Grenada spice basket

The gift is a nice thought, and I encourage it, and this is a lot of fun, but, it is a bit like bringing coals into Newcastle.

Which if you live far away and would have no reason to know, Newcastle Upon Tyne is United Kingdom's first coal-exporting port and has been a coal mining center since the Middle Ages and also known for its beer. It's like that -- giving me a basket of spices -- I could use them all at once, almost. 

There was a bag of leaves that made the contents bulge out of the basket. John said he did not bother claiming them at customs which is quite criminal to neglect so now I'm dragged into being accomplice to his felony. We wondered what the leaves were from, if they were part of the spice packages or what. The bag is not labeled, so no, they are not part of the deal. I told my friend they are coca leaves and he's a mule. 

cinnamon in three forms

chocolate in its unconched form 

turmeric disguised as saffron

ginger rhizome in two forms

curry in in its nondescript form, contains a lot of turmeric

chile powder in its nondescript form, it's hot, resembles árbol or japones

whole cloves

nutmeg, whole, still rattling around within their inner shells, but oddly absent its mace

The chocolate comes with instructions to mix with boiled water then add milk and sugar to taste, for hot chocolate, but's better with all milk.