Calendar & Pets

Coffee at home

By Donna Roach

The flame, adjusted to the right level, fuels the aroma wafting from the enamel pot on the stove. He sits and waits for the first cup of coffee of the morning. It arrives. He immediately removes the curved-lip saucer from under the old china cup, carefully tips a small portion of the rich brown liquid into the saucer, then blows across the surface to speed up the cooling process before taking the first sip. The ceremony is now a memory.

Coffee was a simple pleasure for a man who lived a simple life. Great-granddaddy enjoyed his coffee, but early morning chores meant no time to linger or wait for it to cool. Today, coffee is to be savored, not slurped in a hurry to get out the door. Americans are obsessed with coffee, we drink over 300 million cups of coffee per day, most of which is brewed at home.*

What, then, is the secret to making a great cup of coffee? As with all delectable culinary creations, the right ingredients and perfect technique will create the best brew. Start with what you have. Do you have a drip coffee maker or a percolator?

According to the National Coffee Association (NCA), methods for brewing coffee vary, but clean equipment, quality cold water, and correctly ground beans are essential. The grind of the coffee combined with the method determines the flavor. Drip-style makers require a more finely ground coffee than that for percolators. Most store-packaged coffee is ground for drip-style. However, the NCA suggests that coffee should be freshly ground and used either immediately or within a one to two week period.

Finding coffee beans takes a little more time than buying a pre-ground bag from the shelf. However, better quality grocery chains in the area do offer some selection and an in-store grinder. If you are fortunate enough to live or work near a specialty shop that actually roasts the beans locally, even better. Take the time to sample the selection of specialty coffees and find the flavor that's right for you.

Once you've found the perfect bean and the perfect grind, follow closely the manufacturer's brewing instructions. Finally, share a cup a coffee with a friend. Nothing else makes life or coffee any better.

*Specialty Coffee Association of America.

What's your coffee IQ?

*Information courtesy of the Specialty Coffee Association www.scaa.org..

  1. Where does coffee originally come from?
  2. How many coffee beans does it take to make an average cup of expresso?
  3. In 1683 what was a pound of coffee worth in New York?
  4. Which has more caffeine - a strong or weak cup of coffee?

    5. Answers

    1. Ethiopia
    2. 42
    3. Approximately 4 acres of land
    4. Caffeine and taste are not related.

      5. For more interesting facts about coffee visit the Specialty Coffee Assocation of America at www.scaa.org

Double Raspberry Cheesecake: A Favorite Fruit In A Favorite Dessert

This month's recipe

(NAPSI)-Need to entertain but don't have the time to tackle a whole meal? Invite folks for dessert and coffee and wow them with an easy-on-you, awe-inspiring special.

A cheesecake flavored with red raspberries and topped with a raspberry sauce can make you a star, and for very little time or money. Convenient frozen raspberries are a flavor bargain all year-round.

Thanks to state-of-the-art freezing, we can enjoy top-quality raspberries from Washington (the top raspberry-growing state in the country) all year long. The picky picky growers there harvest only the best berries at their peak of perfection. They freeze them individually for you to pick from the freezer section in handy bags and then pour out to use in smoothies, muffins, pancakes, salads, desserts and more.

Folks love raspberries! In a recent poll, consumers picked raspberries as one of the top two of their favorite fruits-second only to strawberries.

Nutrition experts love raspberries, too-they are high in antioxidants, an excellent source of vitamin C, provide 22 percent of the daily value for fiber, 6 percent of folic acid, 41 percent of manganese and 12 percent of vitamin K, all for just 60 calories a cup, and with no sodium, no cholesterol and no saturated or trans fats.