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We started this school from scratch because we wanted to do it better and to do it right. We believe in good food. We believe in education. We believe in the communion that takes place between people sitting down together over an expertly crafted meal. We believe that learning to cook and bake should be affordable. We believe that solid skills, proper technique, educated palates, and comprehension of kitchen math are the cornerstones for cooks with futures, so that is what we teach. We are not perfect, but we strive for perfection. We expect our students to work hard and try every day and every minute. We expect the same from ourselves. We have heard our graduates referred to as 'Kitchen Ninjas' (at which we laugh but think that the term might fit). We do not want to take over the world. But we do want to make it a better place, filled with better cooks and bakers, better food, and a higher awareness of what it means to cultivate, harvest, render, prepare, cook, plate, present, savor, and give thanks, while taking responsible steps to make sure that those who come after us will have the same or better opportunities.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Ode to Coffee Grounds

by Lead Chef Instructor (2nd Term) Dan Brophy

Part of my daily routine involves coffee grounds. Although I am avowed tea drinker for life, coffee grounds have earned a place in my heart.


Oh, Coffee Grounds
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.



1) A magic ingredient once recycled as coffee grounds. In maintaining five compost bins and two worm boxes, there is an unending call for another layer of coffee grounds. A layer is 4 to 6 five-gallon buckets. My compost is typically a rotating layer of coffee grounds, chicken manure, crushed eggshells, leaves or straw, and any seasonal specialties I can drum up.


2) Acid-loving plants can be mulched directly with coffee grounds. The blueberries, huckleberries, currants, azaleas, rhododendrons, and lingonberries all get regularly buried with coffee grounds. Potatoes and peas seem to enjoy 8-10 inches every few weeks.


3) Coffee grounds, the unlikely work out aid. A five gallon bucket of coffee grounds weighs about 36 pounds. Load them into the truck, unload the truck, load onto the cart or hand truck, roll across the yard. Empty. Wash. Repeat as necessary. Typically 8-10 buckets a week. Although at the height of my coffee ground madness, I was recycling 20-25 five gallon buckets a week. It’s aerobic, working all the major muscle groups.

4) Coffee grounds will provide the matrix for a variety of oyster mushrooms. Past experiments have yielded a small-scale project. But a break through in habitat control may result in a larger, more consistent year-round harvest. Stay tuned for future details.

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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousMarch 19, 2012 at 9:07 PM

    Love it mate! I write extensively about coffee grounds and really enjoy reading about it from others.

    ReplyDelete

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