Quandry

My coffee grinder is broken. This is not a new development. It's just like me to keep something that's been broken for MONTHS in the hope that I'll figure out what to do with it. I have been going without it, but now it's starting to get on my nerves; poor Bren has heard me moan and groan about this silly thing for weeks now, and I'm sure he's bored to death by my external dialogue about it!

See, I don't use it to grind coffee. Yes, coffee purists, I grind mine at the supermarket and then work my way through the grounds in the next couple weeks. Shock, horror... now pull your knickers up and listen, 'cos I need your help!

I use the thing to grind up freshly toasted spices (cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, chilies...). Freshly ground spices taste so much better, don't you think? My mortar and pestle is a delicate thing, no match for the robust outer shells of cloves and cumin, and so I rely on my coffee grinder. Made in Germany, but no match for an Indian cook I'm afraid. It bit it after I ground up some toasted coriander seeds.

So here's my quandry. Do I try to find a place that'll fix it, no doubt costing more than the $20 or so that the thing cost in the first place? Or do I throw it in the garbage, where it will occupyup more space in a landfill and come back to haunt my grandchildren?

Help!

-x-
aarti