tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23037355629284363842024-02-07T00:21:53.384-06:00Just Janet Coffee and CraftsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.comBlogger262125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-2697844781458603692013-03-28T06:49:00.001-05:002013-03-28T06:49:56.271-05:00From Rebecca Delaney ....... A Wonderful Resource : 40+ Online Sources for Fabulous, Affordable Fashion Fabric<a href="http://rebeccadelaney.net/2013/03/40-online-sources-for-fabulous-affordable-fashion-fabric/">40+ Online Sources for Fabulous, Affordable Fashion Fabric</a>: I have a lot of FEELINGS. Sometimes, I deal with these feelings by watching Girls, but only if I’ve already taken my Prozac. (There are only so many times you can scream “JESUS, ALL OF THESE PEOPLE NEED TO BE MEDICATED” at the screen before feeling guilty about not taking your own pills. And of all the feelings I <a href="http://rebeccadelaney.net/2013/03/40-online-sources-for-fabulous-affordable-fashion-fabric/">[...]</a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-34288058785663882942013-03-11T10:10:00.001-05:002013-03-11T10:10:24.393-05:00Brew the Perfect Cup: The Complete Guide....<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/lS4onSDsp0o/brew-the-perfect-cup-the-complete-guide">Brew the Perfect Cup: The Complete Guide</a>: <br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gvtpcr93yumjpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup: The Complete Guide" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gvtpcr93yumjpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup: The Complete Guide" width="300" /></a>We spent last week learning all about coffee with our friends from <a href="http://www.tonx.org/">Tonx</a>, the fresh roast subscription service. We covered everything from why you should care about quality coffee and how to pick the best beans, to the nitty gritty of gear selection and the best resources to tackle a coffee hobby head on. Here's the complete guide in all its glory.<br />
<div style="clear: both;"></div><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987802/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-1-the-case-for-better-coffee?tag=morningschool"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup: The Complete Guide" height="169" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/post/17/2013/03/coffee-morning-school-part-01__2_.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup: The Complete Guide" width="300" /></a><br />
<h3><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987802/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-1-the-case-for-better-coffee?tag=morningschool">Lesson 1: The Case for Better Coffee</a></h3>In this first lesson, we tackle the case for a better cup of joe. Is there really much difference between gas station sludge and an expensive cafe blend? And if there is, why should I care?<br />
<div style="clear: both;"></div><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987803/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-2-how-to-select-your-beans?tag=morningschool"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup: The Complete Guide" height="169" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/post/17/2013/03/coffee-morning-school-part-02__2_.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup: The Complete Guide" width="300" /></a><br />
<h3><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987803/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-2-how-to-select-your-beans?tag=morningschool">Lesson 2: How to Select Your Beans</a></h3>Even the most simple brewing device can produce otherworldly brews when paired with great coffee. Finding an approach into the often confusing landscape of consumer coffee bean choices is the essential first step to improving your morning ritual.<br />
<div style="clear: both;"></div><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987839/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-3-the-basics-of-brewing?tag=morningschool"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup: The Complete Guide" height="169" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/post/17/2013/03/coffee-morning-school-part-03__2_.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup: The Complete Guide" width="300" /></a><br />
<h3><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987839/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-3-the-basics-of-brewing?tag=morningschool">Lesson 3: The Basics of Brewing</a></h3>Contrary to how it might seem if you listen to many hardcore coffee geeks, brewing good cups of coffee at home doesn't have to be approached as if taking on a whole new hobby. A few basic principles will give you a toehold into almost every brew method and with just a bit of trial and error (and of course good beans) you'll discover that a great cup doesn't have to be hard to find.<br />
<div style="clear: both;"></div><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987840/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-4-how-to-choose-your-weapons?tag=morningschool"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup: The Complete Guide" height="169" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/post/17/2013/03/coffee-morning-school-part-04__3_.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup: The Complete Guide" width="300" /></a><br />
<h3><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987840/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-4-how-to-choose-your-weapons?tag=morningschool">Lesson 4: How to Choose Your Weapons</a></h3>There are many manual methods to choose from, and some that appear simple are actually somewhat fussy. Others that look complicated at first glance turn out to be easy and reliable with practice. There is no absolute "right" way to prepare a cup, and most of the popular methods will give you good results if you begin with great fresh roasted beans and take a bit of care with your measurements.<br />
<div style="clear: both;"></div><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987841/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-5-additional-resources?tag=morningschool"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup: The Complete Guide" height="169" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/post/17/2013/03/coffee-morning-school-part-05__4_.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup: The Complete Guide" width="300" /></a><br />
<h3><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987841/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-5-additional-resources?tag=morningschool">Lesson 5: Additional Resources</a></h3>Now that you've subjected yourself to our good coffee propaganda, learned the basics of brewing, and explored some of the popular brew methods, we'll cut through much of the online clutter and leave you with some selected resources that can continue your path to full-on coffee nerdity.<br />
<div style="clear: both;"></div><hr /><i style="font-size: 80%;">These posts were written by <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tonx">Tony Konecny</a>, cofounder of <a href="http://www.tonx.org/">Tonx</a>, with help from Ryan Brown and Nick Griffith. <a href="http://www.tonx.org/">Tonx</a> is an innovative coffee subscription service aiming to source, roast, and ship the best fresh roasted coffees for people who brew at home. Right now, the first taste is free!</i><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-36435884530360167812013-03-11T07:55:00.001-05:002013-03-11T07:55:42.889-05:00Make Your Own Cheez-Its to Create New Flavors and Ditch the Processed Additives<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/pvDTPDPSRqU/make-your-own-cheez+its-to-create-new-flavors-and-ditch-the-processed-additives">Make Your Own Cheez-Its to Create New Flavors and Ditch the Processed Additives</a>: <br />
<img alt="Make Your Own Cheez-Its to Create New Flavors and Ditch the Processed Additives" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18h59vpuxe7bajpg/medium.jpg" title="Make Your Own Cheez-Its to Create New Flavors and Ditch the Processed Additives" width="300" /> Cheez-Its and other cheezy snack crackers are delicious, but if you want to control the flavor yourself, make them less salty or more spicy, or would just prefer to enjoy your Cheez-Its without all of the chemical additives used in the mass production of them, they're surprisingly easy to make at home. <a href="http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/">America's Test Kitchen</a> shows us how. <br />
You'll need the ingredients here and the time to make the dough, let it chill, and bake it, so don't expect this to be a more convenient solution than just grabbing a box at the grocery store. Even so, making your own lets you completely control the flavor and ingredients, and lets you make your cheesy crackers just right for your tastes. The base recipe is pretty straightforward, and uses ingredients you may already have in your pantry.<br />
ATK even shows you the secret to that orange color that's so characteristic to Cheez-Its if that's what you want (Spoiler: It's crushed annatto seeds, available at most grocery stores.) Hit the link below to grab <a href="http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/recipes/homemade-cheese-snack-crackers/">the recipe</a>, and see how they're made—complete with photos for each step.<br />
<a href="http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/do-it-yourself/2013/03/how-to-make-homemade-cheese-snack-crackers/">How to Make Homemade Cheese Snack Crackers</a> | America's Test Kitchen<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-86443384315864231832013-03-08T11:26:00.001-06:002013-03-08T11:26:57.681-06:00Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 5: Additional Resources...<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/1vG2QsbkcZo/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-5-additional-resources">Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 5: Additional Resources</a>: <br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gszytmymlmujpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 5: Additional Resources" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gszytmymlmujpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 5: Additional Resources" width="300" /></a>So now that you've subjected yourself to our <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987802/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-1-the-case-for-better-coffee">good coffee propaganda</a>, learned the <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987839/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-3-the-basics-of-brewing">basics of brewing</a>, and explored some of the <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987840/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-4-how-to-choose-your-weapons">popular brew methods</a>, we'll cut through much of the online clutter and leave you with some selected resources that can continue your path to full-on coffee nerdity. <br />
<h3>Further Brewing Resources</h3>The internet is full of esoteric guidance about every conceivable coffee brewing method. Almost any public forum post on coffee will bring out a handful of folks claiming to have figured out the one essential secret to a perfect cup. Well, in spite of the title our editors chose for this Morning School series (way to set the bar high for me guys, thanks!) perfection is an ideal we can always get closer to but perhaps never quite touch.<br />
But for the idealists, perfectionists, and compulsive optimizers a great resource to explore is <a href="http://www.brewmethods.com/">Brewmethods.com</a>. Organized by brewing device, this is a handy compendium of links to brew tutorials from around the internet, from the simple to the complex to the completely confounding.<br />
<h3>And You Thought Gram Scales Were Nerdy?</h3>For the most serious of optimizers, a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=393272011">refractometer</a> is the tool that leads all the way to the bottom of the rabbit hole, giving you precise data about how much you're extracting from your beans. <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5642561/seeking-mojo-chasing-the-perfect-cup-of-coffee-through-science">Gizmodo</a> ran a very good piece on Vince Fedele, creator of the ExtractMojo system that some coffee nerds have come to trust more than their own tongues.<br />
<img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 5: Additional Resources" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gt2hyv6b3rpjpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 5: Additional Resources" width="300" /><br />
<h3>More on Espresso</h3>As we discussed in the previous lesson, home espresso has a tendency to metastasize quickly into a full blown hobby and is difficult to approach casually. Expect to do a healthy amount of research before taking the plunge and purchasing expensive gear. Some additional resources for those who feel the call:<br />
Scott Rao's <a href="http://www.professionalbaristashandbook.com/"><i>The Professional Barista's Handbook</i></a> is a great guide to get started with and will introduce you to some of the conceits and concepts you'll see argued about in coffee geek forums. His second book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Everything-But-Espresso-Professional-Techniques/dp/B003LM063A"><i>Everything But Espresso</i></a> is one of the best guides to precision coffee brewing and stirs many coffee nerd debates.<br />
Seattle espresso pioneer David Schomer sits deep in the lineage of many current "third wave" coffee bars and his <a href="http://www.espressovivace.com/books_videos.html">books and videos</a> are a classic resource on the topic of espresso preparation.<br />
<a href="http://www.home-barista.com/">Home-Barista.com</a> is an excellent resource for equipment reviews and discussion. The forums there are full of folks who are ready to indoctrinate you into the espresso cult and help you solve your shot pulling riddles.<br />
<h3>Home Roasting</h3>The only coffee hobby with a deeper rabbit hole than mastering espresso preparation is roasting your own beans, though the basic gear for getting started doesn't have to cost a small fortune. Many people roast on simple electric popcorn poppers with often decent results, and aside from some smoke and mess, getting started isn't too difficult.<br />
Even if you lack the inclination to dive deep into the requisite trial and error explorations or the time to regularly roast yourself up a fresh supply, there is something really great about experiencing close up the sights and smells of the roasting process and the rapid transformations that occur with the coffee. One online resource stands above all the rest in catering to the needs of home roasters from supplies to tutorials, <a href="http://www.sweetmarias.com/">Sweet Marias</a>.<br />
<h3>History of Coffee and General Coffee Knowledge</h3>There are too few books on coffee and a really good, comprehensive guide to approaching the bean remains unwritten. But here are a few of the books I like from my collection that are worth your time.<br />
Mark Pendergrast's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Uncommon-Grounds-History-Coffee-Transformed/dp/046501836X"><i>Uncommon Grounds</i></a> contains a good overview of the early history of coffee, the first coffee shops, and the beginnings of the modern coffee era.<br />
<img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 5: Additional Resources" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gt2hww4qh9ujpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 5: Additional Resources" width="300" />Two books that look at the contemporary "third wave" coffee culture worth noting are Hanna Neuschwander's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Left-Coast-Roast-Roasters-Francisco/dp/1604692847"><i>Left Coast Roast</i></a>, and Alon Halevy's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Emotions-Coffee-Alon-Halevy/dp/0984771506"><i>The Infinite Emotions of Coffee</i>.</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Emotions-Coffee-Alon-Halevy/dp/0984771506">A good, concise resource to the formal art of tasting coffee, the SCAA's</a> <a href="https://netforum.avectra.com/eweb/shopping/shopping.aspx?site=scaa10&shopsearchcat=merchandise&productcat=books&prd_key=241f03d0-9dd5-4e38-bb87-7b57d6c31167"><i>Coffee Cupper's Handbook</i></a> , is a good introduction to classifying coffee flavors and recognizing common flavor defects. Contains an excellent glossary.<br />
On the many issues of sustainability, I highly recommend Michael Sheridan's <a href="http://coffeelands.crs.org/">CRS Coffeelands Blog</a> which does an excellent job of giving producer perspectives on the evolving state of the global coffee market from commodity to high end specialty.<br />
Showing up to coffee industry events like barista competitions or conferences as a civilian can be a little overwhelming but provides a great opportunity to pick up some knowledge and experience some of the scale and chaos of the trade. Ultimately, getting out there and tasting coffee from many regions and many roasters is the best way to build your understanding of the bean. And brewing at home is a great and economical way to explore. More quality focused roasters are cropping up in more towns and most of the well regarded roasters have mail order options (I might be slightly biased toward <a href="http://www.tonx.org/">one of them in particular</a>.<br />
Thanks to everyone who gave comments, notes, and critiques on this series. Happy drinking!<br />
<hr /><i style="font-size: 80%;">Tony Konecny likes his coffee like he likes his (insert your own punchline). As a founder of <a href="http://www.tonx.org/">Tonx</a> he crusades for better coffee in the kitchen by offering a hassle-free subscription program of fresh roasted coffees sourced from top farmers. He lives in Los Angeles with his lovely Chemex and a collection of hand-cranked grinders.</i><br />
<i style="font-size: 80%;">Top image remixed from <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=104054093">etraveler</a>, <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=42950863">Subbotina Anna</a>, and <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=95220994">Oros Gabor</a> (Shutterstock).</i><br />
<i style="font-size: 80%;">All other images via Tonx.</i><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-57079868464869785812013-03-08T09:20:00.001-06:002013-03-08T09:20:03.963-06:00Indoor Plants From Kitchen Scraps: The ‘Towering’ Radish...<a href="http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/2013/03/08/indoor-plants-from-kitchen-scraps-the-towering-radish/">Indoor Plants From Kitchen Scraps: The ‘Towering’ Radish</a>: <br />
In January, I shared with you my latest garden experiment; <a href="http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/2013/01/11/winter-gardening-project/">“An Unorthodox Winter Gardening Project”</a>, which entailed growing indoor plants using kitchen scraps like garlic cloves, lentils, carrot tops, a sweet potato and a radish. I enjoy garden projects – especially ones that you can do indoors during the winter months.<br />
A couple of weeks later, all but one of my kitchen scraps was growing very well and my garden experiment was a success. You can see how they looked just after 14 days after planting in my post <a href="http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/2013/01/29/indoor-plants-from-kitchen-scraps-success/">“Indoor Plants From Kitchen Scraps” Success!”</a><br />
What I was <strong>NOT</strong> prepared for was how <em>huge</em> one of my kitchen scrap plants would grow.<br />
Here is a collage of what my radish plant looked like for the first 14 days…<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="415" src="http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Kitchen-Scraps5.jpg" width="553" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here is what it looks like just 6 weeks after planting…</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="553" src="http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Radish-Plant.jpg" width="395" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Look how tall it has gotten!</div><div style="text-align: center;">I must admit that I had no idea that my radish would grow so tall.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" height="553" src="http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Radish-flower-001.jpg" width="411" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The flowers are pretty – small and delicate.</div><div style="text-align: center;">All of my other kitchen scraps are doing well, but none has approached the status of my radish plant <img alt=":-)" src="http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" /> </div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-13284897959823736692013-03-07T09:37:00.001-06:002013-03-07T09:37:08.766-06:00Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 4: How to Choose Your Weapons<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/j9Utp8x_yhg/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-4-how-to-choose-your-weapons">Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 4: How to Choose Your Weapons</a>: <br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gpbnh6ookxsjpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 4: How to Choose Your Weapons" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gpbnh6ookxsjpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 4: How to Choose Your Weapons" width="300" /></a>So far this week, we've <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987802/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-1-the-case-for-better-coffee">made a case</a> for drinking good coffee, given tips on <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987803/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-2-how-to-select-your-beans">scoring good beans</a>, and covered the essential <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987839/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-3-the-basics-of-brewing">basics of coffee brewing</a>. Now we're ready to dive into some specifics. <br />
There are many manual methods to choose from, and some that appear simple are actually somewhat fussy. Others that look complicated at first glance turn out to be easy and reliable with practice. There is no absolute "right" way to prepare a cup, and most of the popular methods will give you good results if you begin with great fresh roasted beans and take a bit of care with your measurements.<br />
Previously we made the case for using gram-accurate scales to get precise repeatable results in your daily brews. I expect not all of you have rushed out and purchased the very finest gram scale available, so the recipes below also include approximations in standard kitchen measures. Though it will vary coffee to coffee, you can assume that 1 tablespoon of coffee is equal to about 6-7 grams, and know that there are 30 milliliters in one ounce. Whatever method you use to measure coffee dose and amount of water, the important thing is that you are using a good ratio and that you can repeat the results.<br />
With any of these recipes, taste is the ultimate arbiter. Upping the coffee dose slightly (from a standard 1 gram per 16 ml to a stronger 1 gram per 14 ml for instance) to suit your taste is totally acceptable. Different coffees will find their sweet spots with different parameters, and the ratios below should be regarded as simply decent baselines from which to begin fine tuning.<br />
<img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 4: How to Choose Your Weapons" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gqu72r6rly3jpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 4: How to Choose Your Weapons" width="300" /><br />
<h3>Pour Over Coffee: The Chemex</h3>In essence, manual pour over coffee methods are simply doing the same thing as ubiquitous drip coffee machines, but giving you more control over the process. Even if you lack the patience to approach pour over with the precision of a professional barista, odds are you'll still bring more finesse and land better results than the average Mr. Coffee. <i>(Image via Tonx.)</i><br />
Invented in 1941 <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chemex-Drip-Coffee-Carafe-Cup/dp/B0000YWF5E">the Chemex</a> is made of durable borosilicate glass, has a lovely hourglass shape, and comes in several sizes. It differs slightly from other pour over methods in that the chemex paper filters are a bit heavier than most allowing for slower flow rate, longer extraction, and more room to play with grind size.<br />
<ul><li>48 grams (~7 Tbsp) fresh ground coffee to 770 grams (25oz) water, near to boiling</li>
<li>Grind the coffee beans so they are about the coarseness of fancy sea salt—you can go a bit coarser than a typical filter grind</li>
<li>A quick pre-rinse of the filter with warm water can help remove any "papery" taste that might show up in the cup in the cup</li>
<li>Using a timer, add about 1/5th of the water to the settled bed of grounds in your filter (a gentle stir can help saturate all the grounds) and allow the fresh coffee to "bloom" for about 45 seconds</li>
<li>Slowly pour the remaining water, aiming to finish the pour at about the 2:30 minute mark</li>
<li>Coffee should be finished dripping and ready to serve between 3:30 - 4 minutes</li>
</ul>You can adjust the coffee and water amounts down when brewing smaller amounts and get good results. If the coffee is slightly sour, try going finer on grind. A little bitter, try nudging coarser. As a word of caution, it can be easy to brew too fast, too slow, or inconsistently if you're not leaning on a timer.<br />
For those with an aversion to paper filters, the well made stainless steel <a href="http://lifehacker.com/">Kone filter</a> is a great Chemex accessory, and a slim spouted japanese pouring kettle such as the elegant <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hario-VKB-120HSV-Coffee-Kettle-Buono/dp/B000IGOXLS">Hario Buono</a> will allow you to do a nice slow pour that most tea kettles stumble at. Similar brewing methods worth exploring would include the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hario-V60-Coffee-Server-14oz/dp/B003DAH9B2">Hario V60</a> dripper, the <a href="http://prima-coffee.com/kalita/wave-dripper">Kalita Wave</a>, and the common <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Melitta-Pour-Over-Coffee-Brewer-Stainless/dp/B0080J2N8A">Melitta</a> pour over filter.<br />
<h3>Automatic Drip Machines: The Bonavita BV1800</h3>The ubiquitous automatic drip coffee machine has to be one of the most successful consumer appliances in history. When most people think of coffeemaker, they picture one of these devices. A relatively simple contraption, the drip brewer essentially does a version of what we did with the Chemex above—dribbling hot water over a bed of coffee grounds in a paper filter. There are countless versions of this product in every color and size imaginable with numerous features, chrome, big brand names, and blue LEDs. But very few get high marks when it comes to giving you the requisite near-to-boiling water temperatures.<br />
The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bonavita-BV1800-8-Cup-Coffee-Carafe/dp/B005YQZT92">Bonavita BV1800</a> is one of the few that coffee nerds will give praise to (another popular one is the pricier <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Technivorm-Moccamaster-Coffee-Brewer-Thermo/dp/B002S4DI2S">Technivorm Moccamaster</a>). Correct water temperature, a modest kitchen counter footprint, and a thermal carafe make this an exemplary brewer.<br />
<ul><li>52 grams (7-8 Tbsp) fresh ground coffee to 825 ml (28 ounces) water</li>
<li>Grind should look like typical preground canned coffee, slightly coarser than most table salt and reasonably uniform</li>
<li>Pre-rinsing the filter to minimize papery taste isn't a bad idea</li>
<li>Pre-heating the carafe doesn't hurt either</li>
</ul><a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gpcvpgpb65ajpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 4: How to Choose Your Weapons" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gpcvpgpb65ajpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 4: How to Choose Your Weapons" width="300" /></a><br />
<h3>The French Press: Easy to Use, But Easy to Screw Up</h3>Many people have one of these hiding neglected in their cupboards collecting dust. Some will swear up and down that there is no better way to make coffee. The classic french press or press pot is in some ways the most simple of methods. Hot water steeps with coffee grounds in a glass. When you're ready to decant, a filter/plunger mechanism keeps the grounds out of the way and (mostly) out of your mug. A well prepared cup can show off a lovely body and mouthfeel that paper filter methods sometimes don't get.<br />
<ul><li>Use about 15g (or 2 Tbsp) of coarse freshly ground coffee per xxx ml (xxx oz) of water just below a boil</li>
<li>Give just enough of a stir at the beginning to allow the grounds to settle</li>
<li>Total steep time of 3:30-4 minutes (if you're using a less than awesome grinder with irregular grind sizes and dust, cutting down the steep time is helpful)</li>
<li>Decant completely and enjoy!</li>
</ul>Simple, right? But there are a number of easy ways to screw your brew. Here are a few tips to help you keep it simple and tasty.<br />
<ul><li>Keep it clean. Making a habit of disassembling and washing the filter mechanism right away each time before it becomes a bigger chore will keep things from getting rancid.</li>
<li>That plunger mechanism? Don't think of it as a plunger. It is merely a filter to keep the grounds out of the way while you pour out the brew. Getting too aggressive with the plunger can muddy up your mug—or worse: we've seen presses shatter from an intense plunging.</li>
<li>Measure carefully. Just eyeballing your coffee dose and water fill can leave you with a different ratio each time, resulting in some not-always-needed tail chasing around other variables like grind size or water temperature.</li>
</ul>A very similar brew can be had from the elegant <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eva-Solo-Coffee-Neoprene-1-Liter/dp/B00009OWEV">Eva Solo Brewer</a>, which has a unique filter top that lets you gently pour off the coffee at the end of the steep time. And in a pinch, one can MacGuyver a press pot like brew with almost any vessel and some creativity applied to the straining process.<br />
<h3>The Aeropress: Easy Geek Cred</h3>The Aeropress is sort of a giant syringe with a simple filter attachment on one end producing a very quick and easy cup of coffee. Inexpensive, portable, nearly indestructible, fast, and easy to clean makes this a no-brainer for brewing at home or cubicle. The Aeropress has a strong and vocal geek following, as the comment threads on almost any coffee blog post will attest.<br />
<img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 4: How to Choose Your Weapons" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gquhbpqsclejpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 4: How to Choose Your Weapons" width="300" />As is true with many coffee brewing devices, you can begin by disregarding most of the instructions that come in the box. After all, the company that sells you the spatula might not be the best source for the flapjack recipe. With the Aeropress there are numerous methods and techniques that people have advocated and even a <a href="http://worldaeropresschampionship.wordpress.com/">World Aeropress Championship</a> where pro baristas try to out-syringe each other. The possibilities given just a bit of fiddling are seemingly endless. <i>(Image via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonxdotorg/8376248535/sizes/m/in/photostream/">Ryan Brown</a>.)</i><br />
Here is a method that has worked well for us.<br />
<ul><li>Use 14 grams (about 1 Aeropress scoop) freshly ground coffee to 225 ml (7.5 ounces) near boiling water</li>
<li>Grind just a bit finer than typical filter coffee, similar to table salt</li>
<li>Place the paper filter disk into the holder and rinse</li>
<li>Assemble the plunger and cylinder so the rubber sits at the "4" mark</li>
<li>Invert the Aeropress so the brew chamber faces up and load in the grounds</li>
<li>Add about half the water and stir to saturate the grounds</li>
<li>Add the remaining water, stirring gently to encourage the grounds to settle—let it sit</li>
<li>At the 2 minute mark attach the filter holder and filter and flip (un-invert) atop a sturdy mug</li>
<li>Press down gently on the plunger and enjoy your coffee</li>
</ul>With a finer grind you can decrease to total dwell time. Another popular method is to brew much stronger and dilute the resulting brew after the plunge, allowing you to produce a finished cup of higher volume. Sticking with a tried and true coffee to water ratio first and adjusting grind and dwell time as your variables should quickly yield good results with just a little trial and error.<br />
<h3>Cold Brew</h3>It is easy enough to make simple iced coffee by brewing up coffee at increased strength and diluting with ice, but the long-steep cold brew coffee is a rather different experience—sweeter tasting with very little bitterness, refreshing, and packing a real caffeine punch. Cold brew coffee is aiming to be this summer's bottled beverage fad, but is very easy to make yourself at home.<br />
Devices like the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Filtron-Water-Coffee-Concentrate-Brewer/dp/B0001GSSIO">Filtron</a> or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Toddy-T2N-Cold-Brew-System/dp/B0006H0JVW">Toddy</a> are simple ways to make small batches of concentrate that can last for a couple weeks in your refrigerator. The coffee dose is typically 2-3 times as much as normal for the amount of water, ground very coarse, and left to soak for 12-14 hours. It is then allowed to slowly drip through a large reusable filter pad resulting in a very clean and potent coffee concentrate brew.<br />
<h3>Espresso: The Slippery Slope</h3>Ah the romance of espresso. And, as is so often the case with with romance, there is also heartbreak. Espresso isn't just another brew method—it is a full on hobby, maybe even a calling. There is a reason baristas take themselves so seriously. Much goes into the preparation of a proper espresso and achieving mastery, let alone competency, dedication, and some pricey toys. Even a talented barista will find it difficult to step up fresh to machine and dial in that first good shot of the morning—changing grinds, discarding bad shots—a lot of work just for one morning cup, only to be followed closely by a non-optional cleaning regimen that is necessary to keep the machine clean and ready for the next day.<br />
<img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 4: How to Choose Your Weapons" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gquah32sjpbjpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 4: How to Choose Your Weapons" width="300" />Unlike brewed coffee where almost anyone can produce results equal to the best coffeebars with minimal investment, espresso perfection is hard to attain outside of the cafe environment. Still, some people insist on taking the difficult path that leads to drinking cappuccinos in their own kitchen. <i>(Image via Tonx.)</i><br />
If you're not the type to be intimidated by these warnings, and you have the resources to invest in good gear, here is some broad advice to share to help you along your quixotic journey toward espresso utopia:<br />
<strong>A good machine is a must.</strong> Much of what is sold as consumer espresso machines fail to hit the mark in terms of producing the correct pressure or temperature stability necessary for proper espresso extraction. The makers of many of these devices often make deceptive claims and very few of them will make anything close to resembling what you've come to expect from good cafes.<br />
<strong>A good and precise burr grinder is a must.</strong> The most common mistake would-be home espresso geeks make is to focus too much on the espresso machine at the expense of investing in a proper espresso-capable burr grinder. A good truism is that a great espresso machine and a mediocre grinder will make a mediocre cup, while a mediocre espresso machine and a great grinder can produce something rather good.<br />
<strong>Managing an inventory of fresh coffee can be difficult when you are tossing out multiple shots to dial in your grind or season the machine as it warms up.</strong> For espresso at home this can present an extra logistical challenge and expense.<br />
If you start too far toward the bottom or middle tier with the gear you select, <strong>you will feel the upgrade urge grow for fancier and more commercial grade equipment.</strong><br />
<strong>Baristas are often hard up for cash.</strong> Consider taking one home with you and paying them for some private lessons. It is much easier to learn the skills with hands on coaching.<br />
In our final lesson we'll cover <strong>further resources</strong> for brewing geekery, home espresso, roasting your own, and general coffee knowledge.<br />
<hr /><i style="font-size: 80%;"><a href="http://www.twitter.com/tonx">Tony Konecny</a> is on a mission to improve the current coffee status quo and is a cofounder of <a href="http://www.tonx.org/">Tonx</a> which delivers fresh roasted coffee from some of the world's top growers to people looking to make great coffee at home.</i><br />
<i style="font-size: 80%;"><a href="http://www.twitter.com/nickgriffla">Nick Griffith</a> is a coffee industry veteran and one of the founders of the coffee subscription service <a href="http://www.tonx.org/">Tonx</a>. In addition to time as a roaster and on the business side of coffee, Nick landed a pile of trophies as a competitive barista—though he'll really win you over when he is making cocktails.</i><br />
<i style="font-size: 80%;">Top image remixed from <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=104054093">etraveler</a>, <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=42950863">Subbotina Anna</a>, and <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=95220994">Oros Gabor</a> (Shutterstock).</i><br />
<img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~4/j9Utp8x_yhg" width="1" /><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-41846673381115336342013-03-06T10:37:00.001-06:002013-03-06T10:37:43.266-06:00Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 3: The Basics of Brewing...<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/l8qg0L_PJew/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-3-the-basics-of-brewing">Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 3: The Basics of Brewing</a>: <br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gggxyhr522ujpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 3: The Basics of Brewing" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gggxyhr522ujpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 3: The Basics of Brewing" width="300" /></a><a href="http://www.lifehacker.com/morningschool">Morning School</a> is chugging along, and today we're moving beyond propagandizing for good coffee and getting into the nitty gritty of what to do with your high quality, fresh roasted beans. Contrary to how it might seem if you listen to many hardcore coffee geeks, brewing good cups of coffee at home doesn't have to be approached as if taking on a whole new hobby. A few basic principles will give you a toehold into almost every brew method and with just a bit of trial and error (and of course <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987803/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-2-how-to-select-your-beans">good beans</a>) you'll discover that a great cup doesn't have to be hard to find. <br />
<h3>Coffee, Water, Grind, and Time</h3>Coffee brewing is essentially a "just add water" situation. The caveat is that you want to measure the amounts of coffee and water, use water at the right temperature, find the appropriate grind size, and control the amount of time that the coffee grounds and water are in contact. Every brew method recipe, whether filter style (drip machines, chemex, pour over) or immersion style (french press, eva solo, siphon) can be largely expressed within these variables.<br />
Clean filtered water of the sort you'd happily drink is a must. Most manual brew methods will perform best at temperatures just off of a boil (~195-205F). You'll discover <strong>some coffees are more sensitive to water temperature than others</strong>—unusually dark roasts are able to tolerate much lower brewing temperatures (accounting for much of their continued popularity as the bulk of cheap automatic drip brewers tend to not get water hot enough).<br />
<h3>Coffee to Water Ratio</h3>Coffee nerds differ by degrees about what the most correct coffee to water ratio is, and you'll want to explore nudging your coffee dose up or down to suit your own tastes and specific gear. A good general starting point is <strong>just over 60 grams of coffee per liter of water</strong>. (Or in simple measurements: about 2 tablespoons of coffee for every 6 ounces of water.)<br />
For those with a slightly nerdier bent for exact numbers and a full embrace of the magical metric system—in which 1 gram of water equals 1 milliliter of water—you can aim for a ratio of 1:16 or 1 gram of coffee per 16 milliliters (or grams) of water. I keep an <a href="http://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/math/ratios.php">online ratio calculator</a> bookmarked for just this purpose. I'll make the case below for owning a good kitchen gram scale which can actually make precise manual brewing a breeze.<br />
<img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 3: The Basics of Brewing" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/post/17/2013/03/jorytvratio.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 3: The Basics of Brewing" /><br />
<div style="clear: both;"></div><i>(Image by <a href="http://jory.tv/">Jory Felice</a>.)</i><br />
<h3>Brewing Tools: An Overview</h3>There is no one "right" way to make coffee and hundreds of devices out there to choose from. In the next lesson, we'll explore in more depth some popular brew methods, gear, and techniques.<br />
<h4>The One Essential: The Grinder</h4>Every coffee nerd will give you the same lecture: <strong>pre-ground coffee just doesn't cut it</strong>. The full flavor and aroma that make good coffee so intoxicating is mortally wounded when ground coffee is left to sit for long. Fancy packages, plastic pods, and inert gas flushing do very little to change this cruel fact.<br />
<strong>Blade Grinders</strong>: The ubiquitous blade grinder works by chopping the beans, not unlike a blender, resulting in non-uniform grind size ("dust and boulders") that can lead to some over-extraction or bitterness when brewing. Most of my colleagues in the strident forefront of the coffee trade will tell you a meager blade grinder is a nonstarter, but the truth is <strong>even an imperfect fresh grind is better than buying pre-ground beans</strong>. Some brew methods are sufficiently forgiving that you can still get very nice results with cheap blade grinding. Blade grinders are easily found for well under $20 dollars and they all produce roughly similar results.<br />
<strong>Burr Grinders</strong>: Not cheap, but far and away the best investment you can make in your coffee universe outside of buying top quality fresh roasted beans. A burr grinder crushes the beans between two sharp burrs—one stationary, one rotating—and adjusting the gap between the burrs lets you dial in a specific grind size and produce relatively uniform grinds for better extraction.<br />
Many people make the mistake of purchasing expensive drip brewers with blue LEDs and timers and numerous buttons and then balk at dropping dough on the grinder. This is exactly backwards. A good burr grinder is a unmatchable precision tool whereas any automatic drip machine is merely a fancy way to dribble hot water on your grounds.<br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ghw939d5q89jpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 3: The Basics of Brewing" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ghw939d5q89jpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 3: The Basics of Brewing" width="300" /></a><strong>Best:</strong> I can't recommend enough the prosumer class grinders from Baratza. My <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Baratza-Virtuoso-Coffee-Grinder-586/dp/B006MLQHRG/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1362194628&sr=1-2&keywords=baratza+virtuoso">Baratza Virtuoso</a> is a workhorse in my kitchen, but their entire line from the entry level Encore to the espresso-grade Vario is great and Baratza's customer service has been awesome.<br />
<strong>Pretty good:</strong> There are a number of grinders hovering around or just below the $100 range that are solid. My top pick here is probably the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Capresso-Infinity-Conical-Grinder-8-5-Ounce/dp/B001QTVXCS/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1362194740&sr=1-2&keywords=capresso+infinity">Capresso Infinity</a>.<br />
<strong>Satisfactory</strong>: These represent a big step up from a blade grinder but lack the quality of burr sets or higher torque motors of the prosumer model burr grinders. Generally closer to $40-50, and with a lot of familiar brand names from other kitchen appliances. I'm hesitant to emphatically recommend any particular model here, but I've used the basic <a href="http://www.amazon.com/GVX1-14-Grinder-Selection-Stainless-Conical/dp/B0001I9R8C/ref=sr_1_9?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1362194924&sr=1-9&keywords=burr+grinder">Krups GVX Burr Grinder</a> and it seems typical of the category.<br />
<strong>Kind of awesome</strong>: I have a habit of collecting hand cranked burr grinders, and though a bit more work than pressing a button, they can be great for folks making one cup at a time, for camping, or for keeping in your <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5941374/9-kits-you-should-have-in-your-home-to-prepare-you-for-anything">bug-out-bag</a> when the end times roll around. My three favorites:<br />
<ul><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Porlex-Mini-Stainless-Coffee-Grinder/dp/B0044ZA066/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1362195372&sr=1-2&keywords=porlex+hand+grinder">The light but tough Porlex Mini</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hario-MSS-1B-Mini-Coffee-Grinder/dp/B001804CLY/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1362195337&sr=1-1&keywords=hario+slim">The affordable and elegant Hario Slim</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/SANTIAGO-Coffee-Mill-Varnished-Zassenhaus/dp/B000VZEKMI/ref=sr_1_8?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1362195398&sr=1-8&keywords=zassenhaus+coffee+grinder">The classic Zassenhaus box grinder you hold between your knees</a></li>
</ul><h3>Timers, Scales, and Kettles</h3>A timer is useful for almost every manual brew method and can even come in handy when figuring out the best grind size for automatic drip machines. Most smartphones are good for this, but if like me you prefer to check <a href="http://www.instagram.com/tonxcoffee">Instagram</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tonxcoffee">Twitter</a> while your coffee is brewing, then a dedicated digital <a href="http://www.amazon.com/TM8-Digital-Timer-Memory-Feature/dp/B000095RCF/ref=sr_1_23?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1362195606&sr=1-23&keywords=timer">count-up kitchen timer</a> is a worthwhile investment.<br />
<h4>The Case For a Gram Scale</h4>A gram-accurate scale can bring some great precision into your brewing and remove some of the guesswork when pouring water from kettles. For instance, when filling a french press directly from your kettle, it can be hard to correctly eyeball where to stop pouring as wet coffee grounds bloom up with escaping gasses. A scale lets you <strong>dodge having to pre-measure your water into a kettle or fuss with finding a fill line</strong>. Just put the whole kit and caboodle of your brewing device on the scale, tare it out, and start pouring to the desired water weight (remember 1 gram = 1 milliliter).<br />
It actually makes brewing easier. Though it might feel like adding a scale makes your morning routine into too much of a chemistry class, you'll find it actually makes the process a much more brainless and autopilot affair once you've dialed in your "recipe." Thanks to my slick looking <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Salter-Ultra-Kitchen-Weighs-11-Pound/dp/B00525500I/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1362195774&sr=1-1&keywords=salter+black">kitchen scale</a> I'm able to make my first cup of the morning with barely any brain activity involved.<br />
Whether you're using precise gram scales or just simple scoops, the important thing is that you <strong>make sure your measurements are repeatable and adjustable</strong>. In most cases, if starting with a baseline brew recipe and ratio, just a few brews and a small amount of trial and error—little adjustments in grind, dose, dwell time, and a bit of technique—will get you to a reliable sweet spot. And expect to pour a few brews down the sink at first whenever introducing a new brew method to your kitchen.<br />
In the next lesson we'll dig in on several great methods and <strong>peek into the deep rabbit hole that is home espresso</strong>.<br />
<hr /><i style="font-size: 80%;"><a href="http://www.twitter.com/tonx">Tony Konecny</a> wears a number of hats at the awesome coffee subscription service <a href="http://www.tonx.org/">Tonx</a> which he cofounded as part of his long crusade to bring great coffee into kitchens, cubicles, and caves. Beloved by shut-ins and coffee connoisseurs alike.</i><br />
<i style="font-size: 80%;">Top image remixed from <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=104054093">etraveler</a>, <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=42950863">Subbotina Anna</a>, and <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=95220994">Oros Gabor</a> (Shutterstock).</i><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-13927412785418922332013-03-05T11:16:00.001-06:002013-03-05T11:16:57.370-06:00How to Deal with Negative People...<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/U-Svz_aHWSk/how-to-deal-with-negative-people">How to Deal with Negative People</a>: <br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gjjlvrhws71jpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="How to Deal with Negative People" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gjjlvrhws71jpg/medium.jpg" title="How to Deal with Negative People" width="300" /></a>We all have negative type of people in our lives who manage to bring us down on a perfectly good day. While you likely can't avoid these people entirely, you can deal with them in a way that you both walk away from the conversation better off. That means figuring out when it's worth listening to them. <br />
To help figure out the best way to deal with negative people, I spoke with Roger Gil, a mental health clinician who specializes in marriage and family therapy. As Gil notes, dealing with negative types is primarily about learning to differentiate between the opinions you should consider and the ones you should ignore—to distinguish between the pessimist who's just being a sour puss, and the pragmatist who's actually offering valuable insights. After all, if those negative nancy's aren't adding to the conversation you're probably best off ignoring them:<br />
<blockquote>There is no foolproof way of distinguishing needless pessimism from productive pragmatism when seeking advice or opinions. But by assessing what goes into the formulation of the third-party opinions that can influence your own decisions, you can separate the skewed opinions from the more well-thought-out ones.</blockquote>Gil's point is that you'll always run into negative people, so the best thing you can really do is figure out if their advice is worth following or not. Whether it's a friend, or a new co-worker at the office who seems to always wear the grumpy hat, here's how to root out the underlying truth in what they're really saying.<br />
<h3>Find the Critic's Baseline</h3><img alt="How to Deal with Negative People" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gjjupfh9vyajpg/medium.jpg" title="How to Deal with Negative People" width="300" />First things first, Gil recommends you find the baseline of a person before you assume they're being negative. We all have our bad days, and unless you have an idea of where a person stands you can't know whether they're just in a bad mood or if they're always like that. Gil suggests that before you assume they're negative, you spend a little time figuring out exactly how they work.<br />
<blockquote>If you hang around someone long enough you will get a feel for whether they're the type to be more optimistic, pessimistic, or pragmatic. This knowledge is valuable because while you might expect a "yes" from the optimist, a "no" from the pessimist, or a "let's look at the big picture" from the pragmatist, it's the times that the responses don't follow the "party line" that should interest you. By knowing what is your critic's norm, you will be able to differentiate between the times that "they are just being themselves" versus the times that they may be recognizing something truly noteworthy.</blockquote>Essentially, when your negative critic ventures off the beaten path, and offers advice to you that's surprising, that's when you should really take note. Even if they're typically the pessimist in a situation, when they break that norm, something interesting is going on there that's worth noting. <i style="font-size: 80%;">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/klif/47941248/">deovolenti</a></i>.<br />
<h3>Follow the "Three's Company" Rule</h3><img alt="How to Deal with Negative People" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gjk8km9inirjpg/medium.jpg" title="How to Deal with Negative People" width="300" />Just because a person's a pessimist doesn't mean they're not right now and again. Gil notes that the easiest way to figure if their advice is worth following is to simply ask around, and figure out if a consensus exists that falls in line with the person's view:<br />
<blockquote>If one or two people give you similar opinions, it could just be that they are drinking the same Kool Aid. If three or more people that have nothing to do with one another have similar opinions, then you are increasing the odds that the opinions you are getting are more accurate assessments of the way things are because each of those people is coming from their own unique perspective.</blockquote>If it's a unanimous opinion, then perhaps that person isn't as pessimistic as you think, and their advice—whatever it may be—is worth considering. While you certainly don't need to treat the three's company rule like a law, it's worth considering if you're unsure if someone's opinion is based on their grumpy mood.<br />
<h3>Ask the Right Questions</h3><img alt="How to Deal with Negative People" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gjk96bd5jv8jpg/medium.jpg" title="How to Deal with Negative People" width="300" />Eventually, your grump-spotting is going to need a little more investigation, and that means asking questions. To get to the root of why a person's opinion is the way it is, Gil suggests one question you might want to ask is the simplest:<br />
<blockquote>"Why?" is the most powerful question you can ask a person who is giving you their opinion because it allows you to determine what assumptions inform their opinions. If the response you get is one that indicates a lack of insight (e.g. "I don't know, that's just how it is," "Because everyone knows that's how the world always works," etc.) then you can pretty much assume that the person's emotional baggage is informing their opinion. However if the response is one that suggests that some good, old-fashioned contemplation was involved (e.g. "The data suggests that this outcome is likely.") then you may want to lend a little more credence to the response you get.</blockquote>To further root out the origin of someone's advice, and whether it's worth pursuing, you also want to ask another simple question, "would you do it again?" when it applies. The reason is pretty simple: it requires a bit of an emotional response, and that can help you differentiate their opinion even further.<br />
<blockquote>When seeking the advice of someone who has walked down a path that you are considering pursuing, asking them if they would do it again and what they would do differently will reveal valuable insights into whether or not they are being objective in their assessments. If their response to "would you do it again?" feels like it's more of a reflection of their own emotional baggage than of someone who has their eyes on the situation at large then you know to give less weight to their opinions on a topic. If the person can tell you what they would do differently or can expound on why they would keep it all the same then the opinion you are getting is that of a proactive thinker instead of a passive person who is just coasting along.</blockquote>The hope is that your questions will lead to a better understanding of their history, and subsequently, you'll know whether their advice is worth following in the future. When it boils down to it, the best way to root out and deal with a negative person is to figure out how much of their opinion really matters to you, if you should take it, and how much you should care about their advice moving forward.<br />
If it's a co-worker, boss, friend, or family member, they'll likely be in your life no matter what—learning how to decide whether or not to pay attention to them helps inform your decision making moving forward. If their pessimism ends up being too much of a bummer, <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5909055/how-to-productively-call-people-out-on-their-bs-without-being-an-asshole">you can always call them out on their BS</a> and try to remedy the situation a little. <i style="font-size: 80%;">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/arenamontanus/2421122944/">Anders Sandberg</a></i>.<br />
<hr /><i>Thanks to mental health clinician Roger Gil for helping with this post. You can find him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/rogergil79">here</a> and be sure to check out his <a href="http://lifehacker.com/%20www.luvbuzd.tv/videos">podcast as well</a>.</i><br />
<i style="font-size: 80%;">Photo by <a href="http://www.psdgraphics.com/backgrounds/soft-blue-design/">PSD Graphics</a>, <a href="http://www.psdgraphics.com/?s=thumbs+up">PSD Graphics</a>, and <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-789547p1.html">eurobanks</a> (Shutterstock)</i>.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-25089072772251372892013-03-05T11:12:00.001-06:002013-03-05T11:12:13.840-06:00Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 2: How to Select Your Beans<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/yw7J41c7a_0/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-2-how-to-select-your-beans">Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 2: How to Select Your Beans</a>: <br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gc90gvfeyq5jpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 2: How to Select Your Beans" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gc90gvfeyq5jpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 2: How to Select Your Beans" width="300" /></a>Yesterday we argued <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5987802/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-1-the-case-for-better-coffee?preview=true">the case for better coffee</a>, and today we're diving into selecting the best beans. Often lost in our gadget-obsessed culture is the basic fact that no fussy brewing method, precise technique, or pricey gear matters as much to your mug as the coffee beans you choose to brew. Even the most simple brewing device can produce otherworldly brews when paired with great coffee. Finding an approach into the often confusing landscape of consumer coffee bean choices is the essential first step to improving your morning ritual. <br />
<h3>A Matter of Preference</h3>When it comes to coffee, chaos often reigns in determining what lands in your mug. Everything from the chosen seed, to the hillside the seedling got planted on, to the mood at the mill the day the coffee cherry was processed, to the cleanliness of the coffee grinder, to your barista's preoccupation with that ambiguous drunk text they got last night from their ex can affect the final cup. Hard and fast toeholds for landing on specific preferences are few and fleeting.<br />
A good cup of <strong>coffee is subject to more variables than the sort of beverages we can get in bottles</strong>. Think of beer or wine as being like novels or books, while coffee is closer to a magazine or newspaper—a product best enjoyed in its moment and time. Coffee's ephemeral nature makes it much harder to pin down—but that's also a big part of its charm.<br />
A better approach is to embrace ahead of all other minutiae a sort of first order preference for coffees that are above all good—possessing the essential characteristics that elevate them above most of the products cluttering the marketplace.<br />
<img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 2: How to Select Your Beans" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gca43eu925hjpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 2: How to Select Your Beans" width="300" /><br />
<h3>What Is Good Coffee?</h3>Mediocre or just plain bad coffee is everywhere. Store shelves are stocked with stale beans. Capsule, pod, and K-Cup coffee reigns but is a <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5883639/skip-the-single+serving-container-coffee-and-brew-your-own-to-save-serious-cash">very poor value</a> in both the machines and the consumables, and the results are a far cry from fresh coffee. In terms of raw material, most of these coffees edge closer to commodity coffee and not much care is demonstrated in their roasting. The marketing prose on a can of Folgers doesn't sound very different from the copy on a bag of "gourmet" coffee, so the consumer is often left with very few clues. <i>(Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/_-o-_/8521902518/">-0-</a> (Flickr).)</i><br />
<strong>Fresh roasted.</strong> The full flavor and richness of coffee diminishes dramatically and rapidly after roasting. The broadest range and intensity of flavors is experienced within the first two weeks, and no technology or fancy packaging can do very much to stop that decline. Once you experience the aroma and presence of drinking coffee from fresh roasted beans, it's hard to go back to the stuff on the supermarket shelf. Only buy coffee that has a roasted-on date and will get consumed within a couple weeks of that date.<br />
<strong>Good green.</strong> Long before a roaster gets into the picture, great coffee begins at the farm with great land, great plants, great farmers, and great processing. An enormous amount of effort and care goes into growing the best coffees and there's typically a strong correlation between higher quality and more sustainable agricultural practices. Look for coffee that's traceable back to individual farms or cooperatives and from roasters who are dedicated to paying farmers healthy premiums for high quality.<br />
<strong>Whole bean.</strong> Coffee's oomph is best experienced freshly ground. The minor convenience of buying beans pre-ground doesn't outweigh the massive loss of flavor and freshness that you'll incur. Buy whole bean coffee.<br />
<strong>Sweetness. Balance. Flavor.</strong> A truly good coffee will have all three of these in spades: a natural sweetness that carries through each sip, a good balance of organic acids, a pleasing mouthfeel that makes for a cup that's lively without being bitter, flat, or rough, and an intensity of good flavors that add up to deliciousness. Seek out roasters who are discerning in their green coffee sourcing and meticulous in their roasting.<br />
There are a growing number of small and medium sized coffee roasters doing great work and putting honest effort into their product. Starting your coffee upgrade journey by exploring the best releases from top-tier roasters is the right road (of course this author is a bit biased towards <a href="https://www.tonx.org/">one in particular</a>.)<br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gcaa4g8sn3vjpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 2: How to Select Your Beans" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gcaa4g8sn3vjpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 2: How to Select Your Beans" width="300" /></a><br />
<h3>Geography</h3>Coffee is cultivated throughout the tropics, and more countries and more growers are getting on board the quality coffee bandwagon. A perusal at the offering lists from a bunch of top roasters is likely to push the limits of most people's geography knowledge.<br />
While individual growing regions might show distinctive flavor characteristics or have particular processing styles that tend to give them a signature taste, <strong>it's important not to fall into the easy trap of dismissing or embracing an entire region or country based on just a small set of experiences</strong>. Again, coffee's slippery nature is such that even at the level of a single individual estate during a single harvest season there may be coffee experiences awaiting you at every end of the spectrum. If you keep an open mind, there are surprises to be found from almost every corner of the coffee growing world.<br />
<h3>Roast Styles</h3>Roasting styles run the gamut from charcoal black to light golden brown and many consumers feeling their way through the murky consumer coffee landscape find roast degree to be one of the few graspable features to lock onto as a stated preference. Even among experienced coffee pros, absolutes about degree of roast rightness and wrongness persist, though many other <strong>less visible nuances of the roasting process arguably play bigger roles in determining the ultimate awesomeness (or lack thereof) of the finished bean</strong>. Keep an open mind on roast degree and you'll likely encounter pleasant surprises across a wide swath of the spectrum.<br />
<h3>Labels and Certifications</h3>Sustainability, from both an environmental and economic justice perspective, is the subject of endless dialogue inside and around the coffee industry. Consumers looking to feel good about their buying choices will encounter an array of certifications on packaging labels. Each certification has its strengths and its flaws and ultimately, as with almost all agricultural products, <strong>there are no magic bullet solutions that fits every farm</strong>. Organic certification emphasizes the farm's inputs, while some of the other eco-certifications focus on bird habitat or biodiversity. Several others focus on setting floor prices for struggling farmers and building market access for cooperatives.<br />
Some of the most exciting progress in coffee sustainability is happening with small and medium size roasters and boutique exporters and importers working to improve traceability and better prices for producers based around quality. For a newer generation of microroasters and sophisticated coffee farmers, meeting face to face and doing business more directly is paying dividends for everyone in the supply chain and resulting in the extraordinary leaps in cup quality that underly some of the current hype around high end coffee.<br />
<img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 2: How to Select Your Beans" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gh9fumcvirsjpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 2: How to Select Your Beans" width="300" /><br />
<h3>A Note On Tasting Notes</h3>Inside of the coffee trade, the formal system of cupping—a procedural way to taste and evaluate coffees—leads a lot of us to develop a pretty baroque lexicon for describing a coffee's flavors. Sometimes these flavor descriptions are right on the mark ("you really can taste the apricot in that cup!"). Other times the descriptions hint at a general constellation of flavor rather than a specific taste (general citric acidity) or might even be euphemisms for something unpleasant or disappointing (calling it "fruity" instead of "fermented"). All this talk of fruits, flowers, and nuts or "cleanliness" can seem a bit intimidating and <strong>often takes away from the real gestalt of the cup</strong>. <i>(Pictured at right: stages of maturation at Finca Matalapa in La Libertad, El Salvador. Photo via Tonx.)</i><br />
The process of applying pretty prose to coffees is fun, but not always good for guiding you toward coffees you'll love or away from ones you'll dislike. So while there is much to learn about the complexity of coffee by digging into tasting notes, <strong>trusting in your tongue and worthy roasters ahead of your thesaurus is the best approach</strong>.<br />
<h3>Finding That Perfect Bean</h3>Sadly, it's close to impossible. Green coffee too has a shelf life and good coffee roasters manage their green inventory based on the harvest cycles. Falling too deeply in love with a newly-landed bean from Guatemala in April might lead to heartache come November. But exploring beans from roasters that share or cater to your emerging tastes can keep you very happy. Those practicing artful blending can provide you a relatively consistent flavor experience even as the components shift with the tilt of the earth.<br />
In our next lesson, <strong>we'll start digging in to the nitty gritty of brewing</strong>.<br />
<hr /><i style="font-size: 80%;"><a href="http://www.twitter.com/tonx">Tony Konecny</a> is on a crusade to get more good coffee into more homes. When he's not busy making the world safe for great coffee with his teammates at Tonx, he can be found staying up all night rewriting short pithy autobiographies for productivity websites. You can taste what he's drinking <a href="http://www.tonx.org/">here</a>.</i><br />
<i style="font-size: 80%;"><a href="http://twitter.com/ry3bee">Ryan Brown</a> has trotted the globe meeting farmers and millers and tasting coffees for the likes of Ritual and Stumptown and currently heads up the Tonx green coffee team. You can get a glimpse of the coffee world from a sourcing perspective by checking out his lovely Instagram feed href="http://instagram.com/tonxcoffee">Instagram feed.</i><br />
<i style="font-size: 80%;">Top image remixed from <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=104054093">etraveler</a>, <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=42950863">Subbotina Anna</a>, and <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=95220994">Oros Gabor</a> (Shutterstock).</i><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgps7J3vtb3ydFXfh1f-vBRX5MoZG4A6Lg7_NCzjEKoKZHA91oz-PWe90Z3A9WW9XZd_Mcdch_DewipkGzf6dTKhrlpBN9Je36TYQrs4hETq9M90w-2L-Zmo9BUTRhv-0a3hA-nsSp2sle-/s1600/4950CFE17F9AF1AF0E22284E97D7C326.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgps7J3vtb3ydFXfh1f-vBRX5MoZG4A6Lg7_NCzjEKoKZHA91oz-PWe90Z3A9WW9XZd_Mcdch_DewipkGzf6dTKhrlpBN9Je36TYQrs4hETq9M90w-2L-Zmo9BUTRhv-0a3hA-nsSp2sle-/s1600/4950CFE17F9AF1AF0E22284E97D7C326.png" /></a></div><div align="center" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-86142549546398255572013-03-04T11:28:00.001-06:002013-03-04T11:28:10.617-06:00Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 1: The Case for Better Coffee<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/Jgr_f1woFNo/brew-the-perfect-cup-lesson-1-the-case-for-better-coffee">Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 1: The Case for Better Coffee</a>: <br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18g61qkqxws9pjpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 1: The Case for Better Coffee" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18g61qkqxws9pjpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 1: The Case for Better Coffee" width="300" /></a>Are you a total coffee nerd, always on the hunt for the newest and best blends? Would your home-brewing gear rival the local cafe? Or maybe you're on the opposite end of the spectrum—you appreciate a cup of joe no matter its origin or fancy brewing technique. Whether you're a noob or a connoisseur, this week's Lifehacker Morning School is for you. All week, the experts from <a href="http://www.tonx.org/">Tonx</a>, the fresh roast <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5914336/tonx-delivers-freshly-roasted-coffee-beans-to-your-door-every-other-week">subscription service</a>, are setting out to demystify some of the contemporary coffee culture noise, and give you the knowlege you need to make great coffee anywhere. So grab your favorite cup and let's get to learning. <br />
Today, we're discussing <strong>the case for better coffee</strong>. Is there <em>really</em> much difference between gas station sludge and an expensive cafe blend? And if there is, why should I care?<br />
<h3>What Is Coffee?</h3>By some accounts, coffee is the most popular beverage on earth besides water. The <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/">World Bank</a> estimates that several hundred million people make their livings directly or indirectly in the global coffee trade. Coffee is a part of (and sometimes very cherished part of) many people's daily rituals. Still, many myths and misperceptions persist about what makes for a good cup.<br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gc7hbyg1br8jpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 1: The Case for Better Coffee" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gc7hbyg1br8jpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 1: The Case for Better Coffee" width="300" /></a>We'll gloss over the particulars for now, but coffee as we know it is the seed from the ripened fruit of a shrub or tree native to Africa. It grows best in tropical climates at higher elevations and is cultivated commercially on five continents. The two species of commercial interest are Coffea arabica (arabica coffee) and Coffea canephora (robusta), with <strong>arabica beans being the tastier of the two</strong>. Within arabica there are a number of subtypes with different hardiness or flavor characteristics.<br />
People in the "specialty coffee" trade talk a lot about the seed to cup chain—a seemingly insurmountable series of events from plant to pour that determines whether your coffee tastes like paradise or poo. The selection of cultivar, the long husbandry of the plants, the altitude and quality of the land, the climate, the care exercised in harvesting, the meticulousness of the processing, the practices of the dry mill, the rough travel of export, the competency of the roaster, and the many variables of right brewing all come to play in what happens in your cup.<br />
There has been a renaissance of sorts in coffee over the last several years, from the farm level to the cafe to the kitchen. There's been a proliferation of new microroasters, a seriousness among baristas about the craft of making coffee, and an emerging gear head culture always chasing the perfect cup with the latest gadget.<br />
But for all the noise and increasing hype around coffee, <strong>most people's daily mugs still get filled with subpar brews</strong>. Pricey pre-ground coffee capsules and pods dominate the market on store shelves and in offices. For many, real coffee remains confusing, intimidating, overly precious, or seemingly unapproachable.<br />
People seeking to drink good coffee are often branded as snobs. But labeling someone a "coffee snob" simply for wanting a decent cup is a bit like labeling someone a "laundry snob" for wearing clean socks. There is nothing wrong with drinking good coffee.<br />
<h3>The Argument For Great Coffee</h3><strong>It tastes good.</strong> Really good, actually. A well prepared cup of coffee from freshly and expertly roasted beans sourced from growers who put real care into their crop stands head and shoulders and 10-gallon hats above the lower grade and typically stale alternatives that crowd the marketplace.<br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gc7la0n7a24jpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 1: The Case for Better Coffee" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gc7la0n7a24jpg/medium.jpg" title="Brew the Perfect Cup, Lesson 1: The Case for Better Coffee" width="300" /></a><strong>Good coffee gets beyond the commodity system.</strong> Most of the world's coffee is traded as a fungible commodity, like oil or corn, subject to the whims of finance wizardry and market irrationality with little concern for quality or the welfare of the farmers who produce it. The growing Specialty Coffee market has changed the game for coffee farmers and created new opportunities for economic sustainability. Good coffee is better for everyone in the chain.<br />
<strong>It's actually easy.</strong> The serious baristas at the fancy shop with the long lines, sporting the latest prohibition-era cosplay outfits and fondling their expensive espresso gear might lead you to believe that a well-crafted cup of coffee can only come from the hand of an expert—but the truth is that a good brew, once you grasp the basics, needn't be any more difficult to prepare than a box of macaroni and cheese (and quite a bit faster). <br />
<h3>The (Only) Case Against Great Coffee</h3><strong>It tastes really good.</strong> Once you get used to drinking awesome coffee, it gets much harder to suffer the bad stuff.<br />
In our next lesson we'll discuss the most critical and often most under-optimized piece of the coffee puzzle: <strong>your bean selection</strong>.<br />
<hr /><i style="font-size: 80%;"><a href="http://www.twitter.com/tonx">Tony Konecny</a> has pulled a long tour of duty in the coffee wars, most recently cofounding <a href="http://www.tonx.org/">Tonx</a>, an innovative coffee subscription service aiming to source, roast, and ship the best fresh roasted coffees for people who brew at home. Right now, the first taste is free!</i><br />
<i style="font-size: 80%;">Top image remixed from <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=104054093">etraveler</a>, <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=42950863">Subbotina Anna</a>, and <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=95220994">Oros Gabor</a> (Shutterstock).</i><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-9922639944984336202013-03-02T04:36:00.001-06:002013-03-02T04:36:20.557-06:00Grow Plants Outdoors with the Pot-in-Pot Method<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/CF6zpgCHZ0c/grow-plants-outdoors-with-the-pot+in+pot-method">Grow Plants Outdoors with the Pot-in-Pot Method</a>: <br />
<img alt="Grow Plants Outdoors with the Pot-in-Pot Method" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18g5js87d006jjpg/medium.jpg" title="Grow Plants Outdoors with the Pot-in-Pot Method" width="300" />Spring is around the corner. When you're ready to start working on your garden, this pot-in-pot method of growing outdoor plants can save you time and money, and also gives you the flexibility to easily switch out plants. <br />
For the pot-in-pot method, you basically bury a pot in the ground and then drop in a plant growing in the same-size pot into that container.<br />
The Florida Friendly Plants site points out twenty reasons why you might want to do this. Among them, you can focus water just on those plants, save time changing out annuals, experiment with plant arrangements and also see if they're suitable for your light levels, and protect plants from encroaching tree or shrub roots. Pretty smart!<br />
Hit up the link below for more pot-in-pot planting tips and tricks.<br />
<a href="http://www.floridafriendlyplants.com/Blog/post/2009/03/03/Pot-in-Pot.aspx">Pot-in-Pot</a> | Florida Friendly Plants<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-46507994168070543022013-02-28T04:42:00.001-06:002013-02-28T04:42:44.052-06:00It’s give-away time!<a href="http://mimikirchner.com/blog/archives/2013/02/its-give-away-time/">It’s give-away time!</a>: <br />
<a href="http://lillarogers.com/">Lilla</a> gave me a copy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592538169/doll0b-20">her book</a> to give away. And, she signed and decorated the front page too- so pretty!<br />
<a href="http://mimikirchner.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/226book.jpg"><img alt="2:26:book" height="453" src="http://mimikirchner.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/226book.jpg" width="600" /></a>I know I <a href="http://mimikirchner.com/blog/archives/2013/02/recent-news-so-much/">mentioned the book</a> already but I have been leisurely reading it, thinking about what she says and doing some of the prompts. I love this book. As I read along I think to myself- <em>I do that too!</em> or <em>I think that too!</em> And (maybe) I thought I was the only one. I remember a similar feeling when I first discovered podcasts and listened to loads of artist interviews. I felt so connected to people I didn’t know and amazed at our similar experiences and ways of thinking about the work.<br />
Lilla is teaching an e-course which is an expansion on the book- all about the art markets, making work that sells, all her secret (art) agent wisdom. Check it out <a href="http://lillarogers.com/make-art-that-sells/">here</a>.<br />
So, if you want to be in on the give-away, leave a comment here. Anyone can enter- I’ll foot the bill for shipping wherever you are. The comment has to be on the blog- if you get the email, click over to comment. One entry per person. The giveaway will close on Sunday, March 3 at midnight est. I’ll do the random number generator thing on Monday, March 4. Good luck!<br />
<em>after a few comments I want to be clear- this is not a craft book, it is a book about the business of making art. You can check out the description on Amazon.</em><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-91451662382902608572013-02-27T10:02:00.001-06:002013-02-27T10:02:11.669-06:00Homemade Graham Crackers - a tale of two recipes...<a href="http://vintagekitchennotes.blogspot.com/2013/02/homemade-graham-crackers-tale-of-two.html">Homemade Graham Crackers - a tale of two recipes</a>: <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_AhD0va_TQ_fzns4UV8hBXKPgbPMEpKhMgWAuEDD6C_MEpE4S9wnNqTbK8E2EQbSVL2Bis6-SKc1rPa7bcM86eG-vxvTlDT6jIbuL0Jp6xfTQu0bspsYTvKY7-5KHSnii-yKiq4gMdxc/s1600/IMG_7611.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_AhD0va_TQ_fzns4UV8hBXKPgbPMEpKhMgWAuEDD6C_MEpE4S9wnNqTbK8E2EQbSVL2Bis6-SKc1rPa7bcM86eG-vxvTlDT6jIbuL0Jp6xfTQu0bspsYTvKY7-5KHSnii-yKiq4gMdxc/s1600/IMG_7611.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;">Left: Martha Stewart´s recipe Right: Nancy Silverton´s recipe</td></tr>
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Necessity is the mother of invention, or in this case the force behind trying different recipes of the same cracker not because I want to have a good homemade version, but because they are non-existent here, so it´s either homemade graham crackers or store-bought vanilla wafers.<br />
<div><span lang="EN-US">Having made hundreds of cheesecakes over the years using a wafer crumb crust, I didn´t really need the extra step. No one cared.</span><br />
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But now that I live and breathe food, something most food bloggers can relate to, I need to be able to use graham crackers, which are totally different from vanilla or honey cookies. I want the different flavor to work with in recipes. And besides, unless you´re in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buenos_Aires">Buenos Aires</a>, you´ll never be able to duplicate something that calls for store-bought argentinian vanilla cookies, right?</div><div><span lang="EN-US"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUtDZ2QmA0D1xc4Zc_9sLKfZp_0YfE60aTL-yMaLZj6ouwJ7XAyx5sdBvMUdtc-suR_isUCI-R5wW4ITO9cmssOGmMzQ70gtGwiDbbb1UCQRjoKITobQneEAsWSqQx-8yz2hjO6ZFlsT0/s1600/IMG_7427.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUtDZ2QmA0D1xc4Zc_9sLKfZp_0YfE60aTL-yMaLZj6ouwJ7XAyx5sdBvMUdtc-suR_isUCI-R5wW4ITO9cmssOGmMzQ70gtGwiDbbb1UCQRjoKITobQneEAsWSqQx-8yz2hjO6ZFlsT0/s1600/IMG_7427.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;">Martha Stewart´s Graham Crackers</td></tr>
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So it came down to two recipes, because, really, there was no need to look any further. There was such a slim chance that they wouldn´t be wonderful, I decided to skip that margin.</div><div><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div><span lang="EN-US">I had already made both recipes two years ago, trying to use the dough as a pie dough for a cheesecake pie I make. That was before I started this blog, and I didn´t pay much attention to the subtleties between them. Oh, but that´s all changed now.</span></div><div><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span></div><div><span lang="EN-US">Let´s start with my favorite baker, Nancy Silverton. Her recipe, interestingly, has no graham flour in it, which for me is perfect, since it´s also something not easy to find here. The time I made this dough to use as a pie dough, it was good, but it didn´t have the right texture, crumbly for starters, a crumb and melted butter crust has. So I figured it was not worth it, a better crust was achieved with ground vanilla wafers. And much easier.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;">Nancy Silverton´s Graham Crackers</td></tr>
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The second contestant here, is Marthat Stewart, who else. Her recipe has graham flour, and very different proportions and even some ingredients. I used superfine whole wheat flour, which I will never know until I someday can make these with graham flour, how different the final cracker is. I suspect it doesn´t affect it much.</div><div><span lang="EN-US"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhouono-6RVbyAhYex-38_sVx8lehhukQFVGujy5e3cBel9T-4iCqnvI_v1EuT8FJozNVUUjiYqXont6qlLQwmIH7Xy6_OE3dIsFX-PVeJ3zARjkQaCUzKofRtlM-TCdsnExHZmzALcKu8/s1600/IMG_7410.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhouono-6RVbyAhYex-38_sVx8lehhukQFVGujy5e3cBel9T-4iCqnvI_v1EuT8FJozNVUUjiYqXont6qlLQwmIH7Xy6_OE3dIsFX-PVeJ3zARjkQaCUzKofRtlM-TCdsnExHZmzALcKu8/s1600/IMG_7410.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;">Sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and ready to bake (Nancy S.) </td></tr>
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Both doughs are very crumbly at first, and when starting to roll them rather sticky and too malleable to work with. Which means you have to work with them while they´re as cold as possible and as fast as you can. Both go in the fridge after mixing for a few hours or more. I left them like a day before I baked them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0URTm3j6xrGgSYsk1ZYL-8DqflNE1SsprjoR3xDBbUgZnQ16u7X1d7RHnAPPT9VsPAq07W3FEuxaO-73EUf-Mph2NPyVnFDx5Rkv6t1MuO7Oj_1euW0VMPJifvK4UfEsFeRghFQmbsU/s1600/IMG_7464.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0URTm3j6xrGgSYsk1ZYL-8DqflNE1SsprjoR3xDBbUgZnQ16u7X1d7RHnAPPT9VsPAq07W3FEuxaO-73EUf-Mph2NPyVnFDx5Rkv6t1MuO7Oj_1euW0VMPJifvK4UfEsFeRghFQmbsU/s1600/IMG_7464.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;">Just out of the oven (Nancy S.)</td></tr>
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</span><span lang="EN-US">I made one (MS) in a whole flat giant cookie, with the separations marked, directly on the same parchment paper where I rolled it, and the other one (NS) cutting each cookie before . The latter has individual edges, and it´s a little more laborious having to transfer each individual cookie</span> to a parchment-lined baking tray.<br />
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</div><div><span lang="EN-US">And both are insanely good. Good, good, good flavor and texture. I wish I had a box of graham crackers beside me so I could tell you without that minimum percentage of doubt. But both recipes are probably better than the box. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbijlVxP2zM1eOjrAkKEhtnuC2egxcZanne7agYXa_mTT8Sk_cyFeVfVZc9wNG1Yd9LrVajl3l0CcXZbLh0OiKnJIp3_WbNMLCGfILA9iySfshsevDGRUyfuqs8ZO9_wpxL9WlEHpprag/s1600/IMG_6623-001.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbijlVxP2zM1eOjrAkKEhtnuC2egxcZanne7agYXa_mTT8Sk_cyFeVfVZc9wNG1Yd9LrVajl3l0CcXZbLh0OiKnJIp3_WbNMLCGfILA9iySfshsevDGRUyfuqs8ZO9_wpxL9WlEHpprag/s1600/IMG_6623-001.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;">Before going into the oven (Martha S.)</td></tr>
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The first recipe, from Nancy S., reminded me of a molasses cookie without the spicy kick. They have sort of a flat honeycomb appearance, and have a crunchy topping from a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar right before baking. They have to be kept in a tin to preserve it´s crunchiness, otherwise they become more like a soft cookie with only an idea of crunch.<br />
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<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>The second recipe, from Martha S., is more like a honey cookie and the butter comes through more. It´s more of a layer effect. You can keep them in a plastic bag and they just don´t loose their crunch. It´s been more than two weeks now, and they´re still crisp.<br />
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</div><div><span lang="EN-US">These crackers, both versions, are one of the best smells your kitchen, and whole house really, can hope to be enveloped in. That cinnamon, holiday, cookie smell that makes you stand still and just breathe deeply.</span></div><div><br />
<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnVeUQnuCP_YbJ0gf2UMr6BLmM3UZXBdNR9vaFDV4MnWAh7Q6LnNW4rkO41ygEudRcaXygjuDCbOywr2Y9emZlr0k7gdYfD0qdyJKUeHVL8w3f68w5MI4VDy4JqJfenyM9BpY5426Dovw/s1600/IMG_7612.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnVeUQnuCP_YbJ0gf2UMr6BLmM3UZXBdNR9vaFDV4MnWAh7Q6LnNW4rkO41ygEudRcaXygjuDCbOywr2Y9emZlr0k7gdYfD0qdyJKUeHVL8w3f68w5MI4VDy4JqJfenyM9BpY5426Dovw/s1600/IMG_7612.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I´m guessing you might want a winner. It´s very hard, both are amazing, probably the best recipes out there. Go with whatever baker is your favorite. I will probably alternate both from now on, and end up making slight changes, like adding the cinnamon in the dough in Nancy S. recipe, because it´s easier than the whole sprinkling before baking.<br />
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</div><div><span lang="EN-US">If I have to give a final veredict it is the texture of Martha S. and the flavor of Nancy S.</span></div><div><br />
</div><div><span lang="EN-US">Though I baked both recipes from their books, you can find MS <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/343771/homemade-graham-crackers">recipe on her site</a>, and NS recipe on <a href="http://www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef/2012/02/nancy-silvertons-graham-crackers.html">The Wednesday Chef</a>. No need to copy them again.</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-61810646558107331322013-02-26T11:07:00.001-06:002013-02-26T11:07:51.469-06:00The Formula Behind Life's Happiest Moments (as Illustrated by Yoga)<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/RMfzJ9WLzE0/the-formula-behind-lifes-happiest-moments">The Formula Behind Life's Happiest Moments (as Illustrated by Yoga)</a>: <br />
<img alt="The Formula Behind Life's Happiest Moments (as Illustrated by Yoga)" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ffyzfhim92qjpg/medium.jpg" title="The Formula Behind Life's Happiest Moments (as Illustrated by Yoga)" width="300" />The best moments of our lives may all follow a common pattern. Mental coach and author Jon Wortmann uses yoga to illustrate the three things that are at the core of our most-loved experiences: being centered, being focused, and self-checking how we're feeling. <br />
In a nutshell:<br />
<ul><li><em>Centering</em> yourself means being fully present. "Slow down and be where you are," Wortmann writes, the way athletes do before a game or musicians do when warming up their instruments.</li>
<li><em>Focus</em> means being oriented to what's most important to you, paying full attention to what's most important in the moment. "Doing yoga, this is focusing your mind entirely on your breathe or the feeling of your body as you move through a pose. Giving a talk, this happens when instead of worrying about whether the audience will like you, you focus on telling a great story or inviting the listener to look at things differently."</li>
<li>And <em>self-check</em> means reflecting on the experience, registering it as valuable so you can repeat it. It's why yoga teachers emphasize that the final resting pose in yoga, savasana, is the most important part of <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5803333/how-to-find-the-right-style-of-yoga-for-you">a yoga practice</a>.</li>
</ul>Yoga works because it leads us through those three things, but you can tap into this pattern to find happier moments off the mat as well.<br />
Hit up the article below for more insight into finding your sweet spot.<br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-wortmann/mindful-awareness_b_2718281.html">Why Yoga Works (How to Find Your Sweet Spot)</a> | The Huffington Post<br />
<em style="font-size: 80%;">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tabor-roeder/7981094525/">Phil Roeder</a></em><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-71566593401008111022013-02-25T05:43:00.001-06:002013-02-25T05:43:04.585-06:00Clean Your Washing Machine To Keep Clothes Fresh...<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/WMMkAJ2bUlo/clean-your-washing-machine-to-keep-clothes-fresh">Clean Your Washing Machine To Keep Clothes Fresh</a>: <br />
<img alt="Clean Your Washing Machine To Keep Clothes Fresh" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18fjtd8mxwu2yjpg/medium.jpg" title="Clean Your Washing Machine To Keep Clothes Fresh" width="300" /> Washing machines take the dirt and germs out of our clothes, but a lot of that grime just ends up trapped in the machine itself. It's pretty easy to clean your top-loader though with a few basic supplies.<br />
Regina Yunghans at Apartment Therapy wrote a great walkthrough to help you clean and disinfect your machine. Adding vinegar and baking soda to an empty wash cycle will do a fine job of disinfecting the wash tub, but cleaning the fabric softener well or those gross crevices under the lid will require some old fashioned elbow grease and a toothbrush. You don't need to do this after every load, but giving your machine some care every few months will help keep dirt from accumulating inside and transferring to your (supposedly) clean clothes. Be sure to check the source link for the step-by-step guide.<br />
<a href="http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-clean-a-top-loading-washing-machine-apartment-therapy-tutorials-184296">How To Clean a Washing Machine</a> | Apartment Therapy<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-11457826487477984832013-02-24T05:43:00.001-06:002013-02-24T05:43:26.557-06:00Make a Brownie in the Microwave in Six Minutes...<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/0Ci9cY8-c_w/make-a-brownie-in-the-microwave-in-six-minutes">Make a Brownie in the Microwave in Six Minutes</a>: <br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18f1hd8jaz9adjpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="Make a Brownie in the Microwave in Six Minutes" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18f1hd8jaz9adjpg/medium.jpg" title="Make a Brownie in the Microwave in Six Minutes" width="300" /></a>When you want a fresh-baked dessert, you don't necessarily want to spend a ton of time making it. With this recipe, you can use your microwave to make a brownie in six minutes flat: <br />
<blockquote><ul><li>2/3 cup of melted butter</li>
<li>1/3 cup of cocoa</li>
<li>2 eggs</li>
<li>3/4 cup of sugar</li>
<li>1/2 cup of flour</li>
<li>1 teaspoon of baking powder</li>
<li>1 teaspoon of vanilla</li>
<li>1 cup of chocolate chips</li>
</ul></blockquote>With those ingredients and a 9x9 pan, you can have brownies in no time. For complete instructions, hit up the full post over at Instructables. If you'd prefer cake, you can <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5082593/microwave-an-instant-chocolate-cake-in-a-coffee-mug">microwave one in a mug in minutes</a> as well.<br />
<a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/6-Minute-Microwave-Brownies/">6 Minute Microwave Brownies</a> | Instructables<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-58846299068704818342013-02-15T09:39:00.001-06:002013-02-15T09:39:57.227-06:00Tricks Your Left Brain is Playing On You (And What You Can Do About It)<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/kdWU5t6xdG0/tricks-your-left-brain-is-playing-on-you-and-what-you-can-do-about-it">Tricks Your Left Brain is Playing On You (And What You Can Do About It)</a>: <br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18eq3rqwe6pvojpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="Tricks Your Left Brain is Playing On You (And What You Can Do About It)" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18eq3rqwe6pvojpg/medium.jpg" title="Tricks Your Left Brain is Playing On You (And What You Can Do About It)" width="300" /></a>The truth is: your left brain is probably playing tricks on you and robbing you of creative ideas. Most people feel comfortable going from point A to point B, systematically building on the previous step. They love control and organization, logic rules their world, and they're uncomfortable with randomness. They think stepping outside tried and true paradigms is counterproductive and a waste of time. If you're in this group, this mode of thinking has probably served you well in many areas <em>except</em> in terms of creativity. <br />
As a matter of fact, you're so comfortable with the left brain linear approach that it has probably tricked you into believing you're not creative. Before we talk about ways your left brain is tricking you, let's take a moment to talk about the right brain left brain theory.<br />
<h3>The Right Brain Left Brain Theory</h3>The right brain left brain dominance theory goes something like this: each side of the brain controls different types of thinking and people usually prefer one to the other.<br />
If you're <strong>left brain dominant</strong>, your style of thinking is logical, focused, and analytical. You tend to think in a linear fashion.<br />
If you're <strong>right brain dominant</strong>, you're intuitive, holistic, and creative. You tend to think in a nonlinear fashion.<br />
Both sides or modes of thinking are equally important and when combined can be powerful. The truth is, the brain is much more complicated than this and works in a more interconnected way. However, this theory is still a great way to refer to the two modes of thinking because it's so widely known and the labels are now synonymous with linear and nonlinear styles of thinking. It's a simple and effective way to refer to and visualize how we use our brains.<br />
<h3>Why Creativity is Crucial</h3>How we use our brains is not only crucial to our survival, it also determines whether we succeed or fail. Our world is changing at a rapid rate and this <strong>makes it necessary to be able to think in a nonlinear fashion as well as a linear fashion</strong>.<br />
We need use our right brains to get the "big picture," and generate creative ideas and novel approaches to think strategically. We have to <a href="http://www.dumblittleman.com/2007/09/3-easy-ways-to-improve-your-brain-power.html">improve our brain power</a>. On that note, let's take a look at how our "left brain" tricks us into thinking we aren't creative.<br />
<h3>5 Tricks Your Left Brain Plays on You</h3>Here are five sneaky ways your left brain tricks you. Once you know what they are, you'll have a much better chance at avoiding them.<br />
<h4>Limited View</h4>The view from inside the left brain linear approach is limiting. Think of a straight line (the line represents your thinking). You start at a specific point (the points represent your ideas) and you build step by step on that point. This way of thinking is organized, controlled, and works well in specific situations, albeit limiting. Now think of a circle (the circle represents your mode of thinking) with many random points (the points represent ideas) inside that circle that can be connected in novel ways. Not as logical—but many more unique connections. If you picture nonlinear in terms of a circle you can see that <strong>it opens up the possibility of unlimited creative ideas</strong>. This type of thinking is crucial in an environment that is changing rapidly.<br />
<h4>Linear = Safe</h4>We tend to feel a certain amount of control and safety in a tried and true structure. In this case, left brain thinking provides that organized structure. We go from one step to the next. We are very focused. The outcome is fairly predictable. It's a safe approach. The problem is that <strong>it's not safe to be stuck in this mode of thinking</strong>. Quite the contrary, it appears nonlinear thinking is becoming safer in terms of survival and being able to succeed in today's world. Thinking outside paradigms and thinking in creative ways is proving to be a powerful skill to have.<br />
<h4>Logic</h4>Logic is powerful. However, when we step outside of logic we can utilize <strong>the power of intuition</strong>. Intuition pulls its information from seemingly invisible sources that we can't point to but that we are in tune with. When you think in a nonlinear creative fashion, intuition is your guide.<br />
<h4>Part to Whole</h4>Putting parts together to get a whole is necessary for building things. You take pieces, line them up, make a whole, and then draw conclusions. However, sometimes <strong>it is more advantageous to look at the whole first and break it down into parts</strong>. Right brain thinking looks at the whole first. In this ever-changing world we need to get the "big picture" view first in order to maneuver life.<br />
<h4>You're Not Creative</h4>The left brain tricks you into thinking you're not creative and can't generate new ideas. When we get used to something, we get stuck in a pattern. This makes it difficult to break out of a limited mode of thinking. In this case, you may identify with being logical and analytical and may be disconnected from your creative right brain.<br />
If you're left brain dominant, don't fall for its tricks. Try <strong>opening up to activities that will help you prime your <a href="http://www.dumblittleman.com/2009/09/47-ways-to-fine-tune-your-brain.html">creative right brain</a></strong> pump. Adding creative thinking to the strength of your left brain may be the secret weapon you're looking for to succeed in today's world.<br />
<a href="http://www.dumblittleman.com/2013/02/5-sneaky-tricks-your-left-brain-is.html">5 Sneaky Tricks Your Left Brain Is Playing on You</a> | Dumb Little Man<br />
<hr /><i style="font-size: 80%;">Sheila McCann is the creator of the <a href="http://rainbowframework.com/">Rainbow Framework</a>. She blogs about creativity and personal development in the context of the Rainbow Framework. Pop on over and get your <a href="http://www.rainbowframework.com/rainbow-starter-kit">free rainbow framework e-book and visual</a>.</i><br />
<i style="font-size: 80%;">Want to see your work on Lifehacker? Email <a href="mailto:tessa@lifehacker.com">Tessa</a>.</i><br />
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We recently got a sneak peek of a new product from DecoArt and I’m so excited to tell you all about the project I created with it. I’m even more excited to tell you we’ve got a great giveaway of DecoArt products to go with it! More details about the giveaway at the end of this tutorial, but for now let me tell you about glass chalkboard paint.<br />
DecoArt is introducing a new <strong>Americana® Glass Chalkboard Paint</strong> that’s made specifically for use on glass, and — get this — it’s dishwasher safe! <br />
I decided to use the glass chalkboard paint on a glass cookie jar, so I gathered all the supplies I would need — the paint, some rubbing alcohol, a paper towel, some masking tape, and a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=cosmetic%20wedge&linkCode=ur2&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acosmetic%20wedge&tag=cnj-20&url=search-alias%3Daps" target="_blank">cosmetic wedge</a> for applying the paint.<br />
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<a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_01.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="333" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_01-500x333.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="500" /></a></div>
Preparation of the surface is key with any paint, and especially this one. I used some rubbing alcohol and a paper towel to clean the glass thoroughly, to be sure there weren’t any oils from fingerprints. Then I set the jar on a towel to keep it from rolling, and I masked off a rectangular frame with the masking tape.<br />
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<a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_02.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="166" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_02-250x166.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="250" /></a><a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_04.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="166" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_04-250x166.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="250" /></a></div>
Next, I used the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=cosmetic%20wedge&linkCode=ur2&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acosmetic%20wedge&tag=cnj-20&url=search-alias%3Daps" target="_blank">cosmetic wedge</a> to dab the paint onto the jar. If you’ve never used one of these for paint before, I recommend you give it a try. It’s a great way to create a smooth painted surface with no brushstrokes, and it’s the ideal applicator for this chalkboard paint. <br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_05.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="166" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_05-250x166.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="250" /></a><a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_06.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="166" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_06-250x166.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="250" /></a></div>
One coat of paint isn’t enough for a good solid coverage, so I did three coats until I got a perfectly smooth and rich black surface. Be sure to let each coat dry thoroughly before adding the next. When I was satisfied with the coverage, I removed the tape.<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_07.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="166" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_07-250x166.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="250" /></a><a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_08.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="166" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_08-250x166.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="250" /></a></div>
The most important part of this process comes next — you’ve got to let the paint cure and then bake it. I let my painted jar sit on a shelf for 4 days to be sure it was completely dry, then I baked it in the oven, according to package directions. It may be frustrating to have to wait so long to dry, but the results are worth it, because the finished piece will be dishwasher safe. Amazing!<br />
Once the paint was all dried and cured, the next step was to condition it. My niece, Squirt, was eager to help me with this part. She rubbed a piece of chalk over the entire surface, then wiped it off with a paper towel.<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_09.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="166" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_09-250x166.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="250" /></a><a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_10.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="166" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_10-250x166.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="250" /></a></div>
Once conditioned, I was amazed at how well the paint took chalk. Squirt played around with it for quite a while, writing lots of messages on it. Each time, the chalk showed up bright and clear, and wiped away easily with just a paper towel. <br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_11.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="333" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_11-500x333.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="500" /></a></div>
The cookie jar was pretty neat already, but I wanted to decorate it for Valentine’s Day. I also wanted the decoration to be removable so I could change it for other holidays. The solution was a package of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=cling%20vinyl&linkCode=ur2&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acling%20vinyl&tag=cnj-20&url=search-alias%3Daps" target="_blank">cling vinyl</a> that I found in a variety of colors.<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_12.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="333" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_12-500x333.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="500" /></a></div>
While Squirt was drawing on the chalkboard, I traced a heart shape onto the back of the red and white vinyl and then cut a bunch of them out.<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_13.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="166" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_13-250x166.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="250" /></a><a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_14.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="166" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_14-250x166.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="250" /></a></div>
Then I wrote my final message on the chalkboard and stuck the hearts all around it, like a frame. I found that I had to spritz a light mist of water on the back of the vinyl to get it to stick. This was probably because my pieces were small and parts of them overlapped the chalkboard, which wasn’t a shiny-smooth surface.<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_15.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="166" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_15-250x166.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="250" /></a><a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_16.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="166" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_16-250x166.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="250" /></a></div>
It only took a minute or two to create a sweet frame of hearts!<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_17.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="333" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_17-500x333.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="500" /></a></div>
My favorite part about this project is that I can replace the hearts with other shapes for other seasons. I’ll be sure to share the results with you in the future.<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_18.jpg"><img alt="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" class="plain_image" height="333" hspace="10" src="http://www.chicaandjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chalkboard_cookie_jar_valentines_day_18-500x333.jpg" title="chalkboard cookie jar for Valentine's Day" width="500" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-51782661630194110782013-02-12T13:44:00.001-06:002013-02-12T13:44:34.689-06:00How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/q7H1sFhb5D8/how-to-do-a-clean-install-of-windows-without-losing-your-files-settings-and-tweaks">How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks</a>: <br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ef82wmt0m4zjpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ef82wmt0m4zjpg/medium.jpg" title="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" width="300" /></a>There's nothing like a fresh install of Windows to clear your mind, but it comes at a cost: you have to set <em>everything</em> up again, just the way you like it. Here's how to reinstall Windows, migrate your important settings, and leave the clutter behind. <br />
You <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5435523/you-dont-need-to-regularly-reinstall-windows-heres-why">don't have to regularly reinstall Windows</a> just to keep things clean, but that doesn't mean you'll <em>never</em> have to do it again. Maybe you just bought or built a new computer, or maybe you didn't take care of your computer as well as you thought and you have to do a clean install. Maybe you just want to wipe the slate clean for that new, fresh feeling. A clean slate is nice, but it also means you're going to spend the rest of the weekend setting up all your old programs, settings, and system tweaks, half of which you've probably forgotten because you set them up so long ago. Here, we'll go through some tips on how to back up your most important settings and tweaks, and restore them on your new system.<br />
<h3>Part One: The Preparation</h3>Before you reinstall Windows, you're going to want to go through all your stuff and back up the programs, settings, and tweaks you want to take with you. Here's what we recommend.<br />
<h4><b>Step One: Export a List of Your Programs</b></h4><a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ef889zntekfjpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ef889zntekfjpg/medium.jpg" title="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" width="300" /></a>Before you do anything else, it's handy to have a list of all your currently installed programs so you know what settings to back up, and which programs you want to reinstall later on. The easiest way to do this is with <a href="http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner">CCleaner</a> (a program <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5815256/what-kind-of-maintenance-do-i-need-to-do-on-my-windows-pc">everyone should have installed</a>). Just open it up and export a list of your programs:<br />
<ol><li>Open up CCleaner (you can do this quickly by right-clicking the Recycle Bin and choosing "Open CCleaner" from the menu).</li>
<li>Head to the "Tools" section in the left sidebar.</li>
<li>Click the "Save to text file" button in the bottom right-hand corner, and choose where you want to save it.</li>
</ol>Save the file in your Dropbox or on a USB stick so you have it after you do your clean install.<br />
<h4><b>Step Two: Back Up Your Windows Settings</b></h4><a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ef81z392uu1jpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ef81z392uu1jpg/medium.jpg" title="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" width="300" /></a>Next, you should back up any Windows settings you can so you don't have to do too much tweaking after you reinstall. The best way to do this is with Windows Easy Transfer, Windows' built-in migration program for just such occasions. It can back up app settings too, but it's not very good at it, so we aren't going to use it for that today.<br />
To start it up, just open the Start menu (or screen) and type Windows Easy Transfer. When it pops up, you'll get a description of what it can do. Click Next and choose an external hard disk or USB flash drive for your files. Tell it that tihs is your "old" PC, and it will scan your users for items to back up. Click Customize to tweak the selection. In this case, we recommend unchecking everything and just backing up "Windows Settings," though you can use this to back up your documents and files too (see below).<br />
<h4><b>Step Three: Back Up Your Documents and Files</b></h4>Before you reinstall Windows, you'll obviously want to back up your documents, music, movies, and other files just like you always would. I usually just copy these to an external drive or move them with Windows Easy Transfer as described above, though if you back up your computer regularly (which you should), you can always just restore them from your backup later on as well.<br />
<h4><b>Step Four: Back Up Your Program Settings</b></h4><a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ef821253t9zjpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ef821253t9zjpg/medium.jpg" title="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" width="300" /></a>Next, you'll want to back up all the settings you've worked so hard crafting on each of those programs (at least the ones you plan to keep). Different programs store their settings in different places, but here are the main places you should look:<br />
<b>Your AppData Folder</b>: This folder, located at <code>C:\Users\yourusername\AppData</code>, is where the majority of your programs store their settings (usually under the <code>Roaming</code> subfolder). Usually you'll see a folder with the name of the program or its developer, with a number of files inside. You'll want to back up the program's entire folder.<br />
<b>Your "My Documents" Folder</b>: You know where this is already. If you open it up, you should see a few folders for other programs on your system, which often contain user settings or tweaks that you'll want to save. Back those folders up individually, just like the AppData folders.<br />
<b>Your Program Files Folder</b>: Most programs won't store settings in the Program Files folder, but it might store other important stuff, like plugins or themes you installed after the fact. If that's the case for the program in question, it's a good idea to back up its folder in <code>C:\Program Files</code> (or <code>C:\Program Files (x86)</code>) for good measure.<br />
<img alt="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ef9m9fu1jmkjpg/medium.jpg" title="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" width="300" /><b>Your Registry</b>: Some programs, like <a href="http://www.stardock.com/products/fences/">Fences</a>, store all of their settings in your Registry. This is pretty easy to back up: just press the Windows key, type <code>regedit</code>, and press Enter. Navigate to <code>HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software</code> and scroll down to the program in question—in Fences' case, under <code>Stardock\Fences</code>. Right-click on the program's folder in the registry and choose Export to back it up.<br />
<b>Games</b>: If you play any games, the above tricks should work, but we recommend using a program like <a href="http://www.gamesave-manager.com/">GameSave Manager</a> to make the process infinitely more simple. It'll search for games on your system, find where their save files are stored, and back up everything for you.<br />
Again, different programs will store settings in different places, so if you're unsure, do a bit of research before you start. If a program has the ability to "export" or "back up" its settings to a file, that can be handy as well.<br />
<img alt="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ef82314jkzjjpg/medium.jpg" title="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" width="300" />Once you find the folder(s) in which a program stores its files, copy that folder to your Dropbox or a USB stick. I also like to put a text file with that folder indicating the path to where it was stored. For example, if I were to back up Pidgin's settings, I'd back up the <code>.libpurple</code> folder in my AppData and the <code>Plugins</code> folder in Pidgin's Program Files. I'd then create a text folder that noted where each of these two folders came from, so i know where to put them when I restore them later on.<br />
Repeat this process for each of your important programs, and you should have everything you need to reinstall them later on without losing your settings. This sounds like it'll take awhile, but it shouldn't—it only took me a few minutes to back up all the important settings from my favorite programs.<br />
<h4><b>Step Five: Create .Reg Files For Your System Tweaks</b></h4>If you're an intense tweaker, you've probably edited the Windows Registry to enable some <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5700084/top-10-registry-tweaks-that-power-up-windows">awesome under-the-hood power-ups</a>, like <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5535350/hide-pre+populated-items-in-windows-explorers-sidebar">hiding items in Windows Explorer</a> or <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5571861/lose-the-taskbar-thumbnail-delay-in-windows-7-with-a-registry-hack">speeding up the Windows taskbar</a>. The easiest way to back these up, says <a href="http://1n73r.net/">Justin Garrison</a>, is to save a .reg file for each tweak in your Drobpox or USB stick. That way, whenever you reinstall Windows, you can just double-click on your .reg files to install those tweaks instantly.<br />
You can't necessarily create a .reg file for <em>every</em> tweak—just the ones for which the registry keys in question already exist—but that can still cut down on a lot of research time. Google around to see if someone's already created a .reg file for the tweaks you want (they probably have), or you can do a little research and <a href="http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kbase/WindowsTips/WindowsNT/RegistryTips/Registry/Understanding.REGfiles.html">create the file yourself</a>.<br />
<h3>Part Two: The Restoration</h3>Once you've got everything backed up, it's time to reinstall Windows. Insert the Windows installation disc and boot up from it, or use Windows 8's Reset option in the settings to start from scratch. Once you've got a fresh installation of Windows, it's time to restore all your stuff.<br />
<h4><b>Step Six: Restore Your Windows Settings</b></h4>Before you do anything else, it's a good idea to restore those Windows settings we backed up earlier. Reopen Windows Easy Transfer on your fresh install, plug in your USB drive with your saved transfer files, and this time choose "This Is My New Computer." It'll restore your Windows settings and your user account that you backed up, along with your Windows settings so you don't have to find them all again.<br />
<h4><b>Step Seven: Reinstall Your Programs</b></h4>Next, it's time to reinstall all your programs. This can take awhile, but you can speed up the process with a few tools:<br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ef8250at4m1jpg/original.jpg" rel="lytebox"><img alt="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ef8250at4m1jpg/medium.jpg" title="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" width="300" /></a><b>Ninite</b>: <a href="https://ninite.com/">Ninite</a> is still one of our favorite tools for installing programs quickly. It doesn't have every program out there, but it's a great start. Just check off all the programs you want, and Ninite will create an all-in-one package to install them in one fell swoop. Be sure to check out the <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5924859/lifehacker-pack-for-windows-our-list-of-the-best-windows-apps">Lifehacker Pack for Windows</a>, too, which has its own custom Ninite installer for our most recommended programs.<br />
<b>Chocolatey</b>: If you're more of a command line geek, <a href="http://chocolatey.org/">Chocolatey</a> is a handy utility that brings Linux-style package management to Windows. <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5942417/chocolatey-brings-lightning-quick-linux+style-package-management-to-windows">With a few well-placed commands</a>, you can install a ton of programs at once, bypassing the need for all those separate installers. Again, it doesn't have every program imaginable, but it does have quite a few to get you started.<br />
<img alt="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17fm1ruyttekpjpg/medium.jpg" title="How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks" width="300" /><b>Portable Apps</b>: If you're tired of downloading installers all the time, you might want to try using portable apps instead. Portable apps essentially let you carry all your programs and settings over to another computer with no installation required. You'll still have to search out each app yourself, but after you do it once, you'll never have to do it again—every clean install from here on out will be much quicker because you'll already have half your apps ready to go. Check out <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5890856/kick-windows-installers-to-the-curb-go-portable-for-a-considerably-more-awesome-windows-experience">our guide to portable apps</a> for more information.<br />
Once you've installed the bulk of your favorite programs, you may need to open up that text file we got from CCleaner earlier to pick up any stragglers that aren't in Ninite. Install whatever you want, and when you're done, move onto the next step.<br />
<h4><b>Step Eight: Restore Your Documents and Program Settings</b></h4>Once you've reinstalled your favorite programs, you should restore your documents, music, movies, and other files (in case any of your programs depend on them—like iTunes, for example). This should be pretty easy: just restore them to the same place they were before (e.g., put your music back in <code>C:\Users\yourusername\Music\iTunes\</code>, or wherever you had it located).<br />
Do the same thing with the app settings you backed up earlier. Open that folder and restore the folders to their original locations in <code>AppData</code> or <code>Program Files</code> (in the case of AppData, you should overwrite any files that are already there). When you start that program, it should inherit all your old settings and it will be like you never left!<br />
<h4><b>Step Nine: Restore Your Registry Tweaks</b></h4>Lastly, restore any registry tweaks you had. That means double-clicking on your .reg files that had app settings or Windows tweaks stored inside, and redoing any registry tweaks that you couldn't put into a .reg file. Remember, you may need to restart the program in question (or restart your computer altogether) for the registry tweaks to take effect.<br />
<hr />It seems like a long and drawn-out process, but you'd be surprised. I had all my settings copied over in a few minutes, and was up and running with most of my favorite programs not too long after reinstalling—it's much, <em>much</em> faster than setting everything up from scratch. Of course, if you <em>like</em> setting everything up from scratch, feel free to do that too. This is just a great compromise between doing a fresh install and keeping all your settings that you don't want to set up again.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgps7J3vtb3ydFXfh1f-vBRX5MoZG4A6Lg7_NCzjEKoKZHA91oz-PWe90Z3A9WW9XZd_Mcdch_DewipkGzf6dTKhrlpBN9Je36TYQrs4hETq9M90w-2L-Zmo9BUTRhv-0a3hA-nsSp2sle-/s1600/4950CFE17F9AF1AF0E22284E97D7C326.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgps7J3vtb3ydFXfh1f-vBRX5MoZG4A6Lg7_NCzjEKoKZHA91oz-PWe90Z3A9WW9XZd_Mcdch_DewipkGzf6dTKhrlpBN9Je36TYQrs4hETq9M90w-2L-Zmo9BUTRhv-0a3hA-nsSp2sle-/s1600/4950CFE17F9AF1AF0E22284E97D7C326.png" /></a></div><div align="center" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-29289085897929479652013-02-12T13:43:00.001-06:002013-02-12T13:43:17.035-06:00Lemon Cheesecake Morning Buns<a href="http://willowbirdbaking.com/2013/02/12/lemon-cheesecake-morning-buns/">Lemon Cheesecake Morning Buns</a>: <br />
<div align="center"><img src="http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff134/layers_of_eli/Cooking2/lemoncheesecakerolls/IMG_2286-3_zpsb642877e.jpg" width="700" /></div>You know the saying, “Don’t dress for the job you have; dress for the job you want”? I like to adapt that statement for my own ridiculous purposes on occasion.<br />
<div align="center"><img src="http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff134/layers_of_eli/Cooking2/lemoncheesecakerolls/IMG_2315-7_zps95db59d8.jpg" width="700" /></div>The other day it was roughly 40 degrees outside, which is basically winter-in-Antarctica weather for me (some New Englander with a snowdrift the size of a Hummer outside their door is about to beat me up). Despite being pathologically repulsed by cold weather, I was too lazy to put on a coat. I ran out in a gauzy t-shirt and jeans to pick up some dinner. <br />
When you make a wardrobe choice like this, you can’t curl up in a ball on the sidewalk, acknowledging defeat. You have to grit your teeth and pretend your choice was appropriate for some secret reason only you are aware of. I therefore ignored my goosebumps and impending hypothermia as I walked along the sidewalk to the restaurant, swinging my arms as if enjoying a gentle summer breeze. Upon noticing a guy in a t-shirt clearly doing the exact same thing, I gave him a nod. “We’re dressing for the weather we <em>want</em>, not the weather we have. It’s strategic!” I yelled toward him.<br />
He responded, “Exactly. And it’s only 40 degrees. We’re not even cold, right?”<br />
“NOPE, not one bit.”<br />
<div align="center"><img src="http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff134/layers_of_eli/Cooking2/lemoncheesecakerolls/IMG_2300-5_zpse0973d7d.jpg" width="700" /></div>I also often bake for the weather I want, not the weather I have. This is probably a bad habit, but Naomi at <a href="http://www.bakersroyale.com/savory/roasted-tomato-and-gnocchi-salad/">Bakers Royale</a> just acknowledged she sometimes uses out-of-season produce, so I might as well make my confession, too, though I might get excommunicated from the blogosphere. I promise I do care about being green and supporting local business. But sometimes I also want raspberries. My lifestyle is admittedly imperfect.<br />
Now that we’ve gotten that admission out of the way, I can tell you that I’m baking for spring. <br />
<div align="center"><img src="http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff134/layers_of_eli/Cooking2/lemoncheesecakerolls/IMG_2279-2_zpsb5dc1893.jpg" width="700" /></div>When it’s cold and rainy like it has been in Charlotte lately, my already sun-sheltered apartment windows let in an even more dreary landscape than usual. The courtyard of my apartment complex, where the grass has stubbornly refused to take root, becomes a muddy landslide. My morale slides right off into the stormdrain along with the river that forms in my parking lot.<br />
On days like this, I need some lemon. And some bright summer berries. (And a sunlamp and some vitamin D and maybe a tropical vacation, but I digress.)<br />
<div align="center"><img src="http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff134/layers_of_eli/Cooking2/lemoncheesecakerolls/IMG_2306-6_zpsaec24d72.jpg" width="700" /></div>Since I first made <a href="http://willowbirdbaking.com/2012/04/01/savory-sweet-potato-chorizo-cinnamon-rolls-and-a-giveaway/">Savory Sweet Potato & Chorizo Cinnamon Rolls</a> and <a href="http://willowbirdbaking.com/2012/04/05/buttery-coconut-almond-morning-buns/">Buttery Coconut & Almond Morning Buns</a>, I’ve been looking for new ways to use my favorite overnight yeast dough. I could’ve just made buttery lemon-glazed rolls, but I decided stuffing some tangy lemon cheesecake in my morning buns was a better idea. This yeast dough is a cinch to whip up and is so forgiving — and its second proof takes place overnight in the fridge. The resulting rolls are soft, buttery, and tangy. They almost have the texture of a flaky bread pudding. And needless to say, they’re delicious. I served them with some raspberries and a tall glass of cold milk. Enjoy!<br />
One year ago: <a href="http://willowbirdbaking.com/2012/02/13/thick-chocolate-cake-with-a-big-red-velvet-heart/">Thick Chocolate Cake with a Big Red (Velvet!) Heart</a><br />
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Two years ago: <a href="http://willowbirdbaking.com/2011/02/13/heart-shaped-palmiers-and-a-pesto-giveaway/">Heart-Shaped Palmiers and a Pesto Giveaway</a><br />
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Three years ago: <a href="http://willowbirdbaking.com/2010/02/14/billion-cheese-ravioli-with-red-pepper-pancetta-sauce/">Billion Cheese (Heart-shaped) Ravioli with Red Pepper Pancetta Sauce</a><br />
<blockquote><strong>Lemon Cheesecake Morning Buns</strong><hr /><br />
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Recipe by: <a href="http://willowbirdbaking.com/">Willow Bird Baking</a><br />
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Yield: 24 buns<br />
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<em>These morning buns could easily double as dessert. They are fluffy, gooey, tangy, buttery, and beyond delicious. I hope you’ll find a space for these rolls on your breakfast or brunch table. They definitely belong in the spotlight.</em><br />
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<strong>Roll Ingredients:</strong><br />
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1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast<br />
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1/4 cup warm water (100-110 degrees F)<br />
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2 tablespoons white vinegar<br />
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2 cups milk minus 2 tablespoons, room temperature<br />
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2/3 cup cold shortening<br />
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3 tablespoons sugar<br />
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1 teaspoon salt<br />
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1 teaspoon baking soda<br />
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1 teaspoon baking powder<br />
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5 cups flour<br />
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2 tablespoons butter, melted, for after baking<br />
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<strong>Filling Ingredients:</strong><br />
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2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened<br />
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zest of 1 lemon (reserve a little for topping)<br />
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1/2 cup sugar<br />
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2 tablespoons lemon juice<br />
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1 egg, room temperature<br />
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1 stick salted butter (or 1 stick unsalted butter and 1/4 teaspoon salt), melted<br />
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<strong>Glaze Ingredients:</strong><br />
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2 cups powdered sugar<br />
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1 table lemon juice<br />
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1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract<br />
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about 1/4 cup milk<br />
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extra lemon zest<br />
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<strong>Directions:</strong><br />
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<em>Note on proofing: This yeast dough proofs for a couple of hours after you mix it up, and then the assembled rolls proof in the fridge overnight, so allow for this when planning to make this recipe. With most cinnamon rolls recipes you could switch this and proof in the fridge overnight and then assemble and proof on the countertop, but I opted to switch that method with these because I didn’t want the cream cheese filling sitting out too long. <br />
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Note on yield: I don’t recommend halving yeast recipes; instead, if you don’t want 24 rolls at once, consider freezing some for later. <br />
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Note on freezing: To freeze some of the unbaked rolls, just wrap them well before the second rise and freeze them. Once frozen, pop them out of the pan all together and store in the freezer, wrapped in plastic wrap and in a zip top bag or wrapped in foil. When you want to bake them, stick them back in a greased pan, thaw them in the fridge overnight, proof for the instructed amount of time, and bake like usual.</em><br />
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Mix the warm water and yeast in a medium bowl and let the yeast foam for about 10 minutes. Put 2 tablespoons white vinegar in a measuring cup and then add milk up to the 2 cup line. Set this aside. In a separate large bowl (or the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook), whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and cut the shortening into the mixture with two knives or a pastry cutter until the shortening looks like small peas. Stir yeast mixture and milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well, kneading just a few turns. Transfer the dough to a bowl lightly sprayed with cooking spray, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and proof in a warm, draft-free place (such as a closed, turned-off oven), for around 2 hours or until doubled in size.<br />
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After proofing the dough, lightly spray two 9 x 13-inch baking dishes with cooking spray. Cream the softened cream cheese in a medium bowl until fluffy before adding lemon zest, sugar, lemon juice, and the egg. Mix together until well combined.<br />
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Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll it into a large rectangle about 1/8-inch thick (I carefully cut the dough in half and worked with half at a time to make it more manageable; if you do this, just spread on half of the filling ingredients for each half you roll). Spread the melted butter over the surface of the rolled dough and then dollop the cream cheese mixture all across the surface, spreading gently to create an even layer. Gently roll the dough up into a spiral (I find using a bench scraper to encourage the dough to roll up during this process incredibly helpful) and cut it into 2-inch rolls, placing them close together in your prepared baking dishes (at this point, you could wrap and freeze the rolls for later if you wanted). <br />
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Cover the rolls let them rise in the fridge overnight (they will have nearly doubled.) When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, letting the rolls rise on top of the preheating oven covered by a clean dish towel. Bake them for about 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned on top (don’t underbake or they’ll still be doughy in the center). Brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter and return to the oven for 1 more minute. Whisk together the glaze ingredients and drizzle the glaze over the warm rolls. Sprinkle with reserved zest and serve immediately.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgps7J3vtb3ydFXfh1f-vBRX5MoZG4A6Lg7_NCzjEKoKZHA91oz-PWe90Z3A9WW9XZd_Mcdch_DewipkGzf6dTKhrlpBN9Je36TYQrs4hETq9M90w-2L-Zmo9BUTRhv-0a3hA-nsSp2sle-/s1600/4950CFE17F9AF1AF0E22284E97D7C326.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgps7J3vtb3ydFXfh1f-vBRX5MoZG4A6Lg7_NCzjEKoKZHA91oz-PWe90Z3A9WW9XZd_Mcdch_DewipkGzf6dTKhrlpBN9Je36TYQrs4hETq9M90w-2L-Zmo9BUTRhv-0a3hA-nsSp2sle-/s1600/4950CFE17F9AF1AF0E22284E97D7C326.png" /></a></div><div align="center" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s1600/Design+J_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQrrSK7gajh6HBng1caUQHhBhuOPAbdjom64L6zJXiNNG-k2P9OgYPehE8h0fLf-KSxIv9PElhnANyB_fraTc1wvITo21n3Osw14WfI-HKzS9QK5E7I-Rjr_eJoMjHjT0KSQdRkI3hmzl/s400/Design+J_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-27294488270865522342013-02-06T05:57:00.001-06:002013-02-06T06:00:06.439-06:00Whole Wheat Focaccia with Roasted Grapes and Goat CheeseWhole Wheat Focaccia with Roasted Grapes and Goat Cheese: <br />
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<span lang="EN-US">Before we sit down to chat and eat this whole wheat focaccia I think you should go out, buy some seedless grapes, come home, roast them with the tiniest amount of olive oil, and try one. I really, really hope you´ll be as amazed at their sweet flavor as I was. Almost a candy in the form of a soft grape. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">Then the conversation about this whole wheat focaccia with roasted grapes and the mandatory amount of olive oil it needs, will go smoothly and you´ll be as excited about it as I am.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I don´t remember the first time I baked or had focaccia really, but what I do remember with absolute clarity, is the first time I had a focaccia that forever stayed in my mind, as is explained in this post about a walnut, potato and blue cheeseone.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">Through the years I made it so many times, using so many recipes, and most of them were perfectly amazing, with a lot of olive oil that seeps into the dough and leaves a mate finish on top, and myself with an incredulous look, like where did the olive oil go? </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">But the flavor wouldn´t be the same if all that fruity oil didn´t permeate the surface of the dough, it would be more of a regular bread dough with some sort of olive taste. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">So I liberally drench it in olive oil, the good kind, the strong kind, because that´s how I like it.</span></div>
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This is the first time making a whole wheat version, which includes about half bread flour. It´s difficult to achieve the sponginess of focaccia using only whole wheat flour, but I don´t discard making a few tries, after all I do make a 100% whole wheat bread with a crumb like you wouldn´t believe it, a recipe by Beth Hensperger, whose challah is the first bread I ever made.<br />
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<span lang="EN-US">On to the grapes, so sweet and juicy. The first time I roasted strawberries I felt the same way. I had made a tapioca pudding with coconut milk and decided to roast a mango and strawberries after seeing it on another site. Can I roast everything from now on? It really makes things better. It puts me in a very good mood, and isn´t that one of life´s aims, to be happy? Let´s roast then.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><span lang="EN-US">WHOLE WHEAT FOCACCIA WITH ROASTED GRAPES </span></b></span><br />
<i>Focaccia adapted from <b><span style="color: maroon;">The Italian Baker</span></b>, by Carol Field </i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"><i>Roasted grapes from <b><span style="color: maroon;">No Need to Knead</span></b>by Suzanne Dunaway</i></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">2 teaspoons active dry yeast</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Pinch of sugar</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">1 ½ cups warm water</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">1 Tbs olive oil</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">2 cups superfine whole wheat flour</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">About 2 ½ to 3 cups bread or all-purpose flour</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">1 ½ teaspoons salt</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">About ½ cup olive oil, to sprinkle before the topping</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Roasted grapes, recipe below</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">2 or 3 Tbs fresh rosemary</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Sea salt</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">1 cup feta cheese</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Freshly ground black pepper</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir the yeast and water with a pinch of sugar. Let stand 5 minutes or until foamy.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Add the olive oil and whole wheat flour. Beat with a wooden spoon until blended and attach to the mixer with the dough hook. Gradually add salt and bread flour, ½ cup at a time while mixing at medium low speed. Knead for about 5 minutes and check to see if it needs more flour. It should be elastic and just a bit sticky. If it´s pooling too much in the bottom of the pan or too wet add more bread flour, by tablespoons, until you have a velvety dough that doesn´t stick but is not stiff. <i><span style="color: #783f04;">I prefer to err on the wet side, since focaccia doesn´t have to be formed into any shape and a too stiff dough will mean a tougher bread. </span></i></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Coat a clean bowl with olive oil, transfer dough, turn to coat in the oil, cover and let rise until doubled at room temperature, about 1 to 1 ¼ hours.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Oil two 9x13x2 inch baking pans. Preheat oven to 400º.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Transfer dough to a barely floured board and divide in two. Gather each half, place it inside the pans and, with oiled hands, press toward the borders until you fill the whole pan. If the dough resists, wait a few minutes and then stretch again with your fingers. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Liberally sprinkle with about ¼ cup olive oil each dough, scatter roasted grapes and rosemary on top, add sea salt to taste and let rise, loosely covered with plastic wrap, until almost double, 35 to 45 minutes.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Dimple the dough with your fingers one last time, and b</span>ake for about 20 minutes, until golden and top looks dry and crusty.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Let cool on wire rack for 5 minutes, transfer to wooden surface, add crumbled feta cheese on top, more olive oil and black pepper to taste.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Cut into squares and serve.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Makes 2 focaccia.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><u><span lang="EN-US">Roasted grapes</span></u></b><span lang="EN-US">: Preheat oven to 350º. Put about 4 cups seedless grapes, the sweeter the better, and sprinkle with only 1 teaspoon olive oil, rolling them around to coat. Roast for about 20 to 30 minutes, until they begin to collapse and brown. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Don´t over roast them at this point because they will continue cooking with the focaccia.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14888671276076199146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2303735562928436384.post-52699351008384997692013-02-04T06:57:00.001-06:002013-02-04T06:57:37.028-06:00The HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook<div style="text-align: center;">I tried to send this to Mandy and it wouldn't let me. So I am posting it here on my blaaahg. My only concern is that HP typically loads a lot of "bloatware" with their laptops.</div><br />
<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/Egta/~3/HMRqRepgHRo/the-hp-pavilion-14-chromebook.html">The HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook</a>: It's an exciting time in computing. Now more than ever, you have so many choices when it comes to software, hardware and services. With Chromebooks, people tell us they love its ease-of-use, speed and security, and also enjoy having options when it comes to shape, size and price. So today we’re happy to announce that our newest partner HP is introducing the latest addition to the Chromebook line—<a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/hp-pavilion-chromebook.html">the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook</a>.<br />
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This HP Chromebook is a great home companion that offers the built-in security, speed and simplicity you’d expect from a Chromebook on a brilliant 14” screen. Enjoy your favorite videos, photos and more in new detail, and with its versatile HDMI and USB ports, the HP Chromebook is easy to customize with peripherals. It’s less than an inch thick and powered by an Intel® Celeron® Processor, so you can work and play at full speed. <br />
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With popular products like Gmail, Google+ Hangouts, YouTube and Maps built in, the best of Google is always at your fingertips. With the new HP Chromebook, you can also take advantage of 100GB of free storage on Google Drive*, making it easy to backup stuff in the cloud so that it can be accessed anywhere and from other devices.<br />
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Starting today, the HP Chromebook will be available for $329.99 in the US at HPDirect.com and at other retailers soon. <br />
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The HP Chromebook is a great new addition to the <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/features.html">Chromebook family</a>, and we hope you’ll enjoy it within yours, too. New Chromebooks, more options, for everyone.<br />
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Posted by Felix Lin, Director of Product Management<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">*You will have 100 GB of free storage for 2 years, starting on the date you redeem the offer on eligible Chrome devices. </span></i><img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/Egta/~4/HMRqRepgHRo" width="1" /><br />
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<img alt="Oven-Bake Brown Rice to Remove Guesswork" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18dfbsuais5swjpg/medium.jpg" title="Oven-Bake Brown Rice to Remove Guesswork" width="300" />Brown rice, because it contains the brown hull that is removed to form white rice, takes longer to cook so many people who make great white rice can not properly make brown rice. Instead of using a pot on your range, consider baking the rice with water and butter to encourage the rice to absorb precisely the amount of water needed for perfect cooked brown rice. <br />
The recipe comes from household weblog One Good Thing by Jillee, who adapted it from Cooks Illustrated magazine. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit while you fill a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish with 3 cups of brown rice and add 4 pats of butter. Bring four and ⅔ cup of water to boil, stir in a teaspoon of salt, and pour that over the rice and butter. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for one hour. After the hour, remove the dish from the oven, fluff up the rice with a fork, recover, and give it ten minutes to rest.<br />
Brown rice has a lot of health benefits compared to white rice and many want to add it to their diet. Whether you use the baking method or <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5865225/cook-perfect-rice-without-a-rice-cooker-and-store-it-for-quick-reheating">one of the others we've covered</a>, consider giving it a try.<br />
<a href="http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2013/02/foolproof-oven-baked-brown-rice.html">Foolproof Oven-Baked Brown Rice</a> | One Good Thing by Jillee<br />
<img height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~4/-wAJ4hszat4" width="1" /><br />
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<img alt="The Correct Way to Clean Eyeglasses" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18dasrsx3p6fqjpg/medium.jpg" title="The Correct Way to Clean Eyeglasses" width="300" />We've all done it. When our glasses are smudged up we reach for the corner of our shirt and clean them off. You probably even know that's the wrong way to clean glasses, but you do it anyway. But you don't need special sprays and microfiber cloth to clean glasses the right way, the Wall Street Journal says you only need kitchen soap and a normal cotton cloth. <br />
The reason your shirt is terrible for cleaning glasses is because it's likely filled with dust, and that scratches the lenses. Otherwise, any old piece of cotton will do, and regular old kitchen soap is far better than those cleaning solutions you get at the optometrist:<br />
<blockquote>The AOA recommends washing glasses every morning, paying special attention to the frames and earpieces, where hair product and makeup tend to rub off. Whatever you do, don't use the most handy form of water to clean your lenses. "Some people use spit, but don't," urges Dr. Geist. Though dirty glasses won't cause an eye infection, saliva "is not the best hygiene method, and it just won't work very well," she says. Soap, warm water and a dry cloth are all you need, once a day, to keep glasses optimally clean and functional.</blockquote>You also shouldn't use anything with ammonia, bleach, vinegar (although it's great <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5836677/clean-up-dull-cloudy-drinking-glasses-with-vinegar">for drinking glasses</a>), or window cleaner because those chemicals strip away the coatings on your glasses. Keeping your glasses in optimal shape is really easy when you do it right. That should be just enough to keep those <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5980509/do-computer-glasses-really-work">fancy new computer glasses</a> in optimal shape too.<br />
<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323375204578269942300847314.html#articleTabs%3Darticle">The Best Way to Clean Your Glasses</a> | Wall Street Journal<br />
<i style="font-size: 80%;">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanf/5327651828/">Daniel Novta</a></i>.<br />
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There is going to be a little <a href="https://gatherhere.worldsecuresystems.com/announcements/mimi-kirchner-reception">closing reception</a> tomorrow night at <a href="http://www.gatherhereonline.com/">Gather Here</a>, 7pm. It was fantastic to have my dolls on display all month. Hope to see you there!<br />
I’ve been taking care of various business this week. One thing on the list- clean the studio. This is mid-day when I was sorting through drawers- the type of project that gets done at the end of the clean-up.<br />
<a href="http://mimikirchner.com/blog/archives/2013/01/gather-here-reception/131studio/" rel="attachment wp-att-6256"><img alt="" height="450" src="http://mimikirchner.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/131studio.jpg" title="1:31:studio" width="600" /></a>Then, all done. Of course it was nearly dark by then so I have the yellow light affect in these photos.<br />
<a href="http://mimikirchner.com/blog/archives/2013/01/gather-here-reception/131studio2/" rel="attachment wp-att-6257"><img alt="" height="450" src="http://mimikirchner.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/131studio2.jpg" title="1:31:studio2" width="600" /></a>So many clear surfaces- That won’t last long!<br />
<a href="http://mimikirchner.com/blog/archives/2013/01/gather-here-reception/131studio3/" rel="attachment wp-att-6258"><img alt="" height="450" src="http://mimikirchner.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/131studio3.jpg" title="1:31:studio3" width="600" /></a><a href="http://mimikirchner.com/blog/archives/2013/01/gather-here-reception/131studio4/" rel="attachment wp-att-6259"><img alt="" height="450" src="http://mimikirchner.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/131studio4.jpg" title="1:31:studio4" width="600" /></a><a href="http://mimikirchner.com/blog/archives/2013/01/gather-here-reception/131studio5/" rel="attachment wp-att-6260"><img alt="" height="450" src="http://mimikirchner.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/131studio5.jpg" title="1:31:studio5" width="600" /></a>And now I can start messing it up again!<br />
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