Guess What We Have Been Up To

I'll give you a little hint - a visual hint at that . . .
I would not be surprised if you think that we have been conducting some fascinating science experiment. For those of you who know Glenn it would be a logical guess. I think he qualifies as an amateur scientist. His specialty? All things plants related, the more obscure and wacky, the better. Exhibit A: The hundreds of carnivorous plants he propagates and grows.

But I digress. Actually, I was giving you a little more time to figure out what we are doing with that apparatus straight out of Chemistry 101 pictured above!

Bonus points for those of you who recognized the piece in the photo as the bottom half of a syphon coffee maker (SCM). Yes, that is right, a coffee maker. It caught my eye while browsing a local antique mall, Carriage Town Antique Center. I thought it looked cool and Glenn loves making and drinking coffee - a perfect example of form meeting function. Adding to the allure of the item was the attached note reading that a veteran of Vietnam purchased this while serving in Japan. Being that the SCM was manufactured and purchased in Japan all the included instructions were in Japanese. After some research on line we were ready to give this baby a go.

The SCM kind of looks like an hour glass. Water is poured in the bottom chamber and after it is heated (in our case with an alcohol-fueled burner) to boiling it is sucked/syphoned to the upper chamber that contains the ground coffee. After a minute or so of active brewing in the upper chamber, the heat source is removed and all water, that is now brewed coffee, flows back to the lower chamber and is ready to be enjoyed. There is a scientific explanation for the phenomenon. Glenn told me it is Boyle's Law for all those who would like/need a more thorough explanation.

I am not a coffee drinker, but Glenn loves his "joe". He could not stop ranting and raving about how great the coffee made in the SCM tasted. "Clean" is how he described the coffee. I guess he means that it tasted strong without any of the oily after-taste!

While doing my research, I discovered that there is a whole sub-culture out there of devoted SCM fans. SCMs are still being manufactured. Some coffee houses use the SCMs as novel way of brewing coffee. There is even a place in San Fran that installed a whole bank of SCMs.

If you see one of these babies out there, purchase it - it is a lot of fun and apparently hip in certain circles!

Magazine Love

I got extremely excited reading the May issue of Bon Appetit magazine.

First of all, there was an article about the great alcohol being produced in Oregon. Included in that article was the very same elixir that Glenn brought me back from a recent business trip. Gin is my poison of choice, and Aviation gin may be thee choice of that choice! Even if you think that you do not like gin (you're out there, I know, I've heard your stories), if the opportunity presents itself, you MUST try this gin. It is so pure and clean. I know, I know those words are overused in food description, but they are so accurate in this case. I am smitten with the characteristic juniper berry and pine taste of gin. However, these flavors are precisely what others loathe about gin. What makes Aviation so good, and so worth trying, is that those flavors are there, but they are not cloying and do not linger. This gin gets to the point and then relaxes in a refreshing sort of a way.

The second article that got my juices flowing was The United Plates of America. It features a state by state (yes, all 50 of them) list of "what to buy, what to eat and what to drink" in each state. I loved seeing that Better Made Potato Chips made the cut. Ironically, just the day before, while scarfing down a bag of Barbecue flavored chips, I mentioned that I thought Better Made chips, are indeed better made, and a very fine chip! Glenn was equally pleased that Bell's beer was also mentioned (for the record he also agrees with Bon Appetit's assessment!).

It was kind of cool to recognize some of the items and places mentioned in the article. In my humble opinion, there were a couple of places that were overlooked. Glenn suggested that I make some sort of list/running column on my blog to share what we consider to be culinary gems. Glenn travels a bit for work, and when he goes by car, I frequently join him. Being that he spends the day working, I have some solo time on my hands, yeah, I know it's hard, but someone has to do it. A big chunk of my time is spent looking for scrumptious places to try what I call local flavor.

OK, so back to Bon Appetit, the third thing that I really liked was the article , Big on Pig. When I first saw the article I broke out into a huge smile and squealed (pun intended). You know how I feel about all things pork. All the recipes in the article are written by pork master extraordinare, Bruce Aidell. We frequently consult his book, Bruce Aidell's Complete Book of Pork, and know we have some new recipes to try - yum, yum, yum!

Well, I have really let this blog post get away from me. Inspired by Bon Appetit, I sat down ready to tell you about one of the best road trip food experiences. Instead I got semi-side tracked describing other foodie things, oh well, I save that tale for another day. But, I will give you a hint, think pork!