An uncomplicated life...

In a moment of unintentional self discovery I came to understand how I deal with stress. My personal life very rarely stresses me out. It's generally work that gets under my skin, especially when it comes to this time of year- competition season. For those of you who are oblivious to exactly how nerdy the coffee world is, let me fill you in. 

So, on an annual basis there are a myriad of barista competitions (yes...it's real) that go on around the world. In the United States, these events are broken down into regions (10 in all) and one national (the SCAA's United States Barista Championship). The person who wins the USBC gets to advance to being the only US representative in the World Barista Championship, which is the highest level...at least until we discover alien races, for they will inevitably love coffee. 

As far the rules and format, I could go on and on so I will simply direct the interested parties to do their own research here. These events have been around since 2001 if my memory serves me correctly. My company has been involved pretty much since it's inception as one of the owners was involved in getting it off the ground. This will make my 8th year of being involved in some capacity (3 years competing and on my 5th year of judging). 

So, the Midwest Regional is this weekend and my boys have been practicing heavily for a few months now. Our company is actually growing and in a very exciting period of its history, but we are still a little on the smaller side staff wise. Everyone we have right now is stellar which makes it easier to handle growth, but there is plenty for everyone to do :) This has little to do with competition, except that my competitors are both key players outside of putting in their own time. No one is making anyone do anything...we are all there of our volition and love of the barista craft and a drive to perfect it. We are very fortunate to have bosses that are supportive and create opportunities such as this to further our personal education and goals (and I really DO feel that way). Expectations from the outside have started to be of less and less importance to me, which leads to the whole stress part. I want everyone to do well, I was to be of help to them through my experience and lending my own hands (to polish innumerable dishes). I also want to make sure that through out the time I am doing this that I'm not slacking off on my actual job duties. Even though it can be rough, exhausting, obnoxious, crazy ( I could keep going with the adjectives here) I still feel like it's manageable. That is, as long as my personal life isn't complicated. 

So, that was actually the realization. That last sentence there. I'm not saying that my personal life is super challenging...not by any stretch. What I realized is that it has to be entirely uncomplicated. The most minor of complications gets me in a bit of a tizzy because I have unreasonable expectations of those who play more of a fun/relaxed role in my life. I forget that friends and family can't always be my 'chill zone' as I have come to see them as. They are just as human as me and some of them have way more stressful situations going on than I could even conjure up. Or, they have a different threshold or outlet for their own stress that may or may not be compatible with mine. Stress makes most people selfish. It makes me a martyr, which may be just as selfish, if not more so, when it manifests in a totally unnecessary way...

So yeah, just something I am mulling over right now. I need to relax and decompress in a way that I don't know that I have time for, but the only thing that is certain is that this won't kill me. So....there's that :) 

Next- Is Holly manifesting signs and symptoms of a workaholic. Tune in next time...

Bacon Cookies and Goodbyes

So, Pete left a couple of days ago for Hawaii...and for those of you who don't know, it's not a vacation. He's living there for a minimum of 6 months (as per the lease that he secured today) and gets to make coffee with an ocean breeze on his face. Not that I'm bitter. If you want to know more about his new and awesome hijinks check out the link for his blog on my sidebar (UnLandLocked). In honor of the departure of my oldest friend, I will finally post about the bacon cookies experiment, the most successful of the savory/sweet concoctions. 

So, the recipe was given to Pete and I by some of the people at Kaldi's (a coffee company out of St. Louis) when we were there for a jam early in November. We started talking about the bacon+chocolate candy bar and we found out there were plenty of people who were just as interested in this unorthodox mix as we were. 

So, the cookies themselves were actually bacon, oatmeal and butterscotch chip. The baking portion went well, as chronicled in these pictures...

So first things first- bake off the bacon. We purchased 3 different types of bacon for this experiement- Thick cut hickory smoked, thick cut smoked, and regular hickory smoked. All were basted with a mixture of maple syrup and apple cider vinegar. mmm...

In the inevitable nibbling that went on as we took it off the baking sheets we decided that thinner cut was really the way to go, and the fattier the better. We then went about following the recipe and making the dough. Here it is after the first helping of bacon-

Stir it in!

After a taste, we quickly decide that it needs something...

More bacon!

We then let them bake for about 10 minutes-

and while we wait, Pete can't help himself-

And the finished product-

So that's bacon cookies in a nut shell. They were actually quite fabulous. Pete can put in his two cents via comments. If anyone wants the recipe, leave a comment and I will email it to you to try out. There are some things I have learned about baking with bacon-

1-NEVER use bacon grease in place of oil or butter. It's not that it tastes bad, but it makes you feel funny later. 

2-Don't think you need to balance out the bacon with darker chocolate or more butterscotch chips than the recipe calls for. Bacon honestly can't hold its own as well as you might think. Milk chocolate is a better vehicle than dark chocolate.

3-Tiny chunks of bacon are not as effective as medium sized chunks. It really doesn't take much sugar to drown it out (see #2)

4-Thinner cut/fatty bacon is better for baking than what you would normally choose to consume on its own. 

5-Bacon has its limits. It's sometimes better as a pairing of sorts, rather than being integrated into something else.

So, there you have it. That's bacon baking. I don't know if this will be of interest to anyone in particular, but if you are interested just let me know and I will provide you with a few ideas to get you started. 

Reason, Season and Lifetime

..

People always come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.

..

When someone is in your life for a REASON,

it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly.

They have come to assist you through a difficulty,

or to provide you with guidance and support,

to aid you physically, emotionally, or even spiritually.

They may seem like a godsend to you, and they are.

They are there for the reason you need them to be.

...

Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time,

this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.

...

Sometimes they die. Sometimes they just walk away.

Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand.

What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.

The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.

...

When people come into your life for a SEASON,

it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.

They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.

They may teach you something you have never done.

They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.

Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.

And like Spring turns to Summer and Summer to Fall,

the season eventually ends.

...

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;

those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.

Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway);

and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas in your life.

It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Thank you for being part of my life.

Where are you Christmas?

So, Christmas is coming. In like 2 days. I realized that I haven't really had my 'Christmas moment' yet...you know that moment where it really feels like Christmas and that child-like excitement comes back for a moment. It usually happens before now, so I'm a little worried about it. I am starting to feel relief from the workload associated with the holidays when you work in the coffee biz. It's like relentless pulsing waves inundating your every thought.  At least that's how it feels to me. A little stressful. Thank God it's ebbing. 

I have also been trying to figure out what to get for people this year. Giving gifts is one of the highlights to my year. I really wish I had more time or money to devote to it. I have all these great ideas, but they are either to time consuming or expensive. I had a difficult time figuring out what to give to my little brother after the "BORING...GARBAGE" fiasco two years ago. He was six....I'm almost thirty. I guess I should give it up and let it go. I did have a fleeting thought of giving him a whole melange of baby Jesus's from a variety of nativity scenes. Just a box filled to the brim with Jesus so that I can say "tis the reason for the season" in his pouty little face, but, it was a momentary smart ass idea. I ended up getting him Battleship instead. Oh! and Spiderman slippers. 

Other gifts are coming together more slowly. There are a couple in particular that I am trying to put a lot of thought towards, and they are coming along nicely...just slowly. There's another gift project that is starting to worry me, as I have very little control over it working out, but whatever happens, it will be sufficient. 

So yeah, Christmas moment. I need you to come sooner than later. You only have 48 hours to bewitch me. 

That's all for now. I will try to get a post out about the bacon cookies (that turned out to be awesome btw) very very soon. I've just been un-bloggish recently. Probably has something to do with WoW....

I usually hate the travel part of travel, but...

Don't get me wrong, I do like going places. It's just the process of getting there that usually drives me insane. I would prefer a direct flight and any other device that means that I will get where I'm supposed to be without any unnecessary delay. Today my journey was broken into two flights: KC to Dallas and Dallas to LAX. When we arrived in Dallas, our gates got all switched around and then our plane was delayed about an hour because the alleged 'plane' was just pulling out of the alleged 'hangar' for an hour. I was a little pissy about that, but in retrospect it was actually worth it. Because of the delay I got to witness a wonder of nature. I have seen many sunsets, and they are one of my favorite things, but this trumped all.  It looked something like this, but this doesn't do it justice...

The orange was the most vibrant version of orange I have ever seen. There was a shade of green that was almost imperceptible between the yellow and the blue and I could tell that every color (except white) was present. The moon was out and a 'star' that was so bright it had to be Venus. It was so amazing that I was captivated by it for ten full minutes. I think that the colors were a result of the elevation. I have looked online to see if I can find anything from the ground that is close and nothing holds a candle. 

That's all I got

A day off...from everything but guilt

So, it's Sunday. I'm not where I should be, even though I don't have any plans. You know the feeling....where there's something you've been putting off or someone or some place you have been avoiding, but you talk yourself out of it time after time. I have at least a few of those that are backing up on me this morning. Church, my grandma's, and my parents' house. I'm not totally sure what my reservations are on any of those counts. It's not like I will encounter unpleasantries at any of those places, especially the latter. The only thing I can think of is guilt. 

Competition season makes it easier to rationalize. I'm really busy. They all know I am busy. I know they understand. I drive a lot already, and I know they understand that. I guess what makes me guilty is that I don't really do much on Sunday. I sleep in a little (10:20 this morning). I make breakfast (in this case all I had to do was heat up some of my breakfast casserole leftovers). I indulge in some activity as I eat (today, New Moon...I couldn't stop myself). I take a shower at some point, as I rather enjoy being clean, for no one but myself. If I don't go anywhere, I will most likely finish the next installment of the dark teenage romance novel series...even though I bought it yesterday morning.  

The guilt. It, however, will not go away. It will gnaw at me gently as I continue about my lazy day. I will continue to try to distract myself, be it through a book, movie, video game, or blogging. Ugh. 

I'm going to go get my keys....

Bacon Brownie Results

So, they were good. Definitely worth building on. I learned a few things, both about bacon and baking in general. Basically, this is how it went down-

I used Duncan Hines dark chocolate brownie mix

I bought a package of Tyson thick cut bacon

I baked 8 slices of the bacon in the oven at the recommended temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15-20 minutes. I put a sheet of wax paper under it to help catch the grease and keep the bacon from sticking to the pan.

After that was done I drained the grease off into a bowl (we'll get back to it in a minute) and took the bacon off the sheet and set it aside. 

I then started making the brownie mix. It called for 3/4 cups water, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, and 2 eggs. I used the recommended water and eggs, but decided to substitute a mixture of the bacon grease and butter for the oil . They are in the same family basically. I mixed this until it was smooth and turned back to the beautiful bacon. 

I chopped up the bacon (it was basically crisp) into small chunks and added it (a little more than 1/2 a cup) to the brownie batter, mixing it in thoroughly. I was unable to control myself and tasted a little of this concoction. It was sinfully delectable. 

I chose to bake it in an 8x8 pan. It had the highest cooking time of 55 minutes. I was willing to wait. I have no reason that I chose this other than it seemed easier to watch and control if the process seemed to be going awry . I turned the temp down to the recommended temp for the brownie mix and slipped it in the oven. 

55 minutes later they were almost done. I let it bake a few minutes longer after they failed the 'toothpick test'. Finally, they were done.

After letting them cool from skin removing hot to still a little too hot to consume, I tasted....

It wasn't quite rapturous, but it was fairly close. The play of rich chocolate against the savory bacon....the crisp slivers of bacon melted in my mouth as the soft brownie...this is starting to sound almost pornographic....

So, all in all, I think this recipe could be improved upon. While it was amazing, I think it could be taken to a level of palate ecstacy unknown by man thus far. I will do further research. All I know so far- more bacon. 

Upon hearing this news, Pete was instantly jealous that I was jumping the gun, even though I claimed to be doing it as a preliminary trouble-shooting experiment for our BACing session Friday night. It was purely a sacrifice for the cause. Today, he sent me a picture of what I am calling the 'Poor Man's Bacon Brownie'...a cheap imitation of the true delight. 

While it looks tempting, I've had the real thing, and perhaps it's better that you don't know what you're missing, Mr. Licata. It does (as stated in text message) still look like the best piece of sushi ever. 

So there you have it! More reports on the BACing experiments to come!

Holly