Saturday, June 16, 2001

today's a gray, muggy, just-about-to-thunder-at-any-moment kinda day. . .

perfect to make a banana-chocolate cream pie! i'm off to get the ingredients, which will include chocolate graham crackers for the crust, vanilla pastry cream, and chocolate shavings to decorate the meringue. it's one of those old-fashioned summer time desserts of which my husband (aka mr. right) is so fond. if it works out this afternoon, look for the recipe tomorrow!

in the meantime, stay dry, and don't miss your yoga class -- even if you do nothing more than lay in savasana and practice your ujjai breathing. . .

posted by fortune | 10:19 AM | top | link to this | | email this:    |

Thursday, June 14, 2001

today a reader emailed to ask me about the kind of yoga i practice, where i practice it, and if i do ashtanga yoga. . .

to which i must reply, no. i don't do ashtanga because my hips are too tight. i have taken several classes but can't really get far into the flow. thus i practice a vinyasa yoga and work on my tight hips. when you see me in a nice folded-in-eight-places pose (also known as flying-side-crow, etc.), then you'll see me try ashtanga yoga class again.

mostly i practice at yoga people in brooklyn heights, simply because it offers convenient times, isn't too far from my house, and has nice, friendly people. the new york times has described it as yoga-delic. i also have started a yoga program at my job, which offers classes to all employees three times per week, although i normally can go to that only once a week. finally, i also take private lessons from the sivananda- and jivamukti-certified teacher nancy lanasa.

for those interested in ashtanga, i offer some links that may or may not be familiar:

• P. Jois' Official Home Page; he's the father of ashtanga


• Yahoo Ashtanga Message Board; more than 1,200 members talk ashtanga all the time


• D. Swenson's yoga center page; where the popular author and ashtanga teacher does his forward bends


• R. Freeman's home page; where the popular author and teacher posts his schedule and some of his writings


• G. Devereux's home page; where the popular author and teacher does his own version of ashtanga, called "dynamic yoga."

thanks again for writing! i read all your email and answer every one within a day or two!

posted by fortune | 11:21 AM | top | link to this | | email this:    |

Wednesday, June 13, 2001

wow! thanks for stopping by. . . i just took a look at my site log. and i'm really happy about the number of people stopping by!

i was worried that page hits would really drop when i took down the old magnetic poetry flash-based site in the may reboot. and they did, as the site shifted to a different topic, a different audience. but the numbers seem to be climbing back up. for which i thank all of you.
your visits and emails are much appreciated!

vacuum pot coffee brewing seems to be catching on lately. i wanted to continue my current theme and offer some links to sites that discuss vac pot brewing:

• coffekid the classic coffee site;


• i need coffee, which demonstrates the popular electric pot made by starbucks;


• dave's page, (beware: large but helpful pix);


• ken's vac pot page, a semi-commercial site in australia;

what none of these pages makes clear enough, i think, is that vac pot coffee has a lovely aroma; this brewing method not only makes nice hot coffee, but it also preserves the delicious coffee scent and presents it most fully to the nose. it's the method that makes coffee that has the taste and smell of fresh ground beans. . .yummm. and please feel free to send me more links if you know of any!

posted by fortune | 8:03 AM | top | link to this | | email this:    |

Monday, June 11, 2001

let me tell you all again how much i appreciate your email! i'm so glad to hear from you!

today i got a letter asking me about drip coffee pots. for many years i used a french press, and still do at work. the only problems with a french press are that it's possible to burn the coffee by pouring too-hot or boiling water on the grounds, and that by the time the coffee is brewed, it's a little less than perfectly warm to drink.

but at home, i've switched entirely to a the vacuum pot. this is a method of making coffee that predominated before the second world war, when the electric perculator gained in popularity. since the vacuum pot relies on steam pressure to brew the coffee, it makes a warmer pot than the french press without the danger that boiling water will contact and burn the delicate coffee oils.

i highly recommend the vacuum pot method. i currently have a bodum santos, which is probably the most common variety of inexpensive vac pot. however, i hope soon to upgrade to either the lovely and elegant japanese hario pot, or go completely over the top with a belgian royal pot in copper.

i do love copper cookware. . .

posted by fortune | 2:05 PM | top | link to this | | email this:    |