Breakfast 8/21/08

Went to our local Intelligentsia and picked up a bag of their Kid O organic espresso. My first impression of the beans was that they're much oilier than Black Cat. I like Black Cat a little better. In taste, not looks. Hehe.

Roasted 5 days ago

I should stick to hearts. Went well with the banana nut muffin

Lunch 8/20/08

Had lunch at the Curry House again. This time I had a curry rice set with beef.

Chef Curry House?

The complete rice set

Corn potage soup

Beef curry, mild.

Rice and two fried shrimp

Salad. I don't like dressings on salads, but the Japanese dressings I do like.

Breakfast 8/20/08

Groundwork coffee made on their $25 "clover" and a chocolate chip muffin.

Lunch 8/15/08

Went to the Cheesecake Factory for a coworker's going away lunch.
Cheesecake Factory classic burger, no cheese, extra tomatoes. It was a decent burger, fries tasted like some sort of frozen out of the bag type, I don't mind them, but I didn't like these for some reason. They were slightly chewy. Makunat. I either like em soggy or crunchy. First time I had a burger there, I don't think I'll be doing that any more.

Dinner 8/8/08

Bought some rib eyes the night before and had it for dinner.

Seasoned with salt and pepper. Fried in a pan with olive oil on high flame to brown the outside.

After I browned both sides, I put a pad of butter on top of each rib eye and put in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes

After the rib eyes were done, I let them rest for a few minutes

While the meat was resting, I tried to make some gravy with the drippings. Warning, do not, I mean absolutely DO NOT rotate a pan that's just been in a 400 degree oven with your bare hand! Still stings.

I don't know what happened, wine was too old, shouldn't have put the wine in there in the first place? Tasted horrible. Had to toss it in the sink.

Had it with some mashed potatoes and broccoli sans gravy.

Medium all the way through, mmmmmmm.

Item Na Pusa

My wife went to our neighborhood Intelligentsia, and unlike me, she got something for me when she was there. She got me some Black Cat.

In the hopper ready to go! This was after I cleaned out the grinder just for the Black Cat. Ran some Grindz through it and seasoned it with some older beans that were (gasp) 2 months old and some SM Monkey that I had burned.

First shot of Black Cat. Should have stopped the shot a couple of seconds earlier, but I enjoyed the shot.

Made a latte for my lovely wife. She liked it too

Lunch 8/8/08

Chicken sandwich at Dino's (bar and grill) with fries.

Lunch 8/6/08

Had lunch at Uncle John's in downtown, one of my favorite breakfast joints. We couldn't make it out there for breakfast, but they serve anything on their menu all day, so I still got one of my usual breakfast plates. I like this joint because they serve rice.

The irony here is I've never had the ham and eggs. Neither have the guys I go with.

Get there early for breakfast and you're guaranteed a seat, but it fills up fast

Where the magic happens. That's a 5 or so egg omelet, the norm.

And what I had. The grilled pork chop (which is really fried), with scrambled egg and fried rice, wheat toast on the side.

First Course 8/4/08

Spinach salad with strawberries and sliced mozarella sticks.

Still waiting on the other courses...

Got Coffee?

Costco whole bean specially brewed by Starbucks. Can't get any fresher than this. Frozen until ready to grind. Awesome. 10 bags, estimated to be about a 4 month supply.

Union Station Los Angeles

The ironic thing is I don't have a picture of the trains. How embarrassing.

A view of the side of the front and of the clock with the palm trees

View of the other end of the station. The MTA Patsouras transit station. Glass ceiling on top of the dome, never really looked at that thing. And the MTA building. There was a fire on the top floor a few years ago and the firefighters had to go up the stairs in full gear! They have hoses that long?

Picture from a previous post of the mural under the dome.

Grindenstein Capacity

I can fit 10 pucks in there, may 12 but then it starts to get too sloppy. If I had a garden, I'd use it all for fertilizer.

Late Night Latte

My Wife wanted a latte late last night. Here tis. I counted to 15 on thousand during the flush and it got rid of the lingering bitterness I've been having in the cup, especially at the beginning of the cup. But as for the art, I'm just confused. Art's getting worse each time. I'm going to blame this one on not stretching enough and not tilting the cup at the beginning of the pour. Hehe
EDIT: Looking at the closeup, I over stretched, as evidenced by the glop on top of the heart. I went to 90 degrees on this one so I guess I need to stretch less.

Mocha Latte Overload

Went super mocha this morning. I used more of the Ghirardelli syrup I had made for my latte. I preheated my latte cup and then poured 2 ounces of syrup in there to warm the syrup up. I then mixed another ounce into some milk before I steamed it. So I pulled the double shot over the warmed up chocolate and steamed the Ghirardelli chocolate milk. I stretched to 90, but I guess I needed to stretch it some more with the chocolate in there. Looked nice. Tasted awesome. More chocolate milk than coffee drink with chocolate though. Eh, nice little breakfast cocktail.

Chocolate flecks, nice

Ghirardelli chocolate milk

The finished product. Coffee flavored chocolate milk!