Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea

Butter Problem Solved

There are two problems here, really. 

One is a Tea Party Lady issue.  The TPL in me wants to have pretty butter pats arranged nicely on a plate for tea parties and other gatherings.  And what a mess that is to try to do by hand!

The second is that man I live with.  We've never been able to find a butter dish that he likes AND that fits in the fridge slot.  So what happens is - he leaves the butter, still partially in the paper wrapping, sitting on the counter.  You can imagine how much I enjoy that.  Awful, buttery, melted mess.  I've tried just leaving it there for him to deal with later, but ... well ... you know how that goes.

So, along comes this nifty little doo-dad that I just had to try.  It seemed like the perfect answer to all my butter problems!  It's called the One-Click Butter Cutter, and it's truly ingenious.  It was conceived 10 years ago by a gentleman in NY, who believed that one ought to be able to

reach into the refrigerator with one hand and take out a device, a Butter Cutter, and be able to squeeze off a couple of slices quickly before ones muffin might cool or maybe to add to the frying pan quickly while in the midst of doing all the other things that have to be done while cooking.

Many years later, his invention became a reality, finally hitting the market for the public to enjoy, a tribute to human ingenuity.

Some caveats.  I've actually had this thing for a while, but couldn't find butter to fit it!  Apparently on the east coast, long skinny butter sticks are the norm, but out here in the west, short and fat is what you find in most places.  So it took me a while to find a long, skinny butter stick to test it with, and even longer to find a brand of long skinny butter that the hubs would eat. 

After all, it's a fun gadget, and it turns out pretty pats, but if the hubs won't use it on a daily basis, it's not much more than a TPL toy. 

Other than that, I have nothing bad to say about it.  This is a great gadget.  It's easy to use - it does work best with very chilled butter, so refrigerator storage is a must - and easy to clean, another very important factor.  And it comes in a bunch of different colors, which you can see on their website.  All in all, this gadget gets a big thumbs up from me.

Tiny Tea Things

I have a penchant for tiny things.

I gotta take a moment here to gush and coo.  Manly stoic types, avert your heads and stopper your ears.  You have been forewarned.

Isn't this just the cutest little tea set?  Can I get an "awwww"?

Somebody gave me this many years ago to add to the massive teddy bear collection I had at the time.  I've since reduced the bear population to just a few of the smallest ones, due to space constraints and hubs complaints.  But bears are still some of my favorite people.

As you can hopefully tell, the tea set is tiny enough that my little friends can enjoy the comfort of tea, just their size.  The teapot is only an inch tall. 

See, I've been bringing out my tiny teddies to arrange them for Christmas.  They've got their own little decorated tree and wrapped presents and everything. 

Oh, come on.  We need another "awwwww" here.  I know, I know, it's just too Mrs. Butterworth's.

I'm sure this fascination I have with miniatures isn't that unusual.  I don't KNOW any other adults that collect little tiny things and set them out like a child's playhouse, but I'm sure there MUST be some other folx out there like me.  Who else buys all that dollhouse furniture in the craft store?  Surely that can't ALL be for kids?

Ok, only one more teeny tiny cutesy thing, and I'll be done.

This little tea ball w/ cup and saucer was in some of my mom's things that my aunt brought me.  It was in a bag with a bunch of cake decorating stuff, which apparently my mom was planning to learn how to do before she got sick and left us.  I'm not sure I have the cahonies to try cake decorating yet.  But the tea ball I've used quite a lot. 

Isn't it just the cutest thing?  It's only about 2 inches across.  The cup is attached to the ball by a little chain.  When you're done steeping your tea, you can set the ball on the cup and saucer.  I don't know why this tickles my fancy so much, but it does.  Unfortunately, the tea ball is metal - wire mesh - but I don't care, I still think it's just the cutest thing in a single-serving tea ball.

Ok, I'm done.  We now return you to your regularly sized program.

Coffee Roasting Report #2

My, my how the time does fly.  In between this post and my last ... let's see, we had a touch of the flu; a strange orange crested bird started showing up at my feeders; mass quantities of food were consumed by extremely grateful people, and my brother announced that he and his are going up north for Christmas.  This last was announced carefully, as if they thought I might pitch a fit.  I did.  But I waited till they left, in my own room.  It's not the same without them here for Christmas.  *sigh*

Oh yeah, and a whole lotta coffee has been roasted.  Heh.  I think I'm finally ready to give my two cents worth on the Z&D Home Roaster. 

The first thing I noticed, which you can't really tell when you're roasting in the oven, is how much the beans expand.  I took some "action pics" here during the process to show the changes.  Click for big'uns.

It's definitely a process that needs to be tended to.  In spite of roasting time guidelines, each is different, and you can't just assume roasting time for one bean will work for another.

As promised, it self-ventilates, so I can roast without smoking up the house.  But it still smells like coffee roasting, and that's great.  No, that's WONDERFUL.  There are some smells that send me into nasal nirvana, and coffee roasting is right up there.  Baking bread, cookies fresh out of the oven, bacon in the morning, and coffee - roasting grinding and brewing.  My only complaint is that by the time roasting is done my nose has sent my mouth into overdrive-anticipation-mode.  But most stuff I've read says the flavor is best if it's had a few hours or so to expand and breathe.  Geeyod it's hard to wait. I have had to learn self-control.  Not an easy task for me.

I'm sure enjoying experimenting with the various green beans I have here though, and I think I've made the hubs a convert.  Actually, I may have created a monster.  Now he doesn't want anything but fresh roasted.  For now that's no problem.  I've got quite a supply of samples and we're going through them all one by one.  I'm doing two roasts of each kind - one dark and one medium/light.  The individual flavor of the bean is definitely more pronounced a medium roast.  I'm having a grand time tasting and making notes, deciding which ones I like best. 

The only other complaint I have is that it's not easy to clean.  We don't generally warrant running the dishwasher every day here, so if I want to roast more than once a day (am I getting obsessive???) I have to wash the thing by hand, and that's no easy task.  But the destructions - including the instructional video - all really emphasize that you MUST clean it after each use.  What a pain!  You need all kinds of special tools and implements and my local store doesn't carry those kinds of small brushes. 

I guess I can live with this small inconvenience.  I have to say this has already proven to be the best birthday present a girl like me could get.  I love love LOVE it.

Happy Birthday to Meeee!

It's here, it's here!  My actual bird-day isn't till later this month, but birthday presents arriving early ranks right up there with chocolate, especially when the present is a brandy new Zach & Dani's coffee roaster.

A coupla weeks ago, the hubs asked me what I wanted for my barfday.  As you may remember, I've been lusting for the Zach & Dani's home roaster kit for a long time now, but unfortunately it turns out the Z&D roaster is "out of stock".  What a huge disappointment.  However, salvation was right around the corner at Sweet Maria's. 

Ever since I told him what I wanted I've been waking up SALIVATING at the thought of freshly roasted coffee beans.  And it's here, it's sitting on the counter!  Hippo Birdies to me!  Hairy Birthmark to me!  I can't wait to get started. 

Guess what I'm going to be doing tonight?  More pictures will follow!

EspressoExpress™ Recalled

If you've purchased one of these little doo-dads, take it back.  Atico International is recalling the little devil because apparently the heating element can "forcefully separate from its base during the brewing cycle" and reek havoc. 

I should say so.  Holy cats.  "Forcefully separate"?  Doesn't that sort of imply ... explosion? 

Care for some espresso?  Something in a projectile perhaps? 

Shades of Stephen King - attack of the killer espresso maker.

Atico says:

Consumers should immediately stop using the EspressoExpress™ and contact Atico International USA, Inc. toll-free at (877) 546-4835 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the company’s Web site at www.aticousa.com

You can read the recall notice here.

The New IngenuiTEA

It's here already! 

I just love getting stuff sooner than you expect it.  When I ordered a new IngenuiTEA day before yesterday I didn't select two day delivery, but here it is already!  And it is indeed, a better design.  Some little improvements -

• The base is slightly larger - it fits better on a large mug now.
• The plastic piece that allows water to flow feels more firmly in place.  My old one was a little wobbly.
• I'm not sure, but I think the volume is greater on this model.
• It's got a sort of ribbed handle so yer fingers fit into it, which I don't really care about, but it does look pretty on the counter.  Sort of a regal shape. 

Most importantly for me, they've solved the filter issue.  It's removable.  It pops out from the inside, and they now offer replacement filters so if this one gets moldy or falls apart, I'm not up the creek w/o my cuppa.

I only have one complaint.  The tea pours out faster than the old model, and since I couldn't see into the cup as it poured, it overflowed, and a lot quicker than I was prepared for.  Hot tea all over the counter.  Oh well, the counter needed wiping anyway.  And now I have a better idea of how much tea it holds so I'll just be more careful in future.

In a nutshell -  I'm really glad I upgraded!

Tea Tragedy

Ok, maybe this isn't quite a tragedy.  But damn, color me disappointed.  I went to make a cuppa using my Agadio IngenuiTEA the other day and found the net/infuser/filter had mold on the underside.  On the UNDERside, between the filter and the plastic bottom.  I was gonna take a picture to show here, but really, it's just too gross.

Now, I know the mold is not Adagio's fault.  It's the fault of the dummy - who shall remain nameless even though her name is Christine - who left wet tea leaves in it for ... a really long time. 

The problem is, the thing is not dismantle-able.  If that's not a real word, it should be.  I can't take it apart to clean off the mold which seems to have bonded permanently to the tight mesh of the filter.  I ran it through the dishwasher.  I tried blasting it with the super-high-power hot water blaster.  I tried yelling at it.  Nothing works. 

The good news is, when I went to Adagio's website to complain about this bad design, I saw that they have a new model.  I'm not sure they've solved this particular problem, but I love the thing so much that I went ahead and ordered one.  AND a replacement infuser thingee.  And of course, I had to order a sample of some of their holiday teas while I was there. 

Now comes the hard part.  Waiting for it to arrive.
Color me disappointed AND impatient.

The Iced Tea Maker!

I finally got around to testing out my new Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker.  It's been sitting in the back of my car all this time.  It's not that I'm a procrastinator - although I am - it's that I've been so busy I can barely stop to pee.  Now THAT's busy.

This afternoon the weather is hot but muggy, and instead of being feverishly hurrying through lines of code, I'm hurrying up and waiting for phone calls to be returned.  The beauty of the hurry-up-and-wait is that the ball is now in their court, so I have a minute to pee and do other things - like make iced tea!

I wish now that I'd rescued this little doo-dad from the car sooner.  It's wonderful.  My new favorite thing.  I can now have tea in the afternoons again.  It says on the destructions that it makes great iced coffee too, so I may have to try that.  It was easy to use and quick - it took about 10 minutes for the water to heat and steep through.  I used a combination of Adagio Ti Kuan Yin tea and a lemon spice concoction.  And the result is cool and delicious. 

The downside (there's always something, isn't there?) -- the parts are not dishwasher safe.  What the???  That is a MAJOR downer.  And of course the hubs isn't happy about having yet another appliance on the counter.  I told him we need to remodel the kitchen so we have more storage space.  Heh.  I guess that does seem like an overkill solution.

Stuff For the Lazy

These items tickled my funny bone.

The Self-Stirring Mug from Hammacher Schlemmer, for those days when gravity is so heavy you can't even lift a spoon to stir the cream in your coffee.  Or the honey in your tea.  Tired of having your cocoa mix drift to the bottom of the cup?  This little doo-dad has a tiny battery-operated propeller at the bottom that will churn the beverage within the cup and keep the mix ... mixed!  It's got an on-off button on the handle and comes with a lid that keeps the liquid from spilling over while it is being churned.  This is the ideal gift for the lazy coffee/tea drinker.  And it's pretty too!  Definitely one for MY wish list.
found via Popgadget

I first ran across the Rotating Ice Cream device on the Patently Absurd Inventions Archive where you can see a design/drawing of the inner workings of the thing.  But it's gone beyond the design and imagine stage.  You can actually buy one at Hog Wild for $10.  I first thought this has got to be the silliest invention ever.  I mean, how lazy can you get.  But I can see where folx with arthritis or other handicaps might find this "just the thing" so they don't have to give up slurping ice cream in a cone!  This also runs on batteries and has an on-off button, thank god.  But my question is, does it have speed control?  I could see my nieces getting a chuckle out of turning it on and letting ice cream fly all over everybody, happily exploring the world of centrifugal force.  Aaah, to be young and carefree.

National Ice Cream Month

Well, I've missed the first 2 weeks of it, but July is National Ice Cream Month.  I love ice cream.  The only way to make this any better would be to make it National CHOCOLATE Ice Cream month.  But according to American Food Holidays site, Chocolate Ice Cream Day is in June.  What's that about? 

Anyway, I haven't been ignoring it.  In the few spare minutes I've had, I actually went in search of an ice cream maker.  I mean, a person really OUGHT to have an ice cream maker, especially they live in the hottest part of the universe.  What better way to keep cool with all your favorite flavors? And what better month to take the plunge into homemade frozen ... stuff?

My first venture was to my local Target.  Would you believe it - no ice cream makers.  Not one.  I searched around online and couldn't make a decision.  And then - yesterday while at the grocery store - I found one!  I'm not too sure of the quality.  I mean, it was in one of those "beat the heat" party displays, with other high-tech toys like the "make your own cotton candy" machine, and the fabulous home version of the hot dog rotator, so you too can have burnt hot dogs just like at the ball park.  Honestly, these devices look to be one step above the Easy Bake Oven.

I had my doubts about the quality of the ice cream maker too, but ... I had to try it, and it was cheap.  It came with a bucket (for freezing your "Amazing Homemade Gourmet Ice Cream", four packets of Quick and Easy Ice Cream mix, and 3 little bottles of flavoring. 

The inner container is in the freezer now, only hours away from my first attempt at making ice cream.  Hopefully I'll have something cold and brown and homemade to blog about for Chocolate Friday.  Heh, I guess even if it's a disaster, I'll have something to blog about.  Wish me luck!

Oh, and in case you're interested, the Bizarre Holidays site lists these special ice cream days in July as well:

• Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day--July 1
• National Strawberry Sundae Day--July 7
• National Peach Ice Cream Day--July 17
• National Ice Cream Day--July 18
• National Vanilla Ice Cream Day--July 23

No chocolate on that list anywhere.  What is that about????? Redemption can be found back on the American Holidays list, where July 25th is National Hot Fudge Sundae Day, and July 26th is National Coffee Milkshake Day. I may just have to slide those two together.