It was a terrifying moment. We had pressed the button, but nothing was happening. There was no gurgling. No sucking sound. No steam. The coffee maker was not doing what it was meant to do.
We generally use your standard drip coffee maker. Not the fancy one at a time pod things. There is more than one person in the house and we all want that sweet elixir. No one wants to wait. Just give us our jolt of caffeine. And what if we want a little a little hot in that, just to top up your mug? Your pod machine can’t do that.
But our usually reliable machine was just sitting there. Doing nothing. We checked. It was loaded properly. We unplugged and replugged and replugged again. Still nothing. Although at one point it beeped and several lights flashed at us, all at once.
“It’s laughing at us,” I said. And the machine possibly was. It knew what we wanted. And it wasn’t going to happen.
But wait. We were not yet defeated. We would not have to face the day uncaffeinated. There’s more than one way to brew a cup of coffee.
So we dove into the cupboard. You know the one. The cupboard where small appliances of dubious value go to retire. Some of them may get dragged out from time to time, but mostly they sit in there, gathering dust. And somewhere in that cupboard there lives a French press.
Not a good French press. The seal around its plunger is a bit suspect. It does not make a completely clean and clear cup of coffee. In fact, it seems to produce something a bit closer to mud. But that’s okay. It still makes the stuff. It may not be quite good to the last drop, unless you like your last drop to be full of very small coffee grounds. But it is something close to coffee, and that’s what counts.
So out came the old French press and the non-functioning coffee maker was pushed aside. In a few short minutes, we were good to face the day. All was once again right with the world.
But it did make me wonder what else might be hiding in the cupboard that could be of use. Maybe I should dig out the salad spinner.
