*sips a coffee*
*looks out at the sun shining down on several inches of snow*
*smiles*

*sighs*

I really should get working on that database...

Yalahii.

Ooo! Fun new kitchen toys!
*revels with Maladroit*

I got a nifty new Wusthof Trident Japanese-style cooks knife. And a new waffle maker. :)

We got one of them and baked profiteroles on it -- worked a treat.
:)

::swipes the last raspberry muffin::

::sips good strong coffee::

My mum's got an electric atomic coffee maker.  Like my stovetop one, but so much more convenient because it doesn't leave the element exposed, makes more than two small coffees, and switches itself off when done so I can put it on and have a shower. 

*wants*

Santa brought me some Krosno vodka glasses and a book about how to make pies.

Those sound pretty, Flupi. Good mixing bowls are always wonderful. :)

Tada! More raspberry muffins! And some peach-melba muffins, too :)

*sets out heaping basketsful*
*checks the bottomless coffeepot*

I think atomics were so named because they became fashionable in the middle of last century.  They're often shaped like a fat hourglass, or otherwise divided into three parts: a chamber with plain water in the bottom, a fitting in the middle in which you place finely ground coffee, with filters above and below, and a chamber in the top to catch the coffee that is produced when the water in the bottom is boiled and forced through the middle by that pressure.  I bought a lovely one in Italy, but it's small.

A local company (here) has started making these delicious flavoured vodkas, perfect for icecold consumption in little glasses, or mixed with lemonade.

Hmph. It works by using the force of the boiling to push water upwards through the coffee quickly.  Sinking water slowly through the coffee, or steeping it like in a plunger, just doesn't taste as good.

And it's an Italian or Nth American invention, IIRC.

I've never used a percolator, so I wouldn't know.
this article is the best explanation I could find.

It's the pressure, apparently, that distinguishes an espresso from ordinary coffee. The stovetop is a kind of halfway house.  Mine needs an adjustment to the lid, and a handy person to turn it off for me while I'm in the shower.

Thanks Bets! 

I obviously missed that this was here....
I'll have to dig out some recipes when I get home tonight.

Calesta wrote:

I obviously missed that this was here....

don't feel bad Calesta. I even posted, and i forgot this was here. Just last week i wondered why SS didn't re-open the rhubarb pie. duh!

anyway, i saw this great idea over the weekend that i'm gonna steal. we went to this place for breakfast (which was yummy) and they used bottles with spouts like bars use for liquor, but for the syrup. it poured all smoothly and the perfect amount. no worries about a sudden syrup tidal wave washing over the pancakes. also, it left no drips or mess. So, today i went out and bought some of the spouts and i'm going to empty a bottle of liquor to fill with syrup. Heck, if i'm feeling up to it, i might just empty two bottles. :) I'll let you know how it works at home.