the smell of coffee

…makes me think it’s morning, but it’s not. Well, technically it is the early early morning, the kind where I should be asleep.

I found this recipe for “Magical Coffee,” which involves cold-brewing. Hence the grinding of beans at 3am, which also makes me feel like a maniac for creating aromas designated only for early (not early early) mornings.

Either way, the past two weeks have been interesting. The big thing on my to-do list for the past year is now gone. I expected there to be huge lulls in my days now that I didn’t have to pore over and torture words to death. It was a prayer request to be diligent and disciplined with my time now, and I don’t think it’s any coincidence that I haven’t had much downtime despite not having a set schedule. I got my Vibrams last week and I’ve only gotten the chance to run in them once.  I’m sometimes surprised at how much needs to be done in a day, yet how little is crossed off my post-it to-do lists written the night before.

But I guess someone who didn’t have a lot of free time wouldn’t be baking (failed) birthday cakes.

yet another example of "looks better than it tastes"

…or have time to figure out that her favorite Wednesday farmers’ market closed down. Or eating at food trucks on a random Thursday night.

So then again, I am very thankful for this little lull of time. The waiting period isn’t all terrible, I suppose.

—

As a side note, can I also mention how heartbroken I am every time I watch the news? It is crazy to visibly see how we humans can spend years into building communities and it can be wiped out by nature in mere minutes. Not only that, but my dearest EAP friend JK is actually teaching English in the Miyagi prefecture in northeast Japan which was hit the hardest by both the earthquake and tsunami. I was worried sick the first night since there was no news that any of his family or friends had heard from him yet. Luckily, some friends and his mom wrote on his Facebook page saying that they’d contacted him and he’s fine, albeit without running water, electricity, or phone reception. Weird how social media is such a time-sucker, but redeems itself in ways like this. But keep praying for Japan and its people.

among many things

via duke‘s amazing food blog (if i were to ever have a food blog, it’d be like his.)

some things worth waking up & waiting for

overcast days in san francisco. brunch. warm coffee on cold mornings. good friends. laughter. waitresses who somehow get gravy on their elbows. glimpses of cityscape.

new mercies each morning. a content heart. being satisfied with God’s way. the future.

french press woes

A little over a year ago when I was living in SD, E gave our apartment a copy of Cook’s Illustrated (very foodie, high-technique cooking magazine) about the same time I was thinking that buying a coffee maker would save me a lot of money. It turns out that there was a huge article about how to make good coffee, the best grinders, etc. The Bodum Chambord french press was on the top of their list, and the editors stated that it made even better coffee than expensive coffee machines. The only thing was that I wasn’t willing (nor able) to shell out $50 for a french press, however la-di-da a cooking magazine made it sound.

I was talking to M about it, who actually had a french press in storage, and offered to give it to me. And.. it happened to be the Chambord, which I have been using faithfully ever since! It makes amazingly strong coffee, is super simple to use, and is aesthetically pleasing on the counter. I’ve managed to convert my brother from our drip machine at home and also my mother to drinking coffee at home. Needless to say, it’s proved itself well.

I broke the beaker earlier last year in the dishwasher (darn you, heavy duty!) and reluctantly bought a replacement for $15. And unfortunately my mom broke the beaker again shortly before Christmas, when I had a weird feeling that it was going to happen again. I’m wondering if it’s worth buying another beaker or if we should just buy a more heavy duty french press, though I’m not sure the quality of coffee would be the same.

This Frieling stainless steel one is pretty and would fit the bill nicely, if it weren’t $75:

Otherwise, we are considering this insulated one, which is not very appealing:

Incidentally M gave me a Bodum Travel Press last month for my birthday, which may hold me over until we decide on a replacement. I do recognize that it is sad that I am stressing so much over this, but coffee (and french presses) are quite important in this household, you know.