this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2023
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It’s a toss up between cooking and home networking for me.
Cooking because it started off as just finding neat recipes and giving them a shot to now experimenting with new techniques and harder to procure ingredients. My pantry looks like a mini spice market and keeping them fresh is its own hassle. Plus needing all the gear gets expensive!
I also got really into home networking during the start of the pandemic. I went from having a simple off the shelf mesh network to a full network rack in my basement serving some high end access points and cat6 drops in every room. Now I have a pretty secure iot stack that’s separate from my main vlan and one devoted to my work computer.
Wait until you try homebrewing or something similar. It is another rabbit hole worth pursuing.
Can you give some advice on how to keep spices fresh? I also wouldn’t mind some links. Thank you!
I have little labels on each jar of spices that I write the “bought” date on. In general ground spices I’ll give 9 months to a year, herbs I’ll typically give about a year, and whole spices I’ll give two years. As I’m using them, I’ll check the date on the jar to see if I need to add it to my shopping list. Every once in a blue moon when I remember, I’ll also just audit my spice rack.
Anything that you can grind yourself buy whole.
It really doesn't take long to grind a tsp of cumin, and the seeds stay fresh so much longer than the powder. And if the seeds start to lose their punch just toast 'em.
Get a bigger mortar then you think too. You'll read about making pesto, or guac, or lots of Thai dishes, and wonder if it real does taste better. Sadly it does and you'll regret your small mortar every time you make guacamole.
Yeah cooking is my biggest cost sink but things you consume I feel are more fun to be serious about.
Honestly the costs aren't all that ridiculous. Bar something like a Dutch oven most good anodized steel woks only cost like $50 at a restaurant supply store. Cast iron pans and some stainless steel weren't too bad either.
The problem is just that you have to buy a dozen different tools that each cost a little more than you think and the total cost is way higher than you think.
I will definitely agree that spices are the most shockingly expensive part as my little side cabinet of jars probably costs more than my entire record collection when you realize that I have 3 different types of cinnamon and Hungarian paprika, and smoked cumin, stacks of dried vanilla pods and more.