BS: Please help me make decent coffee!

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: mack/misophist
Date: 16 Oct 03 - 12:36 PM

Uncle_DaveO: No

During the War Between the States, ersatz coffee was sometimes made with roasted mesquite beans and red clay to cut the bitterness. I tried it. It works. Rotten coffee, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 15 Oct 03 - 12:25 PM

This may be off--no, it is off the thread subject, but does anyone else get a gray rectangle obscuring part of Amos's post of about 1:00? I've been getting those fairly frequently lately, and don't know if it's Mudcat or my own setup.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Metchosin
Date: 15 Oct 03 - 01:10 AM

s'all right Amos, just passing on tips imparted to me by my dear ol Dad, who was a cowboy. He lied about a lot of things, but coffee wasn't one of 'em.*BG*

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Amos
Date: 15 Oct 03 - 12:50 AM

Well, Metchosin, I'll have to defer to your knowledge; I dunno where I picked up the notion that it was to make the grounds sink and I never analyzed it and always thought it worked for me!! But it could have just been the cooling!

A

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Metchosin
Date: 15 Oct 03 - 12:15 AM

Amos, speaking as someone who has prepared and drunk cowboy, bush or campfire coffee, whatever you wish to call it, for almost 50 years, please do no promulgate the myth that eggshells are used to settle coffee grounds.

They don't settle the grounds, they counteract the bitterness that is released by boiling, as posted above. The longer you boil it, the more bitter it becomes, to the point that even eggshells from a gaggle of geese will not resurrect it. They are not a needed ammendment if the coffee is brewed correctly.

Grounds are dealt with by removing the boiled coffee from the fire and allowing the grounds to settle for a few minutes, before pouring it, or carefully adding cold water.

The best bush coffee should only be prepared by someone who views it as a sacrament and never by someone who prefers tea. There are some Arts that that only reach the sublime when a pinch of love is added to the pot. A true student of Zen and the Art of Bush Coffee can tell the difference.

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 11:25 PM

So...are the last few posts the answer to my question? I guess if I add enough "enhancements," I won't care if the coffee is great or not!

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Bill D
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 08:25 PM

Tullamore Dew enhances coffee quite well...

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 07:43 PM

The guy in the back alley agrees with your analysis, Amos! It works for Jack Daniels too.

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Amos
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 07:33 PM

Eggshells are used in cowboy coffeepots to make the grounds sink to the bottom, so you can pour your breakfast off the top and not get it stuck in yer teeth.

That sure is one funny story. :>)

I have always found that even the worst coffee can be made passable by the judicious application of Hennessy Five-Star.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 07:29 PM

Now you're talkin', Bill! Avast there! Where's me cup of brew?

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Bill D
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 10:47 AM

ah, yes, soon.. sail one upsmanship..*grin*

"so, the mainsail is 12 minutes in a Turkish blend, and the topsheet & spinnaker are 14 minutes in a vat of Ethopian Harrar, while the t'gallant mizzen needs a bit longer...perhaps 18 minutes in a Columbian-Kona blend. And we do have a seldom used jib that was lightly dunked in Costa Rican de-caf for contrast"

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 08:13 AM

Wow! That is cool, Larry. I know a guy in the Carolinas who makes incredible wooden ships, his name is Wayne Cantin. He's got a site called Tallships3 (or something like that) where you can see his work. I got the coffee tip from him. I'll PM you and you can send some pictures.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: InOBU
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 07:43 AM

OH Little Hawk!
I also use coffee to dye sails, and coffee and tea mixed to die lines for the boats, send me an email address and I will send you some photos of my boats, the local maritime museum South Street Seaport once did a show of my work, they actually rebuilt a wall of my house in the museum to show the boats in context.
Cheers
Larry

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: InOBU
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 07:36 AM

GOOD COFFEE IN ENGLAND?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
A well, to each their own taste! When I am in England, I often try to make a good cup of U.S. joe, to no avail, as the English grind the coffee too fine. For an example of an Englishman who understood this, as he lived here for many years, note the moment in one of the Hornblower novels, where Forrester has him describe to his steward how to prepair the beans, after describing to him how to roast them he tells him to take them to the gunner and have him grind them to to the consistancy of gun powder - for the charge, he tells him not the fine gun powder for the priming. I have often felt Forrester was sending a message home to his fellow countrymen on how to make a good cup of coffee. And yes, the pot needs to be very very clean.
Cheers Larry

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 04:05 AM

Unlike the Turkish proverb the German saying goes:
Coffee must be hot as hell, sweet as sin, and black as my soul.

Wilfried

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: darkriver
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 02:43 AM

Rapaire,

funny that you mention Arbuckles. I well recall this passage from
Katie Lee's Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle, about Arbuckles.

She quotes an old friend:

"Yup, cowboys is fussy about the stoutness of their brew.
When Bob Heckle and me was keepin' a brandin' camp fer strays
near Thumb Butte one spring, we come down for supplies 'n found
the whole dang town outta Arbuckles coffee, the only kind we would use.
Well, I bought another brand, fergit what, and heads on
back t' camp by our little stream up in the junipers.
Next morning I rolls out, makes the coffee and calls Bob.
As I recall he got a little fire-bellied in town and wasn't
too spry come sunup. He takes a good round mouthful of that
coffee and lets 'er fly -- sprays all over me, the camp,
the bacon 'n eggs, everything.
I says, 'What the hell's the matter, you latch on to a scorpion?'
He says, 'Christ! Where'd ya git that bellywash?' I told him
they didn't have no Arbuckles. 'Jesus!' he spits, 'I cud stick
a coffee bean up m'ass and wade through the crick and git stronger
coffee than that!'" . . .

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 12:58 AM

Sounds like a Good Earthy Skill.

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: LadyJean
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 12:56 AM

A friend of mine went to Yugoslavia, back when it was still Yugoslavia, on a Fulbright, and learned how to read Turkish coffee grounds. Do any of you mudcatters know how?

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 13 Oct 03 - 01:16 AM

Rapaire, the spices are entirely according to personal taste. I find allspice a little overpowering. If you do use it, I would suggest allspice and a little less cinnamon, and no nutmeg or cloves.

But play around with the recipe and see what you like! It's pretty hard to make a really bad apple pie that no one will eat.

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 11:30 PM

Rapaire mentioned eggshells. That's one I remember froma kid. Why use them? Do they help neutralise acid? (They are fairly pure CaCO3 - chalk - which would react with acid.)

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 11:17 PM

Any allspice?

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 11:01 PM

Thanks, Metchosin, and the same to you. I also like a lard pastry, but find the shortening one tastes better (because of the butter) and is much, much easier to handle.

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Metchosin
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 07:12 PM

pdc, power's only flickered a couple of times...a bit of a breeze with a few gusts around 70 clicks, but so far, not much to worry about. Glad I am doing my turkey tomorrow though, although I can always BBQ the bird, if all else fails.

Also, as long as I have an inverter and a 12V I can stay online in a pinch with or without a puff, wind or otherwise.

Pie looks very good, but I'm an old fan of lard, rather than shortening, for the crust. As Madam Benoit said, shortening by its very name, makes the pastry short, not light and flakey.

Very best wishes for your Thanksgiving.

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 07:05 PM

Sorry, duh. Making pastry in food processor: after pastry is blended with the fats to the size of peppercorns, remove top of processor, dribble water gently all over the mixture, then pulse very briefly till a ball or mass forms.

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 06:32 PM

It turns out that I did have the time, so here is the apple pie recipe. Please feel free to ask questions, and to report results!

(I did this in Word, then cut and paste - hope I don't foul up the formatting on the board.)

PASTRY        

3 cups unbleached flour, not sifted
1 cup cold shortening        
3 tbsp. cold butter
2/3 cups ice water

By hand: cut the shortening and butter into the flour until it forms balls about the size of peppercorns. If some are larger, don't worry about it.
Make a well in the centre, pour in all the water at once, and stir with a fork until the pastry clings together and leaves the sides of the bowl.

By food processor: Put flour in processor, add shortening and butter in chunks, pulse the processor repeatedly until you have a mixture about the size of peppercorns. Important: reduce the water to between 1/2 and 2/3 cup, as the processor combines the fat and flour more efficiently.

Wrap in plastic wrap, or put in a covered bowl. Refrigerate at least ½ hour.

This pastry rolls out nicely, stretches nicely, and best of all, is forgiving. If you have to re-roll, the pastry is still good.

APPLE PIE        

Apple pie tastes best with a mix of apples. For a standard 9" pie, you need 8 cups of apples, as follows:

4 Granny Smith apples (no substitutes here, as G.S. apples have enough pectin to keep the pie from being runny).
4 other apples – Jonathans, Macs, Golden Delicious, whatever you have.

By hand: peel the apples, slice into eighths, and then cut each eighth in half sideways.
By apple-peeling machine: cut the circle slices in half, ending with two crescents.

For eight cups of sliced apples:

Sift together 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/8 tsp. salt and 2 Tbsp. flour in a large bowl.
(If you like cloves or nutmeg, add 1/8 tsp. of each or both at this point. I omit both.)
Toss the apple slices in this mix until they are coated, and leave for 15-20 minutes. Line pie plate with pastry.

Remove apple slices with a slotted spoon; place in pastry. (Just to be persnickety, the rounded edges of the apples should go outside, against the edges of the pie plate - makes for more consistent texture, and prevents the slices from cutting the pastry.)

There will be juice left in the bowl in which the apples were; mix 1 tsp. lemon juice into the juice, and pour the mixture evenly over the apples. Dot with 1 Tbsp. butter, cut into bits; roll out top crust, cut steam holes, place on pie and seal the edges. Place pie plate on a cookie sheet to catch drips.

Glass pie plate: bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes, then test apples through steam slit with a skewer or toothpick. If the apples are still firm, lower the heat to 350 degrees, bake 15 minutes longer.

Metal pie plate: 425 degrees, 40 minutes, test apples as above, and if still firm, 325 degrees for 15 minutes longer.

If you want to look all rustic, and blow people away:

Make an apple pie in a 10" cast-iron frying pan. Increase apples to 10-12 cups, and the rest of the ingredients by half. Bake at 425 degrees 40 – 50 minutes, test apples for firmness, and bake an extra 15 minutes at 350 degrees if needed.

Cool pie well before cutting, as this allows the juices to withdraw, and makes a less runny pie. If you prefer the pie warm, reheat in a low oven -- it won't go runny again.

Enjoy with a good cup of European-style coffee!

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 06:21 PM

I, too, would love to have that apple pie recipe! In this thread, or another thread, or via PM.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Bill D
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 06:13 PM

"Does anyone know any more secrets to making European coffee?"

well, since I have never been to Europe, I can't really speak to that. Is coffee really made the same in most of Europe? Is is strong? Are there specific grinds & types of coffee used? I can't quite see why 'European' should be better than coffee in Columbia, or Seattle, or Hawaii, or Ethopia unless it's just what you are used to of that suits your taste.

I guess it's just a matter of experimenting with techniques and types until you get what YOU like...

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 05:44 PM

Nicole, this is from scratch. Can you wait till tomorrow? I'm making Thanksgiving dinner today. [img]http://www.emotipad.com/newemoticons/Munch.gif[/img]

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: NicoleC
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 05:34 PM

Hey, I want that recipe. I'm in need a a good apple pie recipe right now -- provided that it doesn't (gasp!) rely on anything canned, and isn't so sweet that you can't taste the apples anymore -- which is usually what's wrong with mediocore apple pie.

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 05:17 PM

Metchosin, are you using a propane-burning computer, or are you smoking some of the stuff they grow in Metchosin? ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Metchosin
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 04:55 PM

Bodum or filter/dark roast/water quality unimportant/old stove top expresso maker for a high intensity experience/dead horse.

Thread drift...Self reliancy is very important on very windy or snowy days here. My old Pede hand coffee grinder, bolted to the kitchen wall, has eliminated the need for pounding coffee beans in a baggy with a hammer (coarse ground at best, hard on the bag). Also as necessary, propane burner, wood stove and the coal oil lanterns. Although the white LEDs with a 12V are as handy here too as they are in Tibet.

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 04:34 PM

Some thoughts: first -- Little Hawk I think that avoiding the consumer culture would make an excellent thread: everyone could contribute their ideas on how to do so.

Second: this thread started as a desire to learn how to make European coffee, not just good coffee. Does anyone know any more secrets to making European coffee?

Third: I am locally famous for my apple pie. (Modest bow.) Even my stepsons (who detest me) ask me to make it, and my family asks for it for Christmas dinner dessert. It took years of messing around before I got it right. To thank you all for your coffee suggestions, I am quite willing to share the recipe, if anyone is interested, (both pastry and filling); please let me know.

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 03:53 PM

This is way off the point, but you can also convert your TV set into a very nice fish tank or glass-fronted display cabinet by removing most of the innards. Gutting it, in other words. You will find it is much more relaxing to watch the fish or admire those special rare objects you've collected over the years, and NO commercial interruptions either!

Just thought I'd mention it.

Remember, although you may have been born into the consumer culture there is absolutely no reason why you have to go along with it, and if you value your freedom you won't.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 03:21 PM

From upthread: "When I want more, I pour a cup, and reheat in the microwave."

Although that is slightly heretical, I will tell you that it works a lot better if you use the microwave at half power. That way you don't get the bitterness that often follows microwaving coffee.

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Metchosin
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 02:02 PM

You can also use the detritus at the bottom of the cup to safely dispose of lit cigarette butts.

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Stewart
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 01:56 PM

"Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love."
Turkish Proverb

Cheers, S. in Seattle
(sleepless?)

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Metchosin
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 01:51 PM

We're talking connoisseur not addict Little Hawk. An addict would drink shit if you told him it was coffee, just as some alcoholics can not differentiate between sterno and a 15 year old Glendronach.

I may be a coffee nazi, but I am not a total snob. I also have a deep appreciation of Bush Coffee even with a soupçon of horseshit, its just the amount that is the determining factor.

Fill pot or saucepan with icy water, preferably glacial, add equivalent of half a cup of any ground coffee, bring to a boil over an open fire or flame for about 3 minutes.

Retrieve pot from flames with large stick, remove hot lid carefully (fly ash, various insects and trail dust, inclusive of horseshit, can add to flavour infusion at this point or may be infused in individual cups later), add dollop of cold water to settle grounds and pour into cup, preferably tin (you will appreciate the warmth imparted to hands when it is cool enough to drink).

Add coffee whitener, sugar or alcohol of your choice, if deemed necessary. Stir with small stick, preferably not from ground, unless you wish a greater infusion of horseshit and trail dust. Ambrosia!!

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 12:56 PM

Years back, when I worked in the Criminal Investigation Division of the Military Police (yeah, I usta be a cop -- wanna make somethin' of it?) we had precise instruction for making coffee -- instructions which included sprinkling salt over the coffee BEFORE it was made AND sprinkling it in the pot afterwards to "settle the grounds." This was made in a HUGE coffee urn, something like a stainless steel 55 gallon drum. Cops and soliers drink lots of coffee, nearly as much as Alaskans.

I've also heard of a dash of cold water or crushed eggshells being used to settle the grounds. Of course, this was done when the coffee was made by tossing a handful of ground coffee into a pot of hot water and letting it steep....

What was the rule for Cowboy Coffee? "Toss a horseshoe into the pot: if it sinks, the coffee's got to brew a while longer. If it floats, the coffee's ready to drink. If it dissolves, the coffee's perfect."

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 12:37 PM

The other approach, for those really serious caffeine addicts, is to convert your spin washer to a coffee-maker (this isn't as hard as it sounds...) and brew up simply vast amounts of the stuff, gallons and gallons of it, and keep it on simmer in the laundry room at all times. The normally vile, bitter taste of fresh-brewed coffee will slowly mutate into a more distinctive and lasting flavour that is somehow subtly reminiscent of burnt peanuts and morning in Algeria. Once you get used to this unique taste you will never want to go back to fresh-brewed coffee again.

You will never have clean laundry again either, but who really cares?

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 12:25 PM

Of course it is (I think) obvious that coffee is best JUST NOW brewed, and that if kept hot over a period of time it suffers badly. However, around our house that's hard. Our coffee maker doesn't lend itself to one-or-two-cup batches. What to do? What to do? What to do?

I make a somewhat larger pot, drink my cup or two, and turn off the heat under the rest. Let it get cold. When I want more, I pour a cup, and reheat in the microwave. Yeah, heresy, but it's better than the alternatives.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Dave Wynn
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 10:58 AM

My 2 beans worth is Freshly ground (that minute) good beans (I like Java bean) and a pinch of salt (bad for health but good as a flavour enhancer in coffee) by a pinch of salt I mean a real mean pinch.

Oh-Oh....by real mean I mean british mean not USA mean. Mean in Britain can mean small or without largesse.

Ok stop digging Spot.

Spot

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 10:38 AM

There is no decent coffee in Europe, too. All Orientals raise their eyebrows when served this bloody stuff.
Take good unblended coffee beans from Arabia or Ethiopia, roast them, grind them to dust, put them into the special pot (obtainable in Oriental shops), add sugar and a pinch of ground cardamom. Boil thrice. It should you give a real good kick.

Wilfried

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: MudGuard
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 02:50 AM

Decent coffee?
A contradiction in itself...

Best way to do it:

Use fresh clean water, not too hard.
Get it to boil.
Put 1 teaspoon full of Darjeeling First Flush leave tips per cup into a tea sieve, and 1 extra for the pot.
Put sieve into pot.
Pour boiling hot water into pot.
After 2 to 3 minutes take sieve out of pot.

Pour into cups, adding a tiny bit of fresh full fat (3.5%) milk.
No sugar!

Enjoy!

SCNR ;-)
Coffee would be much better if it had not this awful coffee taste ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: DonMeixner
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 12:20 AM

I am continualy amazed that I can buy better coffee at the gas station than I can get at my office. Generally I think Americans make coffee too weak.

Clean and fresh is the trick.

I am fascinated by the fact that fresh brewed dark roast coffee which is HOT allows cold milk or cream to sink, maybe flow is a better term, to the bottom of the cup. I will stay there until mixed. Cooler and weaker coffee and the cream mixes on contact.

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: LadyJean
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 11:11 PM

When I was a kid, I decided to surprise my parents by making a pot of coffee. There was already some coffee in the pot, and I knew mother drank it reheated, so I just left it there. I put about twice the amount of coffee necessary in the top, then I put in the water, and let it percolate.
The end result had a flavor that beggared description. I was told, more than once that this was NOT how coffee was made. It is just about all I know about making coffee, since I never acquired a taste for it. But I thought I'd pass it on to you.

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Bill D
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 11:07 PM

>pedant alert!

"Cigareets & whuskey & wild, wild women,"

>end pedant alert

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Helen
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 09:51 PM

I have only one thing to say to you, Little Hawk:

Cigareets & whiskey & wild, wild women,
They'll drive you crazy, they'll drive you insane!

Back on topic, I read a newspaper article which said that heating the milk makes the coffee taste better, so I just zap it for half a minute or so until it gets that warm milk smell (I can't stand drinking warm milk straight because of that smell, but in coffee it's a whole new story). Then I pour the coffee into the warm milk and it does add a little something to the taste. Making it with cold milk is different in a subtle way.

Warm milk doesn't work with tea, IMHO, because the taste doesn't work as well as it does with coffee.

It's worth trying it to taste the difference. It makes sense of why cafés push steam through the milk.

I still prefer tea over coffee, but I like do coffee.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 08:58 PM

COL! (chuckling out loud...) Sounds like you've found your personal recipe for happiness, pdc.

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 08:05 PM

Well then, just to make your day: for me there's nothing as good as a great cup of coffee with brandy and a cigarette. After sex! (Blows virtual smoke toward LH.)

Subject: RE: BS: Please help me make decent coffee!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 07:51 PM

pdc - Sure...

- Too much surfing the Net.

- Too much Mudcat.

- Buy too many model kits.

- Sleep in too late.

- Stay up too late (sometimes).

- Run fingers through hair sometimes when bored, causing premature greasiness.

- Am addicted to pornography featuring hamsters and gerbils in little barbie doll suits.

- Like to pretend that I worship William Shatner. Have done so for so long now that I am beginning to wonder if I actually DO worship him. Scarrry!!!

- Used to drink coffee, but QUIT! Yahoo!!! One down...

- Used to be addicted to sugar, but pretty much quit that too! Yay! Two down...

- Used to be addicted to sex and romance, but decided it's not worth the personal complications. Three down...

- Too much Mudcatting. No, wait...I already said that. It's a tough one.

All in all, I'm proud of the progress I have made toward eradicating my bad habits, but there is still much room for improvement. At least I can take satisfaction in having avoided alcoholism, tobacco, gambling, and drugs...

- LH