Those Spices Are How Old???

This is my furlough week for November so I decided to make good use of it.  I decided to clean out my spice cabinet for starters.  I found out that spices are only good for about a year.  I threw away Paprika from 1995, Ginger and Ground cloves from 1996.  Seriously!  By the time I was done I had three paper grocery bags full of spices and food to throw away.  It's amazing the things you don't know when you can't cook!  All the more reason to learn.