version of OBS, and could conjure up something along the lines of the famed Red Lobster biscuits.

Next I looked up a recipe for Old Bay Seasoning, and lo and behold, I had some form of every single ingredient listed. Now how often does that happen?!

So, I made a tiny batch of OBS in my spice grinder (coffee grinder, repurposed), and used some to top my biscuits. Yum, they were good! I'll be making these biscuits a few times in the near future.

Now, the Old Bay brand of Old Bay Seasoning is made from 18 different herbs and spices. The recipe that I used only had 8 different herbs and spices. But my homemade version was very tasty. And making just a small amount, is about right for my use.


There's not much to making this spice blend. You measure the ingredients into your coffee/spice grinder, and whirr to a powder. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 years, for best flavor.

Here's what I used:

the equivalent of 2 bay leaves (I fished out a bunch of bay leaf pieces from my pickling spice blend)
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns (I've been meaning to use those up)
just over an 1/8 teaspoon of whole cardamom seeds
1/8 teaspoon ground mustard
1 or 2 whole cloves (I used 2 very small whole cloves)
3/8 teaspoon paprika
just over 1/16 teaspoon ground mace

This made a little over 1 tablespoon of Old Bay Seasoning. A recipe of Cheddar Bay biscuits only uses 1/4 teaspoon of OBS, so it looks like I've got enough to make several batches of those tasty biscuits.

About whole spices as opposed to ground spices

Whole spices can be more economical, in the long run. In particular, if you don't use that spice very often. Whole spices retain more of their essence for a longer period of time, than ground. Up to twice as long.

If I don't think I'll use a spice very often, I try to buy what I'll need, but often end up with extra. It could be a year or more until I need that spice again.

The other issue I've encountered with pre-ground spices is some of them can become cake-y (due to absorbing moisture -- my ground cloves became cake-y to the point I had to throw them out).

Ground spices are recommended to be used within a couple of years. Whereas, whole spices can retain flavor for up to 5 or 6 years, depending on variety (cloves, cinnamon and pepper can last a very long time, if whole). Yet they taste, so "fresh" when you finally grind them.

A good example for myself is my whole nutmegs. I bought these about 5 years ago, and "shave" off a tiny amount for recipes, as I need. They taste as good today, as they did when I bought them. So, for spices I don't use often, whole spices have better keeping quality. And I can often find them in the bulk, scoop-your-own section and just buy a tiny baggie of what I need.

Grinding whole spices can be done in a small food processor, a coffee grinder or with mortar and pestle. If I'm just crushing some celery seed to add to a tomato sauce or soup, I'll use the mortar and pestle. For larger amounts of spice, or if I want a finer grind, then I use the coffee grinder. I don't wash this out, but use a pastry brush to sweep out the grinder after each use. (If I'm going to be grinding something like granulated sugar into superfine, then I'll wipe the grinder out, and maybe grind a tablespoon of corn meal first, just to clean it out.)

I do opt for convenience with the spices that I use frequently, such as ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground mustard, ground cumin, curry powder and chili powder. I buy these ground spices in the large canisters from Cash & Carry, at a price that beats buying whole spices, in some cases. (Whole cinnamon sticks can be pricey, if I just want to grind them up to use ground.)

So, my spice cupboard contains a mix of whole and ground spices. I do love that I keep as many varieties in whole form as I do. I am often pleasantly surprised that I have just about every spice called for in recipes.

Happy Memorial Day!

What are your plans for today?

We're heading out to the beach for a breakfast, "out". (Can't get any more "out" than outdoors!) We're packing apples, yogurt and homemade donuts (the kind made with canned biscuit dough). We have several thermoses, so everyone is on their own to provide their beverage of choice (coffee, tea, cocoa, milk).

If we can get out of the house early enough, the beach will be pretty much deserted. It's beautiful, there, in the early hours of the day.

Just a fun way to spend time together as a family.

Have a wonderful day!

I thought I'd show you what our local Fred Meyer carries in spices in the ethnic section

A couple of weeks ago we talked a bit about ethnic sections of grocery stores and ethnic markets. I told you about the cellophane packages of spices and herbs available, at a substantially lower price than small containers of spices and herbs in the baking section of the grocery store.

I had my camera in my purse this week, and when I was at Fred Meyer, I took a couple of photos of what I'm talking about. The spices/herbs are priced between 59cents and about $1.29 per packet, depending on variety. The bay leaves are 59cents for a nice pile of leaves. The whole cloves are 59 cents for a good handful, maybe 1/2 cup (2nd to the left below). The whole cinnamon sticks are $1.18 for about 3 or 4 good-sized sticks (longer than I often see) in a bag (just about the amount that someone might want for making spiced beverages during the fall or winter holidays). There are sesame seeds, ground chiles, and whole and ground spices.

It really is a matter of comparing unit pricing, between these cellophane bags and the bulk spice section. Some items are a much better price per pound in the cellophane packages, others not. But all of these blow the spices in the baking aisle clear out of the water! And if you don't even have a store with a bulk, scoop-your-own, spice section, then an ethnic section or ethnic market could be your most economical way to buy some of your herbs and spices. (Dollar Tree carries some herbs, at a great price, too.)


Also, in the ethnic shopping vein, earlier this week I tried out a new-to-me ethnic market on the advice of a friend (Imran's on 99). This is an Indian, Middle Eastern and Mexican market (per their sign). My friend likes this store for both it's cheap produce and some packaged ethnic items that she uses from time to time. Those packaged items are super pricey in the regular grocery store, but a dollar less at the ethnic market.

I passed Imran's the other day and thought to myself that I had to stop there soon. They had a sign out on the street edge for apples at 39cents/lb. I am needing produce at a super-duper cheap price this week and next, to get us through to June. So I thought this would work well for us. I bought about a dozen Red Delicious apples (39cents/lb -- earlier in the month I stopped at my other favorite produce stand and paid 50cents/lb, thinking that was a good price), and 1 large head of green cabbage for 49cents/lb. Grand total for a bag of produce, $3.92.

To give you a local comparison, at Fred Meyer, a store most would agree is one of the low-cost supermarkets in the area, Red Delicious apples were 79cents/lb, and green cabbage was 79cents/lb this week.

Imran's had navel oranges for 49cents/lb, limes at 10 for $1, and grapefruit at 5 for $1. I still have some oranges and lemons left, so passed on the citrus.

The clientele is a mix of folks. There were the retired people who were driving older cars, and likely on a small budget. There were also a few mothers with children in tow, carrying on conversations in their own native language (not English as a first language). There was a young woman who runs a food truck in the area, bargaining for a better price on a bag of red onions. And then there was me, a middle-aged women in yoga pants, with my green, reusable shopping bag.

When I patronize these small businesses, I do a couple of things. I always use cash, even if they will take credit. I know they struggle to make a profit, as a small business, with low prices being their big draw. And I always bring a reusable shopping bag. Again, if there's any way I can help them stay in business, it benefits us both.

While I was in Imran's, the check-out line was a little long at first, so I decided to look around. I can do better, price-wise, on dried beans at the wholesaler, but their price on couscous was pretty good, as was the price on bulgur wheat.

They also had cellophane packets of herbs and spices in a rack. In addition to the herbs and spices, they had small bags of nuts and seeds, and some tea bags in these cellophane bags. Among the nuts were some pepita seeds (99cents for a couple of ounces), which I think would look nice topping pumpkin muffins in the fall months. (I think Starbucks tops their Pumpkin Loaf with pepita seeds.) I'll remember the pepitas, come fall.

They also had a bakery case of small baked goods, priced well. My two daughters used to love the Mexican market near their high school, for the sweet pastries in the bakery case, priced around 25 to 50 cents each. And Imran's carried the exact brand of corn tortillas that I bought earlier this month, for 18 cents less than I paid at the wholesaler. So, I'll keep that in mind for the future, as well.

I'll be going back to Imran's throughout the summer. It looks like a great place to buy some fresh produce at a bargain price. I'm hoping that they'll have watermelon at a great price in another month.