The wardrobe department had a lot of fun researching what styles were popular in 1996 for "Just Add Spices". They even used the show Friends that Noelle mentions as a reference.
The black potion is what Jill used to destroy Ms. Silvers garden. It's one of the several times we've seen magic on this show without anyone having to eat anything at all. Some other times was when Chuck drew a circle in the dirt at West Peizer Park to get his old trailer back and when Grandma Becky tried to boil pages from the cookbook.
It took the art department several days to dust all of the bottles and to fill them with the dead ash of spices for "Just Add Spices". The actresses were actually a little frightened when they walked in and saw the poisoned cabinet.
Even the stained glass on the spice cabinet's ceiling has gone from beautiful color to black and white in "Just Add Spices".
It was a real challenge for the writers to have the character never say the word magic in "Just Add Spices". They didn't realize how many times we say that word every episode.