Quick Spice Cookery
Think you need to find a ton of recipes before you can give your new spice cabinet a test drive? Think again. There are a lot of quick an easy ways to inject new spices into old favorites:

Coffee
Approximate the flavor of gourmet by shaking some cinnamon in your coffee beans after grinding. Percolate per usual.

Sugar cookies
Add ground cardamom (a teaspoon ought to do it) to the dough, or fold in whole anise seeds for a new twist on an old favorite.

Rice
When making rice, try adding a couple of tablespoons of dried dill prior to boiling for a Middle Eastern treat. For an Indian variation, try a teaspoon of curry power.

Tomato salad
With fresh basil on hand, you can make a simple and elegant salad. Just slice ripe tomatoes and fresh mozzarella (the kind that comes packed in water); layer the slices with whole leaves of fresh basil and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

Scrambled eggs
Beat in some crushed red pepper (not too much!) for huevos en fuego.

Potatoes
What could be better than roasted new potatoes? Roasted new potatoes baked with a sprinkling of dried rosemary. You'll think you've died and gone to pot roast heaven.

Warm milk
It's even more soothing with a little cinnamon or nutmeg swirled in while it's warming.

Now your pantry is stocked, and you've got a roadmap for some fresh spice cookery. It's time to mix, match and dazzle your palate with a world of new flavors.