It's early in the morning and I am sitting here drinking some really weak organic coffee because yesterday we forgot to go into Kroger's and buy more and I had to make 6 cups o' java with enough coffee beans for 4 to 5 cups. Normally I like to make 8 to 10 cups in the morning of fairly strong (but considered weak by my siblings and late father) coffee
At least it is some caffeine and hot if not decent tasting.
Showing posts with label Coffee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coffee. Show all posts
Friday, March 14, 2008
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Up North for 36 Hours
Our one full day at my Dad's began with a walk to the beach with Eugene than coffee and breakfast. Than another walk up the beach with Dad and Maggie.
On this walk we bumped into Judy Kane and sat and talked with her for maybe 15-20 minutes. It was nice to see one of the Kanes. Would not be a proper visit without that. We have been neighbors of the Kanes for decades.
After sitting and talking with Judy we continued on our walk to the point and before long Dad suggested we do not walk to the point but rather go into the woods. So we did.
We took a public access road out to the main road, crossed the street and went into the woods via the tennis courts. I love walking in the woods behind the cottage. They are some very nice woods, full of oaks, boletus mushrooms, blueberries, turkeys, etc.. Simply a cornucopia of wildlife. For years and years the woods was abused by all sorts of people but over time many have realized what a resource they have in the woods and now for some time the woods have been protected by the people of the Point Lookout.
So the 4 of us took a walk in the woods and saw a couple of blue jays, some sort of woodpecker, black capped chickadees. lots of moss, oak trees, red pines, sand, various vegetation of the understory, etc., etc..
After a while we meandered back to the cottage and saw that Scott had shown up but without Speranza. She had decided to go back to Sterling Heights. Okay. It was lunch time so lamb sandwiches were made and consumed and soon enough it was time to get in the car and go to Standish to attend a dulcimer concert in which Rebecca was participating. I took one picture of the concert, it sucks so will not be posted.
Around 20 people played in the concert. Mainly bluegrass/mountain tunes/gospel. Rebecca sang at least 4 songs. The event was well attended I thought and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I did. Eugene bought several selections from the bake sale. Some sort of toffee bar concoction, peanut butter cookies and popcorn. I entered a quilt raffle but did not win.
Concert ended, we got in the car and went home via Jay's Farm Market. Eugene and I looked at the pumpkins and apples and were amazed at the low prices. About half what they are around here. I guess because Michigan got a lot more rain and did not lose their fruit crops this spring. That, and the fact Michigan seems to be in a depression economically.
Got home and dinner making ensued. Dad made us all "Chicken Guillaume" a dish I created when I ran the Alexander House Kitchen back in the early 1990's. It's a boneless chicken breast sauteed than topped with pesto and mozzarella cheese and put under broiler for a couple of minutes. Dinner was good, and unlike the night before, I was able to stay up past 8:30pm and did. Maggie, Rebecca and I sat at the dinner table and talked about life, religion, current events, family until almost 10pm when Scott joined us. It was good. At midnight we all went to bed in order to not be exhausted for the drive back to Ohio the next day.
The next following morning we got coffeed up. Did the last beach walk, ate breakfast, talked and around 11am began to make serious moves towards the rental car and the trip home.
The good byes took a while but were not particularly sad. After a couple of pictures of the Owsley's was shot by Eugene we finally got ourselves into the car and headed south.
On this walk we bumped into Judy Kane and sat and talked with her for maybe 15-20 minutes. It was nice to see one of the Kanes. Would not be a proper visit without that. We have been neighbors of the Kanes for decades.
After sitting and talking with Judy we continued on our walk to the point and before long Dad suggested we do not walk to the point but rather go into the woods. So we did.
We took a public access road out to the main road, crossed the street and went into the woods via the tennis courts. I love walking in the woods behind the cottage. They are some very nice woods, full of oaks, boletus mushrooms, blueberries, turkeys, etc.. Simply a cornucopia of wildlife. For years and years the woods was abused by all sorts of people but over time many have realized what a resource they have in the woods and now for some time the woods have been protected by the people of the Point Lookout.
So the 4 of us took a walk in the woods and saw a couple of blue jays, some sort of woodpecker, black capped chickadees. lots of moss, oak trees, red pines, sand, various vegetation of the understory, etc., etc..
After a while we meandered back to the cottage and saw that Scott had shown up but without Speranza. She had decided to go back to Sterling Heights. Okay. It was lunch time so lamb sandwiches were made and consumed and soon enough it was time to get in the car and go to Standish to attend a dulcimer concert in which Rebecca was participating. I took one picture of the concert, it sucks so will not be posted.
Around 20 people played in the concert. Mainly bluegrass/mountain tunes/gospel. Rebecca sang at least 4 songs. The event was well attended I thought and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I did. Eugene bought several selections from the bake sale. Some sort of toffee bar concoction, peanut butter cookies and popcorn. I entered a quilt raffle but did not win.
Concert ended, we got in the car and went home via Jay's Farm Market. Eugene and I looked at the pumpkins and apples and were amazed at the low prices. About half what they are around here. I guess because Michigan got a lot more rain and did not lose their fruit crops this spring. That, and the fact Michigan seems to be in a depression economically.
Got home and dinner making ensued. Dad made us all "Chicken Guillaume" a dish I created when I ran the Alexander House Kitchen back in the early 1990's. It's a boneless chicken breast sauteed than topped with pesto and mozzarella cheese and put under broiler for a couple of minutes. Dinner was good, and unlike the night before, I was able to stay up past 8:30pm and did. Maggie, Rebecca and I sat at the dinner table and talked about life, religion, current events, family until almost 10pm when Scott joined us. It was good. At midnight we all went to bed in order to not be exhausted for the drive back to Ohio the next day.
The next following morning we got coffeed up. Did the last beach walk, ate breakfast, talked and around 11am began to make serious moves towards the rental car and the trip home.
The good byes took a while but were not particularly sad. After a couple of pictures of the Owsley's was shot by Eugene we finally got ourselves into the car and headed south.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Chickens in the Morning
One of my favorite farm chores is getting up at dawn on a clear morning and feeding the chickens.
Chickens are such joyous animals in the morning. They get noisy when I go into their area. The noise level gets louder and louder as they hear me open the feed bucket and fill the feeders and finally, when the doors to the chicken tractor are opened they come pouring out flapping wings (and this current group is still small enough to be able to get a few inches off of the ground) and crowd around the newly filled feeders and the waterer and fill up after a night long fast.
After feeding he birds, the coffee is done brewing and I go back in the house and grab a cup.
Chickens are such joyous animals in the morning. They get noisy when I go into their area. The noise level gets louder and louder as they hear me open the feed bucket and fill the feeders and finally, when the doors to the chicken tractor are opened they come pouring out flapping wings (and this current group is still small enough to be able to get a few inches off of the ground) and crowd around the newly filled feeders and the waterer and fill up after a night long fast.
After feeding he birds, the coffee is done brewing and I go back in the house and grab a cup.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Coffee
For the past umpteen years I have been a total coffee snob. All I would buy is gourmet coffee, Guatemalan Antigua shade grown being about my all time favorite, though there are some lovely Sumatran coffees too. The past 8 years or so all the coffee I bought was fair trade and certified organic (and usually Guatemalan Antigua).
My Husband would tell me that I was spending way too much on coffee and it really didn't matter as far as taste goes if the stuff is fair trade, organic, shade grown, whole bean or not. He is sooo wrong about this. But than I'm the gourmand, he is not (but I am working on him).
I am drinking a cup of Yuban coffee and I am here to tell it does matter. This stuff is pretty bad (and we have a huge can of it to go through before we buy more...maybe). I opened the can 2 days ago and for some reason was not paying attention to what the stuff tasted like the first day and yesterday decided I made it too weak so today I upped the coffee content by 50% and at least it is not too weak but even with a lot of raw cream in it it is still not very good. Better than instant but not even close to some good whole bean shade grown, organic, fair trade coffee.
At least the stuff has caffeine in it so it is not all bad, but pretty darned close. And because it is too weak for my tastes if used per directions I will be using the huge can up far more quickly than anticipated and can get back to fair trade yummy coffee sooner than later.
My Husband would tell me that I was spending way too much on coffee and it really didn't matter as far as taste goes if the stuff is fair trade, organic, shade grown, whole bean or not. He is sooo wrong about this. But than I'm the gourmand, he is not (but I am working on him).
I am drinking a cup of Yuban coffee and I am here to tell it does matter. This stuff is pretty bad (and we have a huge can of it to go through before we buy more...maybe). I opened the can 2 days ago and for some reason was not paying attention to what the stuff tasted like the first day and yesterday decided I made it too weak so today I upped the coffee content by 50% and at least it is not too weak but even with a lot of raw cream in it it is still not very good. Better than instant but not even close to some good whole bean shade grown, organic, fair trade coffee.
At least the stuff has caffeine in it so it is not all bad, but pretty darned close. And because it is too weak for my tastes if used per directions I will be using the huge can up far more quickly than anticipated and can get back to fair trade yummy coffee sooner than later.
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