It's getting warm outside... And that means street fairs are in full swing here in New York. We think street fair shoppers mainly fall into two categories: Those who go for lunch (of grilled corn on the cob and a gyro) and those who go for bargains (tube socks and pillows).

We fall more into a third: Those who go because they were on their way somewhere else and had to walk down that street anyway. However, we did once buy some spices at a street fair. They were ridiculously cheap (we want to say in the $1 range) and came in a Coke can-sized container. Huge! See the evidence below.

The Coke Zero is for scale. And we have to admit, with Cure-worthy shame, that this container of oregano is years old.

Which makes us realize that maybe buying bulk spices at the street fair isn't such a good idea, even if they are cheap. Although if this were cumin instead of oregano, we might have used it up pretty quickly.

We're curious if anyone is seeing spices at the street fairs. If so, are you buying them? Do you think they are decent quality?

(Images: Flickr member Ed Yourdon, licensed for use under Creative Commons; Elizabeth Passarella)