Tuesday, October 9, 2007

dreams of coffee...

so the impetus to start this blog was two fold, one was all the reasons I mentioned in the first post, the other was that I had seen (via someone else's blog and the button) the opportunity to participate in a swap of fiber and coffee... ok - so it was (is) called the knitters coffee swap and my first fiber love is still crochet, but still, it's all the same in this great big fiber world... I would imagine that spinners and weavers would be just as welcome to sign up... only I found the blog too late to participate, so I waited and waited and was very very patient, and hoped they would run another one and so they did... http://coffeeswapthree.blogspot.com/ and I am hopeful that I am in... I sent in my info and am now playing the waiting game to receive my invite. In hopeful anticipation, and because Knittymama said so, I am going to post and answer all the questions on the swap list.

The funny thing is that I was going to blog mainly about fiber today as I had a dream about wool last night, but instead, while sweet little teething Erin is sleeping I am going to answer these questions....

SWAP QUESTIONS

Here are the questions:
QUESTIONS
1. Whole bean or ground? whole bean - to me, part of the coffeemaking process/experience is grinding the beans... unfortunately Erin doesn't seem to be so fond of the sound the grinder makes- hopefully longterm exposure will temper that

2. Fully-loaded or decaf? fully-loaded - not that I have anything against decaf other than the decaffinating process is chemical laden for the most part...

3. Regular or flavored? usually regular, but every once and again I will taste a flavored coffee that I would consider drinking again

4. How do you drink your coffee? preferably with half and half, although if I have had a meat meal I would prefer black with sugar over the fake creamers... there is just something about them that makes me feel like I am drinking plastic and soy and rice milks don't do it for me. Recently I have tried two different varieties of almond milk to see if I like that any better... and the answer is no, not really - just doesn't do much for me!

5. Favorite coffee ever? pretty much anything I ever got at the Coffee and Tea Exchange in Chicago when I was living there.. it was right around the corner, most amazing aroma ever when you went in, and, there was a huge goldfish named Mary who lived on the counter and was like 10 years old or something amazing like that that made it, well, just like home... Strange thing, when I was in Havana three years ago I was hoping to have a "coffee nirvana experience" and while the coffee was good, it was served more like the bitter coffee I have had in Bedouin tents than what I had anticipated. Delicious, just not what I expected, now the ice cream... WOW!!!!!!!!! that was amazing... and the mangos......

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? I am pretty open to trying any old bean, however, usually my preference is to go back to what I like afterward, although I will say that most beans I have tried from Trader Joes have been to my liking in terms of relatively inexpensive bean fixes.... in the cupboard to try now is a bag of organic coffee (breakfast blend, I believe) from our local health food store

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? mmmmm....treats.... well, I am kinda a baked goods snob - really prefering only my own, but after that... chocolate.... the scones from Trader Joes are kinda nice as well - and since they are kosher it works for me if I have not baked in awhile - really like the lemon ginger ones and the blueberry

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? I forgot to mention the rest of the experience above... it's all about the process... perfect morning is as follows... put up the water to boil, grind the beans, rinse the press (usually still filled with last pots beans...) put the new beans in the press, after the water is just beneath boiling so it doesn't burn the beans, pour away, let it sit 5 minutes... if my husband is home I let him know it's time, if not I do the pressing. He has a "patented swirl" method that he loves to do - doesn't drink coffee or any other hot beverage, but likes to press, and who am I to complain! Then, pour it in the cup, smell and savour the aroma, add the half and half and enjoy.

Erin just woke up so the fiber questiosn and the like will be in part two of this post...

1 comment:

Barbara B. Solbrig said...

Hi,
After I posted this on the Coffee swap blog, I realized I should have just sent you a comment. So I am going to just give you part of the post as a comment.

"Hey, I would be very happy to help you learn how to post pictures....Email me at: bbsolATearthlinkDOTnet and we'll get you putting pictures up in no time! "
Go to teh original post to get my blog link.