Chocolate-Geek

If you like chocolate, and don't care about your health, this is the dessert for you!
The ingredients are as easy to remember as they are shocking. When people ask what's in it, they are usually taken aback.

• 1 Pound Chocolate (I use semi-sweet chocolate chips)
• 1 Pound of Butter (yeah, a whole package of the real thing)
• 8 eggs
• 1 cup sugar

That's it. 4 ingredients.
Here's how to put those crazy ingredients together:

Line bottom of 10-inch springform pan with parchment paper or wax paper (this is important if you don't want to have to use the bottom of the springform pan as the serving dish. It will not come off otherwise). Coat bottom and sides of pan with vegetable oil spray. Wrap outside of pan with a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil to prevent seepage (seepage is messy!).

In a double boiler, melt chocolate with butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally. While chocolate is melting, crack eggs in a bowl and whisk until frothy.

When chocolate and butter are melted and combined, transfer to a bowl. Slowly whisk in sugar until dissolved, scraping sides of bowl. Slowly whisk in eggs until well combined. Mixture will be somewhat elastic.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Set pan in a larger baking pan. Add hot water to larger pan so that it comes 1 inch up sides of springform pan (this is important for even baking; you don't want the edges to overcook while the middle is undercooked).

Bake in preheated oven 50 to 70 minutes. When it is done, it will rise and feel somewhat firm in the center. It may also crack near the center like a cheesecake.

When done, carefully remove pans from oven. Remove springform pan from pan of water, then remove foil from springform pan. Cool on wire rack. When cool, refrigerate uncovered at least 8 hours or overnight (I've gotten by with just a couple hours in the fridge with OK results).

Do yourself and your guests a favor and serve this with some really good fresh ground coffee. It's extremely rich, and you will enjoy having something nice to sip on while you enjoy this desert.

Coffee-Geek

Why would a Coffee-Geek who roasts his own beans, and brews with a french press order pre-ground coffee and an electric drip coffee maker from Gevalia??
Thats what I was wondering when I happened to look at my credit card activity on-line yesterday and saw a charge from Gevalia for $35.90
I called and talked to Joy, who was very polite, and told me that she would cancel my account, and reverse the charge. Then later that evening, the people living at our old address stopped by with a package from Gevalia with the aforementioned items in it, and my name on it. So I called again this afternoon, and asked what they wanted me to do with the package. The person that I talked to this time (don't recall her name) also told me that she would reverse the charge, and said that I could keep the stuff (she thought maybe I'd like it and become a customer in the future, but I doubt it).
The part that really has me scratching my head is: how did they get my credit card number?
This really strikes me as a very questionable business practice. If they had sent the stuff unsolicited, and billed me, that would be bad enough, but to charge my credit card for something that I never ordered (and never would consider ordering), is pretty scary.
I'll keep an eye on my credit card statement, and if the charge doesn't get reversed within a few days, I'll call Visa and dispute the charge with them. I'm glad we keep a close eye on our finances, and avoid these scams!

Coffee-Geek

I usually roast my own coffee, and I usually prefer African coffees from Kenya or Rwanda, but recently a friend of mine gave me some Intelligencia Tres Santos Columbia - Cauca. It is really good.
I think I must have been roasting too dark last time I tried Colombian coffee. I was really pleasantly surprised with how bright and balanced the coffee is.
Now some of my ideas about what I like and don't like are shattered, and I'm going to have to go back to some origins that I had dismissed in the past. It will be a fun and flavorful journey!

Coffee-Geek
I've been roasting coffee from Rwanda Duhingekawa Women's Cooperative lately, and really enjoying it. I try to roast it just before 2nd crack as recommended by Tom at Sweet Maria's. That's about the roast-level that I prefer anyway, and African coffees seem to be my favorite.
I also like that I'm helping the economic success of an area that has seen such horrific conditions lately; a real win-win.

Coffee Geek
What's important to make good coffee?
Here are some of the things that make a difference, in order of impact:
1. Water. Coffee is mostly water, so if you have bad water, you will have bad coffee. Distilled water leaves the coffee flat, so I use spring water. You can buy it by the gallon pretty cheap.
2. Fresh Ground. If you buy coffee that has been ground already, then much of the flavor is gone already too. Even grinding the night before can let a lot of the flavor evaporate before you get to put it in your cup.
3. Fresh Roasted. After a couple of weeks, the flavor starts to diminish, so even bean coffee at the grocery store has lost a lot of it's flavor already. This is one key reason that home roasting is important, you can roast only as much as you are going to brew each week.
4. Good Beans. This is where taste comes most into play. I like a good, bright Kenyan coffee, but YMMV.
5. Roast. From "city" to "French", some people like darker roasts, but if you have good beans, I think it's best to stay away from the really dark (burnt) roasts. Different beans are better at different roasts, and home roasting gives you the opportunity to make it exactly the way you like it.
6. Brew Method. Any method except a percolator will give you good results if you do it right. I continue to experiment with different drip-brewers, and presses with various results.

There are other factors, and I'm sure there are people who disagree which ones are more important, but if you get these ones right, you will enjoy really good coffee!

Coffee Geek
"You roast your own coffee?!? What a geek!"

I hear that a lot. Usually people are more polite about it, but that's what they're thinking.
Believe it or not, I became a coffee geek as a way to reduce my caffeine intake. The coffee that my company provides at the office is free, and you get what you pay for. It's terrible, but with no frame of reference, I could drink a lot of it. My twisted thinking was that if I have one good cup of java in the morning, then I won't be able to choke down the swill at work; therefore limiting myself to one cup per day.

One problem with that is that good coffee is expensive. I'll post more about the drivers behind home roasting later, but the bottom line is that it's the cheapest way to get the best coffee!

So, did it work? Yes, I've been limited to my single cup of very good joe, and much better off for it.