Savory eye candy to make simple meals better

My boyfriend and I cook pretty simple food so we rely heavily on spices to spruce things up and create variety. (ok, in all honesty, I rely on spices, my boyfriend likes things plain.)

My friend Wren makes the most amazing salt and pepper blends in the pizza shop she runs with her husband. With this meal, we used her garlic pepper to spice up potatoes and I also added some to the bison burgers we made.

We are both pretty big fans of cast iron, cooking just about anything and everything in our favorite iron pans and dutch oven. And since my grill was vandalized and damaged beyond repair (grrr), it’s been even more so.

Cast iron lends a nice flavor to most things…

But really, Wren’s garlic pepper in my handmade enamelware Bitty Bowl was the star of this meal.

Peppers and spice blends save me in the kitchen. If it weren’t for a variety of spices, I’m pretty sure my tongue would die of boredom. And since my eyes also need variety, I like to keep various spices in my Bitty Bowls close by when I cook and on the kitchen table during meal times.

The bowl we’re using here is a one of a kind piece from my graphite drawing series, but if you want to spice up your kitchen and table, you can find a variety of options here.