I Have Found the Mother Ship

I heard about Penzey's Spices on several blogs as I searched for Primal friendly recipes. Everyone raved about them. As I saw them mentioned more and more I began to take note of the most popular spices. When I finally received my first Paleo cookbook, Paleo Comfort Foods, and the spices were even mentioned in there, I knew I had to check it out. Because of the lack of actual stores near me, I almost ordered online, but really wanted at least one opportunity to really check out the spices in person. Luckily, a store was located in Santa Rosa, the scene of our Safari adventure and life-changing meal at Stark's Steakhouse.

We headed over after our Safari West tour and I was immediately sucked in. Spices, spices everywhere. We had a blast going around and smelling everything. They have every basic spice you can imagine and lots of unique blends you can't find anywhere else. There are even salt-free versions of many of their most popular blends. We came home with a butt-load. This place is a cook's paradise. It's amazing how even some basic spices smell so different than what we're used to because the quality is higher. The staff was super nice and we even got a free jar of Penzey's Forward Spice because we had a larger order. Score!

Check out our loot:

• Hot Chocolate Mix
• Mint Hot Chocolate Mix
• Original Taco Seasoning
• Chili con Carne
• BBQ 3000
• Shallot Salt
• Penzey's Forward
• Chili 9000
• Northwoods Fire
• Tuscan Sunset
• Garlic Salt
• Arizona Dreaming
• Old World Seasoning
• Bavarian Seasoning
• Cinnamon Sugar
• Ceylon Cinnamon

Yeah. We went a little crazy. And there are even more that I am interested in trying based on great reviews.

To try still:

• Sunny Paris
• Chicago Steak Seasoning
• Vietnamese Cinnamon
• Smoked Paprika (surprisingly, the cashier said this was his favorite spice when I asked)
  
• Vanilla Extract (man you have to smell this in person)
• Galena St. Seasoning

Man I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. Although I don't ever feel limited by Primal eating, with fewer food choices available, seasoning becomes even more important to really jazz up a dish.

I sense an addiction coming on. You might want to save this post somewhere as evidence when checking me in to the Penzey's spice rehab center.