Small amounts of oils are fine.

And citrus peels are absolutely fine unless you are intending to dump a ton of the stuff.

tj

? They make good compost. Do you think it is an acidic issue? It ballances out when composted making a rich compost full of vitamins/minerals.

"Bread, rice, pasta, cookies, oils, lemon & orange peels, fats, they've all made it to my compost with no ill effects (well, maybe a planaria or two). Moderation is the keyword."

Well said.

Annpat, are you ill? Is it really you or has someone hijacked your username and is doing a weak immitation of your usually fenatical posts?

I'm worried. Very worried.

seems I stepped in a pile of poo with my question, its an honest one, I'm not impersonating anyone, nor am I a troll.
just a newbie trying to get my first batch of compost started : )

No, you didn't step in anything, granolamom. As far as I can tell, it's some kind of very old joke. I can't recall when I started lurking and then posting here occasionally -- might have been some time last year for the latter -- but it was around then as well. It can be confusing to people who come here with real questions about composting pasta, bread, cookies, and such. You and your DH are on the right track -- although I will say that I don't pay much attention to the "everything in moderation" mantra. I dump in almost anything, and it seems to compost eventually. Oils would be an exception, but we don't use them much any more, so they're no longer an issue. Breads, crackers, etc. that I bring home from restaurants (yes, my handy purse often contains various strange items in addition to wallet and sunglasses!) all go in the pile. We even have a whole chicken in the freezer, and since we've given up on eating meat, I'm probably going to dump that in one of these days as well! Anyway, go ahead and compost your rice and cookies -- your pile will be fine.

Possessing a refined sensibility, and out of deference to our neighbors, and our pledge to do no harm to the Composting Movement, we here don't compost things that are visually disturbing. Bread comes to mind. (Cheerios, too, of course!) Your cookies are debatable. When you made them, did you forget the flour, like I once forgot to put the eggs in mine? When the cookies were already in the oven, did you come upon the two forgotten cups of flour still there on the counter? If so, I'm thinking you can probably compost them. You might want to closely monitor them the first day or two, and if you see any movement, any indication of sog, you might be able to remove them from the pile, before too much damage has been done to your psyche. They could then be quickly wrapped and disposed of in the landfill. Or you could wrap them tightly in plastic layers before putting them in your pile, I've never considered that before.

Maybe just don't take the chance. I think that's best.

Compost away.

After my son fries his chicken tenders, mozz sticks, etc. I usually dump the left over oil into the compost bin. That stuff certainly isn't going down the drain - it's terrible for drains, pipes, and septic systems. Also I wipe out the pans and greasy stuff with used paper towels, which of course, then go into the compost.

When bread gets wet, it gets soggy and grosses annpat out. If you don't care if she thinks you're uncivilized, you can compost it.

Interesting recipe, hey AP, does it have to be Italian, I only have French bread in the house.

Lloyd

I gotta start keeping it in the freezer instead of the pantry.

I tried your recipe, but it made the bread taste soapy. It tasted much better when I soaked it in the rinse water instead. You might want to try it that way next time.

Works for me. And it gives the kitchen that homey, "Italian Butcher Shop Look" with lots of dangly sausages. Except they're loafs of bread.

Maybe I should head over to the home decorating forum to post this suggestion as well.