Most recipe that calls for making bouquet garni, which is a classic French combination of herbs and spices used to flavor soups, stocks, and stews usually ask to use cheesecloth to wrap your herb/spice combo. But, how many of us have cheesecloths laying around for this?

Not moi.

But! What I do have is lots and lots of coffee filters. Because, I use them for everything except to make coffee (I like my espresso way to much) the little inexpensive product can be used for tons of things around the house: to clean glass, mirrors, and televisions screens. To absorb the grease from fried foods, as separators for your fancy china, or to protect those fancy pots and pas from rubbing together. I can go on and on.

But, you can also use them to make your bouquet garni. Place the herbs and spices into the coffee filter, tie the end of the filter closed, catching the stems of the herbs as you do so, and then tie the other end of the string to the handle of the pot or pan so you can easily retrieve the bouquet once you are done with your recipe.

Another thing you can use them for? To line your baking pan, they work just as good as parchment paper.

There you have it, coffee filters, not just to make coffee.