— Ann Smith

My go-to is spices. And the spices open up a beautiful. aromatic and flavorful world and you know, it's it's a great way to dress, you know, anything from a potatoes to popcorn and you can start out by, you know, using Blends and I suggest making your own blend. Okay, and you know in our courses we typically offer a blend or two sometimes more as a starting point and then start getting to know individual spices and you know, which ones you like which ones maybe you don't like so much, you know, which ones are very pungent which ones are a little more mellow and then start to do some combining on your own and then you will find that you can blend your own spices. And dress up your baked potatoes and and other things in a way that will take it into a Direction with a flavor profile that matches the other items on your menu, for example, or maybe the mood that you're in but for me spices are number one and then a close second would be fresh herbs and here too. I recommend buying a selection of fresh herbs and then putting them out in front of you and and tasting them. And then getting to know them on an individual basis and then getting to know what your likes and dislikes are and then you know understand how they go with different foods, you know spices will change with certain foods and and herbs will change with certain food. So even though you don't like it on its own you might like it when it's paired with food. I mean after all we're not going to sit down and to a bowl of cumin seeds, right? We're going to toast them. We're going to grind them. We're gonna pair them with other things like a baked potato and you might find that you like it, you know in that context of cooking okay, but go forth and discover the world of spices and fresh herbs. Thank you.