Entries From 'Food'

Cat Poo Coffee

Three words I never thought to see together as a serious statement. I have heard of “weasel-poo”, but only as an adjective to describe bad coffee.

Unlike “weasel-poo” the adjective, cat poo coffee is actually coffee made from cat poo…or rather coffee beans taken out of cat poo. Apparently this is a good thing. ?? And very expensive.

LONDON, England (CNN) — A London department store has started selling coffee for $100 a shot.

If the price sounds unappealing, then shoppers also have to overcome the unusual method of cultivation, which sees the coffee beans harvested from the faeces of an Indonesian jungle cat.

Even so, the Peter Jones store says the luxury blend — called CaffĂ© Raro — is one of the world’s rarest and most premium coffees.

Made by the Italian company De Longhi, Caffé Raro combines Jamaican Blue Mountain and Kupi Luwak, two extremely rare coffees.

The beans of Kupi Luwak are harvested after first being ingested by Civet cats and only around 260 kilos of the coffee is produced each year.
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“The cats select the best beans to chew. It’s rather like a natural filtering process,” Carie Barkhuzen, a spokeswoman for the upmarket store in London’s upmarket Sloane Square told CNN.

The coffee, which went on sale yesterday, is either available at $100 for a shot at the Peter Jones Espresso Bar, or shoppers can buy 100g packs of the coffee beans to take away for the same price.

“It’s not exactly flying off the shelves — it’s very expensive after all — but customers are buying it,” Barkhuzen said.

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Barista Competitions

catcap…who knew?…
I had no idea such a thing existed. It actually turns out there are a few of them - annually.

I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, after all coffee rocks! And a well made coffee is most definitely an art appreciated by coffee-lovers.

There is nothing as disappointing as getting a poorly made coffee drink, after looking forward to enjoying at least a decent cup.

Apparently the most prestigious competition in the US is the USBC (United States Barista Championship) held every year. Judged by seven USBC-certified judges, the barista challengers have to prepare and serve 12 orders consisting of: four espressos, four cappuccinos and four original signature drinks of their own creation. All this in 15-minutes. The competition is held over four days and this year it is in Minneapolis at the beginning of May.

The USBC winner gets to move on to the WBC (World Barista Championship) held in Copenhagen this June.

What I want to know is where are all these talented baristas working when they aren’t competing?

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Grandma’s Banana Bread

This recipe card has disappeared, and magically reappeared so many times that I’ve decided to simply add it to my site in hopes that now it will never be lost again (along with some other favorite recipes I plan on adding in the future).

This time it magically reappeared during my microwave replacement, after having just recently looked for it for Lynda.

It’s easy and it’s super tasty!

Banana Bread
1½ cups flour
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup vegetable shortening (or butter)
3 small (ripe to very ripe) bananas, mashed
2 eggs

Combine shortening and dry ingredients.
Add pureed bananas along with well beaten eggs.
Fold liquid ingredients into into dry ingredients very quickly.
Spoon into a lightly buttered and floured pan.
Set the pan (to remove air bubbles).

Preheat oven to 350 °F
Bake for 40-45 minutes

notes:
I’ve cut the sugar by 3/4 and it’s still a crowd pleaser.
The riper the bananas the less sugar is needed.
Add 1 cup chopped walnuts if you’re a nut fan.

nutrients (for entire recipe as-is above with unsalted butter):
2669 calories: fat - 104g | carbs - 413g | protein - 35g

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