I keep a bowl by the sink into which I put coffee grounds, egg shells, vegie and fruit peelings--whatever's on the menu. Then, while dinner's cooking, I take the bowl and my trowel out to the garden, dig a hole, and dump in the contents. My soil is solid clay. Just turning it over helps. I started doing this in the Southwest, where I had nothing but sand. It composts just as well in the ground as on the pile, saves me a trip to the far corner, and gives me a chance to say night-night to the garden.

I used a system years ago and liked it, but if you love the smell of brewing coffee you're out of luck. I've copied a bit of info: Do try this at home For cold-process coffee, you need two ingredients, coffee beans and water. Buy quality beans, and make sure they are Arabica (not Robusta). It's easiest to grind them at the store since you'll be doing a whole pound at one time. Grind them on a "coarse" setting. Do not use a grind that would work in a drip maker or you will clog the filter and end up with a mess. Since coffee is 98 percent to 99 percent water, it pays to use good water. Use tap, filtered or bottled water. Avoid distilled water because the absence of minerals will leave the coffee tasting flat. You do need a special cold-process coffee maker. For a Toddy, order from their Web site, www.toddycafe.com. The decanter and brew container, plug and two filters cost $34.95. To recap, place the "brewing" container with the plug and filter in place over the carafe. Add a specified amount of water and coffee. Elapsed time, 6 minutes. The coffee "brews" for 12 hours. Pull the plug and coffee concentrate streams into the carafe. A good ratio is one part coffee concentrate to three parts water, milk or cream. In recipe form, add 1/4 cup concentrate to a mug and add 3/4 cup of hot water just off the boil for an 8-ounce mug. The concentrate is especially good for iced and frozen drinks and desserts. It really shines in iced coffee that is notorious for being watered down and weak. For parties, make up coffee ahead and store it in a pre-heated thermos carafe. It also can be frozen in ice cube trays and used as needed.

We normally drink a local brand, Peet's, selecting the Italian Roast (a lot stronger and more bitter than French Roast) and have it preground in a #2 grind, which is one small step above powder (Turkish). A standard drip grind is #6 and espresso is #4, for comparison. We do a Melitta drip with Melitta woven filters, which make a much better brew than standard paper filters. For iced coffee, we do a double-strength brew: make our usual coffee, then immediately use it to pour through a fresh batch of grounds. DH grew up in Hong Kong so he prefers the taste of sweetened condensed milk in iced tea and coffee drinks. If we make a large batch, we chill it in the frig for a few hours so that no ice cubes dilute it. But if we're desperate, a few ice cubes in a glass chill it quickly, and this brew is so strong, a 1/4 cup of water is barely noticeable in a tall glass. Chocolate syrup is a nice addition, except you have to add extra for it to make any impact on what is basically a triple-strength espresso drink. Unbelievably, my DH can drink this right before going to bed and drop off to sleep like a baby....yeah, I'm jealous of that!

Mc Donald's Vanilla Iced Coffee (Copy Cat Recipe) 6-1/3 cups cold water 6 tablespoons fresh ground coffee 1-(14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk 2 tablespoons vanilla extract ice cubes Add coffee grounds inside filter/basket, and adjust basket to fit coffee maker. Pour cold water into coffee maker. Start brewing the coffee. After coffee's done brewing, turn off coffee maker, and set pot aside for coffee to cool somewhat. Combine brewed coffee and sweetened condensed milk into a large pitcher; stir thoroughly until coffee and condensed milk is blended together. Stir in the vanilla extract. Pour flavored coffee into glass that is filled with ice cubes, or refrigerate until coffee is chilled, then serve. This makes (58 ounces) of vanilla iced coffee (about 5 servings).