use real butter

Everyone knows that I hate coffee, but Jeremy loves it. I don’t hate coffee itself, just the culture that has grown around it. I actually like it in baking or desserts, and all of the prep is fun. Anyway, I ordered this for his office today:

baby espresso machine: i dub thee Happy Jr.

Except his isn’t yellow, it’s orange (called passion/orange – whatever that means). The tectonics group had one at my old workplace and even though I never wanted to drink any, I was always volunteering to make it for someone because it’s so easy – it’s so FUN! This is the baby version of what the group had. I think it’s perfect for Jeremy. I also think when he walks into his office after trudging through the cold his world will light up when he sees: 1) Happy Jr. and 2) his G5 – because what else is more beautiful and functional at the same time?!

**Jump for more butter**

I like to drink a mixture of iced tea and fruit juice. I know that half iced tea and half lemonade is an Arnold Palmer, but what do you call the tea/juice concoction? I decided to name it The Politzer, after my Phys 2b prof, Dave Politzer. What a character. He taught us quantum. He also played the banjo and sang a song about Einstein for our class. He also got so pissed off at our class one time that he slammed his hands down on the lecture counter and yelled, “Shut the fuck up you assholes!” This guy recently won the Nobel Prize in physics. Jeremy took Phys 3 lab and Phys 76 from Politzer. Jeremy says, “Great lab instructor, couldn’t help me for squat in 76.” Ah well, here’s to you Politzer. I still want to name a cat after Frautschi, prof of theoretical particle physics at Caltech and a total sweetie.

after our hike, i was so moved to make brunch: hashies, bacon, and french toast

I’d like to rant (again) about something (else) that annoys (the crap out of) me. Coffee. That’s right. I don’t drink it, although I’ve been known to serve it. What the hell is the deal with people who not only drink coffee, but feel the need to transport it every damn place they go – as if it were an oxygen tank, an IV, or a kidney dialysis machine? You see people walking around with these wasteful paper cups of coffee they bought from Starsucks, Pete’s, Noah’s, and because they can’t handle how HOT the drink is, they have to add those little brown recycled paper holders around the cup. Next thing you know, they will have little wheels and handles installed so you don’t even have to hold it, but drag it along behind you. I can cut a little slack to those who use their own mug, thermos, whatever your vessel. But it produces 1) a lot of trash 2) a lot of litterbugs and 3) the notion that this is acceptable social public behavior.

What brings me to this tirade against coffee is my dear partner of 13+ years who dribbled coffee from our kitchen, down the stairs, out the door, into the garage, onto his jacket, and on our car’s backseat this morning. I followed the trail getting angrier and angrier until I found him to tell him he was making a mess. He glanced down at his no-longer-air-tight travel mug with confusion. Of course there was sugar in it. More than half the population can’t seem to stomach the stuff without enough sugar and cream to make it the equivalent of MELTED COFFEE ICE CREAM. I went back to the house to clean it up, but Kaweah beat me to it.

We indulged in a little booze-n-chocolate tonight. I got these lovely chocolate cups over the holidays and decided it was high time to bust them out. You serve them with girl booze like Kahlua or Baileys. I guess you can also pipe whipped cream or mousse into them, but you don’t get the same effect.

it’s like an edible chocolate over-sized thimble

…with girl booze