Retirement is a week filled with Saturdays and Sundays interrupted only occasionally by a holiday.

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Monday, February 16, 2009

And To Think They Make Coffee Too

Now...all my friends know that I have difficulty finding my way around the kitchen. I leave that room of the house to Rick who is a terrific cook. So you can imagine my surprise when one of my friends sent me this information about a simple kitchen item which apparently has far more uses than its name would infer. So I thought I'd share with you these helpful hints regarding the use of coffee filters.

  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."
So next time you reach for that coffee filter, remember it can be your household friend. And, of course, they are great to use in your coffee makers too!

Oops...I told you Rick knew his way around the kitchen. Just as I was putting the finishing touches on this post, Rick came in and read it over my shoulder. His comment? "You know, a paper towel would work just as well on most of these and it'd be a heck of a lot cheaper." Damn...he's so right!

5 comments:

Mary said...

Joan,

I like the idea of using coffee filters. They would fit perfectly over small bowls to heat food in the microwave. Paper towels have lint, so coffee filters would work better for cleaning windows. Newspaper also works well.

You gave me some really good ideas for the use of coffee filters. Paper towel is fine in some instances, but these would work better for many. And if you buy coffee filters at the dollar store, they are much cheaper than paper towel. We buy 500 coffee filters for $1.50.

Have a great week, my friend.
Blessings,
Mary

Renee Nefe said...

Your Rick is one smart guy!

Linda said...

Well, yes and no on the paper towels being cheaper being that the cost of a roll of paper towels has absolutely skyrocketed and you can get a big package of coffee filters for pretty cheap if you look around. Also, I think that coffee filters are a bit more durable than your cheaper paper towels.

At least that's my two cents worth!

Michele said...

Pretty nifty ideas!!
I will keep some of these ideas close at hand!
Great post!

rosemary said...

I drink instant. and i agree...paper towels do all of this.