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FYI...Stick with Cinnamon

Source of Recipe

Light & Tasty Magazine 2003
Stick with Cinnamon


Prized since ancient times for every use in everything from love potions to perfumes to treating sour throats, cinnamon has become a kitchen essential.

Among the first known spices, cinnamon dates back in Chinese writings to 2800 B.C.. During the days of the Roman Empire cinnamon’s fragrance was so valued, its price rose to 15 times its weight in silver!

Cinnamon is made from the inner bark of a tropical evergreen tree. After the bark is peeled away, the outer layer is scrapped off, and the inner bark is dried. It then curls into quills and scrolls and is sold as cinnamon sticks or ground into powder.

True cinnamon, native to Sri Lanka, has a tan color and mildly sweet flavor. “Cassia”, a close relative grown in China and Indonesia, is sold in the U.S. as cinnamon. Reddish-brown, it has a slightly bittersweet taste.

Ground cinnamon is used to flavor cakes, pastries, fruit pies, puddings, hot cereal, curries, meat stews and more. It should be kept in an airtight container in a cool dry dark spot and replaced every 6 months.

Cinnamon sticks are great for stirring hot drinks….and infuse a warm woody sweetness into fruit compotes, pickles and preserves. Sticks will keep for 2 to 3 years stored away from extreme heat.