Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Barefoot Coffee Roasters

One of my favorite local coffee shops was featured on the news. I found the news clip featured on La Marzocco’s international site.
Click Here and go to USA Barista Championship Clip

Health,Thursday, October 04, 2007

Hidden Hazards of Air Fresheners

This latest information makes me wonder how we every began to think spraying chemicals in the air we breath is “freshening” the air. It just sounds ridiculous. 

Now some of your favorite air fresheners can actually be causing more harm than good. So throw away those air fresheners, especially if they are on the list of hazardous products and open the windows. Some stores actually pulled the bad products from the shelves already.

While on the subject of air freshness, it’s also a good idea not to light scented candles, especially if you have allergy and asthma sensitivities. I’ve read from a number of expert sources that the best way to improve indoor air quality is to simply open up the windows and let the fresh air in. Sure, you might let some heat in or the cold air out, but it really doesn’t change the heating bill much to replace the indoor air with fresh outdoor air. On hot days we make it a habit to open the windows during the cooler evening. During the cold days of winter, we open the windows during the warmest part of the day. Last year was one of the first years that we really started opening the windows regularly and we tracked our heating bill. I couldn’t see any noticeable difference in the monthly bill. But I bet our bodies appreciate having a little fresh air.

Click here to read the entire article.

Family,Thursday, October 04, 2007

I’m from Hickory

Claire loved this stroll down to the park in the Baby Bjorn.

She’s so funny. She was kicking and smiling with excitement. I joked that she looks like she’s saying, “I’m from HIckory”. That’s a famous line from the latest Last Comic Standing winner John Reep. Check out this clip from Comedy Central where he does a little of his Hickory head shaking.

Family,Thursday, October 04, 2007

Barista Apprentice

Matthew has been watching me make coffee very carefully and learning a bit more about coffee making than I thought.

Without me telling him a thing, he knows to get the portafilter, put it under the coffee hopper and pull the trigger for the grounds to drop into the portafilter. Press the grounds down with a tamper and put the portafilter back up to the espresso machine. Pull the level for water to go through the coffee. He knows that the steam wand is for the milk pitcher. Of course, he does all this with the power to the machines off, but someday he’ll be making us coffee in the morning! And I wouldn’t be surprised if his first job is at Starbucks.
See all the photos in the Lombardi Spot galleries

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Matthew loves Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches.

Here’s the recipe that I love. Basically, use 100% whole wheat bread. Make sure the first ingredient is “whole wheat”, not “enriched wheat” because enriched wheat is a wheat flour made up of usually only a small portion of whole wheat. Then,  find some peanut butter that uses nothing but roasted peanuts and salt. The best tasting peanut butters use Valencia peanuts, but anything with just peanuts will do. We keep ours refrigerated after opening, not only because the label says so, but it also helps keep the raw peanut oil from separating from the peanuts.

We always toast the bread, it helps not only make the peanut butter softer and smoother by warming it up, but it helps make the whole wheat bread a little crunchier and easier to eat. As soon as the toaster pops the bread out, grab it and put some of the peanut butter on there. Let it sit for a minute so that the peanut butter warms up and is easy to spread. While it’s sitting, I usually grab a banana and if I have any, some strawberries. Slice them up into very small pieces that can mix together in the sandwich. Now, I’ll either use strawberry jelly or honey to sweeten the sandwich more. If I didn’t use fresh strawberries, I’ll use strawberry jelly. If I did use fresh strawberries, then I’ll sweeten with honey. Don’t be shy, use plenty of both peanut butter, and jelly or honey. We go through probably a jar or peanut butter and jelly every few weeks.

That’s it. Now just eat and enjoy. It’s especially good with morning coffee!

Click here to see the photos in the Lombardi Spot galleries.
Click here to see the photos in the Flickr galleries.