Weekend discovery: just as much spice as you need

Tonight we are having beef stew for dinner, which seems very fitting for the drab grey weather that has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest (moving here right at the start of summer lulled us into a false sense of "the weather here isn't so bad!"-ness).  One thing we are still in the process of doing is restocking our cooking supplies.  We tossed a lot of things when we left New York, including a lot of old spices.

When I pulled out the cookbook to see what I needed as far as seasonings for the beef stew, I was met with a long list of suggestions -- as well as a "required" bay leaf.  I was a little dismayed because buying individual jars of so many spices was more than I wanted to spend on food for this week, even though I knew they would come in handy in the future.

While perusing the spice rack and trying to decide what to buy - the $3.99 bottle of bay leaves, which I use maybe twice a year? a bottle of all-purpose seasoning? - I noticed that Whole Foods sells spices in bulk, priced per pound (priced per ounce on the container).  Super exciting!  Now I could just buy a little of what I needed -- parsley, rosemary, marjoram, tarragon, bay leaves, and celery seeds -- and save a ton of money in the process.  I got everything I needed for just $1.44!