Saturday, October 7, 2023

Espresso Machine!

 Decided it was time to get a real one.  It's relatively small & simple but should produce good espresso once I learn how to use it!


Monday, September 18, 2023

Who Built This?

 Bought in 1997 from a coffee shop in Louisville CO.  The shop bought it used and this thing could be 50+ years old.  Anyone have any idea who the manufacturer is and where I can get parts?

And the answer is...it is an Astoria which is a rebranded version of a Made In Italy Mazzer Super Jolly.



 








Saturday, September 2, 2023

EASIEST No Knead Bread! Anybody can make it!!!

 

Sunday, July 24, 2022

07/24/2022 Morning & Not what I expected

 Took a look outside and it finally happened...one of the large limbs from a pecan tree broke which is not something I wanted to deal with in mid summer.

My toolkit to deal with it was kinda thin...

So...I'm out there hacking away...it's going to be a LONG day...and the neighbor who lives a few hundred yards behind me says...looks like it's hanging there ready to come down...be back in a few...



Took him less than 10 minutes...made my day...now back to coffee and waking up!

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

5% Aldi Vinegar As Rust Remover

 Adding a bit of data to Laura's rust removing experiment ( original here  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPaFv2FLDKI ) I took a few very rusted Harbor Freight tools and submerged them in Aldi 5% white vinegar for ~19 hours.  After 2 hours they were substantially cleared but I let them soak for ~19...rinsed them and put them out to dry.  They are not as clean as I initially though BUT if I use a wire brush or wire wheel on them for a few minutes they should be good.  I probably should have let them go for 48 hours...Laura used 10% vinegar.  Another approach would be to bring the solution to boiling which would probably increase the activity of the acid...before and after below:






Friday, August 27, 2021

Getting Ready!

 Getting ready for another crazy flu season...hope it's not BUT it's best to prepare AND my cooking skills being what they are I can't live without




Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Beep!! Beep!! From 2012

 Genuine New Mexico Roadrunner that I caught wandering around the apartment in Albuquerque in 2012.  Was not able to get too close unfortunately and was using a point & shoot.







Monday, September 14, 2020

09/14/2020 4 Grain Rye

 4 grain rye....sesame, fennel, caraway , poppy...2 tablespoons each in a 1.5 pound loaf (1.5 cups rye + 1.5 cups unbleached white bread flour) with brown sugar to feed the yeast.  This one came out great!  LOVE all the seeds!  Next time I think I'll try either honey or molasses rather than the brown sugar and see what that does.





Wednesday, September 2, 2020

09/02/2020 Partially Failed Experiment

I thought I could take the whole wheat 3 seed recipe and use rye flour and maybe it would rise a little more or a little less but nothing dramatic.  Well...I was wrong...managed to get about half the rise.  It tastes great...wonderful crust and not overly dense but I can see that I probably should take a rye recipe as the base if I don't want a midget 1.5 pound loaf.  This would be really good as a desert bread if I added some fruit.