Ever since I got the Rancilio Silvia espresso machine, I haven’t really been happy with what I once considered a good grinder, the Starbucks Barista burr grinder. But it just didn’t grind fine enough for the Silvia. Until now. I learned how to make a relatively simple adjustment that seems to work brilliantly. I will be publishing a detailed tutorial on how to do this on INeedCoffee soon.
Book Reviews
The Myths of Innovation
by rmjacobs •
August 25, 2007 I finished the book today and am giving it the 4 star rating above. I really liked how each chapter explained a particular myth and explored the causes of it. In some chapters, there was more practical advice for dealing with the myth, while in others you are sort of left to just understand that it is there which I suppose is helpful in its own right. One of the ideas that stuck out to me was the idea of the goodness/adoption paradox. The premise explains partially why it is that the best ideas don’t always win (one of the myths). On the one hand you have increasingly good ideas, but these tend to go hand in hand with decreased ease of adoption. At some point, you have a sweet spot that represents neither the best idea nor the easiest to adopt idea. But it is the one that tends to win out. August 16, 2007 I am currently reading The Myths of Innovation
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Celebrity Sighting
by rmjacobs •
Rebecca and I were browsing at the Apple store at Easton yesterday when I noticed a somewhat familiar face. Upon further investigation, I realized it was Dave Chappelle. Since he was wearing shades I wasn’t 100 percent confident until I heard him talk to the sales clerk a question. The distinctive voice confirmed it.
Coffee
Chipotle Coffee Rub
by rmjacobs •
I began some experiments with cooking with coffee tonight. The first was a rub using chipotle peppers, coffee and a few other ingredients. We used it on a nice cut of salmon. The results were really good, though I think next time I’ll tone down the ratio of peppers to coffee. There was just a bit too much heat for my taste. It was good, but muted the coffee flavors just a bit. I’ll have a new article on INeedCoffee related to this soon.
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Crimson Cup Retail Store
by rmjacobs •
Rebecca and I were invited to an opening event for Crimson Cup’s retail store in Clintonville. This is the roaster’s first retail operation as they have to this point been suppliers to businesses and retail operations. I had a very good double espresso which is rare to find these days outside of my home. I am wishing them continued success in this new operation.
Book Reviews
Thunderstruck
by rmjacobs •
After reading The Devil in the White City, I thought that I would read another book by Erik Larson that sounded like it had similar qualities. Thunderstruck is the two stories of Marconi and his quest to deliver wireless communication with a murder mystery that ultimately is foiled in part because of Marconi’s invention.
While the history is interesting, in particular on the Marconi side, it doesn’t quite mesh as well as Devil in the White City. In comparison, this book almost seems forced. That said, I did learn some interesting history.
It is particularly fascinating to really think about concepts like wireless communication from the perspective of it never previously existing. We take it for granted now, but like electricity, few of us really understand how it works. When we pause to think about it, it is still quite magical. For me, this is where the book really shines.
Book Reviews
The Devil in the White City
by rmjacobs •
The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson tells the parallel tales of Chicago winning and developing the site for the 1893 World’s Fair and the tale of a serial murder who utilized the fair as a tool to lure his victims. On the one hand we have Daniel Burnham struggling to make his legacy through the fair. On the other, we have H. H. Holmes cementing his legacy as ‘The Devil in the White City’.
The individual story lines could be classified as remarkable pieces of history that would be interesting on their own. The comments I have heard from others who have read this book are usually along the lines of disbelief that this is not fiction and/or the disbelief that they didn’t know about this before. I am in total agreement.
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Citrus Ricotta Pancakes
by rmjacobs •
I don’t think I have ever written about food before, but I confess that I have been on a bit of a quest to perfect ricotta pancakes ever since I snagged a bite of Rebecca’s at Bin 36 while we were last in Chicago. I rarely order pancakes out and was quite surprised at just how good these were. Naturally, we have tried a few recipes, but it wasn’t until we tried this recipe that I was pleased. Unfortunately, I found out that meyer lemons are out of season, so I used one regular lemon and one orange in place of the two meyers. I agree with the author of the article that these absolutely don’t require syrup.
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Rice-Pudding Waiter?
by rmjacobs •
On the eve of the iPhone release, there are myriad stories about lines forming to get one. This particular story caught my attention due to the comical first sentence:
‘A 17-year-old waiter at a rice-pudding restaurant was the first to stand in line at an AT&T store here to buy Apple Inc.’s iPhone.’
Who knew there were rice-pudding restaurants or that they required wait-staff?
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California Bound
by rmjacobs •
Rebecca and I are off to Huntington Beach, CA tomorrow to visit her side of the family and get some relaxation in.