Label Makers for Kitchen Organization

In my day job, I test products and write reviews of them. I focus almost exclusively on software, although I occasionally try out fitness gadgets. Instead of working in a traditional office, the space where I work is a technology lab, kitted out with dozens of computers, tablets, mobile phones, cameras, printers, television sets, routers, and literally thousands of other electronic devices scattered around the lab.

I never realized until a few days ago that one of my colleagues has a bunch of label makers. I didn't know how a modern label maker looks nowadays. So I asked to borrow one and try it out. He gave me this Epson LW-300.

What did I make? I created labels for all my spices and dry baking ingredients. My plan is to transfer some of the loose ingredients that are currently stashed in zip-top bags to small canning jars (about $15 for a dozen), which I can buy for about one-tenth the price as those fancy Oxo Good Grips pop containers (set of 10 for $99!). Canning jars are what we use at The Brooklyn Kitchen's cooking class kitchens, where I'm a volunteer teaching assistant.

In my kitchen, I have a huge new pantry, after a total kitchen remodel that is 90 percent finished now, that I haven't even filled yet, so it's kind of a blank slate. I'll post photos from the remodel as soon as Boyfriend and I put the finishing touches on it.

Remembering what's in the pantry (or what will go in the pantry as soon as I move my spices into it) off the top of my head may not have been the most fool-proof way to go about this task, but it's what I could manage on a whim. And now that I know we have label makers in the lab, I can always make the few labels I'm sure I forgot about another day.