AC Care Tips for Dummies Like Us

I still have no doubt that we're among the very last in Israel's cold mountainous region to have gone modern and gotten an airconditioner for heating. Since we never replace anything while they still function, even poorly, it took us a pretty long time to make the splurge. This is the first full winter we've had it.

On the whole I really love heating the livingroom, plus kitchen and dining area with this airconditioner. The big bonus is that I can set up the folding clothes driers and get the clothes perfectly dry, too.

We hardly used it in the summer for cooling. One reason is that the heat doesn't bother me all that much, and the other is that we renovated the kitchen and had the fridge plugged into that socket, while the work was done.

We've tried to remember to clean the filters, though it's hard to know just how often...

A few weeks ago, I began to notice that periodically the AC would stop, and the little screen would say "HI." After it didn't go back on, within what I considered soon enough, I did an "experiment." I pulled out the plug and then after a couple of minutes, plugged it in and it worked. Then that happened on Shabbat when it's forbidden to play with the plug. So, I waited and eventually it went back on.

So, on the other day, in the midst of the cold stormy weather, when my husband reported that it had stopped and showed "HI," I told him not to worry, even though the AC had been making lots of noise, sounding like a hovering helicopter. Then he reported that only cold air was coming out. So I told him to pull the plug, and he turned it off. A bit later, we cleaned the filter. It was the filthiest I had ever found it. Actually, for the first time it really looked like it needed a cleaning. But I was afraid to turn the AC back on.

The following morning, since we had paid for extra  service, I called Tadiran and told the woman who answered about what had transpired.

"Did you clean the filter?"
"Yes, we just did."
"So, turn it on."
"Really? I had been afraid to."
"No need to be afraid. Tell me if it heats up. It may take a few minutes. And don't worry about the HI. It just means that the AC is defrosting itself."

That's it, thank Gd. Now I know two new things about our AC.

1. HI means the air-conditioner's defrosting, so allow it to continue.
2. If the motor begins making a lot of noise, turn it off and clean the filter.

I hope that helps others. I'd hate to think that we're the dumbest of all.

Simple Kitchen "Repair"

From the very beginning of my new kitchen, there was no water pressure from the dairy sink. And it went from bad to worse. I called in the kitchen guy and told him that he must have made a real mistake and had to fix it.

He couldn't understand why only drops were coming out. So he did what I should have done immediately and/or what my kids could have done when they visited. He got a tool to unscrew the little filter at the opening of the faucet.

Without that little filter the water flowed nice and strong. Simple cleaning didn't clean the filter, so he put it in a cup with vinegar and told me to rinse and screw it back on in the morning. That's what I did. Now I can easily wash the dishes, and the hot water comes out quickly, too.



PS In all honesty, I had been thinking of it, but the filter didn't unscrew easily. I should have tried harder, but I never would have thought of using vinegar to clean it.

Homemade Cold Brew Coffee: WOW!

Yesterday, soon after posting about the pros and cons, differences between perked and French Press coffees, I began preparing for today's cold brewed coffee. Yes, it's not something you can have spontaneously. Cold brewed must be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator. From what I researched it can be kept a few days, so you can try to keep a large glass jar full of it, and then make more when it begins to empty. If that's the case, you need a filter; I'm thinking of using the simple "Low-Tech One Cup Coffeemaker Filter" I bought over a year ago. The online sites I found suggested using homemade ones, like cheesecloth and even tying up the coffee grounds in a stocking, which you pull out when the coffee is brewed. Just don't launder the stocking with detergent, or you'll be tasting coffee and soap.

As you'll see, I used my French Press. Photos to follow with instructions:

1- Put the coffee in the container of the French Press or whatever container you will use. Remember that it must be in the refrigerator at least six hours. Mine was prepared about twenty hours before drinking.

2- Fill with tap water and then stir.

3- Cover before putting in fridge. Since there is no cover for my French Press, I used a plastic bag.

Then the following morning, all I had to do to "prepare" my coffee was to removed it from the refrigerator and filter it with the plunger.

4- It came out looking nice a dark.

5- I pressed the plunger to separate the coffee grinds from the luscious liquid coffee and then poured some into the mug.

Neither photo, with or without flash got the color just right. But just forget the color, the coffee was fantastic!! This is the perfect summer coffee. No need for awful diluting ice cubes and a gazillion times better than the fake ice coffee I tried in New York, which used a coffee concentrate. This cold brewed coffee is also less work than my freezing coffee to be added as ice cubes.

Of course the key is advance preparation. I will have to try it and filter in advance for Shabbat.

The bottom line here is:

SUCCESS!

New Coffee!

When I was in New York in March, I stocked up on American coffee. I prepare it with a French Press and now sometimes with my new "cup filter," which I saw and used at my friend's and bought for myself in Zabar's. The amazing thing about that is that I bought the sample from the shelf, because there weren't any more in stock. And now almost two months later I can't find that simple cup filter on their site. I may have bought the very last one!  Did you know that alte cockes (old folks) like myself get a discount in Zabar's? I don't remember how much, but every penny counts.

I did my "big" (a couple of bags) coffee shopping one evening in the Food Emporium on Second Avenue around 50th Street. They had a special, but only at the cash register did I discover that it was only for their "members," which I'm not. So I only got three instead of four. I just finished one of them, French Roast, and today I opened Caramel Macchiato.

I drink it, as is my custom, with milk and sugar. It has a fun flavor. Probably if I had cream, I wouldn't need the sugar. That's something that many people don't realize when they buy low-fat or "lite" manufactured foods, like mayonnaise or yogurts. Reducing the fat demands that the food get added sweeteners and flavorings. So, it may also be better for weight-watchers to eat the more natural higher fat foods. When it comes to dairy, there are important vitamins and minerals in the milk fats, and if you think you're eating more healthily by cutting out cholesterol, you may be reducing it too much. In those cases, the body overproduces it.

And another thing about coffee is that the caffeine isn't considered all that dangerous either, as long as you don't drink it all day long. A certain amount is healthy for most people.

Enjoy!!

My New Low-Tech One Cup Coffeemaker Filter

Honestly, I don't know what it is called. I used it at my friend's home in New York and asked her where to buy one.

It just has three simple parts. The lower one has a very fine filter, finer than a French Press, so I can use it with my inexpensive Israeli Elite Turkish Coffee.

Then there's a cup that fits in which has a few small holes.

• The filter piece goes over the cup. 
• The coffee goes over the filter, and 
• the cup with holes over that.
• Pour in the water which drips slowly picking up the flavor of the coffee and lands in the cup. 
• You can use the cover to keep in the heat.
• And then when it's finished, meaning all the water has filtered through, you can rest the filter and cup on the cover.

I bought it at Zabar's on Broadway, but I can't find it on their site. It was the last one they had, and I bought the display smaple.