Coffee break

This war has been obsessing me,  I tune into CNN every morning and leave it on.

There's your problem, Uncle Ken.  Listen to some music instead, Sandy Denny perhaps, or watch some cartoons.  As I read the recent posts of the Institute I ask myself, "why are these guys spending so much time yammering about this stuff?"  What, I wonder, are they getting out of all the back and forth, besides a little venting?

-----

"Every thing we hear is an opinion, not a fact.  Every thing we see is a perspective, not the truth."      -Marcus Aurelius

-----

My motives for not joining the conversation are purely selfish.  Maybe you guys haven't noticed, but the clock is ticking and I'm not getting any younger.  Since you guys are about three years older than me, pushing 80, it looks like, I'm surprised you think that chewing over matters that are beyond your control is a good use of your time.  The whole situation is nuts but you can say that about most of human history, so there we are.

But I'm not going to aggravate myself, getting worked up and frustrated over the failings of the human condition.  Thousands of years of recorded history and it's the same old crap.  Mr. Beagles is on the right track, only checking the news once a day if I'm not mistaken.  I'm not ignoring the situation in Ukraine but like Mr. Beagles, my interest lies in the tactics, strategies, and now the big one, logistics.  But my source of news is not network or cable, I'm strictly a YouTube guy.  There are 24-hour news channels, in English, from many countries and I try to see what they have to say.  They all have a slightly different perspective but if you add them all up I think you get a better picture of the reality of the situation.  I don't check those channels until very late, near midnight, because Ukraine is 8 hours ahead of Chicago and not much seems to be happening overnight.  As of this moment I think the outlook for Ukraine is bleak unless there are some internal changes in Russia.  With all the dithering going on I think Puta will eventually have his way but it will be a Pyhrric victory and a disaster in the long term.

-----

So, rather than make myself goofy following the actions of total strangers in locations I've never been to, I'm working on enhancing my quality of life and making sure that my day-to-day reality is the best I can make it.  And lately, it's been coffee.  I'm not a coffee snob, for ease of use you can't beat instant, and the Maxwell House stuff is good enough for me.  But lately I can't find it, the local Jewel stores never seem to have it in stock so I've been giving normal ground coffee a chance, in this case, Folger's Columbian blend (the only coffee available at the local Kwik-E-Mart).  Brewed it up, filtered it, and it was terrible, some of the worst coffee I've had in years.  I used the proper amount of coffee but maybe I let it steep too long.  Anyhow, time to do a little digging and I started reading about cold brewing and gave that method a shot.  A little weak but otherwise very close to wonderful, no acidity or bitterness.  The downside is that it requires more coffee and a lot more time so there has been some trial and error but I am pleased with the results.  If I want some coffee tomorrow I have to mix it up today, 18 to 24 hours are recommended.  And now I'm fiddling with adding some eggshell and a little salt with good results.  The best thing about cold brewing is that you get the full jolt of the water soluble caffeine and since you need to use more coffee to get the full flavor you get about double the caffeine.  I keep it in the refrigerator and because it can get so strong I cut it with a little water.  And then I nuke it good; the cold coffee is good but a hot cup of java is better.

Another thing I noticed in my kitchen adventures is that measuring spoons are not accurate.  Over the years I've accumulated many partial sets and I did a little experiment with four different tablespoons and they were all different, none delivered the true volume of 15 grams of water.  Some were over, some were under, but none hit the spot.  I doubt this means anything in the real world but I don't think you should mix up the measuring spoons; use spoons from the same set for best results with your recipes.  That's your kitchen tip for today.

-----

There is no medical term for "booger."