Very Soon, Susan and I are will be embarking on a new adventure together. I am a chef (retired), not the the paper degreed from some culinary institute kind, but a chef nonetheless.
In progress is a cookbook I am working on called, ‘The Gathering Place Cookbook.’ My goal is to turn anyone interested, into a 5 star Chef running your own 5 star restaurant (your home), like ours, ‘The Gathering Place.’
This work in progress will cover your feast meals, breakfast, lunch, dinner, baking, deserts and everything you would expect from a 5 star meal, from a 5 star restaurant, by a five star Chef (You), including fresh brewed from fresh ground and fresh roasted coffee. Yep, I will show anyone how to roast their own coffee, cheaper and fresher than you can pretty much get it anywhere. Well, coffee is a beverage. So, ‘The Gathering Place Cook Book’ has many! Some are made with alcohol and some are not. Cocktails and Mocktails.
There are over 200+ original drinks, homemade liqueurs and simple syrups, recipes for salt and sugar rims for your cocktails and smoked cocktails. Yes, cocktails with real smoke flavor.
Our goal is to really start these, sometime this October 2022. Susan will film, I’ll make the drinks and we will share our ‘Sips’ with you so you too can, ‘Carpe Drink-em’ (seize the drink). 😂
Here’s a shout out to my sister Carol Lee who came up with the name, ‘Carpe Drink-em’! 👍
But today is our maiden voyage and technically. the first drink ever prepared with smoke, smoked cherry dust. The idea came to me via a link from our nephew Dave, also known as, ‘Super D’.
There seems to be a lot of family folk here? Well sure, you too can join us. Strangers are just folks we haven’t met yet! 😘
What is a Meme? A meme (/miːm/MEEM) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme.
A Coffee Meme to me is just important and/funny stuff (pictures, text, or pioctures and text about coffee. I have collected many of these and most have been sent to me by my sister, Carol Lee Pepitone who both enjoys a good cuppa’ ☕ and knows that I do. Enjoy!
the sun brightly beams
reflect in full moon cantaloupe cremes
or so it seems
soon after twilight’s hush
where dreams soon to rush
cantaloupe moon in blush
day pull at the seams
night begins to crush
and silence says to shush
these are the light streams
moon the lunar
deep the crooner
the night tuner
sun the solar
in space roller
and day-time toller
both like a deep space schooner
each a troller
and both a stroller
later or sooner
holders of the twin themes
opposite, but same teams
each to grin and gush
for they make the earth green and lush
each a light wave and particle harpooner
juxtaposed cislunar
and when the moon is interlunar
tis’ with the sun on honeymooner
the twin lights of the sky so beams
that make our hearts to blush
the day adjuster and the night tuner
sun the palm and moon the sole, the surface volar
obsolete centinels or ever present sentinels
Notes: This may be a brand new rhyme scheme I just invented and wrote and am sharing with you. AAA – BBB – ABBA – CCC – DDD – CDDC – AABBCCDD – ABCD – E (no corresponding rhyme, just associated with the poem’s title.
some words defined: juxtaposed- placed side by side often for comparison or contrast cislunar- situated between the Earth and the Moon centinels- obsolete spelling of sentinel interlunar- the four-day period between the old and new moon when the moon is not readily visible. volar – relating to the palm of the hand or the sole of the foot
Isuppose, we all dream, sooner or later, but why? Why dream? It is said or “They”, the unknown and unqualified experts of the world, they say_ we all dream every night. i do not believe that.
I myself rather ascribe to the Biblical sleep producer that, when I lie down, my sleep should be sweet. Proverbs 3:24
For the life of me, I cannot understand how sleep would be sweet_beneficial, needful, restorative and regenerative, if in my mind (my dreams), I am out galloping around the countryside of my head all night.
I read about REM (rapid eye movement), deep sleep 😴 and our body is in repair mode, eradicating or ridding itself of toxic chemicals. Awesome. But no one’s going to tell me that I dream every single night. I can, however, with nearly 100% certainty, tell anyone of the circumstances which must exist in order for me to dream.
1. I ate too much and too late before I went to bed to sleep
2. I drank too much and too late (except for water), before I went to bed to sleep
3. I was just not tired and should have stayed up and done something else. Even if I stayed awake all through the night and throughout the next day, not to worry, I will sleep well the next time. 😂
4. A lot on my mind is left- unresolved
If any one of the above or more are present or apply, I will most likely dream.
I have read many things about the importance of dreams and we’re talking about mental activity, during the course of sleep and ways to remember them. That something may get resolved and dreams might seem completely real and you might even wake up with your heart racing, your palms sweaty and breathing heavy as if you were running a race. Our minds don’t know the difference between what is real or what is not. That’s to be determined by, the mind’s faculty of judgment.
So these are the things that I believe about dreams, but that neither means that I never dream nor that they are not interesting and perhaps, useful at times. Case in point, I am writing this piece of me having awakened from sleep and have remembered by dream. I am here now, about to share it with you.
A little background. Yesterday, I was reading and listening to perhaps my greatest musical influence. His name at this point does not matter to this story. But he was asked how he writes songs? Does the music come first, the lyrics or do they come all at the same time. His answer was that most times, the music comes first and then he tries to find lyrics that will fit. Sometimes he will write a poem or prose and go through much difficulty to find music, which will fit. Infrequently do all come together at the same time. But he said that most of his songs that people know were written between the hours of 12 midnight and 6 AM. He said it is because 90% of the world are asleep and there’s less distraction in his mind that would get in the way of writing a song. Then he spoke of the criteria that the song must have, in order for him to accept it and work on it and release it to others. Now he may have gotten it from someone else but this his three criteria are:
1. Anger
2. Wonder
3. Technique
Ithought a lot about those three things yesterday. Are they true for all? Are they true for me?
Do I get angry? Sure. Not being capable of anger would really mean that we are just insensitive, non-confrontational, it just is what it is and life doesn’t get any better. Why live without anger? Well, I don’t believe any of that. However, I do believe in resolve. No matter what life throws at you, resolve to get it resolved, one way or another and move on.
Wonder or like innocence through the eyes of a child or just being curios, works for me.
Hope is the top of my list. no matter how much despair we might have, no matter how dark it might be or negative a situation, there is always hope.
We need principles or a code to live life. To do this we must first have some principles. We must have integrity. We must be brave. We may not be a hero or heroic public figures, but we must have courage, at least for ourselves. Anything less and we cannot withstand the storms of life and even the multitude of Fairweather friends.
We must have grace and live it and in it. What perfection has imperfection ever made or will it ever?
We must have resolve or resolve something as best and as soon as possible. There is something to always learn.
Be a child in always asking questions. Never stop learning. Always be curios. Never loose your wonder. Yesterday’s sunrise and sunset have never been and will never be like today’s.
Always be grateful and humble and you will always be kind.
Nearly last or actually first on my list is love. Love is the greatest action I can take, the greatest reason for doing anything and my greatest service to others for the grace I’ve been given.
Last of all, look for new beginningS. There are just 8 notes on a piano 🎹 and that is an octave. There are 11 octaves on a piano. Always search for another octave or for a new beginnings
So my list for writing songs or just plainly for living life is, as follows:
1. Hope
2. Courage
3. Grace
4. Resolve
5. Wonder
6. Humility
7. Love
8. New Beginnings
What does this list have to do with my dream? For one thing, this entire list got worked out in my head while I was dreaming. For another, every single item on the list was found in my dream.
But my wife Susan was in my dream too. So was the actor, Sir Anthony Hopkins. He was a world renowned and knighted psychiatrist. My wife and I seemed to be on a second honeymoon, somewhere in Europe where snow capped mountains were the backdrop to the Inn we were all staying at. Anthony Hopkins was there to rest and work on a book he was writing.
I know who he was and I acknowledged him with a friendly nod, but mostly, I felt like he just wanted to be left alone as I wanted to be alone with my lovely wife. I’m sure our tables were close enough together and he overheard conversations that my wife and I had.
I love to do childlike things including getting my feet on the bottom of a shopping cart and ride it down aisles like a horse, to my wife’s chagrin and likely embarrassment. There was one other thing that I was doing often in this particular dream. I did not have any skis or any other means and most of our monies were already spent in accommodations and transportation to and from this inn and back home. I borrowed a regular shovel from the grounds keeper, rode to the top of the mountain in a ski lift, got out, held the handle in my arms and hands to steer and to hold on. I would put both of my feet on the shovel, push off and ride it down the mountain. 😂😂😂
Apparently, Anthony Hopkins had heard about this from my conversations with my wife at dinner often and he had seen me actually do this, many times. But to my surprise, he was interested not because I was just weird or nuts or crazy, but for something completely unexpected.
Our last day at the Inn was also, the last day I would shovel-ride the mountain. I did so, but Sir Anthony Hopkins had rented a car 🚘 and he was following behind me. I was fine, but he crashed his rental, right before he would have also, crashed into me. I told him my wife and I had also rented a car and I would be more than happy to drive him to the airport as we three were to leave that day. He seemed incredulous and said, “You would do this for me, after I almost ran over you?”
We made arrangements about where and when to meet. I was to drive back to the Inn, pack the car, get my wife, explain to her the situation and then pick up Anthony Hopkins. But often as my dreams are, they go on and on. Things, roads, exits and just stuff that I was familiar with before, all seemed to disappear and I kept going around and around in circles. This is often how I know, I’m dreaming. I tell myself that, “This doesn’t make any sense, this is not real,” and I wake myself up.
This is where resolve comes in to the picture or the dream and it is also what frequently wakes me up and sometimes, I’m able to remember my dream like I am re-counting it to you now. But I drove around, couldn’t find the Inn, but I did find the Inn had a passenger bus and everybody loaded onto it, including my wife and Anthony Hopkins, They were all on the way to the airport.
My wife did not wait for me because, we had a flight to catch, I was nowhere to be found and Anthony Hopkins was on the bus and everybody at that point, recognized him and thought that was pretty exciting!
The only thing that I remember next is that we all made it to the airport to catch our flight on time and we all made it home so, my dream ended very well.
But the unique thing about this experience is we get tunnel-vision or just look at the same-O one Direction, analyze everything and live our whole lives that way. Anthony Hopkins, despite his success was enamored by my riding a shovel down the mountainside and he wanted to do something similar to regain his wonder for living life.
I-Magine often in the day. Stay curios. Seek. It will spill over into our sleep and if we dream, 😴 let it be interesting and get it resolved.
We may all be familiar with the look of whole-roasted coffee beans, maybe green beans and perhaps, even what is called the ripe red “Cherries’? But my sister Carol Lee knows I love coffee and roast my own and she often thinks of me, finds and sends me really cool 😎 coffee☕ stuff! 👍
The following image (courtesy of my sister), I call, ‘The Cycle of Coffee.’ Enjoy!
Once upon time and only once a year Mysterious; quite strange, it will appear Buildings and skyscrapers will move and give space As if by magic, but to most, an invisible place But some unseen force, draws them and they come and came And an old gaslight lantern, illuminates the name
‘Old Fezziwig’s Christmas Spirits & Cheer’ Festive to the restless, in the dark and the drear
Old Fezziwig’s
No ghosts of future, present or past to one’s birth Just The Wise Guy that serves the mirth Lively libations and custom made cheer For what ails yah’ and what casts out every fear
And they came and come, the lost and alone in profusion The tossed whose drinks were sore woes and confusion Some, with shorts too tight that pinches The grumpys’ the scrooges and grinches
Music and dancing Clinking and prancing Observations And conversations Libations and custom-made cheer And all are welcome here
Up to the bar they sit sat and wait and waited With dim slims of hope, to be sated
Old Fezziwig
No demands or judgement, just a voice Just the asking each, to make a choice Frozen hearts like glaciers and icebergs calve “How may I serve you, what will you have?”
And often the reply is just a request, “My dear sir, what would you suggest?” “What would you recommend, most affective?” And he said, “That all depends on your perspective!”
“I could fill your glass half empty or I could fill it half full Only you can decide, the push or the pull I can pour all that glows and glitters I just don’t and won’t pour the bitters
I can fizzle and I can dazzle I can drizzle, but never frazzle No down memory lane or ‘Auld Lang Syne’ Just spirits and drinks of cheer and life’s “fruit of the vine”
“I can pour you something that would make you want to be warm and in the pink I can make your want to smile, but I just can’t make you think”
“But to tell you the truth, all these suggestions are, to try and get you to think Because I only, only, just make one, special drink”
“It’s ‘The Golden Heart’, neither solid nor broken
‘Gold Heart’
Just edges, no center and just a token You decide and with one swig or swallow Your heart will be open or it will be hollow”
And drink they all up and down the hatch And in an instant, like striking a match The scene is quickly gone to—disappear And all to wonder, were they really here?
This was no dream, but a lesson of life An open heart is fraught, full and rife A solid heart can be dented, damaged, frozen and broken apart But flowing out and flowing in that’s…
…an open heart
Note: “Old Fezziwig” was a fictional character ‘in ‘A Christmas Carol’, by Charles Dickens
From the collection: The Uncollected Collection’ by the same author
Old Fezziwig’s Gold Heart
Fezz
(‘Old Fezziwig’s Gold heart’)
Note: four letter name change (Fezz), suggested by sister Carol Lee
Libatious’ #130
bonus drinks beyond 100
By Dahnini or Dahnitini Spirits Alchemist Bon Devant
Rim martini glasses 🍸🍸 with lemon 🍋 and use a paint brush and brush on a little little edible gold dust
4 jiggers vodka 2 jiggers of orange liqueur 🍊 juice of 1 fresh lemon 🍋 ½ jigger of honey 🍯 and finely chopped crystallized ginger pieces 2 egg whites
Combine all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker and dry-shake (no ice). Add ice 🧊 and shake again in Hand Shaker until well chilled
“Shaken not stirred!” -007, Bond, James Bond- 😀
Strain into chilled martini 🍸 🍸 glasses Shake edible gold dust into the center of your ‘Fez’
Makes two lovely libations. One to share and one for you. 😀
HAPPY INTERNATIONAL COFFEE DAY, October 1st, 2020!
Do you like coffee or do you prefer tea? Do you like strong coffee or tea? Whichever one you like and how you like it, both share some things in common. But here, this is primarily about coffee and particularly, “strong coffee”.
Note: After further review on this post, I decided to insert this about “strong” coffee. I probably should have begun with this. The ‘grind’ of coffee may well be the first to consider whether the coffee is strong or not. Most grinders have settings from coarse to fine. My personal preference is 1-2 notches from medium towards the fine grind side. Fine grind is what I use for espresso. I mention this because, recently I tried out a new method of cleaning my grinder of debris, oils and to sharpen the blades. This I did with about a cup of whole grain, uncooked white rice. It works beautifully and there are no need for chemicals. But I forgot to reset my grinder, back to medium. This resulted in “stronger” coffee than I like. I figured this out after about 4 pots of coffee. 😂 It’s all good now! 👍
We all like what we like. Our likes may be conditional on howe we were brought up or what we are used to. I’m not about to try and dissuade anyone from liking what they like. But in addition to our preferences, our personal choices for liking what we like, there are reasons. Once you understand those reasons, I’m just trying to get you to consider alternatives. Maybe there is a better way, a more enjoyable way to like what we like and how we like it.
What do the words “strong coffee” mean? Perhaps other adjectives could be bold, an eye-opener, to put hair on your chest, Wake-The-F up, black coffee or just dark? Maybe strong coffee is a super-charged highly caffeinated beverage? Then again, it could be strong and have a lot of caffeine in it. But why?
Coffee or tea all begins with the bean or the leaf.
It all starts with the beans or the tea leaves. It’s in the beans. What is? Acid.
Yes, by their very nature, some coffee beans or tea leaves are more acidic than others. As a general rule, the higher the altitude the coffee plants grow, the more acidic the coffee beans are. Some may attribute the more acidic the coffee is, the “stronger” it is, where others must add or add more cream and/or sugar to balance out the the acid in the coffee and hopefully, prevent stomach upset and discomfort.
It all starts with the beans or the tea leaves. It’s in the beans. What is?
Caffeine. Yes, by their very nature, some coffee beans or tea leaves contain more caffeine (the jolt, the buzz), the stimulant, most people expect from their morning wake-up, afternoon pick-up or their anytime stay-up. But here is a fact about coffee roasting. Beginning with the green bean there, is where most of the caffeine resides. Yes, caffeine is in the beans. The longer the beans are roasted, the more the caffeine is released.
The lighter the roast, the more caffeine remains!
What is the most popular roast today? Dark roast. Remember this, the darker the roast, the more the sugars (the caramels), are roasted as well. “Burnt Caramel” is an actual marketing term, attempting to make burnt sugar appealing. The key word to this term is “burnt” like charcoal and it is perceived as “strong” coffee. Remember also, the longer the roast, the less caffeine there will be in the beans. Oh, there are degrees of “burnt” or a point when roasting exceeds dark-roast and the beans are actually or really “burnt” and useless. Not only have the sugars been burnt, but the whole bean has as well. To be clear, dark roasted coffee is truly only acceptable, for espresso, not regular coffee!
When the tea leaves are dried or the coffee is roasted, hot water is added to extract the properties of the bean or the leaves. The longer the beans sits on a burner after brewing or the longer the tea leaves steep, the “stronger” will be the result.
Beginning with the green bean, each roast from light, to medium and dark, will bring out stronger flavors in the coffee. There is sugar in coffee. The longer you roast, these sugars (caramel), appear as oil. The longer you roast, the more oil appears on the beans.
There are two kinds of coffee beans, Arabica and Robusta. Arabica beans are generally grown at higher altitude (often more caffeine and more acidic), are more fragile and generally cost more to produce and sell at a higher price than Robusta. Robusta beans are generally grown at lower altitudes, contain less caffeine, less acid, are a heartier bean and cost less. Much of the world’s supply of Robusta beans, often come from Vietnam. To control an end result and reduce costs, many coffee roasters blend Arabica and Robusta beans together. This is often done on purpose to produce what we may know of as: “signature blends”, “specialty blends” or “house blends”. Blends are primarily made for the following reasons:
1. To make a consistent and quality controlled product (what we come to expect from our favorite brands) 2. Reduce the costs while maintaining profit margins 3. To mask or hide undesirable properties from roasting/tasting i.e. bitterness
Remember, the longer the beans are roasted the less caffeine remains!
Percolator Coffee Pot
When I was growing up, this was a familiar coffee pot. It was a percolator. You fill the pot with water, add coffee to the basket on top that sat upon a long thin hollow stem, which rested on the bottom, placed the lid on top of the basket, covered the pot with its glass topped lid and sat this on a burner of your stove. Then, as the water heated, it came up the stem, made that nice “perking” sound and you would see the water change from clear to brown at the glass top, as it was filtered through the basket containing the coffee. When finished, it stopped “perking”, coffee was ready and you would pour your morning or anytime brew into your favorite cup or mug. Later, an electric percolator became available.
There were markings on the pot for ‘fill levels’, for how much water to add at the beginning. There were (are— percolators still available), “line levels” on the brew basket, for how much coffee to add. How much coffee was needed? For a long time, the two most popular coffee brands were Folders and Maxwell House. On the back of their sealed cans (sealed with nitrogen to preserve freshness), was the ratio of coffee to water.
L to R – Folders and Maxwell House brands of coffee
Both brands used a ratio of one (1) tablespoon (Tbsp), of coffee for every six (6) ounces of water. And this makes one cup of coffee? I thought 1 cup is equal to 8 ounces? It is. So how did a cup of coffee come to mean 6 ounces? This is because, an average teacup holds about six ounces of liquid. Most people had teacups, which they also used as their coffee cups.
Bunn ‘Drip Coffee Maker’ Home use about 1970’s
In 1957, Bunn released the ‘drip coffee maker’. It was used commercially. Restaurants had them, diners and such. It’s appeal was the water was pre-heated to a certain temperature and replaced each time you made a pot of coffee with fresh cold water. The pre-heated water would be activated by pouring in the cold water and the cold water later heated. The hot water would pour through a tip with pre-designed holes and at a certain speed, over the ground coffee in a paper filter or a stainless steel filter in the brew basket. To repeat, you discarded the grinds and filter or sicarded the grinds from the stainless still filter and rinsed it. Then you add another paper filter or clean stainless steel filter, more coffee and another container of cold water. This process was very quick and efficient (about 2 minutes from the start of the brewing cycle until it ended). Most of these Bunn ‘drip coffee makers’ were one unit, but could accommodate making two, 12 cup pots of coffee each, at the same time. Depending on use and needs, some locations had more than one unit.
In 1971, Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker at Seattle’s Pike Place (Seattle, Washington), founded what we know today as ‘Starbucks’. They started selling coffee by the pound, roasted by ‘Peet’s Coffee’ and sold this to the public at their one location in Seattle. They introduced their coffee by giving away ‘Free’ cups to sell their coffee by the pound, at first ground then later as whole beans. They expanded locally and then during the 1980s, they sold the company to Howard Schultz who – after a business trip to Milan, Italy – decided to make the coffee bean store a coffeeshop, serving espresso-based drinks. More people wanted more than just espresso (dark roasted beans), and ‘sweets N eats’ to go along with their coffee. But espresso or not, their coffee was and still is, dark roasted.
In 1975, ‘Mr. Coffee’ was first to release their version of a ‘Home’ ‘drip coffee maker’ to the public. Bunn and other brands later released their versions. This was still years away from the entering in of Starbucks.
Home espresso, latte and cappuccino machines were still expensive and not quite in vogue yet.
But somewhere along the way, people started to want their coffee as fresh as possible. They started to op for whole beans and to grind their own as needed. If you think about canned coffee, the coffee in it could have been roasted or baked (yes baked on conveyor fed ovens), months before you bought the can at the store. To preserve its freshness, the cans were sealed with nitrogen, displacing the oxygen. When you first opened the can, the coffee smelled fresh and then it was all downhill (degrading in freshness), as the nitrogen was displaced with oxygen.
All coffee after roasting (allowing the roasted beans to rest, to displace off gases, for a period of 24-48 hours before grinding and roasting), peaks and falls in about 7-10 days from the time it was first roasted. Although grinding your own coffee beans does indeed result in fresher tasting coffee, ALL coffee should be ground, brewed and consumed, within 7-10 days from when it was first roasted.
When Starbucks locations spread throughout the united States, they also spread to other parts of the world. Today, many recognize them as the leader, for amounts of coffee by the cup, sold retail. Since their beginning, they have continued to do several things:
1. They dark roast their coffee (to achieve a certain taste profile and quality control) 2. They advertise as using only Arabica beans (more acidic, higher altitude grown and more caffeine), and not using Robusta or blends.
Starbucks is known as the highest caffeinated beverage in the retail world of coffee. Remember, the longer the beans are roasted, the less caffeine is in the final product. To make their beverages more caffeinated than others, they do one more thing. Remember the ratio of coffee to water that has been used for many years before, Starbucks? It was 1 tablespoon of coffee for every 6 ounces of water. What does Starbucks do? Their secret is:
2 Tablespoons of coffee to every 6 ounces of water
Scarchucks and now, most other roasters; coffee shops copy the leader
So, they use twice as much coffee as most have been used to for many years, to achieve that jolt, the buzz and the wake-up juice! And on top of that, there are those that want an extra shot or 2 of espresso (about 1.5 ounces each), to be added to their already dark-roasted diluted espresso coffee. To each their own, but for many people, this is a recipe for over-roasted, burnt caramel, highly acidic, and overly caffeinated something, that may be “strong”, upset stomachs and give the “jitters” to the uninitiated”, the novices, the uniformed, the non-real-men or non-real-women; the babies that don’t have a cast iron stomachs, but this aint’ coffee!!!! Call it it charred, over-roasted, maybe double caffeinated, diluted espresso with a couple of undiluted shots of espresso thrown in, but it’s still not coffee. But hey, if you like this, you like what you like and know why you like it and call it something else besides coffee because it’s not.
If you want to drink real coffee, try a like roast as it retains all its flavor profiles and most of its caffeine, it will likely be like drinking tea, but it’s coffee. For myself and most coffee snobs and connoisseurs, medium roast it the best and sometimes, depending on the variety, medium-dark, but never, ever dark roasted unless, you are roasting espresso.
Unfortunately, in following the the leader, most roasters and coffee shops follow the same recipe as what I call Scarchucks does. And well, twice as much coffee per 6 ounce cup sells more coffee and that’s good for business!
In many taste tests, even Dunkin Donuts which is medium roasted coffee, is preferred over Scarchucks and all the others that over-roast their coffees. To be fair, Dunkin Donuts now offers a dark roast. Again, the longer it roasts, the less caffeine is going to be left. But their regular medium roast coffee, right on the bag says:
“One heaping tablespoon per six ounces of water”
Dunkin Donuts
I suppose if you really need more caffeine, for either the medium roast and especially their dark roast, just add more coffee per 6 ounce cup of water.
For consistency and price, I used to to drink regular medium roast Dunkin Donuts coffee (whole beans), most of the time. Occasionally, I would purchase other single origin coffees (mostly organic), at a higher price than Dunkin Donuts from local roasters because, we here at ‘The Gathering Place’, like variety.
Then, I began to roast my own coffee at home. It is very simple. It takes me about one hour to roast two different coffees medium roast from start to finish (including clean-up). I enjoy this. I can control my roast. It costs me about half as much as I used to pay. I don’t include my labor because, it’s not work (labor), unless you want to call it a “labor of love”. It’s just fun to me. Two pounds a coffee will last us for a week (we or I, drink a lot of coffee pretty much 24/7). My wife, usually only consumes around two cups per day and only in the morning. We alternate. We go back and forth from one roasted coffee to the other (we like variety). The following week, it will likely be two different single origin (mostly organic), coffees. Variety gives our taste buds something to look forward to and are greatly enhanced when we do return to our favorite or favorites. Using different varieties and origins, is like having insurance against some political upheaval or civil unrest in some country where your coffee comes from. WOW, I can’t imagine not being able to get my coffee if, I was stuck on one kind and it suddenly was not available!
Besides the cost savings, no one (no local roaster), can compete with me for freshness, unless I know that the day I picked it up was the first day they made it available to purchase after roasting, 24-48 hours earlier. I cannot say it is! It could have been siting in a bin (non-vacuumed container; not sealing out the oxygen), for over a week or longer. We drink our home roasted coffee in 7 days, 1-2 days after roasting, week after week!
I concede that I am neither a professional roaster or an expert at roasting coffee, but I roast to my satisfaction and there are generally, no complaints. I had a few 1/2 pounds sent as gifts. It was a Peruvian coffee because, that’s what they liked at the time. Mine was medium-roasted and their usual brand was likely, dark-roasted. To be honest, I did not like this particular variety of Peruvian coffee, switched to another and have had no additional complaints coming from me, my wife or any others that have had it here.
Ido not roast as expertly as other local roasters with professional roasting equipment. All I use (believe it or not), is a old-time, hand-cranked lidded popcorn popper, over an open flame or a cast-iron skillet over an open flame, stirring and turning the beans with a wood spoon. By “open flame” I mean, outside on my propane tank, gas flame barbecue grill— spring, summer, fall and winter. But like I said afore, I roast to my satisfaction and as a former chef with a sensitive nose and a trained palate, I have no problem serving my coffee to anyone!
As it happens, this is about one year ago when my brother and his wife visited us for two weeks. My brother is a fan of that other place, that world retail coffee shop. Our coffee pot holds 10 cups full. I always add only enough water for 8 cups. One scoop of coffee is equal to 2 tablespoons. I usually add four scoops which is 1 tablespoon of coffee, per 6 ounces of water. For my brother, I added an extra scoop of coffee (for a total of 10 tablespoons). For his normal brand of dark-roasted coffee, they would have used 8 scoops for 8 cups of coffee (6 ounces of water per cup). I refused to do that. Maybe six, but certainly not 8. I started with 5 scoops of my medium-roast coffee and he drank this for two whole weeks. There were no complaints. It was “stronger” coffee than my wife and I usually drink. By “stronger” I mean it had more caffeine in it, but we could still tolerate it. My wife however, instead of her normal 2 cups in the morning, only drank one.
Well, now almost two weeks ago, I tripped, skipped and skated on an unseen little tricycle left in the wrong place by one of our grandsons and took a hard fall on both knees, ripped my left toenail (even though I had on shoes and socks), and landed on my left shoulder, HARD! I’m doing better every day, but slowly and I am grateful that nothing was broken or torn. I have tendinitis and the soreness, tenderness and loss of strength in my left arm has made it impossible to roast coffee, for about two weeks. So, I had to get some coffee from a familiar local roaster. I chose two kinds, Bolivian and Papua New Guinea, hoping this would get us through until I could roast again.
Ibrought these home, opened the bags and poured the beans into two separate vacuum-sealed containers to preserve their freshness. It was then that I noticed that they did smell great and were familiar, but each were dark-roasted (almost black), and covered with oil. I brewed some of one kind and the next time, the other. I used our regular 4 scoops (8 tablespoons or 1 tablespoon per 6 ounces of coffee). Both are “strong” to both my wife and I. After maybe two days of this, my stomach could not handle either, any more. Then it was back to Dunkin Donuts, to get their coffee, that I can drink! Hopefully, I will be able to roast my own again, real soon. As the adage goes, “you don’t realize how much you miss something, until it’s gone!”
No matter what your “thing” is (acidic, dark and a lot of caffeine), I highly recommend learning to roast your own coffee! But you should know that what you may think is “strong” coffee is “strong” because, it is what you have likely been taught to expect:
dark-roasted (burnt caramel, charred, charcoal-like tasting), highly acidic, heavily caffeinated and even though much of the caffeine is actually removed the longer it is roasted and to compensate for this, overly caffeinated by using twice as much coffee
Call this what you like, I call this scarchucks and it aint’ coffee!! Maybe, maybe, its suitable for espresso, but this is not coffee! At least you know why it cost so much per cup $2-5 dollars each at the coffee (so-called) shops. And you could be roasting a whole pound yourself (for many pots and many, many cups), for around $6-7 per pound of premium single origin green coffee beans that is fresher than you can likely get from the store or your local roaster! Want/Need more caffeine? Add more scoops of coffee or roast your own espresso and add your own 1-2 shots.
By the way, there is more caffeine in a 16 ounce bottle of your favorite cola or Pepsi’s ‘Mountain Dew’, than in regular coffee.
Enjoy your coffee or other burnt, dark, caffeinated beverage as you like, but at least know what coffee is! ☕ And…
To Every Patriot & Christian in the United States of America, it is way past time to wake up! If you have not been awakened and have stayed awake by now, stay asleep! Just stay out of the way! If there be such a thing as the “silent majority”, it is way, way, long past time to be silent anymore! Every one of you, and I and WE, has to take a stand! The time is, NOW!
Evil – Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness burning in the streets
Nothing should be clearer than to see the flag of the United States of America being disrespected and burned in our street, in our city of Portland, in our state of Oregon under the interpreted and corrupted idea of the freedom to desecrate! What is freedom and what a right is in this country is, what the Constitution says they are and the state constitutions which are supposed to be in unity with it, ‘The Law of the Land’! Not the President, the Congress or even the Supreme Court can tell you or I or anyone, what is freedom or a right. All they can do is execute the Constitution, legislate laws, which do not conflict with the Constitution, or judge actions that are not constitutional. They have no power to abolish the Constitution or change it so as if it were abolished! Only the people, WE the People can abolish government and institute new government as we believe well, serves our future security and happiness. Nothing should be clearer than to see a Bible or Bibles, being burnt with our flag, the flag of the United States of America disrespected and all burned in our street! Desecrated and burned, in our city of Portland, in our state of Oregon, under the interpreted and corrupted idea of freedom to desecrate and burn! These are actions of EVIL, perpetrated by the insane or greatly influenced by the same!
To Every Patriot in the United States of America
You, and I and WE all need to read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America. We need to share these with others! Buy copies and give them away! We need to read them, study them, memorize them word-for-word and be able to recite them at a moments notice at any opportunity. We must speak boldly, but not rudely or with the intent to yell down an opposing voice. A soft answer turns away wrath!
You, and I and WE all need to read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America. We need to share these with others! Buy copies and give them away! We need to read them, study them, memorize them word-for-word and be able to recite them at a moments notice at any opportunity. We must speak boldly, but not rudely or with the intent to yell down an opposing voice. A soft answer turns away wrath!
We need to study the history of the Revolutionary War, the outcomes of everyone that pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. We need to know and understand what they fought against and what they fought for, often to the loss of their lives, their fortunes, but not their sacred honor. We need to know and understand that even though all have since died, all that remains is, their sacred honor! Their “sacred honor” is contained in these documents that now are, We the people of the United States of America. We must not cower! We must not be silent!
And finally, we must understand that regardless of whether or not you are a Christian or a devout follower of any religion or of no religion whatsoever, all of our rights and freedoms have not come from the will of the human mind. Whether or not our founders, all of them men, women and children believed in God or not, they wrote, they signed, they lived and they died, for the protection of divine providence! Call it universal law, international law (laws between and among people), if not divine providence! For if these freedoms and these rights are not to all, they are for none. If human will gave these they are privileges and can be taken, forfeited, bought, sold and trade like common things. Whether the founders believed in God or not, our country was founded upon Judaeo-Christian principles! If this country is to remain a republic We each, each patriot must love this country and all that it represents! We must love and respect, all that are our citizens. We must have respect and show respect for our flag, it’s pledge of allegiance; it’s national anthem, with all due respect, for Liberty and Justice for all, for all! Being mindful of these things will stainless steel the soul and diamond strengthen the resolve that it is only Love that drives out darkness and hate! If even one is denied Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, then there is no ALL, no WE the People! “WE the People” is, in your hands and in mine!
The time is now!
To Every Christian in the United States of America
I do not care what church you may or may not attend. I do not care what you value or what the teachings of your particular brand of Christianity may be. If you have confessed with your mouth, the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you are a Christian, PERIOD! We Christians above all citizens of these United States should know that our first amendment right from the Bill of Rights in Our Constitution begins with—
“Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or abridging the free exercise thereof;…”
Excerpt from the US Constitution, Amendment I
We Christians should know and understand that no religion including our particular beliefs are to be established by law as the ‘only’ religion, but that this allows Christianity to also, not to be prohibited and to be exercised freely. We Christians should know that in the United States, we are free to speak the truth in love.
“But speaking the truth in love,…”
Ephesians 4:15a King James Version (KJV)
We Christians should know that Liberty is the emancipation from bondage. We Christians should know that—
“Then said Jesus to those Jews [anyone] which believed on him, IF ye [you] continue in my word, THEN are ye[you] my disciples indeed;” “And [then] ye [you] shall [absolutely] KNOW THE TRUTH, and [then] THE TRUTH shall [absolutely] [not only just set you free, but] MAKE you free.”
John 8:31, 32, KJV
“…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
II Corinthians 3:17b, KJV
We Christians should know that where we are, He is and there is Liberty! We Christians should know that through divine providence (the will of God), the United States of America was birthed, so that from here, all people might freely come to know the Word of God, which reveals Jesus Christ and—
“Neither is there salvation [Greek sózó – wholeness] in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved[Greek sózó -made whole].”
Acts 4:12, KJV
We Christians should—
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” – The return of Christ
Hebrews 10:25, KJV
We Christians should know and be like those of ancient Thessalonica—
“For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.”
I Thessalonians 1:8, KJV
Even more so, we Christians should be more noble than those of Thessalonica like were the Bereans—
“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
Acts 17:11, KJV
We Christians must not cower in fear, but know—
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Jesus Christ from: John 14:27, KJV
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
II Timothy 1:7, KJV
“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you [God, in Christ in you], than he [the devil, “the god of this world”] that is in the world.”
I John 4:4, KJV
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”
I John 4:18
“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
Romans 8:37, KJV
We Christians should know our personal adversary—
“In whom the god of this world [the devil] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
II Corinthians 4:4
We Christians should no more be silent, but know if the culture is to be permeated (changed, transformed; reset), we must speak God’s Word like they did in the first century Church, to the end that—
“So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.”
Acts 19:20
We Christians must understand all of our rights and freedoms have not come from the will of the human mind, but by the will of God! Whether or not our founders, all of them men, women and children believed in God or not, they wrote, they signed, they lived and they died, for the protection of divine providence! Others call this ‘universal law’, but more accurately, ‘International law’ [between nations – all nations], “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son [Jesus Christ John 3:16a KJV]. God raised up the United States that all who desire to know, may freely know! But whether our founders believed in God or not, our country was still, founded upon Judaeo-Christian principles!
If this country is to remain a Constitutional republic, we each, each patriot and Christian, must— Go, Stand and Speak the truth anywhere, to anyone and anytime!
“Go, stand and speak in the temple [anywhere, to anyone, anytime and all the time] to the people all the words of this life.”
Acts 5:20, KJV
And finally, we the Christians of the United States of America should know above all our citizenry—
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord;…”
Psalm 33:12a, KJV
Your responsibility and mine as Christians is far, far greater than all of the other patriot-citizens combined!
The Time is Now!
Take a Stand!
Note: I believe this post of such importance that I have shared it here on this blog. ‘The Gathering Place’ is what my wife Susan and I call our home on top of the hill in Macedon, New York. As a metaphor is is obvious, we want it to be a place where friends and family may freely “gather’. From the Bible or what is scriptural (from the scriptures, the Bible), it refers to a time when the dead in Christ and those alive at the return of Christ, will be “gathered” together. I shared this same post on my political blog, my Christian blog, my business blog and my personal artist blog. I has also be shared on my Facebook timeline, linked on my two Twitter accounts and various and other places. In two days or August 10, 2020 I will post my “farewell” on my Facebook timeline. It will remain until August 11, 2020. After that 48 hour time, I will begin the process of permanently deleting my Facebook account and all groups and pages associated with this. For security reasons (Facebook’s lack thereof), and their flagrant suppression of “freedom of speech” in using “fact-checkers” like a publisher would instead of a platform they claim to be, I am leaving Facebook. I will be leaving Twitter ASAP for the same reasons, but more importantly, I believe Twitter to be a National Security risk! I will not be sharing this post with my Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/TGP4Me/ as it has for the most part has been discontinued. Most of the posts there came from here anyway. If you like this blog, subscribe to it for FREE and be notified when something new is posted.
Ethel and her two sisters, Audrey and Anne (in this order), were the first which welcomed me with open arms and open hearts, ♥️ without hesitation or reservation; without judgement. Some believe your marry a family when you marry someone (my wife, Susan Meech Hayden), in it. But there was also my father-in-law, an uncle, three step-sons, their wives, their 7 children and cousins and other kindreds. Marrying any woman is work enough and then there is work with all she is kindred to. Few men are ever good enough for a mother’s and father’s daughter. Multiply this many times, if you marry a divorced woman with children! But, call it Kingly or Queenly kindness, Mom and her two sisters (my aunts), graciously accepted me the first time I met them. And I liked all three of them, the first time I met each of them. Now unless you think this is about me or three sisters, it is not. But it is about a similar trait that all three shared and this merely is my observations of the qualities of one in particular.
Ethel Lovatt Meech, is my mother-in-law, to which I have long dispensed with the factual and formal title and just call her Mom. Blood not, but not any less is she to me, than my birth mother.
Her husband Henry, “Bud” Meech, my father-in-law called her “Lovie”. She was indeed, a loving 🥰 sister, a loving 🥰 wife, a loving 🥰 mother, a loving 🥰 aunt, a loving 🥰 cousin, a loving 🥰 grandmother, a loving 🥰 great grandmother and a loving 🥰 friend!
Our only granddaughter Leona, and one nephew Chase, both have ‘Lovatt’ as their middle name.
Mom was a proper Lady. She was often quiet and a good listener. But she was an exceptional conversationalist too, poignant, sharp and smart.
She also had a fun and funny side too. Both her two true children could tell you about her burgundy red convertible 67′ mustang she loved to drive.
Her comedic timing was often unexpected, but greatly appreciated. I would’ve loved to have been at the dinner table when her husband Bud asked her to throw him a pickle and she tossed it into the air! I remember standing next to her and my wife Susan, was on her other side at the funeral home. We were there to say goodbye to her husband, the father of her children, “Bud” Henry Meech. The grandchildren called her, ‘Grandma Sweetie Pie’. Yes, she was a sweetie, made great pie and was a wonderful cook. But there we were and it was a solemn moment, for all in saying goodbye, as we drew near to see him and pay our respects and begin the grieving process. Mom looked on her husband and friend and just quietly said, “The shell is still here, but the nut is gone.”
I would have loved to have been a fly in the car when she and dad were in the front seats (Dad was driving) and it was the first time she met his mom and grandmother. They were all singing songs and then there was a sudden quiet. To break the ice and cut through the edginess, Mom broke out singing, ‘Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall’. If that’s not funny enough for you, unbeknownst to Ethel, her newly met grandmother-in-law just happened to be the wife of a Methodist minister and her new mother-in-law was aligned with The Women’s Temperance Movement that opposed the consumption of alcohol. 🍹 🍸 🍺 🍷 🤣🤣🤣
But to me, the greatest thing my Mom had been was a career registered nurse. And that fact does not even begin to tell the story. I have met a few famous people in my life and had my heroes and heroines, But never in my wildest dreams, could I ever have imagined, marrying into a family with one hero and one heroine, married to each other. Their family became my family!
But Ethel was not only a registered nurse, oh no, a million times no! She was a proud and lifelong member of, The United States Nurse Cadet Corps.
Logo
The United States Cadet Nurse Corps (CNC), was authorized by the U.S. Congress and signed into law as a nondiscriminatory program, in July 1943. Its purpose was to help alleviate the nursing shortage that existed during World War II. The United States Public Health Service (USPHS), was named the supervisory agency; it was answerable to, the Surgeon General of the United States.
Its origins can be traced to the establishment in 1798, of a system of marine hospitals. In 1870, these were consolidated into the Marine Hospital Service, and the position of Surgeon General, first began.
The program was formed, July 1st, 1943 and was dissolved, December 31st, 1948.
The Media carried the news and offerings everywhere
The program was open to all women between the ages of 17 and 35 who were in good health and had graduated from an accredited high school.
All state nursing schools in the U.S. were eligible to participate in the program; they were, however, required to be accredited by the accrediting agency in their state and be connected with a hospital that had been approved by the American College of Surgeons. The participating schools of nursing were required to compress the traditional 36-month nursing program into 30 months and were obligated to provide the students with the clinical experiences of medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and obstetrics.
Ethel was an operating room and surgery nurse, for the better part of her career in nursing.
This was an incredible opportunity for women, for financial independence and a lifetime career, no matter the economic situation or societal woes that may befall a nation. If you were a nurse and even today, you always have a job. All of these things appealed to young women which before, may have had little to no opportunity to improve the quality of their lives. The uniforms, stockings, lapel pins, a particular shade of ruby red lipstick, and berets were highly attractive to many. If you were a nurse, a Cadet Nurse, you were in essence, a fashionista!
Status symbols and fashionistasMany wanted to be one or to be seen with one!
There was a lot of prestige being a Cadet Nurse. You were not just anybody or just a woman, you were often gorgeous, highly intelligent, professional, highly trained, in high demand and were often viewed like rock stars of the times. Many women longed to be a Cadet Nurses and along with all these characteristics and compassion for others and the faithful dedication, many men fervently desired to date a Cadet Nurse, kiss one and with an ultimate hope of marrying one!
Beyond these things, Cadet Nurses were honored to serve their country as the country was honored by their presence. They filled great voids in this country, when so much of the medical field were on the front lines overseas. But no matter where a Nurse Cadet served, she was also on the front lines and among the ‘first responders’. They did not only give life giving aid and literally saved many a life, they often wrote letters for their patients, read to them, talked to them, comforted them, and kept vigil the whole dark night of their patients’s souls. They were heroes and heroines each one, and often your trusted confidant and best friend! Doctors could never, and cannot ever, survive for any length of time without them! And the greatest medical people in the world are in the USA! 🇺🇸 The quality of the entire medical industry that we enjoy today, are the direct results of The Nurse Cadet Corps that forged it in fire, 🔥 on the front lines, of the front lines of, human trauma and tragedy, crisis and redemption, by what many think on as the ‘angels of grace and mercy!
My mother-in-law, Ethel Lovatt Meech, my adopted mom, was a pioneer on a love frontier. And she is my heroine!
She knew her grandson Jonathan was following, in her footsteps and she spoke of him often fondly and beamed with pride. He wanted her to be the one that pinned him when he graduated from nursing school, but sadly, she passed before. But he did graduate, is a husband, a father of three boys, and a NICU nurse (neonatal Specialist), but he is also studying and soon to graduate, as a Nurse Practitioner. I know she would be (is), so very proud of him as he like her, in our current World War against the Covid19 virus, is on the front lines of the front lines!
Triple Victory- The War is Over, Home Again, & Kiss a Nurse! 🙂
Jonathan was there and Susan and I were there when Mom took her last breath. I have no other way to say this than, it was a beautiful death. She was surrounded by people that loved her and that she loved and she quietly closed her eyes and went to sleep. She was draped with a quilt that was given to her by a Nurse who had also served in the military. The quilt has an American flag woven design. We still have this. It was just a token of a grateful country, for her service!
The Quilt that draped Ethel, in honor of her service to the USA
We now live in the same home that she and my father-in-law lived in, from 1973 until they passed. We inherited a simple little kitchen timer that runs off of batteries. It is just inside one of the cabinets in our kitchen. For some unknown reasons and at different times, when either of us walk by the cabinet, the alarm inside starts dinging. We always think it’s Mom trying to say something and we always say, “Hi Mom,” and then shut the alarm off. And today is, your birthday! Your your daughter Susan, is making a cake for you, to celebrate you today and for as long as we still draw breath.
I don’t know if I ever said this to you, but like the line from a favorite song of mine, “Did you ever know that you’re my hero?” 🥰❤️
Your Dahni (Because you made me yours)
A Beautiful Woman inside and OutStill kept her red curly hair
Cadet Hymn
Faithful ever to my country, to the Corps, my sacred trust, Grant that I may follow wisely, all the guidance offered me. Give me kindness, grant me patience, That I may not fail this noble challenge to heal the suffering ones. Help me to ally the sorrowing in a world torn by strife, May I hold the lamp of nursing in the sprit of the Corps, Give me strength, and grant me knowledge, To pursue my chosen way with courage to heal the suffering ones. Now I dedicate my service, pledge myself and all I am, Thus to make of life a triumph, over sorrow over death, Give me pride in my endeavor In the service of my Corps, o grant that I may heal the suffering ones
The cadet hymn was composed by the director of music at Mt. Vernon Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. and the words were written by a member of the Division of Nursing Education of the USPHS. It was released in 1945 on the second anniversary of the CNC
gatheringplace.blog 