Fool me once . . .

How is your day going?

How my day started:

This morning I spent five minutes searching for my sunglasses before I realized they were on top of my head.

How my day is going:

After enjoying half a glass of sweet tea, I noticed this at the bottom.

Makes perfect sense in a world that no longer thinks critically.

One earth . . . but endless possibilities for virtue signaling.

For those who take their shooting, and their coffee, serious.

October is “illegal pumpkin poaching” awareness month.

Wear a ribbon and do your part. 

A day without coffee.

Quotes: Life’s essential liquid.

Sometimes tea too.

Welcome, October.

So glad you’re finally here.

Therapy.

 

Reusing those Keurig K-Cups.

Do you ever wonder if there’s more you could be doing with those used K-Cups instead of just throwing them away?

Well, whether you ascribe to sky-is-falling alarmist environmentalism, or you simply enjoy reusing items for a myriad of other purposes, I’ll share with you what I do with those disposable plastic cups.

I use these cups for:

1). Composting and/or worm composting.

2). Seed starters.

And here’s how I do it.

Step 1:

After the K-Cup is cooled enough to work with, take a pair of scissors and make an incision from the hole to the edge of the cup.

 

Step 2:

Peel the foil top off of the cup and dispose of the foil.

 

 

Step 3:

Dump out the contents. The coffee grounds can then be added to your compost (or worm compost).

You may be surprised at just how much coffee is inside of these things.

Step 4:

In this picture I’ve turned the filter inside out so you can see what it looks like.

Go ahead and slowly pull the filter from the cup. It is adhered to the cup around the inner rim with glue. 

Step 5:

Once the filter is removed, cut the glue edge off the filter. After it’s removed, dispose of this edge as you don’t want to put that into your compost or feed it to your worms.

The filter itself can be now be used in your composter, and it’s up to you if you want to cut it into smaller pieces or not (if you’re using it for worm composting, they prefer it cut into small pieces).

Step 6:

Now you’re left with a plastic cup that can be used to start seeds indoors in Spring (add more holes to the bottom of the cup as necessary for drainage).

Before you know it, those little cups will add up quickly.

I hope this has been a help. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to leave me a comment.

 

Why this will be the last Starbucks I drink.

I don’t make a habit of photographing my food or drinks, and I certainly don’t post them for others to be subjected to, but the cup of Starbucks in this picture is significant because it will be my last.

I shrugged my shoulders as Starbucks bullied small coffee companies (e.g. here and here).

I looked the other way when Starbucks sued small coffee companies (e.g. here and here).

I ignored the fact that Starbucks uses GMO products.

And I rolled my eyes when Starbucks tried to ram race issues down my throat.

But now I discovered something about my favorite coffee chain that is too egregious to look past; too evil to ignore.

Starbucks is one of several companies that supports the eugenics holocaust of defenseless children by providing financial support to the racist organization, Planned Parenthood.

When I learned of this news I was eligible for one free drink as I had reached my buy-twelve-get-one-free benefit of being a Starbucks gold card member. So this past week I redeemed the free drink owed to me and will allow my gold member status to elapse.

My decade-long relationship with Starbucks is officially over.

You can’t boycott everything, you say.

I agree.

I am not one known for boycotting businesses I don’t agree with. And I know that this coffee behemoth isn’t even going to notice my absence (nor care), but there’s a bigger issue here. This is not about boycotts, it’s about conscience.

Just like I wouldn’t have been able (in good conscience) to patronize a company that was directly supporting the execution of “undesirables” in Germany in the 1940s, I can no longer support my favorite coffee establishment knowing that they are directly supporting the execution of “undesirables” in America in 2015.

So this week I enjoyed my complimentary venti java chip frapuccino with toffee nut syrup as one relationship ends, and a new one begins. I say goodbye to Starbucks and hello to local coffee establishments.

If/when Starbucks drops their financial support of abortion, I may consider returning, but until then, thanks for the memories.

Duplicate the Starbucks experience at home.

What you should never say to a sweet tea drinker.

This past Friday I was out running errands in the sweltering summer heat about an hour from home . . . and an hour from delicious, ice cold, homemade sweet tea.

Not wanting to wait the hour to quench my thirst, I pulled into the drive-thru of a local chain sandwich shop and asked if they sold sweet tea.

Now, I knew what the answer was going to be. You see, I live in an area of the country that is a barren wasteland when it comes to sweet tea, so finding an establishment in my area that serves sweet tea is like pecking for a needle in a haystack.

But this Friday I thought I’d ask anyway, hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

I wasn’t.

The reason I’m sharing this story with you is because of the conversation I had with the order taker on the other side of the drive-thru speaker box. We’ll call him JJ.

Me: Do you guys have sweet tea?
JJ: What was that?
Me: Do you guys have sweet tea?
JJ: Can you repeat that?
Me: Do you guys have sweet tea?
JJ: I’m sorry, one more time?
Me: Do you guys have sweet tea?
JJ: Do we have sweet cheese?
Me: No. Do you guys have sweet tea?
JJ: Oh, no, but . . .

Now, I’ll stop the conversation here momentarily. Because, as any fan of sweet tea knows, whenever you ask someone if they serve sweet tea, and if their answer is no, they always follow it up with the same suggestion.

JJ: . . . we do have regular tea and we have sugar you can put in it.

Nooooooo! That is not sweet tea!

It doesn’t matter what part of the country you’re in, it doesn’t matter what type of economic background the cashier or waitress is from, what their race, creed, or color happens to be, they all answer the same, just like JJ.

My advice to all of those working in the food and beverage industry is that if you don’t serve sweet tea, just say you don’t. Don’t try to remedy your restaurant’s lack of foresight to offer the best beverage on earth by telling customers they can just add sugar to plain tea. It reveals that you have no idea what sweet tea is and it is an insult to sweet tea drinkers everywhere.

So, next time you feel the urge to offer that your customer “just add sugar,” resist saying that and instead offer something equivalent like: “We have heaping ladles of sun-warmed mayonnaise mixed with NyQuil you can put in it.” Seriously, it would be the same difference.

 

Espresso field guide.

This is me with sweet tea.

The Italian Moka Pot + eggnog = a yummy delight.

I’ve been enjoying my espresso Moka Pot ever since my wife got it for me on my birthday. So far I’ve tried hot and iced espressos but tonight I tried an eggnog latte (using this recipe). It turned out so well I thought I’d share.

Have a great weekend!

Pictured: Bialetti Moka Express and iced hazelnut lattes.

Latte art.

What better time to admire latte art than in Fall? Here are twenty exhibits (in no particular order) that I found absolutely fascinating.

Whether you’re an artist or someone who can’t even draw a straight line (like me), I am certain you will be amazed at some of these creations. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go get me some coffee.

 

 

Great. Now this song is stuck in my head.

Welcome back, October. I missed you.

Fall: It’s the most wonderful time of the year.