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  1. Why I Now Use K Cups Instead Of Ground Coffee

    December 2, 2011 by

    Earlier this year, I was living in a spacious room with four other girls in gorgeous townhouse right on the beach.  We had an amazing view of the hang-gliders drifting over the ocean, the sunsets, and the palm trees; our apartment dynamic was fantastic; and we had a Keurig coffee maker, thanks to one of the roommates’ moms who had bought it for her for her birthday a couple of years ago. Life was basically perfect back then.

    beans of cheap k cups tough choice

    Yum... free trade coffee beans taste better

    Sadly the lease ended sometime in the middle of summer and we knew we were going to have to split up and go our separate ways.  Some of us moved to the city, some to the country, but me? I stayed.  I did a quick search of apartments in the area and sign the documents for the first one I could find, even though I didn’t know the girl I would be living with.  Needless to say I didn’t get to keep any of the wonderful things about my old apartment, including the ocean view and the incredible Keurig coffee maker.

     
    We have a simple one that brews 12 cups at a time that we bought for maybe $15. I miss that Keurig so much.  It just doesn’t make any sense to me why a two-person household (or really any size household, for that matter) would need 12 cups of coffee at one time.  No one drinks that much coffee, and if they do there is probably something physically wrong with them.

     

     

    My roommate and I barely ever get up at the same time, so if I brew the coffee first she doesn’t get it for hours later, and by that time it is either cold or burnt– but always stale.  Let’s face it: coffee tastes best within the first few minutes that it is brewed.  Anything longer than that and you might as well not drink anything.  I can’t even count the number of times my roommate left the house earlier than me, and left the coffee maker on thinking I would grab a cup, only for me to come home from work hours later and smell burnt coffee throughout the house because I failed to check the kitchen that morning.  Trust me: it’s just as unpleasant a smell as it sounds like it would be.

     
    The other thing I hate about having this cheaply-made coffee maker in our kitchen is that there aren’t very many varieties of coffee that I can buy at the supermarket.  One of my favorite things about the Keurig were the cheap K cups that came in a whole assortment of roasts, made with coffee beans from all over the world.  Not only were they super convenient in that I could make exactly the serving size I would need (and not eight times more than I needed), but the selection of flavor is amazing.  I can only find a few different brands available for purchase in the coffee aisle at my local grocery store, and I am tired of all of them.  Variety is the spice of life, and I am tired of drinking the same flavored coffee, day in and day out.  I want more!


  2. Tasty organic food for breakfast this morning

    October 25, 2011 by

    Just a quick post here to keep things up to date. The wireless keyboard that I’m on also seems to be needing a battery replacement so typing is becoming an increasingly frustrating experience.

     

    Had an all staff meeting at work this morning which gave me a bit more insight into the other work that is going on within the company. They also provided bacon sandwiches and champagne for everyone. A bacon sandwich is apparently a common British breakfast item and is exactly what it sounds like: Bacon on white bread. I passed as I’m not a huge bacon fan, aside from Spanish ham, and find the British breakfasts to be a bit foreign to my tastes.

     

    The company does have a well stocked kitchen with plenty of food to make breakfast in particular. There are fairly standard cereals that I will take advantage of, and even a jar or two of peanut butter which is not something I see too often here. There is one particular cupboard, and while I would stop short of calling it a cabinet of horrors, it does make for a sideshow of British culinary tastes.

     

    Marmite is extremely popular in the office, and indeed it seems to be popular in the whole of the town. Marmite and cheese sandwiches seem to be on offer and purchased everywhere. The squeezable variety seems to be the clear favourite at work as it allows a quick squiggle across your toast and then your off.

     

    Something new that I’ve stumbled across in the kitchen is Bovril., a beef extract for making a hot cuppa. Because clearly, nothing perks you up in the morning like a cow in your cup.

     

    While I try to be adventurous and broaden my horizons, that is after all, an advantage of living abroad, I think I might give this a pass. I’m not sure if indulging in this would make me feel peculiarly British or just leave me feeling peculiar. If I really feel like yeast and beef, instead of spreading the former on toast and quaffing a mug of the latter, I’ll go the old boring American route and have my yeast in beer and beef on the plate.

     

     


  3. Whisky tasting and the silent treatment

    June 25, 2010 by

    The whisky tasting on Friday went very well, and no recovery was needed on Saturday. I think last weekend reinforced the virtue of moderation to me. That and the drams were still a tad pricey, but very good for London standards nonetheless. As the night went on I found myself looking at the bottle prices and increasingly thinking they were looking reasonable. I needed to keep my wits about me lest I end up coming home a full fledged member with a couple of bottles under my arm.

    I did have some great whiskys and one that was interesting, but not anything I would order again. It gives me a bit of a thrill to drink a whisky from a closed distillery that is as old as I am. It was fun to have that kind of experience, because I certainly don’t drink that kind of whisky any other time. I do wonder who gets the job of writing up the descriptions of the whiskys. Some I think were pretty accurate and described the flavour much better than I could, while some were just perplexing. I like this whisky, but I’m not sure I’m picking up the hints of orange peel and creosote. I’m not sure what kitten and plaster should taste like – and I don’t think I want to – so I’m pretty happy with my simple tastes.

    I got the silent treatment from La Mujer on Saturday. It had nothing to do with going out for whisky the night before, but instead was a result of my facial hair. I shaved my beard but left a thin mustache that she said looked awful. Actually she said I looked like a gay Errol Flynn. She also said she wouldn’t talk to me until I shaved it. I did shave it that evening before we went out because it was just a lark and never intended to actually be worn out of the house. But when she sets her mind to it, she can be stubborn. I don’t want to spoil it, but I have to admit I did have kind of a relaxing afternoon. I got to spend a couple of hours doing my own thing while she did hers and that was nice. Of course if I grow a mustache every saturday, she’s bound to catch on.