A frugal-meister's coffee maker

What do you do if your coffee maker totally bites the dust?

This frugal-meister improvises with what's on hand: one carafe, one funnel, paper coffee filters, and a kettle to boil water.

When undertaking any improvisational technique, there are drawbacks, like time, effort and maybe some clumsiness.

But the pluses of improvising, like this, can be very compelling.

• One, there's no outlay of cash to achieve your goal. (In this case, some good coffee.) 
• Two, the tools and accessories used can be put back to their original uses, requiring no extra storage for the instrument they're replacing. (For my kitchen, the counter top has a clean vibe going on.) 
• And three, I can tweak my process and even improve on the resulting outcome. (I'm making better coffee by getting the water to a hotter temperature, and keeping it better, by not sitting on a hot burner, but instead in an insulated flask.)

And this is just how I've been making my coffee, lately.

First obstacle -- getting the filter to tuck neatly into the funnel.

Cone-style coffee filters are more expensive than basket-style. But cone-style is what fits, best, in the funnel. So, I make my own cone-style out of a basket-style, with just a couple of quick folds.

I flatten the coffee filter into a circle. Then fold the filter in half, and then half again, creating a wedge shape.

The folded filter now fits in the funnel, point down. I put both the funnel and filter into the mouth of an insulated carafe (a mason jar or thermos also works).

The cone-shaped filter has 2 "pockets" which can hold grounds. I fill one of these filter-pockets with coffee grounds.

When my kettle of water comes to a boil, I slowly pour it over the coffee grounds that are in the paper filter, and allow to drip through. Voila, one pot of coffee.

I share this because you never know when you could be without your coffee maker, like there's a power outage and your electric coffee maker doesn't work, or, you're camping or picnicking, or, you don't have a working coffee maker (remember those college days with minimal kitchen equipment?). As long as you can boil water, you can make your morning brew.


Now it's your turn to share. How or what have you improvised, using what you have on hand? Doesn't it make you feel awesome when you can cobble together a substitute for a piece of equipment, a tool, or appliance that you've grown accustomed to using?

Changing how I do dinners, to meet "new" demands

When the old way of doing things no longer serves its purpose, then changes have to happen.

I haven't been feeling well, for many months. My energy is just gone most days. I'm still waiting on the results of some tests. For the time being, I need to make changes to some ordinary tasks, like dinner prep.

Growing up, my mom prepared a fresh, new meal, every evening. From a diner's point of view, this is very appealing. You get a new dinner every evening. Meals are freshly cooked, retaining color and flavor. And there's lots of variety in each week. From the cook's perspective, this takes a whole lot of time and energy.

So, I'm taking notes from some of you. I am cooking once, and serving 3, 4 or 5 times, and, in the same week. My Cheap & Cheerful Menus will reflect this. I get out my largest stock pots and cook BIG. And I cook EASY, like rice and beans, EASY, or a vat of soup, EASY. Complicated meals are completely out of the question right now.

If I had freezer space, I could freeze most of the servings, and have more variety on a weekly basis. For now, with my limited freezer space, we're just dealing with a lot of repetition. However, I do vary the side dishes, when possible.

The good news is, this is working. I am able to give myself more time off from physical work, as well as spare some time for appointments and various self-help practices.

I hope to get the results of those tests very soon. And then I can go from there and get on the road to a solid recovery.

Sometimes, food has to be just food.

Have you ever had to change your "old ways" to meet "new" demands? Life is a challenge, isn't it?
What are your favorite Cooking Big meals? Soups and casseroles are always good candidates for Cooking Big. Do you have a favorite soup or casserole recipe, that translates well for large amounts?