Ground sumac! I hardly ever see it in the grocery store and it is wonderful in dressings and marinades.

Penzey's has some of their own blends. I LOVE "Mural of Flavor." It's delicious on salad, on chicken, on everything! I also like their "Pasta Sprinkles" (or something like that). Comes in a large ziploc-type bag. You just toss it with pasta and olive oil.

(duplicate post)

This post was edited by bestyears on Thu, Jan 1, 15 at 18:59

For blends I like:

Bavarian Seasoning - Great on roasted broccoli, potatoes.

Turkish seasoning: Lots of different applications, but great with beef or lamb, mixed into a yogurt sauce, etc. Along that line, their aleppo pepper seasoning is also useful. Not really hot but has good depth.

Adobo: I use this instead of taco seasoning on lots of things.

Herbs de Provence: A good herb blend. I use it for all kinds of things but one favorite is to toss steamed or sauteed green beans with some orange juice and this blend of herbs.

Their curry powders are generally quite excellent as well, at least the milder ones. I need to try some of the ones with heat still.

Generally, every spice of theirs I have used has been of excellent quality. I love their cocoa powder and it is the only one I use unless I can get Valrhona cocoa (Penzey's is a bit cheaper). Their Vietnamese cinnamon is absolutely wonderful. The one blend of their's I have not enjoyed is French Four Spice, it sounded good and the quality is good but there are just not a lot of things that I would use it for.

Oh thank you! I think I will get the ground sumac, amj, what kind of dressing do you make with it?

bestyears, will get Mural of Flavor, need things for salads and chicken.

tish, Bavarian Season sounds good too! Herbs de Provence and your green bean recipe sounds delish! What do you do with your Vietnamese Cinnamon? or do you just use it in place of any recipe that calls for cinnamon? Have to get that one too!

edited to add: Not sure if they will send me their own blends, but will look on the website.

This post was edited by olliesmom on Thu, Jan 1, 15 at 16:22

Hmm, I love French Four Spice, dislike Mural of Flavor and Sunny Spain.

My favorites;
Ozark- chicken, pork
Mitchell Street- steaks
Northwoods- chicken, fish,
Arizona Dreaming- Mexican
Old World- variety of protiens
Bicentennial- roasted nuts - love
Greek- everything
French Four Spice- great on califlower
Foxpoint-dips
Sandwich Sprinkle-hoagies

Za'atar

I also like the Vietnamese cinnamon. If you like cinnamon the smell coming from the container will make your mouth water. I use it in recipes just like regular cinnamon.

The Vietnamese Cinnamon is used as regular cinnamon. It's just better.

Another vote for the Vietnamese cinnamon here! It is superior to other cinnamons; used it in my oatmeal/cranberry Christmas cookies.

My favorites are the Vietnamese cinnamon and the pasta sprinkles, and the Parisienne herbs. Gf loves Tuscan sunset.

celery salt -- love their celery salt -- use it in SO many dishes -- just a dash will do! :)

All of the herbs and spices are good quality and likely better than what you are buying unless you have another specialty store with a high turnover. If you have some you know you are low on or that are older than others, I would start there. The Vietnamese Cinnamon is perhaps the most often recommended of all their products. The garlic powder is basic, but better than my old standards.

The blends are shortcuts and handy to have. Some prefer to mix there own and some have every blend ready to go. I fall somewhere in between. I would look at the descriptions and ingredients so you can compare them to your tastes and styles of cooking.

That said, Bicentennial rub is one we always have on hand -- it is wonderful on roast chicken and turkey. I use an apple cider brine on our turkey, then the Bicentennial rub before cooking. When I make gravy, I never have to add seasoning -- it's already seasoned. (haven't tried it on nuts though).

Pasta Sprinkle is good -- as are the Italian herbs, but those are pretty easy to combine on your own. I still keep Pasta Sprinkle on hand -- for tossing with pasta, as a base for a quick sauce, on veggies, etc.

Brady Street is one my sons like for garlic bread and their Chip and Dip is an onion type dip that is great to have on hand. I also keep the mild curry on hand -- easy enough to add heat to it when desired, and the California Pepper and Florida Pepper. There are probably some others, but those are my basics.

If you ever get the chance to visit a store, do. Anyone who enjoys cooking should have at least one experience in a store like that smelling and checking out everything they offer.

telecherry pepper: cracked, ground or whole

and any of the cinnamons

sign up for their free catalogue

So good to see all these suggestions!

I've ordered about five, so far, I think. I read about each one on their website, and definitely want more. I'm trying to be particular since my spice cabinet is packed, but, I'm going to be cleaning it out and making room for new.

Really appreciate your input- It really helped!

Their blends are great. I don't know too many cooks who would mix all this to make a blend.

Regular spices and herbs are good too just nothing special, (not better than good jarred supermarket spices/herbs).

This is one of my favorites, Ozark.

Hand-mixed from: salt, black pepper, sage, garlic, thyme, Hungarian papika, regular mustard, ancho chili, celery seed, cayenne, dillweed, dillseed, caraway seed, allspice, ginger, cardamom, bay leaves, mace, china cinnamon, savory & cloves.

Ozark was one I ordered Bumble! Yea!

bragu mentioned their catalog. It's well worth getting. Some great recipes.

Being on their mailing list gets you coupons too.

Bumblebeez, I have always enjoyed having some of the blends, but I've known several people who at least claim to never buy blends and only mix their own. Not me. I always need a few dependable shortcuts.

I will get a catalog-good to know about coupons too!

They always have a coupon available (can be found online too) and they always send a free sample jar, which has been a great exposure to new items. Free shipping if you order $30.

I agree with tishtosh-- penzey's cocoa is my favorite by far. I also love the northwoods blend for salmon, ruth ann's muskego ave is a nice all purpose seasoning for poultry & vegetables, and for smoked paprika and curry powder I like penzey's smoked paprika and the maharajah curry. Brady street cheese sprinkle for quick garlic toast. I have a large drawer full of other penzey's spices but those are the varieties that I use most frequently.

olliesmom - my MIL usually makes a fatoosh dressing with it. I don't have her recipe, but it does taste good!

I usually mix sumac with tzatziki (from Costco), lemon juice, a bit of olive oil, S&P, then marinate chunks of chicken breasts. Then I grill it on skewers with veggies.

Here's a coupon that came in my email today if you haven't placed your order yet. This is a new product so I haven't tried it yet.

FREE 1/2 Cup Jar of Penzeys Roasted Garlic!
No cash value. While supplies last. Offer good for one free 1/2 cup jar of Penzeys Roasted Garlic. Not applicable to prior sales. Please limit one per customer. Valid online, by mail, through our call center or in stores. Orders placed by mail must enclose coupon. Coupon must be presented at time of purchase in Penzeys store. Please call 800-741-7787 to redeem by phone. To redeem online, visit www.penzeys.com, complete shopping as usual and add item 43953 to your basket. At checkout, enter the word ROASTY in the coupon code field. This will ensure that the Roasted Garlic promotional item is counted as FREE in your shopping total. Note that the price of the coupon item does not apply to the standard Penzeys shipping offer where spending $30 results in free shipping. Standard shipping rates apply. Offer expires 11:59PM central time January, 10, 2015.

Thank you legomom! I did place an order, but I want more!

Raspberry Essence My DH uses it with balsamic vineger for salad dressing. Or just drink it right out of the bottle!

I love their toasted granulated onion - add it to everything and it smells divine when you unscrew the lid.

More favorites are their Smoke Spanish Paprika and Maharaja spice blend.

Not only are all their spices fresh but often cheaper than brands sold in my grocery store.

We love Pennzey's spices.
Our favorite is Chipotle seasoning , always sprinkle on pizza. Their Pizza seasoning is good too. Smoked paprika, I use sparingly, combine with brown sugar in most dishes.
California Seasoning on everything.
Trinidad for fish.
Garlic powder, better than store bought.
Cinnamon...the best
Italian Seasoning and Tuscan Seasoning both used in spaghetti dishes
I have their Chili con Carne...its just okay.
We also like their Pepper for our Pepper Mill.
I will have to try some of the other spices that were others favorites too.