What’s a farm house without a percolating coffee pot? Mike and I have used a french press for years. But it has disadvantages. Namely that it doesn’t make that much coffee, you have to boil the water first and it doesn’t keep it hot for long. Now that we’re officially kicking the Starbucks habit because it’s not down the street, we needed a new way to make the morning brew.
Then I saw Michael Ruhlman’s Percolator Love post and I thought, why not a percolator? It makes sense for a farm house, it will make better coffee than a drip maker, and it will keep the coffee hot until unplugged. I loved the idea of getting a vintage General Electric like the one’s that Michael loves, but ever since he wrote his post they’ve been going for $40 – $50 apiece on eBay. And after being outbid four times (my limit for an old, used coffeepot is $35) I decided to buy a new one that looked retro.
So, since Tuesday this little beauty has been on our counter. Any you know what? It makes just as good of coffee as advertised… Seriously some of the best coffee I’ve had in years.
It’s the Farberware 8-cup percolator. It makes the perfect amount for us both to fill a travel mug and Mike to take a second cup in his mini thermos. And best of all it keeps that coffee hot for almost 45 minutes after Mike leaves until I do, and it tastes just as good as if it was fresh.
*****
Our new house came with a propane hot water on demand system. Yay, right? Well yes and no. We’re already discovering that it has a few quirks. The first is that it’s an outside system so is mounted on the outside of the laundry wall on the backside of the house. Which is nice because it doesn’t take up space, but bad because you have to go outside if the water isn’t warm.
Which it wasn’t yesterday morning. It was a very cold night and apparently the water in the pipe between the pumphouse and the water heater was 31.9 degrees. Not frozen, but just slightly below 32. And that my friends trips the shut-off function on the water heater forcing you to go outside in your pajamas and hit the reset button.
Of course I didn’t figure that out until after I’d taken the coldest shower of my life and been forced into a seriously foul mood. But then again now we know – and this morning the first thing I did was run the sink until I got warm water. Once I knew the water heater wasn’t going to trip out, I got ready to get in the shower…
*****
I made the most amazing pork shoulder roast in the slow cooker on Tuesday. Of course full credit for the recipe goes to Sugar Creek Farm. I’ve been wanting to try the Kahula Pork recipe for a while, but had packed my slow cooker in the first round of de-cluttering the old house. Dumb.
So Tuesday morning I mixed the marinade, spread it on the roast, put it in the crock and turned it on low. Then I left it there for almost 13 hours. Really.
When I got home the house was filled with the most amazing smell. The fat had melted, the meat fell off the bone and we both went “oh my god, that’s good!” We ate it with the green beans I froze this summer and a bit of white rice. It was a pretty small roast, but there was enough left that last night we made barbeque pork sandwiches with the leftovers. They were just as amazing!
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Glad to hear it turned out for you! I’m not any kind of chef, and I tend to ramble, so I’m always hoping I’ve not totally confused anybody
Hi Laura,
I’ve been thinking about a percolator, and will check out that post, but I’m wondering if the model you purchased has plastic parts? I am trying to avoid them….
The pork roast sound fabulous, like something I need to try very soon.
Ali
That percolator reminds me of delicious ‘cowboy’ coffee. Probably some of the best coffee you can make, by using only a percolator.
Sorry that you had to turn into a popcicle while taking a shower. How frustrating!
Oooh! I remember that Kahlua Pork recipe on sugar creek farm. I actually saved the recipe and printed it out. Your pork shoulder roats sound scrumptious!