mckolit's blog

Tea time

2011-01-12T10:36:00.000-08:00

So pretty. 200 ml capacity.

Seasoning my yixing.

Second brew. I may have put too many leaves in there. I tried 20 grams. Way too much. First brew I didn't use a scale and just threw leaves in there. I think I only used 10 grams. Not enough.

French Bread 9/29/10

2010-10-02T23:08:00.000-07:00

Second shot using the second recipe. The dough wasn't as sticky as the first try at the recipe but came out just as good. Still need to work on getting the bread narrower after second rise.
After second rise. Came out wider than I wanted

Baked up and ready to go

Ready for a little butter or nutella

Carcass

French Bread 9/25/10

2010-09-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

I decided to have another crack at it. This time I used all purpose flour, same brand, but only 5 cups.

Dough after an hour of rest. Very sticky. I made two loaves with this batch

After second rest. I cut the slits on top before the second rest this time, but wasn't successful with the sticky dough. I also need to roll it much tighter. This guy spread out too much

After 30 minutes at 400 degrees

This came out much closer to the way I like it. Not as dense and nice and chewy

Carcass

French Bread 9/24/10

2010-09-25T01:09:00.000-07:00

I like buying the freshly baked French bread from the grocery store, but always wanted to make my own. Today I decided to take a shot.

Read about this flour online so picked up a bag. Next time I'll get the bleached kind.

After mixing and letting the dough sit for an hour

Punched down

Recipe was for two loaves, but those were gonna be too big so I split it up to four loaves

After splitting them up and shaping em, let em sit for another 45 minutes

Cut slits on top and ready to bake

30 minutes later at 450. Cooling off

Close up shot

Ripped open, ready for taste test

After eating this piece, it wasn't good at all. I dumped all of the flour in the mix instead of slowly adding the flour into the water and yeast mixture and the stuff didn't completely mix. I tried all four loaves just to see if I got lucky with one. All were duds

Take Two.

Decided to take another shot at it. I added the flour a little at a time and also used a larger bowl

Look how much more it rose

Saw a video on youtube where the lady poked the dough after it had sat. If it didn't rise, it was ready to go. Didn't rise

Once again I made four loaves instead of two. Letting rest for another 45 minutes

After resting for another 45 minutes. Now why didn't I split em up like the first time?

Cut the slits on top, ready to bake

After 30 minutes at 450. Recipe had it bake for 25 minutes and then add an egg bath and another five minutes. I don't eat the crust so I just baked it for 30 minutes straight.

Success! Much better.

How I like eating French bread. I just go for the meat and leave the skin

Lunch 8/11/10

2010-08-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

Had a hankerin for some deep fried tilapia. Went to the local market to buy it. They only had live ones when I went. Told the butcher, he got one from the aquarium and proceeded to stun the thing with a mallet so it would stay still while he weighed it. Got it deep fried. I also bought a mango, eggplant, tomato, and a red onion to make a salad of sorts to go with my fish. All with white rice ofcourse.

Deep fried fish straight out of the aquarium.

Mango, eggplant, and tomato salad. I 'grilled' the eggplant first on our George Foreman grill before dicing it. Decided not to use any of the red onion.

Fresh rice from our 'rice cooker.'

I went to town on that thing. Fish didn't have a chance. Forgot to take a pic of it all together before I tore it up. Next time.

Dim Sum 7/7/10

2010-07-05T14:19:00.000-07:00

And Dim Sum

Kogi Truck 5/7/10

2010-05-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

The wife told me the Kogi truck was going to be close by last night so we decided to try it out. So I go the whole experience of standing in line and ordering while she stayed home. Whoopy. An hour later, I was back with the goods.
The whole spread.

First up was the Kogi sliders. Beef on what looks like Hawaiian rolls.

Then onto the Kogi dog.

Korean bbq taco

One of the specials. Snake in the grass. Hot dog burrito with beef and cheese. My favorite of the whole bunch. Most of the others were too spicy for me.

And for dessert, a tres leches cupcake deal.

Gone.

I think next time I'd want someone to be with me to suffer through the line. Plus I'm not a big fan. Most everything was spicy and the stuff I ate wasn't even the ones they called spicy.

Coffee 5/7/10

2010-05-08T10:32:00.000-07:00

A coworker hooked it up with a cappuccino from Intelligentsia. Unfortunately it had been sitting a bit before I got to take a pic of it.

Lunch 4/28/10

2010-04-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

Schlitz and leftovers, perfect combo. I need to crack open another one, this one's empty.

Lunch 4/22/10

2010-04-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

Hamburger Curry Bowl from the Curry House to go joint. Best deal there. Hamburger/meatloaf, rice, onion ring, boiled egg, and a salad all in one bowl. Good stuff. I skip the salad part though as it doesn't really mix in the bowl too well.

Snack 4/19/10

2010-04-21T12:43:00.000-07:00

First known vegan meal. Went to Groundwork for some coffee for the drive home. I had a half hour to kill and saw a cake on the counter top. I asked the dude what it was, he said it was a vegan raspberry vanilla cake. I asked for a slice and then he told me $4.50. $4.50?!? I thought, but it was too late, he already had a slice plated up and then I remembered I've bought Auntie Em's cupcakes for close to $5 and this was roughly the same amount of cake. It was good. Nice and moist and good flavors all throughout.

Dessert 4/15/10

2010-04-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

Coffee shop down the street from where the wife works. They recently changed their cupcake vendor. Unfortunately they're not as good. I love me some red velvet, but this one was the dryest I've had of all of em. Not a big fan of the big sugar bits on the icing either.

Brunch 3/15/10

2010-03-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

Steak and eggs.

A little bloody, but pink and warm throughout. Seared the meat and threw it in the oven for 20 minutes.

Snack 3/8/10

2010-03-08T14:02:00.000-08:00

Red Velvet bread.

Good stuff, but I like the cupcakes better only because they have the big glop of icing on top. The bread only has a hint of some custardy tasting stuff baked into the top.

Dinner 3/6/10

2010-03-06T21:54:00.000-08:00

Fancy spam and egg.

After setting the spam aside, detail of the rice is revealed. The rice was shaped. Good stuff.

After a few bites, we realized that one egg just wasn't enough so the chef cooked more.

More Chancery Script

2010-03-01T12:06:00.000-08:00

Wrote this out for a former coworker.

Dinner 2/27/10

2010-02-28T23:24:00.000-08:00

Top Chef

Got to meet the chef that won it last season. Great meal. Head on over to Sarah's blog for the report on our meal.

Snack 2/26/2010

2010-02-26T14:55:00.000-08:00

I love me some red velvet cupcakes! My wife bought me one today. Now I'm off to devour this thing.

Update a few minutes later:

I was planning on pairing it up with some Trader Joe's Sparkling French Berry Lemonade, but I couldn't stop eating the cupcake until it was gone. One of the fluffier cup cakes I've had. Good stuff.

Lunch 2/18/2010

2010-02-18T13:40:00.000-08:00

Yard House Downtown LA. Went for a coworker's birthday
(Mac and Cheese)2 that the table shared

Lunch Pizza

And lunch clam chowder. Good amount of clams.

Brunch 2/15/2010

2010-02-16T23:21:00.000-08:00

I love me some red velvet cupcake. Icing got a tad messed up on the way to work. Still very good.

Chancery Script

2010-02-12T15:36:00.000-08:00

Learning how to write nicer.
Philippians Chapter 2

H& B I-POT

2010-02-12T08:49:00.000-08:00

To filipinos, it's bird poop, to tea drinkers, it's a cool little ceramic tea pot available in all sorts of colors. My wife bought me this blue ish one for Valentine's day.
17 oz i-pot.

Made for loose leaf tea.

Surfing

2010-02-10T11:36:00.000-08:00

Rotring Surf fountain pen.

It's the yellow with black trim that got me.

Medium nib.

Craft Steak

2010-02-06T17:44:00.001-08:00

Muffin. Compliments of the pastry chef. Very good banana bread muffin.

Red Velvet Cake

2010-02-02T07:49:00.001-08:00

Mmmmmm.

Just had a couple bites, so moist, and good...all gone!

Breakfast 1/24/2010

2010-01-24T11:53:00.000-08:00

Pancakes from a shake and pour bottle.

And Happy Birthday Mommy!

Bourbon

2009-12-16T15:15:00.000-08:00

Wanted to try bourbons out. Picked up a bottle of Maker's Mark at Costco, they had a $5 off coupon when I walked in so I thought, why not? And picked up a bottle of Buffalo Trace at BevMo.

New Pen and Journal

2009-12-16T14:43:00.000-08:00

Saw a post online about fountain pens and how they're collected and decided to look em up. Now I have one and I want to start keeping a journal. I made a journal with some printer paper and already used up a whole cartridge of ink.
One of the recommendations for a good starter fountain pen was Lamy. I picked up the Safari model. Comes in various colors. I liked the yellow one. This one has a medium nib.

Gotta have something to write on so I ordered some journals online. But in the meantime I ran across a post about making your own journal. Seemed easy enough. So I tried it. This one has eight signatures, eight pages each. I wanted to keep it simple so I didn't make a cover. Just going to leave it as is. It's a little loose, but with the newfound knowledge of making this one, the next one will be a little tighter.

After a couple days of writing in the journal, the supplied cartridge was empty. Guess I was a little enthusiastic about keeping one.

Went to a fountain pen store and picked up some ink. I had purchased a converter when I bought the pen so I could use different inks if I wanted to.
Ink is Noodler's walnut. That's how full the bottle is. I actually thought it was a bubble at first.

Empty converter.

After cleaning the pen.

And filled with walnut goodness.

The ink on paper.

Upgraditis

2009-12-04T10:22:00.000-08:00

There's a term that folks in the home espresso world like to use. It's 'upgraditis.' It's the obsessive need to get something bigger and better. For me the bug has hit with my shaving experiment. They have a term too, it's called 'aquisition disorder.'

First one is a Best Badger Brush from Crabtree and Evelyn made by Edwin Jagger. I read a post online about it and absolutely needed it. Needed it so bad that I was willing to go to the mall on Black Friday to get it. Got 20% off. Woo hoo! Much softer than the Tweezerman brush.

Next upgrade was a Gillette Super Speed Flare Tip razor. It's from the late 50s and the old school razors from Gillette are highly regarded in the wet shaving community. I also snagged a Fat Boy that should be getting here in a couple of days.

No good razor is gonna do anything without blades so I got 100 Derby Extra DE blades that were recommended. I will also be getting some Israeli Personnas in a couple of days too.

Wet Shaving

2009-11-23T08:34:00.001-08:00

Decided to try wet shaving to look a little more professional at work. Follow these simple steps and you'll be wet shaving in no time too!
Go to cutlery store and pick up one of these (safety razor) with some double edged blades. Most regular stores just sell disposable razors.

Go here

Get one of these and a nifty stand for your razor and brush

And do this! At least I didn't cut my face.

Espresso Time

2009-11-10T10:04:00.001-08:00

Wanted to make espresso this morning so I went to the Klatch and got a pound of their Sweet 16 blend.

Took the good ole Delonghi out of the cupboard and fired her up. Wanted the first shot to be a sgtraight shot.

Shot came out nice. I think brew temp was slightly high, but it was a nice shot.

Second drink was going to be a latte. Here is the masterpiece.

Dinner 11/6/2009

2009-11-06T19:35:00.000-08:00

Hot dog sliders
Dinner roll

Sliced a couple of dogs and fried the slices

Strips of swiss cheese

In a buttered pan I put all the components together and grilled

Voila. I think I'll cut the dogs into strips next time around

Breakfast 11/4/2009

2009-11-04T09:30:00.000-08:00

Scrambled eggs, microwave sausage, and rice.

Lunch 11/3/2009

2009-11-03T13:43:00.000-08:00

Went to this joint in Chinatown today for lunch with my coworkers.

At the front when you walk in. Duck. And on the bottom trays some heads.

Egg flower with corn and chicken soup.

Barbecue duck

French style beef. I laugh at you like an arrogant french man, haw haw haw

Pork chop with spicy salt. I think this is pretty much ordered every time I have Chinese food.

I think this is called shrimp with spicy salt with shell or whatever their skin is referred to.

And the result after a good meal. It's been more than an hour later, and I'm still full. I don't know where that saying came from.

Lunch 11/2/2009

2009-11-03T13:41:00.001-08:00

Tried my hand at being vegetarian for a meal. Trader Joe's mixed greens with pecans, cranberries, and bleu cheese. I liked it. The bleu cheese and cranberries reminded me of a bagel with cream cheese and some jelly.

Dinner 11/1/2009

2009-11-03T13:39:00.000-08:00

Fried rice, fried fish fillets with cream corn sauce, and pork chops with spicy salt. Good stuff.

Hot Sexy Mama

2009-10-30T16:47:00.001-07:00

Look at that pretty smile.

Breakfast 10/29/2009

2009-10-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

Lot 44 Downtown

Coffee and red velvet cupcake. Yes, red velvet cupcake is perfect for breakfast. Just like a bagel with cream cheese except you get a red velvet cupcake instead of the bagel, and awesome sweet cream cheese icing instead of just plain ole cream cheese.

Lunch 10/28/2009

2009-10-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

Pitfire Artisan Pizza.

Sausage Pizza. Good pizza, but I like my pizza with a bit more cheese.

Gooey chocolate cookie for dessert.

Counter Space

2009-10-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

Tons of counter space in the coffee room in the new office. If I had the funds, I'd stick a nice espresso machine on there. Look at all that free space!

"Cow Splats"

2009-10-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

Weird looking headless animals on one side of the new police building in downtown.

Lunch 4/3/2009

2009-04-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

Had a Chinese Chicken Salad today. Completely forgot to take a picture until it was too late. But here's a few drops of the dressing.

Lunch (the other day)

2009-01-21T10:47:00.001-08:00

I went with the to go joint of the Curry House. Pork Katsu with mild curry. Yummy. Didn't forget the red stuff this time. It's pickled ginger, but very mild. I just put it in the rice for the crunchiness.

Splash

2009-01-12T12:23:00.000-08:00

What do you do when you get Japanese whisky and want to add a splash of water? You get Japanese mineral water of course! I tried adding Sparkletts water to my glass, but wasn't too impressed. There's a Japanese market a block from work so I dropped by to look at their selection of water. They sell water there called Sweat Water. That's right. Sweat. It's a drink to help replenish what you lose during exercise. I don't even want to try it. I'm thinking it tastes like pool water after you've had some fresh water and jump in. Go ahead. Try.

Lunch (last week)

2009-01-12T08:07:00.000-08:00

Made some sandwiches with the left over honeybaked ham. Whole grain bread, swiss cheese, and large slices of the ham.

This is my wife's sandwich. Ate mine before I could snap some pictures. Almost missed taking a picture of this one too. Mine is the same except without all the nasty mayo she has slathered on her sammy.

Yogurtland

2009-01-12T07:57:00.000-08:00

There's Cefiore and Pinkberry's and a ton of other joints. Been to Cefiore and Pinkberry's. I liked em. The other day walking back to work from lunch, we went to Yogurtland. The difference between Yogurtland and the other two is that this place is self serve. You pour your own yogurt and scoop in your own toppings. They have a ton of available yogurt flavors and similar toppings to the other two places. There's a Yogurtland close to where we live so we will be frequenting them very often.
What I like so far. Taro yogurt with mochi, coconut, and sliced almonds.

Just be careful because they charge you by the ounce. A coworker didn't notice when he went to a similar place, maybe the same one, and he ended up paying more than $10 for his yogurt.

Dinner (the other night)

2009-01-12T07:30:00.000-08:00

We had some left over honey baked ham. This was supposed to be ham fried rice, but I cut the ham too large and decided to try something else.

Key ingredient in fried rice, the rice. We have yet to purchase a rice cooker. For now, this small pot works. Basic technique to make rice, boil water, ratio should be around 1.5 parts water to 1 part bigas (raw rice). You should rinse the bigas first to get rid of the dust and some debris. I am lazy so I usually just throw the stuff in unrinsed into the boiling water. Once the water has boiled down, turn the flame down to simmer and cover for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, voila, a pot of rice. Easy. For an easier way, buy a rice cooker. Measure everything, push a button. Even easier.

What I ended up making with the ham. Way too much oil though. Had to use a few paper towels to try and get most of it off. I used a peeler to get thin slices of potatoes and fried them up with the ham.

Eggs. Over easy for my lovely lady and scrambled for me.

And there we have it. Breakfast for dinner

Maybe I'll add plantains to the ham and potatoes and go Cuban with the dish next time.

Vacuum Brewing (French Press without the mud)

2009-01-11T22:30:00.001-08:00

Here is how I vacuum.
Buy or roast beans. With coffee, freshness is key. Buy beans that were recently roasted, within a few days if possible, and only grind to brew.

Grind the beans. Experimentation is necessary to find out what you like. Right now I'm sticking to 8 grams of coffee per 4 ounces of water. The Bodum scoop measures out 8 ounces of ground coffee.

To make the process a little quicker, pour boiling or near boiling water into the bowl. It will take a while to get water hot in the bowl because the flame needs be low as the bowl has a narrow bottom. A high flame would just melt the handle. The flame in the picture is at medium low. First time I brewed with cold water it took almost 10 minutes for the whole process. Also note that with vacuum brewing, there will always be a little bit of water that does not make it to the upper bowl. Because of this, it is recommended to always make a full pot so more water is exposed to the grounds. A half bowl will result in a slightly thinner cup as the leftover water will dilute the brew.

Original plastic filter and Cory rod. I am now using only the Cory rod as there were stalling issues with the original plastic filter. Carefully pour the ground coffee into the funnel (upper bowl) without moving the Cory rod. Some wait until the water has made it north before adding the ground coffee. I'll just add the coffee first for now though.

Place the funnel onto the bowl and as it is preheated water, the water should instantly start going north to brew the coffee. Using preheated water also ensures that only optimum brewing temperature water is going north to saturate the grinds. Depending on how much agitation there is in the upper bowl after most of the water has reached the top, it might be necessary to mix the grounds to make sure all of the grounds are saturated. I am using chopsticks. Make sure you use something plastic so you don't break the glass and be careful not to move the rod. Update: Just read up on a thread where it is recommended that you stir going in straight lines not circular as it affects how the grinds settle near the rod and circular stirring increases the chances of stalling.

After all the water has gone to the upper bowl, I keep it on the flame for an additional 30 seconds then take it off the flame and place it on a cooling surface. Ensure the surface is not wet as this might crack the bowl. Brew time will be determined with experimentation. I am planning on adding time to see what the cup will taste like. Update: I am now leeting the coffee brew for a minute, not 30 seconds.

Once the lower bowl has cooled off enough, the coffee will start to make its way back down. Shouldn't be more than 30 or so seconds. Any longer and it might be stalling.

After the coffee is done going south, remove the funnel. There will still be some suction, so be careful when removing the funnel. Pictured is the rubber seal moving down a little as the suction was a little strong when I removed the funnel.

Enjoy a freshly vacuumed cup of coffee.

Time for clean up. Only a little bit of coffee grind made its way down. Vacuum brewing results in a cup similar to french press, but less sediment and slightly less body.

Cory Rod

2009-01-10T14:32:00.000-08:00

After a few brews with the Santos, no matter how coarse the grind, the Santos was stalling. After five minutes, the coffee was just trickling very slowly south. By that time, the coffee has already been overextracted and it's just a wasted pot. Reading the forums, there were numerous recommendations of using a Cory rod for the Santos as its oem plastic filter is known to be problematic. The only places these are now available, as the Cory is no longer made, is either ebay or antique shops. They are very readily available in ebay so I purchased one there.
The Cory Rod arrives in the mail. Very well packaged to protect the glass.

The glass Cory Rod

Perfect fit. Will brew a pot soon.

Brewed a pot this morning. Didn't have my camera handy, but works well, for now. Did a finer grind than I tried for the Santos and no signs of stalling and clean pot. No grinds made it down the tube. Still don't know how it works as it's just a glass rod, but I guess it's the pores on the bulb of the rod. Will have to be very careful as it's glass on glass.

Pilsner

2009-01-09T07:04:00.000-08:00

I was reading the Food section of the LA Times a few years ago and they had a story about micro brews. They had a few suggestions. Two of the ones I wrote down was Northcoast Scrimshaw, which I found right away and liked. Reminded me of Rolling Rock. And the other was called Trumer Pils. The story talked about how most pilsners are shipped here from Europe and during the trip over here, the elements and everything else messes with the flavors and we don't really get the true pilsner flavor. Basically to taste how they taste it over there, we'd have to go there. Trumer Pils was supposed to be a good representation of a true pilsner. So ofcourse I had to try it to see what a true pilsner tasted like. So off to my local BevMo I went to look for the Scrimshaw and the Pils and I found the Scrimshaw right away and it took me a couple years to finally get my hands on the Trumer Pils. I just didn't look hard enough and finally got around to asking an employee about it when I was there to get something else. Good beer.

Trumer Pils all cold and ready to go.

The lovely lady serving the beer

Whisky

2009-01-09T00:03:00.000-08:00

I'm in my 30s now and have two kids, so might as well try some growed up drinks. I'm going to try and discover whisky. In one of the forums I frequent, there was a discussion on whiskys and one of them was for a Japanese brand that happened to be at our local BevMo. And to top it off, it was behind a locked container. Can't go wrong with something recommended and locked up, must be good stuff! Depending on where it's from, it's either considered whisky or whiskey.
The box from the BevMo

Out of the box.

Opened up. Will take the fancy in the glass pictures when I get a proper whisky glass, yes, there is a glass made specifically for whisky.

Bodum Santos

2009-01-05T14:41:00.000-08:00

One of the presents my hot sexy wife got me for Christmas was a Bodum Santos stovetop vacuum brewer. I've only had coffee made with it since I opened the box. I took pictures and tried to post them up, but was having connection problems. Will get them up soon. Meanwhile, I'll just enjoy another cup. It is very quiet. For some reason I thought I'd hear gurgling from the boiling water and a popping sound after the water went back down, but nada, it is very quiet. I still have to work on my technique. First few times I just put the upper bowl on right away, but after reading the forums I'm supposed to put the upper bowl on after the water is either boiling or very near it so that all the water that comes in contact with the grounds are in optimum brew temperature. I also found the grind that would stall the brewer the other day. It's at 8.5 on my mazzer. Discovered that it is very dangerous to pull out the upper bowl before the big splash when the water has all gone down hill as there is still plenty of suction. Good thing I apparently waited long enough because there was only a slight resistance but not enough to break anything when it did let go.

Water already on the way down. Will upload the pictures of the earlier process soon.

Coffee on the way back down

Breakfast 9/17/08

2008-09-19T15:06:00.002-07:00

A coworker was kind enough to bring these in for breakfast the other day. We had a potluck for lunch that day but I still had to eat a ton of them. Good stuff.

Spam musubi. Simple and yet so good. A slice of spam, rice that's been compressed to make a rectangular cake, some bbq sauce, all wrapped in seaweed. Mmmmmm

Desert Palms

2008-09-19T15:06:00.001-07:00

These came before the racks, but forgot to post about it. Desert Palms Clay chips. Not Pure Clay chips that the vendor is now selling on their site.

Out of the box these were whiter than I had anticipated. The old cheapy plastic ones I have aren't as white.

Inlay design. The palm trees change color with every denomination.

Color variation between chips. About one in 20 has the off white greyish tint to them. Apparently common with BCC chips.

Chip Racks

2008-09-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

Got five racks for my new chips. Racks with covers so I can carry the chips in my backpack instead of the metal case. It'll also be easier to carry the egg timer for timing the blinds in the backpack.
Why double boxing is key when going through UPS. I think someone stepped on the box. Unfortunately, it wasn't double boxed, but fortunately, they were bubble wrapped.

Safely out of the box, no damage.

Chips loaded up.

All chips racked up.

The Desert Palms $1s, Mardi Gras Clay $5s, Club Cleopatra $25s, James Bonds $100s, and Club Cleopatra $500s

Why the racks are perfect for stacking, they line em up perfect for stacks like this. 200 chips.

More Chips

2008-09-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

A package came in the mail the other day. Part of my new set of clays. Club Cleopatra chips.
Came like this from the mail, fortunately no visible damage from transport. Just jiggled around in the box a little bit.

The chips side by side, green $25 and purple $500

All stacked up. Ordered 60, got two extra for free. 62 stacked up, nice and solid, no spinners.

Fun with Chips

2008-09-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

I am slowly building my clay set. Here is my meager 3 tiered tower. They're usually hexagons, but even when I do get my full set going, I won't have enough for that. Will be doing a 4 tiered tower soon. Woo hooo.

The black chips are Paulson James Bonds, $100 denomination. The orange chips with the red inlay are Paulson Classics, $1000 denomination. The orange chips with white edge spots are Blue Chip Desert Palms, $5000 denomination.

Breakfast 8/21/08

2008-08-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-21T12:57:00.001-07:00

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

Lunch 8/15/08

2008-08-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-09T17:43:00.000-07:00

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

Lunch 8/6/08

2008-08-09T17:25:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-06T11:15:00.001-07:00

Spinach salad with strawberries and sliced mozarella sticks.

Still waiting on the other courses...

Got Coffee?

2008-08-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-04T10:59:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-04T06:43:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-03T10:26:00.000-07:00

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!

Dinner 8/2/08

2008-08-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

Went to the Pacific Fish Grill at the new mall here at the home town. Two blocks away from a high school! Those kids must be stoked! Fresh, awesome, cool...totally! Went there thinking it was a sit down joint, my wife wanted to get a cocktail too, but when we walked in, it was a fast food type joint where you order your food at the front, sit down, and they give you the food. Do you tip at those joints? I had their fried scallop plate. The little scallops, not the big ones. It was all right, came with coleslaw with raisins with the scallops over a bed of fries with some green flakes of some herb on the fries. I guess it makes the fries fancy with the herbs on it. Didn't add flavor or anything to it though. I guess it just makes it look fancy.

Mocha Macchiato

2008-08-03T10:07:00.000-07:00

Made a mocha macchiato the other morning in my 3 ounce bodum pavina cup. I put a half ounce of some Ghirardelli chocolate syrup I made by mixing chocolate chips and water over a double boiler. That's right, I know what a double boiler is. Food Network baby! I had made the syrup a week ago and it was chilling in the fridge. I poured the syrup in the bottom of the cup and the shot went over it, about 1.5 ounces and then the half ounce of steamed non fat milk. The macchiato had some strong coffee and slight chocolate taste in the beginning with a finish of cool chocolate with a hint of coffee to it. Next time I'll heat up the chocolate syrup first to get a better mixture. I liked the cool chocolate finish though.

Latte For My Wife

2008-08-03T00:59:00.000-07:00

Made a latte for my wife tonight. I understretched the milk this time around. It was whole milk and I only stretched to 80 degrees instead of 85 to 90 degrees. I guess overstretching the nonfat milk was still in my head.

Got a nice little heart though.

Breakfast 8/1/08

2008-08-02T22:44:00.000-07:00

Had to get my wife's car serviced and it was going to be an hour and a half wait so I walked over to a nearby McDonald's and had breakfast while I waited.
McDonald's Chicken Biscuit Breakfast with orange juice.

Espresso Shot

2008-08-02T22:25:00.000-07:00

So enough with this masking the espresso with milk and art stuff, what about the espresso on its own? Here is a video of a shot. I dose and tamp and then flush the over heated water. When the indicator light on my machine turns off, I count to 10 one thousand and then lock and pull the shot. The thud in the background is beause when I locked the portafilter in, I moved the machine a bit and knocked a tamper off and it fell to to the ground. I will flush the water into a bowl instead of the drip tray so my cup won't fog up.

The shot. Tasted nice. No bitterness from a shot being too hot. 5 days post roast.

Sweet Maria's Espresso

2008-08-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

Roasted some Sweet Maria's Monkey Blend but didn't get to pull a shot until 5 days later. I was gonna make a latte and looked in the fridge and only had low fat and non fat milk! What? I guess I bought the wrong milk. I bought 2 boxes and ofcourse the regular milk is all gone. I went with the nonfat and had a brain fart. I've read the articles on the forums about foaming milk, whether regular, non, low, or even soy. I forgot all I read and overstretched the milk. I reread a bit of one article afterwards and ofcourse nonfat is easier to stretch than regular milk but has less sweetness. Here are the pics.

White spot, should have cut the shot off a little earlier

Here is my overstretched art. I'll call it the cucumber. Tasted nice.

Lunch 7/31/08

2008-07-31T15:50:00.000-07:00

Had lunch today at a place called Bon Chon. A Korean fried chicken joint in LA. Sounded like a French/Korean place because of the name. A coworker wanted to go there because he heard they had good fried chicken. They do. Nice and crispy and we all noticed that they weren't oily whatsoever. We got two orders, one garlic (I think) and one spicy. The spicy is really spicy and I don't like spicy, but I had a couple pieces anyway because before it burned my tongue off, the sauce was actually pretty good. Had a sweet flavor to it and then the nuclear reaction took place. If they had a non-spicy version of that sauce I'd tear it up.
Menu. It's only 2 pages. Hehe.

Front counter

Salad to start things off. It was all right. Thousand Island dressing.

And the chicken. The garlic on the left and the nuclear spicy on the right.

Lunch 7/30/08

2008-07-31T10:24:00.000-07:00

Had lunch at one of my favorite places by work, the Curry House. I had the hamburger curry, mild. The hamburger is leaning towards a meatloaf. Good stuff.

Hot Cocoa Art

2008-07-27T21:19:00.001-07:00

Put some chocolate syrup in my cup and steamed some milk and made some cocoa art! Woo hoo. A nice subtle heart.

And the grindenstein with some dry pucks.

Lunch 7/22/08

2008-07-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

Lunch from yesterday. Sword fish with rice and sauce. I've never had sword fish before. I liked it. Nice and meaty fish. Doesn't beat fried tilapia with rice and tomatoes though. Hehe. Or laing. Or tomatoes diced with some toyo. Good stuff.

Today's Art

2008-07-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

Here is today's art. I think I stretched the milk too much or it's just inexperience and I just need more work on my technique. I'll blame it on the milk stretching too much...hehe.

Latte in the new cup

2008-07-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

Made a latte today. Stretched the milk to 90 and then dipped the steam tip until 150. This is what I got. When I started the pour I started seeing the swirls and was tempted to start wiggling the pitcher to get a rosetta going, but I stayed my hand and purposely tried to make a heart. I think at first I was thinking "apple" but then went for the heart towards the end of the pour. Latte tasted nice. Nice tight 50 second, hehe, 1 ounce ristretto off a 15 gram dose.

Used the new Grindenstein knockbox too. What a mess. Better than knocking into the trashcan, unsanitary or the sink, will eventually clog. This is just two shots! I get wet pucks on this machine. I'll bring these grinds to work and use on the plants.

Danesi

2008-07-18T21:47:00.001-07:00

A little package came in the mail today.

Packing peanuts and bubble wrap oh my!

More bubble wrap. These guys know how to ship fragile things.

The Danesi latte cup. The first thing I noticed was the weight. This guy is 14 ounces! Almost a pound. That is one heavy cup. Should hold the latte's heat well. The only downer is that the handle is very small, I can't put my index finger through it, so I won't be carrying it that way. I guess its thickness will also protect my hand when I carry it without the handle. On the websites it's listed as having a capacity of about 6 ounces. I tested its capacity by pouring some water and weighing it, its capacity is more around 10 ounces.

I was so busy taking pictures of the cup and weighing it that I almost forgot that it was a cup and saucer set. Below all those peanuts were the saucers. Oval saucers with the 'd' logo.

And here's the set.

Picture of my cup "collection." A 3 ounce Bodum Pavina, Starbucks Christmas cappuccino set of 6 (one was badly chipped so I now have 5 cups and 6 saucers), and the Danesi Latte cup. Edit: I was informed that it was actually a set of 8 cups. So now I only have 7.

In the home barista forums the Danesi cups were recommended in their cup recommendation discussions. I saw this picture and knew I had to get these cups. The shape of the cup is unique and maybe it was also the background in the picture that got me too.

Upgrades? and Tools

2008-07-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

I was thinking of converting the Super Jolly to doserless from the beginning. A little cleaner especially when the doser was designed for high volume cafe use anyway. So I copied a mod from the forums with a lazy man twist. The original mod used aluminum flashing, I didn't have any handy, I did buy a piece of metal which was unweildy and I just ended up destroying it because it was too hard and I didn't have the right tools. Next time definitely aluminum flashing. So I just used a piece of food packaging lexan type plastic and glued on the gasket and used the 45 degree street elbow fitting. I haven't used it too much, ran out of espresso beans but when I did, it's a doserless SJ now. The elbow fitting comes off easily for easy cleaning with a brush. I just give it a couple of knocks to get any grinds off of there first and then take it off and brush out the grinds stuck in the exit chute. Will utilize the WDT from now on especially since this was his mod.

As for tools I picked up this cute sexy little thing at my local Intelligentsia. Fire Engine red. Sexy huh? The Grindenstein knockbox, small, compact, dishwasher safe! and small enough to fit under the group for storing.

This other tool I got online. It is the Palla group brush with steaming wand pin. I was using a toothbrush and a few burns later saw this being used by the CoffeeGeek himself in his Silvia video. As you can see much more robust than a toothbrush and the ridges on on the group brush prevent hot steaming water from making its way down to your hand.

Latte Art

2008-07-13T22:13:00.000-07:00

Made a latte today. Here's the art that came with it! An almost rosetta. For now I'll try stretching to about 90 degrees for lattes and 100 for cappuccinos.

Lunch 7/10/08

2008-07-13T19:47:00.001-07:00

Lunch July 10, 2008 at a Cheesecake Factory. It's called Garlic Noodles. First dish was just too salty so I actually had them send it back. I never do that. The only other time I could recall sending a dish back was when we got raw chicken fingers at Black Angus. The Factory waiter asked if I wanted the same dish or a different one. I should have gotten a different one. My coworker got something that was delicious. I got the same dish and it was just as salty. I guess that's just how the sauce is supposed to taste. Oh well.

Slight Change to Super J

2008-07-12T12:06:00.000-07:00

It seemed like I was spending as much time brushing away stray grinds as I was actually drinking coffee. It was getting to me. So I decided to use a used aluminum can to help clean up the doser a little bit. There was a flat metal piece that went over the doser's exit chute to keep grinds from falling directly out of the doser when grinding. Stray grinds would stay on top even after thwacking away 5 to 6 times. Those grinds would just stay up there taunting me. So I figure the use of the upper star on the doser was to determine the dose amount with each pull of the doser lever. This is only effective when the doser is full when in use in a busy cafe setting. Not really effective when only grinding per shot. So I removed the upper star and the pesky flast metal piece. I used the tall aluminum can to help deflect the grinds from just going for the now exposed exit chute. Works pretty well so far. Only downside is that it is now a little harder brushing the grinds away from the grinder's exit chute. Much cleaner though, less stray grinds to brush away. Will use this until I get the necessary bits for a doserless mod I've been eyeballing in the forums.

More Super Jolly Cleaning

2008-07-12T11:54:00.001-07:00

I decided to deep clean the Super Jolly this time around. Got some Grindz and took off the lower burr and just scrubbed away some more.

I marked where the upper burr carrier was for consistency.

Looking down at the bottom burr. Doesn't look too bad does it? Just scrub away and run some Grindz too maybe.

But after removing the lower burr, this was what was caked on below the burrs. Nasty looking stuff. Don't know if this was all from me grinding or maybe some of the old user's too.

Top portion of the lower burr. The three clumps are from the three upright thingies that push the grinds out of the grinding chamber.

Some of the grinds that was cleaned off.

I'm thinking I should use the Grindz and deep clean at least once a month to keep from getting stale rancid cofee grinds and oils stuck in the grinder.

What about the coffee?

2008-07-01T11:30:00.001-07:00

Now after the cleaning and simple mods, what about the coffee?

The seller kindly supplied some beans he roasted along with the grinder. A Brazilian bean.

Tried it in a press pot first. Wasn't too sure about grind settings so I grinded too fine and steeped too long so the coffee was overextracted and bitter. Makes a good looking cup though. A ton of mud at the bottom too.

So out came the EC 701 and I went on to try and dial the Super Jolly in.

After a few tries. I believe this shot came out about one and a half ounces in about 27 seconds. Should have stopped the shot sooner as the blonde spot in the middle indicates. Was getting inconsistent shots most of the bag. The seller later informed me that those particular beans were tough to work with. Good thing I ran out or else I'd still be trying to dial it in. Still working on my espresso palate so don't have a comment on how this shot was. Maybe a bright flavor profile?

Tried my hand at some art. This one in a Starbucks Christmas season cappucino cup. I think I've measured the size of the cup at about six ounces. So this had a double shot with four ounces of steamed milk/foam. There's a heart in there, really, there is. It's not a mochaccino. It was a bitter brew. The milk barely cut through it. Still working on a routine with my espresso machine. The dark ring around the edge of the cup is an indication of high brew temps. The taste in the cup confirmed it.

So what now? I will to to the Klatch and Intelligentsia and taste some of their straight shots so that I will have something to go by when I make some shots at home. Will also get some Belle espresso beans and maybe some Black Cat from Intelligentsia and I have some Sweet Maria's Monkey blend greens to roast too. Will use the shots from the Klatch and Intelligentsia as a baseline and anything I make that doesn't taste like those will immediately be spit out and thrown into the sink. Just kidding. This stuff is expensive. I'll drink it all. That's what I did with the shot and the bitterccino in the pictures.

Simple mods to SJ

2008-07-01T11:24:00.001-07:00

Some mods to the doser. I did the sweeper mod, but don't have any pictures of it. I just attached some velcro strips to the bottom of the sweeper to get at the stray grounds at the bottom of the doser.

Nipple mod. Used a spare baby bottle nipple to put on top of the nut on the doser. Grounds would get stuck on top of that nut when I'd grind. Will use an RC plane spinner next time. It is a sharper point on top and the nipple is absorbing some oils.

A little brass music wire on the exit chute to break up the grinds a little more to help with the clumping.

Attached the music wire to the doser cover so I can easily take it off when I have to sweep the exite chute.

Saw some posts where they had soldered some wire together, but the only solder I have is lead based and don't want to mess with that and food. So I just twisted the wire with a couple of needle nosed plyers and will stick with it for now.

Update: The wire set up above was too cumbersome. Made an easier simpler x pattern. The previous version just got more coffee stuck in the chute making it more cumbersome than useful. I also removed the nipple since it was just absorbing too much of the oils. Will get the spinner soon.

Sizing the bad boy

2008-07-01T11:16:00.001-07:00

Just like the last time when I got my Rocky doserless (which I had to give up about a year ago) I will compare the Super Jolly to the poor old Krups burr grinder we got when we got married. It's still here, so maybe this time it will really be turned into a spice grinder.

The doser alone is taller than the grinder!

Side by side. Slight height difference. hehe

View from the back. Gotta love those Ms! (Clean em for crying out loud!)

And a picture of the one who will inherit this guy.

Cleaning the Super Jolly

2008-07-01T10:53:00.000-07:00

Didn't really have much to clean. The old user kept it clean. Just some easy brushing here and there.

Brushed and cleaned upper burr. Not much work. Just some light work with a toothbrush. I need to get a needle or something to get the extra stuff off the screw heads.

Lower burr. Since it isn't too bad, will wait til later to take it off for some thorough cleaning. Again, just a little brush work and need to get that needle for the screws.

The doser. This is where actually most of the stray grinds were stuck. Some behind the plastic between the plastic and doser body. Took it off and brushed, and wiped with a damp paper towel and all good.

After taking off the doser, just a very small amount of stuck grinds on the exite chute.

Super Super Jolly Jolly

2008-07-01T10:45:00.001-07:00

Last week a package arrived.

Is it a TV?

TV dudn't look too good.

The shape is revealed.

And there it is. The Mazzer Super Jolly.

I got it used off of a coffeegeek member. Well taken care of.

Train ride

2008-05-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

Short time lapse capture of part of the train ride home with some beautiful urban artwork.

Lunch 5/28/08

2008-05-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

This is from the Curry House in Downtown LA. It is japanese curry. I had the curry rice set which comes with soup, salad, rice, a choice of shrimp, beef, or chicken curry and fried shrimp. I went with the mild beef curry today.

Lunch 5/23/08

2008-05-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

Had lunch at a great ramen joint, yes ramen, not the freeze dried stuff that's sold at 10 pack for $1 but fresh stuff made with awesome soup and karabuto pork, pretty much the kobe beef version of pork. The place is called Daikokuya in downtown LA. Three pictures of the soup made normally with the scallions and the way my wife likes it, sans scallions and of the pot stickers, gyoza, which were so so.

New Office Brewer

2008-05-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

I actually got this at the beginning of the year, but only got around to taking pics of it now. It would really help if I would roast too, haven't done that in about a month, so it's been sitting on my desk gathering dust for a few weeks now. Will eventually get to roast some more beans soon though and put this puppy to good work. It's a melitta pour over brewer with a swiss gold filter. Nice easy set up, very easy to clean, and results in a nice cup with an oily surface. Woo hoo.

Intelligentsia

2008-05-23T08:10:00.000-07:00

Made it out to Intelligentsia in Silverlake here in LA. Been there three times. Had an iced americano, good, regular americano, good, and a cappuccino, good. What I liked was my cappuccino was served in an appropriate sized cup. When I get a cappuccino at The Klatch, it's served in the same sized cup as a latte and there's the same amount of liquid in each cup. Difference? None that I know of, unless the barista's just made me an 12 ounce cappuccino, with three ounces of espresso, it's a latte. But at Intelligentsia, they serve a cappuccino in a 3 or 4 ounce sized cup. Cute little things. Sorry about the picture, but I had to erase the ugly background I had going on (must think composition when I take pictures). I also should have used something else to get a better sense of scale, but the big cup's a regular sized cup, 8 or so ounces, and the little cute thing's the 3 to 4 ounce cappa cup.

Dinner 5/3/2008

2008-05-19T15:24:00.000-07:00

Went to a fancy restaurant for our 5th year anniversary. Usually when we go to a fancy pricey dinner, I automatically go for the lobster dish. This time though, my wife talked me into getting the lamb dish. I'd never had lamb before, and she herself doesn't like lamb, but she convinced me to get it by reasoning that at least it'll be guaranteed to be made well at a place like this. But then again it would be a very expensive mistake if I didn't like it.

Was eyeballing that Maine Lobster dish but went for the Trio of Colorado Lamb.

What I ordered. Dove into the ratatouille before I remembered to snap the picture. Would I like lamb?

5 minutes later. Needless to say, I like lamb. Okay, maybe 10 minutes later. Maybe. I gave my wife a piece thinking that this stuff was awesome, there's no way she wouldn't like it. She didn't like it. More for me!