My absolute 'must haves' are cayenne pepper, chili powder, curry powder, red pepper flakes and Coleman's dry mustard because I love hot and spicy type foods.

Actually, I have a cabinet full of herbs and spices because I love experimenting. What spices are your must haves?

Old Bay is a must for seafood, especially crab cakes and steamed shrimp.

Also use a lot of garlic powder, basil, celery seed and red pepper.

I love the scent and flavor of fresh rosemary even though I don't use it much. It adds nice flavor to olive oil for dipping bread.

Fresh Ginger, garlic, chillies, turmeric, coriander, sezchuan pepper, cumin and salt.

Lemons, honey, soy sauce, English mustard and Olive Oil..

Don't know if Olive Oil qualifies.
And I don't care, either.... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I could do just about anything with those...

dill, powdered onion, fresh and powdered garlic, chives, parsely, salt, pepper, curry powder, chili powder - I think that about covers it!

Oh, I almost forgot my holiday baking spices:
cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, mace
<img src="/images/graemlins/rolling.gif" alt="" />

Vannie, what bridge is in your avatar? I grew up near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge connecting the western and eastern shores of Maryland.

Susan,

The bridge you see is similar to the CBB. It is the Brigantine Bridge, in New Jersey, it is at Atlantic City's north end and is a direct connection to the City of Brigantine. Brigantine is a small beach town.

Thanks for letting me know - out of curiosity I'll look it up on the map.

I looked it up - it looks like it's just off the coast. I went to Ocean City, New Jersey as a teen a couple of times and enjoyed the beach.

Same here except I'd add black mustard seed, curry, and a bottle of Herbes de Provence (for when my garden isn't up to par for providing fresh). That covers most of my ethnic dishes as well as basic meats and sauces.

Yep. When I am in Atlantic City or Brigantine, I dip my toes in the Atlantic Ocean. BTW it was your avatar that inspired me to dig through my photos. <img src="/images/graemlins/beamedup.gif" alt="" /> Ocean City is lovely.

Old Bay seasoning is such a good thing to have on hand. I use it on french fries and onion rings. It took me *years* to discover the 'secret' to those spicy fries some restaurants serve.

Yep. olive oil is definately a must have and I do think of it as a seasoning of sorts. So is butter. A lot of recipes do call for butter, but I also use unsalted butter for seasoning. I always put a pat on steak or burgers.