our friends rob & ellen recently sent us a gift box from intelligentsia with a bag of fresh roasted coffee and two mugs! we had never tried intelligentsia before, at least that we are aware of, so we were excited. it was a very tasty, smooth cup of coffee, especially brewed with our chemex. we were quite impressed!

on a related note, we’ve upgraded our coffee brewing setup over the last few months. our electric tea kettle was on the fritz, so we got the new variable temperature kettle from bonavita. it’s the perfect companion for pour-over coffee brewers and tea lovers alike. it has a gooseneck spout for easy pouring and the kettle offers complete temperature control for ideal brewing settings. there is also a hold feature to keep your water hot throughout the brewing process, or if you plan on having another cup of tea. basically, it’s pretty awesome!

for christmas we also upgraded our grinder, which was on its last legs as well. we went with a conical burr style from capresso. it actually grinds the beans instead of chopping them, preserving aroma and flavor. the grinder is also extremely quite and super easy! you just set the fineness (from coarse to turkish fine), turn the knob to the amount of cups you want and it does the rest. for our chemex setup, we stick with a coarse grind, which you can see in the below photo.

– ryan

happy thanksgiving! we decided to stay in atlanta and spend our first thanksgiving with just the four of us at home this year. this also meant we had to come up with a thanksgiving meal! to make things a little easier, we ordered an oven-roased turkey from the mercantile, which was amazing! mercantile is a local sandwich/prepared meal spot right down the road. our friends were super generous and made tasty sides for us (and delivered them). we made our own gravy and mashed potatoes, but other than that, we just enjoyed a fun day with grey and clem. we were definitely pampered!

we started the day with some coffee, our traditional breakfast casserole and the macys day parade! we thought it was pretty cool to see a maces commissioned kaws float in the parade! coincidentally, both of our families have been making the same breakfast casserole on holidays since we were kids. clementine was a big fan as well!

happy holidays!

– ryan & gub

the mercantile

1660 deKalb avenue northeast #150
atlanta, ga 30307
404-378-0096

breakfast casserole recipe:

ingredients:
6-8 slices bread
1 lb sausage (ground or link)
8 oz shredded cheese
6 eggs beaten
2 cups milk (or half ‘n half)

directions:
– preheat oven to 350 and grease 9″ x 13″ baking dish
– break up bread (remove crust if desired) and spread throughout baking dish
– brown sausage, drain well and spoon over bread slices
– spread shredded cheese over sausage & bread
– combine eggs & milk, mix well and pour over cheese
– cover and chill over night
– remove from fridge 15 minutes before baking
– bake uncovered @350 for 45 minutes or until golden brown
– serves eight

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

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.

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!

– ryan

– don’t forget to try bacon fried pumpkin seeds as well!

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

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

i tried out the recipe for country apple dumplings that i posted a few months ago. my results didn’t look nearly the same as the one i had at r&a orchards, but they were still super tasty!

– ryan

r&a orchards

5505 highway 52 east
ellijay, ga 30536
706-273-3821

country apple dumplings recipe:

ingredients:
2 large granny smith apples (peeled and cored)
2 x 10 oz cans crescent roll dough
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 x 12 oz can mountain dew

directions:
– preheat oven to 350 and grease 9″ x 13″ baking dish
– cut apples into 8 wedges each and cover with cinnamon & sugar, set aside
– separate crescent roll dough, and roll each apple wedge up in the dough
– pinch the edges to seal and place in dish
– melt butter in a saucepan and stir in the remaining sugar and cinnamon
– pour syrup mixture over apple dumplings and then pour mountain dew on top
– bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown
– serve with vanilla ice cream

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