racist babbling sister primitive and Grandma have a very minor spat

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x53290

Oh my.

I was going to post this in the food forum, but got too lazy to reach over for the computer mouse to change the page. 

It's the weather.

babylonsister  (1000+ posts)        Thu Jan-15-09 07:23 PM
Original message

Coffee Filters

Just got this e-mail. Since there are some ideas to use with food, I thought someone here might benefit.

Coffee filters ..who knew! And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Store for almost nothing.

COFFEE FILTERS: Not just for making coffee...

1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.

2. Clean windows and mirrors. Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.

3. Protect China. Separate your good dishes by putting a coffee filter between each dish.

4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.

5. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.

6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.

7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.

8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.

9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.

10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.

11. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.

12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters.

13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them. Soaks out all the grease.

14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers."

I think I've seen these hints somewhere before.

To which I had added 15. A good substitute for nose tissues when a sneeze is comilng on, and one is in the kitchen, far away from nose tissues, paper towels, napkins, bathroom tissue, whatnot.

hippywife  (1000+ posts)      Thu Jan-15-09 07:27 PM
Response to Original message
 
1. They are also a waste of money.

We bought a permanent filter for ours so we could stop buying them.

But, if people feel compelled to buy them, please buy the brown unbleached ones.

franksolich must, respectfully, disagree with Grandma.

franksolich buys only the clean crisp lily-white coffee filters.

babylonsister  (1000+ posts)        Thu Jan-15-09 07:31 PM
Response to Reply #1
 
2. 1,000 for a dollar, if you have other uses for them? Sounds like it'd be worth it. To lazy moi. Maybe my next coffee pot will have a permanent filter.

That "image" again, of the racist babbling sister primitive, viewed from the back, as she sits at the computer, the television set shelved above, her buttocks spilling over and drooping down the sides of her chair.

hippywife  (1000+ posts)      Thu Jan-15-09 07:55 PM
Response to Reply #2
 
3. You can order one for your existing coffeepot. That's what I did. Even if they are cheap, they are a terrible waste of resources, too.

Oh, geezuz.

Paper coffee filters are immediately biodegradable; one summer in the Sandhills of Nebraska, and they're returned to the soil.  Permanent coffee filters on the other hand take years, decades, generations, centuries, millenia, to degrade and decay.

Grandma disappoints me some times, but nobody's perfect, I guess.

WakeMeUp  (1000+ posts)        Thu Jan-15-09 08:05 PM
Response to Original message

4. I will definitely try the window/mirror cleaning thing

Great list, thanks!

eleny  (1000+ posts)      Thu Jan-15-09 08:10 PM
Response to Original message
 
5. I've also posted this list but over in the Frugal group

Since they don't have lint, they can be better than paper towels when paper is what you need.

I just think it's nice to know that we have what we need at our fingertips in a pinch! I like the popsicle and taco tips especially since we use the cone shaped filters.

Yeah, that's where I saw this list before; the elegiac primitive had posted it in the cooking and baking forum on Skins's island.

Phentex  (1000+ posts)        Fri Jan-16-09 07:41 AM
Response to Original message
 
6. I'm a loser with coffee filters...

I wasted more coffee due to filters that folded during the process no matter how careful I was. Gave up and got the gold filter.

Now I don't even use the full coffee maker very often so it's kinda moot.

Those are good tips though!

Vinca  (1000+ posts)      Fri Jan-16-09 08:21 AM
Response to Original message
 
7. Thanks for the tips. I especially like the taco holder one.

[delilahmused]

hippywife  (1000+ posts)      Thu Jan-15-09 07:55 PM
Response to Reply #2
 
3. You can order one for your existing coffeepot. That's what I did. Even if they are cheap, they are a terrible waste of resources, too.

Sometimes I wonder how many resources they waste trying to save the planet. I mean, with the filters you just open the trash can and dump. A very quick rinse and the basket is ready for a new filter. But with the gold permanent filter you have to heat tap water to appropriate washing temperature, turn on the garbage disposal to dispose of the little crunchy bits that didn't tamp out into the garbage and on and on and on. In fairness, I use the gold one too because I compost my grounds. I'm simply too lazy to try to separate grounds from filter so I'm willing to waste a little energy to have big juicy beefsteak tomato fresh picked from the garden to put on my barbecued hamburger.

Cindie

[Miss Mia]

Sometimes I wonder how many resources they waste trying to save the planet. I mean, with the filters you just open the trash can and dump. A very quick rinse and the basket is ready for a new filter. But with the gold permanent filter you have to heat tap water to appropriate washing temperature, turn on the garbage disposal to dispose of the little crunchy bits that didn't tamp out into the garbage and on and on and on. In fairness, I use the gold one too because I compost my grounds. I'm simply too lazy to try to separate grounds from filter so I'm willing to waste a little energy to have big juicy beefsteak tomato fresh picked from the garden to put on my barbecued hamburger.

Cindie

When I worked in coffee shops for many years, we always had customers coming in asking for the used espresso.  It's great in a compost. 

[franksolich]

Sometimes I wonder how many resources they waste trying to save the planet. I mean, with the filters you just open the trash can and dump. A very quick rinse and the basket is ready for a new filter. But with the gold permanent filter you have to heat tap water to appropriate washing temperature, turn on the garbage disposal to dispose of the little crunchy bits that didn't tamp out into the garbage and on and on and on.

Right; this is one of those things I don't get.

As you know, Grandma and her hippie husband, Grandpop, decided to go back to a kinder, simpler, more rustic time, having an acreage in a state south of here--but they sure took a lot of modern conveniences with them.

I'm pretty sure Joe and Sadie in their sod house in 1888 didn't have a microwave oven.

I'm pretty sure that much of which Joe and Sadie had, was quickly biodegradable, returning to the earth in a few generations at the most.

But here we have the enviro-friendly Grandma, with this microwave oven.

Microwave ovens are made out of, what?

Plastic, isn't it?

Isn't plastic one of those things that's supposed to take eons and eons to decay and return to the earth?  Isn't plastic one of those things that's supposed to be around longer than the dinosaurs ever were?

And Grandma's worried about the environmental effects of flimsy paper?

I dunno.  Maybe there's something here I'm not seeing, but I doubt it.

[JohnnyReb]

Plastic, isn't it?

Isn't plastic one of those things that's supposed to take eons and eons to decay and return to the earth? 

....and increases our dependency on fur'n oil.

[Chris]

I don't own a microwave.  I refuse to put one in my kitchen.  They are a waste of space.  Sure, they're convenient, but my food tastes better without it.

[JohnnyReb]

  Sure, they're convenient, but my food tastes better without it.

...but they heat a cup of water for instant coffee quick.






Anybody that'll drink instant coffee ain't worried to much about taste.......

[Chris]

...but they heat a cup of water for instant coffee quick.


Anybody that'll drink instant coffee ain't worried to much about taste.......

I think I had a jar of instant coffe before I moved to my current apartment.  Packing up food is such a pain in the ass -- I think I threw it out.

[youtube=425,350]_zePQavforA[/youtube]

[MrsSmith]

Right; this is one of those things I don't get.

As you know, Grandma and her hippie husband, Grandpop, decided to go back to a kinder, simpler, more rustic time, having an acreage in a state south of here--but they sure took a lot of modern conveniences with them.

I'm pretty sure Joe and Sadie in their sod house in 1888 didn't have a microwave oven.

I'm pretty sure that much of which Joe and Sadie had, was quickly biodegradable, returning to the earth in a few generations at the most.

But here we have the enviro-friendly Grandma, with this microwave oven.

Microwave ovens are made out of, what?

Plastic, isn't it?

Isn't plastic one of those things that's supposed to take eons and eons to decay and return to the earth?  Isn't plastic one of those things that's supposed to be around longer than the dinosaurs ever were?

And Grandma's worried about the environmental effects of flimsy paper?

I dunno.  Maybe there's something here I'm not seeing, but I doubt it.

Grandma should use the coffee filter Joe and Sadie used...a sock.   

[Chris]

Grandma should use the coffee filter Joe and Sadie used...a sock.   

That was mean.  I liked it. 

[franksolich]

Well now, Mrs. Smith, I think these are reasonable questions.

When the prairie archaeologist was here last summer, surveying the place, he mentioned one time that "more than 99%"--please notice the "more than"--of the stuff the sod house pioneers used 100 years ago, don't exist any more.

A lot of stuff has been preserved in museums and among family heirlooms, yes, but that's barely nothing compared with all that once existed.

I think that was mighty ecological of our forebears, to not pollute the earth, to not leave things around that take centuries, millenia, eons, to decay back to nature.

And here we have Grandma, with this microwave oven, this plastic, that's going to take 287,689,092 years to return to nature.

It takes one summer--a mere three months--for those used coffee filters that I toss out into the garden and meadows, to break down and return to nature.

Since I don't have or use a microwave oven, made with substantial plastic, I suspect I'm a better friend of the earth than Grandma is.

Maybe it has something to do with acknowledgement of God, which neither Grandma or the nocturnally foul one do--we're only in this time and place for a very short time, an infinistesimal time; what comes after is eternally more important.

But people like Grandma, and like the nocturnally foul one putting rubber things on his stairs to the basement, maybe they think they'll live in this time and place forever--or for at least 287,689,092 more years.  Maybe it's their subconscious way of hoping that they'll live this life at least as long as the things they have and use here, because they're scared of extinguishment.

[Traveshamockery]

When I worked in coffee shops for many years, we always had customers coming in asking for the used espresso.  It's great in a compost.

Ha ha!  I tried that once.  I heard it was great for gardens so I took a big bag of coffee grounds that I got at Starbucks and spread them in the flowerbed with my healthy and beautiful vincas that I had had growing for three months (those things grow very well in Central Texas).  The next day they were wilting and dying. 

Apparently coffee grounds applied right to a flower bed are too acidic for flowers.   

[Miss Mia]

Ha ha!  I tried that once.  I heard it was great for gardens so I took a big bag of coffee grounds that I got at Starbucks and spread them in the flowerbed with my healthy and beautiful vincas that I had had growing for three months (those things grow very well in Central Texas).  The next day they were wilting and dying. 

Apparently coffee grounds applied right to a flower bed are too acidic for flowers.   

Yes, it's very acidic, but good for a compost heap.  One of these days I want to start a compost heap...it's on my to do list.

[Traveshamockery]

Yes, it's very acidic, but good for a compost heap.  One of these days I want to start a compost heap...it's on my to do list.

We have a compost heap.  My husband bought a chipper shredder a few years back and he gets so excited when he has stuff to chip and shred.  It does make some really nice mulch and we do put our coffee grounds in there. 

[Chris]

Yes, it's very acidic, but good for a compost heap.  One of these days I want to start a compost heap...it's on my to do list.

They sell these green composting cones at the garden store.  I don't know how large they are, but you bury the bottom half underground, and the top half serves as a cover and heat collector.  I don't think you have to take the compost back out; it's supposed to "release" the nutrients into the ground from where it's placed.

http://www.compostbins.com/compost-bins/compost-bins/solarconegreenconesolardigestersystem.cfm?source=gbase&gbid=Solarcone_Green_Cone_Solar_Digester_System

[MrsSmith]

They sell these green composting cones at the garden store.  I don't know how large they are, but you bury the bottom half underground, and the top half serves as a cover and heat collector.  I don't think you have to take the compost back out; it's supposed to "release" the nutrients into the ground from where it's placed.

http://www.compostbins.com/compost-bins/compost-bins/solarconegreenconesolardigestersystem.cfm?source=gbase&gbid=Solarcone_Green_Cone_Solar_Digester_System

  Wow.  I just dug a hole and dumped grass clippings and rabbit waste into it all summer.

[MrsSmith]

Well now, Mrs. Smith, I think these are reasonable questions.

When the prairie archaeologist was here last summer, surveying the place, he mentioned one time that "more than 99%"--please notice the "more than"--of the stuff the sod house pioneers used 100 years ago, don't exist any more.

A lot of stuff has been preserved in museums and among family heirlooms, yes, but that's barely nothing compared with all that once existed.

I think that was mighty ecological of our forebears, to not pollute the earth, to not leave things around that take centuries, millenia, eons, to decay back to nature.

And here we have Grandma, with this microwave oven, this plastic, that's going to take 287,689,092 years to return to nature.

It takes one summer--a mere three months--for those used coffee filters that I toss out into the garden and meadows, to break down and return to nature.

Since I don't have or use a microwave oven, made with substantial plastic, I suspect I'm a better friend of the earth than Grandma is.

Maybe it has something to do with acknowledgement of God, which neither Grandma or the nocturnally foul one do--we're only in this time and place for a very short time, an infinistesimal time; what comes after is eternally more important.

But people like Grandma, and like the nocturnally foul one putting rubber things on his stairs to the basement, maybe they think they'll live in this time and place forever--or for at least 287,689,092 more years.  Maybe it's their subconscious way of hoping that they'll live this life at least as long as the things they have and use here, because they're scared of extinguishment.

You've got to remember that these guys have no clue how our ancestors lived.  If they did, they wouldn't think it would be fun!  There's a reason almost no one was fat back then.  I've run a few of the normal, manual tools that were in common use, and I really, really like electric tools and diesel tractors!!!!! 

As for the things our ancestors DID leave behind...we've had much enjoyment in trying to figure out what such-and-such item WAS.  My great-grandfather had a bell-shaped, open sided, um, thing, that was used for years and years as the counter-balance to keep the cellar door open.  My dad spent countless hours trying to figure out what that "thing" was, and eventually was told by a much older farmer that it was a part from a horse-drawn, (not combine), I think it was called a thresher.  However, there are still a couple dozen various items in the attic that no one ever figured out.  Someday, my brother will have to send pics to an antique site or something.   

[Sam Adams]

I don't like coffee.

[delilahmused]

Yes, it's very acidic, but good for a compost heap.  One of these days I want to start a compost heap...it's on my to do list.

Also great for worm bins, which produces absolutely superior compost...saved only for favorite flowers and heirloom vegetables. Of course the worms are good for fishing and special treats for the most spoiled of hens, Sophie Clucker, Marlene, Juliette, Yokahama Mama, Agnes, and Belva.

Cindie