Saturday, November 16, 2002
done moved on. . .
braved the nor'easter lashing new york today to make my regular 4pm yoga class with christopher hildebrandt. it's no secret we don't get along, but he's a good teacher.
ok -- so maybe he took it personally when i undiplomatically remarked that he was just as arrogant than al gore (for whom i voted anyway, let me say) and only slightly more self-important than hillary clinton (for whom i also voted!), but you don't have to want to hug a guy to do down dog with him -- or elect 'em commander-in-chief. i confess: i went too far! my bad.
anyway, wendy, who owns brooklyn's yoga people, always loved him; so i was way surprised to go to class this afternoon to discover christopher had quit. he's moving on to another studio, a new hard-core ashtanga and pilates place on the upper west side, jai. and i guess you can't blame him, considering that i was just about the most regular student in that class. i mean, there were hardly ever more than 4 or 5 students there. . .
instead today we had the beautiful jenny, who taught a righteous vinyasa class, and is charming to boot. sadly, wendy is probably going to nuke this time slot, which is a shame, because jenny rocked. she would certainly attract regulars to that class if given just a little time. . .
posted by fortune | 7:23 PM | top | link to this | | email this: |
Friday, November 15, 2002
just don't get it. . .
once again i made the ruby et violette chocolate chip cookie according to the recipe provided a couple of weeks ago in the new york times.
naturally, being myself, i had to swish it up with normandy cultured double butter, chopped valrhona feves, india tree sugar, the fancy vanilla. . .
still don't see what all the fuss is about. in fact, since they use so much brown sugar in this recipe, i thought the cookies were unattractively dark. . .and they just weren't chewy. hardly the best chocolate chip cookie in new york, if i do say so myself. and to pay $13 a pound before shipping and not even get french butter -- it's a crime.
posted by fortune | 7:09 PM | top | link to this | | email this: |
Thursday, November 14, 2002
she beat back carpal tunnel . . .
"Yoga gave me a way back to my very first love – playing the violin."
an inspiring story by musician lauryn shapter on how iyengar yoga helped her overcome disabling carpal tunnel syndrome that halted her career. after 10 years of trying many other therapies, she is now once again a professional violinist.
for those battling carpal tunnel and other repetitive stress injuries, a great link is dr. gail dubinsky's rxyoga.
posted by fortune | 4:15 PM | top | link to this | | email this: |
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
don't forget. . .
the chocolate show this weekend in new york. especially look for our big pal, clay gordon of chocophile and pureorigin fame!
in the meantime, take a moment to discover what's beyond latte art -- etching. unlike latte art, which is properly done only by pouring textured milk into coffee, etching can involve cocoa, cinnamon, white chocolate powder, popsickle sticks, and a toothpick, as well as chocolate and caramel syrups.
apparently zoka is selling a new training video that demystifies etching for those yearning to try it at home. . .
posted by fortune | 7:33 PM | top | link to this | | email this: |
Tuesday, November 12, 2002
another barista champion?
watch out seattle! a dedicated and maniacal canadian barista is out to rob you of the coffee capital prize.
this weekend vancouver's zlatan lakic, of caffe artigiano (flash required), stole the top barista honors at this year's seattle coffee fest by making his perfect drinks blindfolded. lakic, a bosnian refugee, began at the cafe as a busboy just two years ago.
after this win, lakic is determined to sweep the canadian 2003 championship, which will give him a seat at the 2004 world contest in rome.
posted by fortune | 4:37 PM | top | link to this | | email this: |
Monday, November 11, 2002
destruction
as part of an agreement to reduce coffee oversupply -- the ocean of low-quality coffee that has depressed world coffee prices for 2 years running now -- mexico yesterday publicly destroyed 8.4 million pounds of coffee.
efforts by the ico and oxfam have lately focused on improving the coffee situation by attempting to get coffee-producing countries to agree to destroy large amounts of coffee, reduce the oversupply, and thus begin an increase in prices.
mexico appears to be among the first countries to take action. but the price depression -- which is leaving farmers all over the globe bankrupt, and forcing unemployed and helpless coffee workers in latin america near to starvation -- seems set to continue for a 3rd year. what can we coffee lovers do? donate to the worthy organization, coffee kids.
posted by fortune | 4:00 PM | top | link to this | | email this: |
Sunday, November 10, 2002
immersion blender
it's been a while since i made pizza with my original yellow tomato sauce. the tomatoes come diced from d'oro, and often i just cook for about 30 minutes until they soften up.
but today -- who knows why? -- i dragged out everyone's favorite appliance, the cordless immersion blender and went to town. whenever i see it, i always ask myself "why aren't these more popular than french toast?" and then suddenly i remember how on various occasions the stuff i was supposed to pulverizing ended up on the kitchen walls. . .anyway, no mishaps today. i added the 1/4 vodka and simmered the thing for 45 mins. until i had a silken emulsion of golden goodness. but what has happened to the d'oro yellowtom website? i think it's vanished. . .
you know how i previously reported that the graffeo seemed to have a "hole" in the center of its taste profile? like it had a "bass" and a "soprano" but nothing in between? the caffe appassionato has the opposite problem, i think: all middle muddle. i just don't get a sense of a full taste profile here. this may be another coffee that really can't take milk. . .i'll have to try it again as a straight espresso or americano. . .
posted by fortune | 7:40 PM | top | link to this | | email this: |