warwart

My current place of employment is auditioning vendors for coffee service. (Coffee is the one amenity that supposedly increases productivity and so pays for itself.) I was thinking of starting a ‘coffee club’, as I had at other workplaces, with contributory membership. In the past, I used a cheap espresso machine, but this time I was planning on using Illy’s coffee membership program, so we’d get a good machine and good coffee. Illy: http://www.illyusa.com/AB1666000/webpage.c...ge_ID=110&DID=7 It was suggested the I hold off on the club till they finished their search because I might like the new coffee enough to drop the idea and because this company has no policy on clubs of any sort and wants to set one first. Do folks have any experiences with good coffee service or alternatives at work? I’ll keep you posted on how things go here. (We’re located in lower Manhattan.) I’ve heard they have looked at Starbucks so far favorably, since it’s stronger. warwart

I was hoping that 2$chuck would usher in a new era of vin ordinaire in the United States, where there not designation, culture nor producers to support it at the moment. Sadly it has opened up a strange argument over quality/price. Even if it's splendid – I haven't had it – it was only possible because of a temporary condition, too many grapes. There was a time when the jug wine market did have acceptable, dry, wines that could be consumed mindlessly. Gallo Hearty Burgundy was cheaper (and better) in the US in1984 than vin ordinaire you decanted yourself at the Mammouth in Tours, and GHB came in its own bottle. Not that I'm longing for bad wine, just acceptable wine that I can have with every meal, even breakfast, and snacks too, and while I'm waiting for the subway or bus, or typing email....

I think many people, who would happily eat rattlesnake lips in venom sauce for the thrill, think Haggis is not exotic enough and tastes bad, so it isn't worth the while. Some of my worst childhood memories were of Burns Night with Grandpa, an unreconstructed Jacobite. No noble pudding as big as your arm, instead individual bladder stuffed Haggi -- nasty, elastic and without the necessary whiskey. They bounced. I was five at the oldest, so maybe I'm misremembering. Perhaps this was just the children's menu Haggis, like the franks and beans at a HoJo's? As an adult, I've liked most of the Haggis I've had, except for the tinned varieties. Breakfast Haggis reminds me a lot of scrapple. For my own Burns nights, I've used Lamb etc. (contact info at end, but the haggis link seems to be down today). Yummy with tatties and nips. Whiskey does help -- anything. Not unlike a coarsely grained pate. It's been liked by Scots and non-scots alike -- I never have enough. St. Andrew's day is past (November 30th), but Burns night is nearly here, January 25th! (Alas, I may be in Pennsylvania, tending to my parents. No Burns night this year.) LAMB ETC. 1413 S.E. MILL ROSEBURG, OR 97470 PHONE: 541-673-7463 FAX: 541-957-9945 HTTP://WWW.TCFB.COM/LAMBETC