A lot has happened since I posted last. I finished the semester, went to Italy for a week, and have done some research since then.
I’m going to wait a little while before I write about Italy so that I can get photos from my family. I decided that since we had four digital cameras, I didn’t need to take any pictures other than ones that I especially liked. The downside to this of course, is that I have to coordinate photo sharing with people who are not Computer Science PhD’s. It’s disappointing that it’s still such a pain, at least when I want the full resolution copies. Until I go into more detail later, let me leave the Italy trip as “lots of fun, good food, and the best espresso.”
Which brings me to my latest full-blown addiction, espresso. The espresso was so good in Italy. I think I averaged about one cappuccino (espresso with steamed & foamed milk) and two straight espressos during the day. I brought back a can of Illy, which is like the Italian version of Folgers. Well, except it’s espresso and not coffee, and Illy’s actually is good. After just a few weeks of caffeine induced lunacy I’ve almost completely burned through my can. Melody and I found a store in the North End that sells it (decaf, too) but I’m sure it isn’t cheap.
Oh, and I also bought a new espresso machine. After, um, guzzling Italy’s fine espresso, I outgrew my old espresso machine and needed one with a bit more finesse. I ordered a Gaggia Coffee Deluxe, from Costco of all places. The espresso is consistently on par with Italy’s, although pre-grinding my espresso is hurting the brew. This of course means that I’ll soon be dropping another $200 for a Gaggia MDF Burr Grinder. I do realize spending that kind of bank on a coffee grinder seems…nuts. However, a good grinder really does make a difference when making espresso by consistently producing extra-fine grinds with as little heat possible. All of this makes a noticeable difference (really!), so my drug-like fascination with espresso continues to lead me down a costly but dumb-sounding and sadly pretentious path.
Over the last few weeks a bought a portable charcoal Webber grill. In related news, I also learned to light a charcoal grill (real charcoal, not briquets) without lighter fluid. If you’re ever in need of a way to burn several hours in maddening frustration, try learning to light a charcoal grill. I’m pretty good at it now and can get it started in just a few minutes. Usually. Charcoal is really tasty, and not just because of the effort required. Or so I keep telling myself.
I also visited my grandmother (on my dad’s side) last weekend. We tried to take her gas grill, for when I want to grill something but prefer not to go through the charcoal-dance ceremony or need to feed more than two people. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it in my car though and was only able to take a propane tank connector that was missing on the grill left by my apartment’s previous tenants. My months of bad grilling luck vanished however, and this was the missing part and the old grill now works. I cooked some cod on it last night. The fish came out great and no food poisoning or propane explosions to report. I also learned that cod is a real pain in the ass to cook on a grill – better go with a more steak-like fish than one that insists on subdividing like reproducing cellular organisms.
