Hand Crank Coffee Grinder: The 19th Century Can Keep It

A couple months ago, my cousin brought over an old-fashioned manual coffee grinder. How quaint! How charming! You can find the old-timey ones not only in antique shops, but new ones online (the one above is from Sweet Maria's).

He put coffee beans in, and started grinding.

And kept grinding.

And still kept grinding.

We left and came back, and he was still grinding. He said he was almost done.

Finally, he pulled open a little drawer to reveal ... a little pile of coffee grounds.

Then added more coffee beans to grind more.

Wow, a manual coffee grinder is slooowwwww.

They're energy efficient and work well when the power is out and they are quieter, but a hand grinder would not get much play at our house. Have you seen Foodgoat in the morning before he's had his coffee? Have you tried to get to taste yogurt cheese in the morning before he's had his coffee?

Let's just say I would not want to make the coffee making processs take longer than it has to.

Latest Favorite: Mason Jars

Last weekend, while cleaning out a much neglected pantry closet, we came across a bunch of mason jars from an erstwhile interest in canning. And in one of those why-didn't-I-think-of-this-before moments, it struck me they would make perfect storage containers.

Now all the grains and pastas and powders that came in plastic bags are no longer shlumping awkwardly in the cabinet, but prettily displayed on the window shelf.

I liked them so much I bought even more jars. If I run out of things that need to be stored, I could always try more on the list of 50 ways to hack a mason jar.

Avoca-Don't

Yesterday's Uncrate, in its post about the new Four-in-One Avocado Tool from Williams-Sonoma, began with:

"Even the craftiest of cooks will tell you that avocados can be time-consuming and tough to deal with ..."

I don't consider myself the craftiest by any means, but I actually think avocados are really quick and easy to deal with. Avocados are not messy or excessively juicy like mangos, they don't have a prickly thick skin like pineapples, the seed is just one big seed that pops out unlike watermelons, and the juices don't stain everything like beets.

A single small knife has always worked just fine to open and slice an avocado for me. Maybe a fork to mush it up.

So who is this product for? The full-time guacamole maker? The person afraid of avocados and so needs a special tool to approach it? The gadget collector? The people with too much money and too much kitchen storage space?

New Toy

One day, our oven died. It just didn't work anymore.

For five months, we couldn't bake anything. No brownies, no roasted Brussels sprouts.

And then one day Foodgoat couldn't take it anymore. He had to make a pizza.

So we bought a new stove.

And we couldn't be happier. This GE is much nicer than the old Maytag that the house came with - a central oval burner! A griddle! Continuous grates! Power boil! A broiler at the top of the oven instead of underneath it!

Even Sabbath mode, which I'm pretty sure we will never ever use!

Most importantly, we have already made pizza twice.

What a difference a good appliance makes.

Tasty, Tasty Murder

I saw this classic Threadless t-shirt on sale for $9 today, and I thought to myself, I'm glad I eat meat.

I don't feel any guilt about eating the delicious flesh of animals killed solely to satisfy my hunger. None at all. Should I?

Food You Don't Expect For Your Birthday

For his birthday, Foodgoat got just what he wanted: a case of military MRE's, or Meals Ready to Eat.











MREs are self-contained, individual rations in lightweight packaging designed for field conditions where organized food facilities are not available. They're designed to last 3 years in 80-degree weather; longer if stored in more optimal conditions.

Why would he want this? Peace of mind: we are set for at least a week should disaster strike. That can of Wolfgang Puck soup is just not going to cut it for us if we are hit by gamma rays from an exploding neutron star or Canada attacks Cleveland or if a volcano blows up in New York. (34 is apparently the age when paranoia strikes).

Plus, MREs have apparently come a long way from their days of being known as Meals Rejected by Everyone, Meals, Rarely Edible, or Three Lies for the Price of One (it's not a Meal, it's not Ready, and you can't Eat it). Nowadays, they are reputed to be quite palatable. The military changes up their menu of MREs every year based on feedback as well.

Typically, each MRE has:

• Entree - the main course, such as Spaghetti or Beef Stew
• Side dish - rice, corn, fruit, or mashed potatoes, etc.
• Cracker or Bread
• Spread - peanut butter, jelly, or cheese spread
• Dessert - cookies or pound cakes
• Candy
  
• Beverages - Gatorade-like drink mixes, cocoa, dairy shakes, coffee, tea
• Hot sauce or seasoning - in some MREs
• Flameless Heater - to heat up the entree
• Accessories - spoon, matches, creamer, sugar, salt, chewing gum, toilet paper, etc

Want to learn more about MREs? This site is loaded with information.

Since we have not actually been hit by gamma rays recently, we haven't yet tried eating any of the meals. But stay tuned for the next time the power goes out!!

Rotary Grater

Today's tip: If you find yourself in need of grated carrots, and the only carrots you have are the baby kind, a rotary grater of the kind normally used for Parmesan cheese lets you grate up the little carrots without putting your finger tips in the line of danger.

Two Appliances for Slow Cooking Meat

A few months ago, everyone at work was suddenly mad for the Farberware Open Hearth Smokeless Broiler, an electric rotating meat rotisserie thing-y that was apparently the wedding gift of choice during the 1960's. The succulence of meats (so juicy! so tender!) slow cooked over a bottom heating element for four hours, has been so celebrated, I find myself eying them on eBay.

What stops me? In a word, storage: our teensy 1925 kitchen barely has the counterspace for the coffee grinder, much less a large single-use appliance.

Especially when the slow cooker, the multi-tasking Crock Pot, is working out so well. Just last week Foodgoat discovered yet another tasty thing it can do: it can make corned beef.

The nearby deli makes a decent corned beef sandwich - for $8. We can pick up a corned beef package from the grocery store for less than that, plop it (fat meticulously trimmed off, as per Foodgoat standard policy) into the slow cooker at night with water and the packet of herbs that it comes with, and in the morning ...

A muy delicioso pile of corned beef, tender and juicy, ready for several day's worth of personalized and yummy (and inexpensive) sandwiches for lunch.

But I still want to try a Farberware Open Hearth Smokeless Broiler, storage and possible fire hazard be damned. Because then I could put on a very large chunk of pork, or possibly a very tiny whole pig. Because roasting for hours and turning on a spit is the how lechon (tasty, tasty lechon) is made.

And now that I think about it, there is always room for lechon.

Wait ... So It's Shaped Like That on Purpose?

While at Crate & Barrel to replace a cracked French press, Foodgoat came upon these stemless champagne flutes. Sure, it would have made sense to put them on our wedding registry, but at $1.95 each, why wait?

So today, in order to celebrate Britney's long overdue return to rehab, we broke them in with a bottle of J sparkling wine. And either this bottle of J was different from other batches, or the flute glass actually makes a difference. For one thing, long before the first sip, I noticed that it had a distinct smell. A fruity, flavorful smell. I don't remember noticing the smell when I was drinking sparkling wine out of a coffee mug.

Tasty, tasty T-shirt

I covet this T-shirt, spotted today on dooce:

Most. Used. Appliance. Ever.

The Chef's Choice 675 International Cordless Electric Hot Pot. All it does is boil water. That's it. Just boils water.

But it's super-quick. It's cordless so I can carry it around and clean it. It's super-quick. It turns off automatically. Did I mention that it's quick?

I use it every single day, sometimes more, for coffee and tea, and gave away my stovetop kettle to a visiting student from Uganda.

..................

Ooooo! Battlestar Galactica has webisodes!!!!

Next-to-useless kitchen gadget of the day
Even though they usually just add to drawer chaos, even though they get sometimes used maybe once or twice a year, I still have a thing for silly kitchen gadgets. The more obscure and limited the purpose, the better. Like this butter curler, the latest thing I've come across. You use it to turn chunks of butter into stylishly textured curls of butter, adding a decorative touch to the breakfast table, via a curved, serrated edge. And you can also use it with chocolate. Is this enough to justify an unnecessary purchase yet?