Ladies you have been heard

 Thank you for your comments. I am really excited to start this !
Videos on from scratch cooking is definitely doable.

I love to try out new things in the kitchen and I have had hits and misses for sure.

I am going to start with spices because they are a fun way to liven up foods you already make.

Have you ever added a little dried yellow curry to your mac n cheese ? 

Understanding spices

This link will tell the main uses for most of the herbs and spices in your kitchen. 

But with that said, You shouldn't be afraid to try an herb or spice in a new way.

Cinnamon

This is one just for cinnamon

My oatmeal cookie recipe uses cardamom 

Spices
a visual tour

A red powder made from grinding dried sweet red peppers; used as a garnish and seasoning. The color varies from bright orange-red to deep red, depending on the peppers used. Most commercial paprika comes from Spain, South America, California and Hungary. Hungarian paprika is thought to be the finest, and will be labelled as from the Szeged region. In Hungary there are six classes or types of paprika ranging from delicate to hot. To maintain the stronger taste that consumers expect, some spice companies add cayenne to heat up Hungarian paprika. Commercial food manufacturers use paprika to add color. If a food item is colored red, orange or reddish brown and the label lists "Natural Color," it is likely paprika. Paprika releases its color and flavor when heated. Thus, sprinkling ground paprika over colorless dishes may improve their appearance, but does little for their flavor. Similarly, if you want to color the contents of a dish, stir the paprika into a little hot oil before adding.
Ingredient
Season: available year-round
How to store: Paprika deteriorates quickly, so it should be purchased in small quantities and stored in a cool, dark place for no more than 6 months.
Matches well with: cauliflower, chicken, crab, fish, goulash, lamb, potatoes, rice, shellfish, stroganoff, veal
The info above is from Food.com

I like to use smoked paprika in potatoes and cheese sauces.

Curry ,turmeric and paprika can all be used to color foods in small amounts. Which I learned from trail and error trying to color my homemade mac and cheese. My personal preference is paprika because it imparts a nice color and a nice flavor. As a side note a tsp. of hot sauce in a large dish of baked mac n cheese really takes it to a whole new level.

My next personal favorite spice is CHILI POWDER which is actually a mixture of spices. It also has variations of hotness.
Chili Powder recipe

I like to buy most of my spices in the bulk section at Winco Foods , I know it has equivalents in most states here in the U.S. It a warehouse type store. You will pay significantly less for your spices. Now I said most because there are certain spices they just have not carried in the bulk.
 How long can bottled spices be kept; what is the shelf life? 

They don't go bad but they will lose flavor over time. 

Next is spice storage :

Store in cool place away from light. Do not store in a window or in sunlight. Heat and light are not a friend to your spices. With that said I keep my most used spices right out on the stove because they will not last long enough to be affected enough for me to tell. Now all of my lesser used spices are in a drawer away from the heat of the stove.

Those of you who know me know that I don't like onions or garlic. I do use both onion and garlic powder sparingly in some of my cooking. That is what led me into a whole world of other spices just waiting to be explored.

This is a list of spices I use all the time: creole seasoning,black pepper, chili powder, smoked paprika, yellow curry, cayenne, dry mustard. I also use several kinds of salt. I only use regular salt to put in boiling water for pasta and in baking because otherwise the amount called for is affected. So alternatively in my cooking I use either kosher salt, Sea salts- flake salt (larger than kosher) I like it on home fries, fine and coarse .

I hope this has been helpful and please post any questions on spices that you have. This was really kind of an overview but I can certainly write about any specific spices and how you could use it.