Tricks to make your regular coffee outstanding

If your internet connection is good, there is really no reason to leave the home for a productive day of caffeine fueled prose.  While it’s a nice treat now and then to do our work in a coffee-house or book store, developing this habit can cause a sort of cancer of budget.

There are a few simple tricks and techniques for getting a cup of coffee from your own kitchen that rivals or surpasses any you will pay more money for to have served.

English: French Press (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Grind your own coffee beans

Whatever method you’re going to use for brewing coffee, grinding your own beans allows greater control of flavor.  Depending on your brew method, you will want a different sized grind, or granule.

Use the French press method, vs. drip or percolation coffee makers

1. No paper filter- allows any natural oils to remain present in the brewed coffee.  You can see the difference, and will be disappointed that you’ve wasted so much coffee essence on paper filters.
2. Easy cleanup- French press pots never need a cleaning cycle, and they don’t need much elbow grease.
3. Comparable prep time- French press coffee is no more difficult than drip coffee, and only takes longer for the water to boil, if you’re using a regular pot or kettle on the stove.  Some electric water kettles can have you going just as quickly as any timed drip maker.

Only add condiments to very hot coffee

The simplest and most natural method for getting a nice foam on top of your homemade French press pot of coffee is to add sugar first, immediately after coffee is poured into a warm cup.   By sprinkling the sugar over piping hot brew, the dissolve effect or reaction is so swift that it causes a very nice foam, enhanced if using half and half or cream.

When using the French press method of coffee-brewing,  opinion is variable as to the proper amount of time to allow brew.  In my view, five minutes seems to be the magic number for pulling the brew while it’s still hot enough to be beneficial.  If the coffee has had time to cool, it is necessary to re-heat it, either with the microwave or on the stove top, in order for the sugar or other additive to foam.   If you’re re-heating, be careful  not to scorch your brew.  Do not add the sugar or cream until after the coffee is hot!

Final trick- don’t disturb the additions too much.  Lightly sprinkle the sugar, and lightly pour the cream.   Let them blend naturally as the temperatures mingle.  Try it- this is a process that can be tasted.  Cheers!

Related articles

• Want great coffee? Take matters into your own hands (eatocracy.cnn.com)
• Reduce the Caffeine in Coffee by Changing How You Brew It [Coffee] (lifehacker.com)
• How to Get the Best Cup from an Auto-Drip Coffee Maker [Coffee] (lifehacker.com)
• I want iced coffee and I want it now. (ask.metafilter.com)
• How to cold-brew coffee (mnn.com)
• The French Pressed Cup of Coffee (darkblucoffeebar.wordpress.com)
• How to Make Coffee with Minimal Equipment and Maintenance [Crowdhacker] (lifehacker.com)
• Budget Barista Series: French Press (bringingeuropehome.com)
• How to enjoy espresso at home (minus the machine) (edibletimes.com)

Private space program rocket launch cancelled

Image at Wikipedia

We’ve heard little regarding the idea of a space program since losing our own in America several years ago.  Now and then though, we see a story covering some private space program in development.  So yes, while the program of national interest no longer itself stokes much passion, there are private pockets in the game for sure.

List of private space flight companies….

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 just missed its debut today, due to an overheated engine.  The flight was spared just in time.

Who here remembers the movie Moon?  I don’t want to do a spoiler here, but I do hope you at least hit the link and read the Wiki on Moon, if you’re unfamiliar with the story.  As a movie, it’s well worth your time to watch.

I think we’re headed quickly toward a Moon sort of future.  Don’t you?

Quotes from A.Leigh

Having good fortune in writing professionally unfortunately brings worse fortune for writing personally.  For a babe, an amorous act of balance with disproportionate ebb and flow.  – A.Leigh

Related articles

• The Explosion of Plot (anniecardi.com)

Employers, #backoff citizens’ privates. #Legislate

It’s about time we let go of the belief that someone’s “Like” is actually and necessarily a Like.

Most often, it is simply a bookmark.

What’s a bookmark?  At the least, a bookmark is a reminder to look back, and not necessarily at something that you like or support.  he reason for bookmarking could be just the opposite, or any other.

It’s about time we call the private zones of social apps exactly what they are- our private parts.  Thus it is about time the new privacy laws be turned to the company representative abusers who use our private parts against us.

It’s about time to make it illegal for any organization or its representative to even go so far as to search for any citizen’s social pages.  Consequently it is also time to have automated information tactics utilized that would guard against any occurrence of abuse of the system intended to be protective of citizens’ constitutional and civil rights.

Photo courtesy, Master Isolated Images

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Terrible Tuesday reflections- subconscious level orange & May Day celebrations

Terror:

After the terrorist attack on the United States  in New York City on September 11, 2001, over a decade ago, the states’ populations came together in a kind of unity I had never experienced, being of a young enough age to have never been involved in any kind of foreign- much less domestic- war.  The attacks on that sunny morning in September shocked an entire population into a state of awareness for each other that was intense and somehow thrilling; however, this heightened state of acknowledgement soon turned into simply an increased awareness OF each other, rather than for.

That began innocently enough, with everyone in a state of fear over another attack.  Then, it was easy to convince most citizens that it should be necessary to encroach further into the privacy of all citizens.  Their own trust in their personal safety had been effectively shattered.  Score- terror tactics.

Is it a wonder why American citizens balk at the idea of their government terrorizing its own attackers (enhanced interrogations controversy), in spite of themselves.

Ethics:

Yet the explanation is simple, and it is encouraging.  A certain percentage are trying very hard to remain ethical creatures of intelligence.  Some of our people are remembering the United States of America and those things for which it stands, despite that their homeland is tread upon by resident enemies, and that some of these have been successful in tearing down it’s beloved structure and in killing thousands of its citizens.  While it is difficult to put any stock in a trust of no torture (WHO can be trusted these days?), it should still be the preferred idea that no land’s government should resort to severe tactics of physical or mental anguish of captives.  There still need to be leaders in the realm of peace and good will in operation.

Occupy:

My realization of our crisis status as a cohesive people of the United States and as a suffering economy did not come until much later than I would have preferred.  The problems seem all too obvious, with no citizen holding many punches.  Poor people are tired of being poor, especially since they’re only becoming poorer AND their opportunity to step up has essentially been removed, referring to the all but gone middle class option.  Granted that the middle class scenario is an yin and yang of opportunity as the global market develops.  What need be remembered is the disparity of income increase between the middle class and the famed 1% that has occurred in the US since 1980.

Part of the mid-classers’ experience today is a more fundamental problem than mere money alone.  Much of this group’s self-worth and value is their willingness, desire, education and skilled experience involved in the innovations and operations of the world.  Yet, right along with the money, also go a hundred small freedoms, according to the 99%.

class values tend to emphasize independence, adherence to intrinsic standards, valuing innovation and respecting non-conformity.  Politically more active than other demographics, college educated middle class professionals are…

~American middle class, wikipedia information 

Add to this the losses of freedom that are sitting on the scruples of America at any given time:

• Safer airport passing that has come as far as multiple accusations of inappropriate touching, looting and peering.
• Loss of freedom from being held without charge
• Loss of legal representation rights

This list goes on.

We celebrate May Day today- and simultaneously Law Day also.

Learn more about the May Day- Law Day relationship…

Here’s hoping everyone has a safe and law-free May Day.

Slight name change to the Daily Bliss Pursuit Blog

I’ve had the problem of getting many more views than actual ‘likes’ and other types of feedbacks, SO I thought it’d behoove the crowd and myself, to adopt a more specific blog name in regards to the actual content.

While this blog is still in its infancy, it’s gone on far enough to see that people who are simply searching for a good spa coupon probably shouldn’t bother, and that by my simply adding the descriptive noun ‘writer’ to the title,  I can effectively dissuade the notion.

So, the official announcement:

The blog known as The Daily Bliss Pursuit has changed it’s name on 28 Apr 2012 to reflect a more concise image of what one should expect upon visitation.

The new name for the same blog is,  A Writer’s Daily Bliss Pursuit.

As we all know, for at least a little while, it’ll look much like this on the page:

 awriter’sdailyblisspursuit

I’m excited about the change, let me know if I should be!

Best-

Andrea

Visual media, the friendly monster

They say that the most terrible things do not require pictures to  imagine.  I believe this to be true, and also that our media tactics today rely too much on the visual.  However, I am aware that we are all so visually intrigued today- this I believe to be another  affectation of the masculine psyche in power.  Still too I know that had I not been presented with the undesired visuals this morning over my soothing warm coffee and virtually had my day shattered, then I would not be writing this post now.  So, the authors, writers, journalists, bloggers- whatever you’ll call them (us)- they’ve done their job.  Awareness has been raised, with this one person at least, and then so also with others- ripe awareness.

I was set to enjoy my reading on this delightful Saturday morning- coffee out, along with all my usual morning writing comforts, and referring to my usual internet media readers when I realized that the topic for today chosen by many was to be that of female genital mutilation (FGM).  I’ve been aware of this- what I consider to be an horrendous- practice nearly my entire life, as someone born of the early 1970s era and in tune to the world politics of the time.  My first and steady opinion of FGM has been a negative one, strongly ANTI-FGM.  For this, many thanks are due to television news media, as seldom anyone in my family really spoke of politics that I recall.

I cannot deny that this is still a beautiful Saturday morning, and I cannot take personally the offense to the media bash this morning upon my conscience as I viewed my reader feeds.  I will never play those videos, because truly as a woman I do not need to.  But I saw the images.  Didn’t need to, but I did, and my day is changed.  Maybe there are men and women who truly do not understand and can be helped by seeing the practice, and swayed into a different mindset.  Certainly, the more compassionate among men could be video-shocked into the certainty of a wrong practice being done with female genital mutilations, where before they likely may have never thought of it, their educations in life being of such an opposing slant to the educations of women.

Just one point: I’ll bet MANY never realized (until they saw images) that female genitalia mutilation victims were of such an advanced age when they are traumatized by the practice, nor that community males were the ones doing the dastardly deed, nor that their own mother’s held them down.  (Even I had envisioned a party of men trekking to each girl’s house, acting over the mother’s screams of anguish- but NO).

Dear reader, thanks for reading.  I had to just get this off onto some kind of media so I wouldn’t carry it around the back of my  mind all day long.  The writers have done their jobs, the people now act.  That’s the way it goes.  Make change people.

Many thanks to:

Curation. The Counter Jihad Report. AMJA Senior Committee Member, Female Genital Mutilation is an ‘Honor’ per Islam. 27 Apr 2012. http://counterjihadreport.com.  (28 Apr 2012)

Holton, Christopher. Family Security Matters. Misinformation from US Dept of Health about Islam and Female Genital Mutilation. 16 Apr 2012. http://www.familysecuritymatters.org. (28 Apr 2012)

Posts of note:

Muslim brotherhood MP lobbies for FGM

Saudi Savages?

100,000 Women undergo genital mutilation in Britain and some are 10 year-olds.

Questions to consider:

Should one feel any differently about this cultural religious practice if it were done in the female’s infancy?  Why or why not?

How about if any othe aspects of the practice were changed and regulated?