Today, a fellow classmate and super cute friend invited me to go shopping at Haymarket, and I convinced her to stop by Costco in Everette, MA for some apartment essentials for the semester. The Haymarket that I am referring to, for those who are unfamiliar, is a Friday-Saturday open air market near the Haymarket station accessible via both Green and Orange lines. Vendors pick up ripe and overripe fruits and veggies and other grocery store items that may be close to or just past their prime and price them irresistibly for a quick sale. Bargain hunters all around Boston and surrounding towns would meander through the raucous market to pick up often more than what they need and can carry. Prices like $5 for an entire large case of plums, at least 15 lbs, was hard to resist today, but I know I would never be able to eat all that without wastefully throwing some in the garbage. But 4 nice zucchinis for $1, I had to split that deal with my friend. Yum, I can’t wait to make some stir-friend zucchinis this week!
But what prompted this blog entry began with the Costo trip. My roommates and I have gone through almost an entire 6.3 oz Kirkland Tellicherry Black Pepper Grinder and the Kirkland Mediterranean Sea Salt Grinder since September 2011, so I went to the spice aisle to pick some up. However, I noticed a larger jar of the Tellicherry Peppercorns and thought ooh, refill! When I got home, I attempted to twist off the grinder top to refill the bottle, however it felt like the whole grinder would break before it comes off. Then I noticed the red word on the label–disposable, and panicked. Uh-oh, is it not meant to be refillable? Did I just waste $6 on a jar of whole peppercorns? For someone living in Boston without a car, going to Costco is a real feat, and to return a jar of peppercorn, totally not worth the time and effort. What can I make in the next two years that can use up an entire 14.1 oz jar of whole peppercorns? Hot pot? Google! Actually, I’ve been Binging lately, you can collect points for using the search engine, and get free $5 giftcards for Amazon, Groupon and other cool things. So far I’ve earned $15 in Amazon credits! Wooo! But back to the main point, I binged “how to refill Kirkland peppercorn grinder” and came across a youtube video of some guy drilling the top of a disposable pepper grinder (How To Refill Throwaway Pepper Grinders – Chef Remy Cooks!) and decided to look at the top of my grinder. What I noticed was coarse and fine adjustment screw and I was able to twist it off completely and pull out a piece of white plastic underneath it to reveal 3 slits large enough for the peppercorns to fit through! Ingenuity! I carefully poured the peppercorns from the jar and slowly filled up the grinder. Then, you just screw everything back on in the reverse order that you took them apart. And voilà, success! You can now continue to grind more peppercorns!
So in case anyone wonders and tries to google how to refill a disposable peppercorn grinder, hopefully these tips will give you the insights on how to successfully refill yours!
eyedéologie 