https://manabernardes.com/2024/jx618f1t6b
happy halloween! we had quite the hectic halloween for sure. it was our first full day back from the hospital with grey and we still had to finish costumes and carve our enormous 30 lb pumpkin. gub made clementine a bubble’s costume, which she mainly wanted to pull pieces off of. there was also a short-lived blowing wand to go with the bubble’s costume, we have a blurry photo to prove it. none the less, it was great being home with the kids for halloween!

be sure to check out our spooky jack-o-lantern tv! we bought an old thrift store tv a few years ago and spray painted it pumpkin orange. we just cut out blue painters tape for the mouth and eyes on the screen, which we peeled off after the paint dried. viola, a great reusable halloween decoration for under $10!

you should also check out photos from clementine’s 1st halloween last year!

– gub & ryan

https://therepairstore.ca/fk9m673ovc
after talking about it for ages, i finally cooked some popcorn in bacon fat with our whirly pop stovetop popper. i have to say, it was quite amazing! it was not an overwhelming bacon flavor, but it was definitely there and added a lot.

https://www.ngoc.org.uk/uncategorized/future-events/4rzect8c8h just throw a little salt on top and serve with cold beer or cocktails, highly recommended! bring some to your next olympic party and you will be a big hit!

https://space1026.com/2024/01/lcki1e2dhf7 – ryan

https://serenityspaonline.com/uvw6us3m4b – don’t forget to try bacon fried pumpkin seeds as well!

https://www.chat-quiberon.com/2024/01/18/tiv6goq6pp

after my recent tour of the batdorf & bronson roastery, i went on a quest to brew a better cup of coffee. i learned on the tour that there are many factors that go into a good cup of joe. these range from the quality and freshness of the coffee, to using the proper ratio of grounds/water, to hitting the ideal brewing temperature of 205°. the problem is most consumer coffeemakers never reach such high temperatures. for that, you need a hand-brewed method where you are in full control and as much as i love my french press, it sounded like a pour over coffeepot was the way to go.

after a little research, i decided on the stylish chemex coffeepot. it’s both a great coffeemaker and a beautiful piece of design, even 70+ years after its creation. plus it only set me back $31.95 at dancing goats in decatur. i did have to buy special chemex filters for it, but they were just $5.95 for a 100 pack, which wasn’t that bad.

for my inaugural pot, i picked up some nice costa rica la minita del sol coffee. the description on the bag was “full bodied & sparkling sweet, maple, almond & orange juice,” which sounded interesting. the beans were 100% sun dried instead of fully washed, like most central american beans, so it’s supposed to be fairly unique.

the brewing process was pretty easy to follow. i put a chemex filter into the top of the coffeepot and added a tbsp of freshly ground coffee for each 5 oz cup, 8 tbsp for a full pot. i boiled 40 oz of water and removed it from heat for roughly 20 seconds until it reached ~205°. i then wet the grounds with 4 oz of water and let “bloom” for 30-40 seconds. from there i added the rest of the water, making sure not to overflow, and composted the spent grounds. voilà, the perfect cup of coffee!

the results were definitely worth the effort! the coffee had that fresh, strong taste you get from a french press, but seemed cleaner and less-bitter since the oils and sediment were filtered out. it was a nice, crisp cup of coffee where I could actually distinguish some of the descriptive characteristics. i wouldn’t say i sensed the orange juice, but i picked up some sweet and nutty elements, especially when sampled next to a cup of french roast. it was some of the better coffee i’ve made at home!

on top of that, the actual coffeepot is gorgeous and looks great on the countertop! it’s on permanent display at moma and was featured in the modern by design exhibit at the high museum of art, further proving its elegance.

for more thorough brewing instructions, or to check out some great mid-century illustrations, head to the chemex website. there are also some slightly different brewing instructions offered from dancing goat, although i tried this method and didn’t care for it. it used almost twice the coffee and was a little strong for my taste.

enjoy!

– ryan

dancing goats coffee bar

419 west ponce de leon ave
decatur, ga 30030
404-687-1100

my brother and i went on a great scoutmob tour of the batdorf & bronson roastery. i learned quite a bit about brewing & roasting coffee, its history, and by the end of the tour i could actually taste the difference between a sumatra and a costa rican cup of coffee. talk about a fun tour!

i’m a big fan of dancing goats, which is batdorf & bronson’s coffee shop in decatur, so i enjoyed getting a behind-the-scenes look at atlanta’s best roaster. it was definitely a smaller production than i pictured. they only have three people who do the roasting and they still bag and label all of their coffee by hand.

the tour also included a mug, freshly roasted coffee, and a slice of mocha pie from the pie shop. the pie was made with cacao atlanta chocolate & batdorf coffee and was pretty much the best thing ever!

a cool side note, batdorf takes donations for their used burlap coffee bags. the money goes directly to the coffee farmers and the bags, which have great designs, can be re-used for all sorts of fun projects. it’s a win-win for everyone involved! i picked up an el indio bag, see the photo below.

– ryan

dancing goats coffee bar

419 west ponce de leon ave
decatur, ga 30030
404-687-1100

our friend mike made some tasty luther burgers for the super bowl! for those who never made it to mulligan’s when it was around, a luther burger is a bacon-cheeseburger on a grilled krispy kreme doughnut. it’s an amazing experience to say the least!

– ryan & gub

we bought a food chopper and started making some baby food for clementine. we have this great book called super baby food, which has been a big help in preparing and storing the food, as well as when everything is age appropriate. so far we’ve made apples, bananas, sweet potatoes and carrots!

– ryan & gub

i found myself with a pumpkin that needed to be put to rest and a pan of hot bacon grease and wondered, can you fry up pumpkin seeds? the answer is definitely yes and that they are quite tasty in fact. just fry them until golden brown and add salt.

highly recommended!

– ryan

-next up, i’m going to see if i can make stove-top popcorn with bacon fat!

i tried filming time lapse of one of those mystical gardens earlier this week. it looked pretty cool, although it took way longer than expected. the box claims everything would finish within 10 hours, however after 24+ hours, 10,000+ photos and 3 camera battery changes, the mystical garden was still growing and we had to leave for the holidays. maybe it was too cold in our house or something, but it sure took forever.

– ryan

we picked all of the green tomatoes from our garden this year before the first big freeze and they finally ripened. now we have a bowl full of nice red tomatoes to enjoy!

– ryan & gub

gub’s mom converted an old playground in her backyard into a super cute gardening shed! it was a gradual renovation, but it turned out great. we were impressed with her clever re-use of the playground, which hadn’t been used in ages. here are some photos of the process!

– ryan & gub