Hints From Heloise

Dear Heloise: I wonder how many cooks realize the great savings to be had from buying fresh spices in bulk rather than dried spices in the brand-name jars on the grocery shelves.

Today I cleaned out seven out-of-date spice jars and went to the grocery store to replace the spices. I had a choice of purchasing brand-name spices at a large supermarket, or buying them at another store that sells them in bulk.

I compared shelf prices at the supermarket and the bulk supplier, and for the minimal effort of scooping out the spices from large plastic jars, pouring them into small plastic bags and placing a tie around the bag, I saved $21.74! The seven spices cost me a total of $3.99. If I had purchased them in the small, brand-name jars the total would have been $25.73.

I put the fresh spices into the old glass spice containers. Since some of these are spices that I use infrequently, it was an added benefit that by purchasing them in bulk, I could buy a smaller amount that will get used up before it, too, is stale and out of date. - Barbara Halliday, Salem, Ore.