Coffee Snobs

Les and I have finally confessed to being coffee snobs. It crept up on us gradually and wasn’t until we had a recent coffee bean shortage that we realized just how snobby we have become.

It started out over 20 years ago when we started to drink coffee from Amway – Nine to Five brand – sold in individualized 12cup  foil packets. From there we moved onto whole bean coffee and grinding our own. We used to buy beans from the bulk buy bin at Safeway. Looking back on that now we wrinkle our nose in disgust. How old were those beans anyway?

I remember one of the first purchases I made upon arrival on Guam was a coffee grinder. And then we searched for coffee beans. Eventually we stumbled upon a very reliable brand of coffee beans from Cost-U-Less (Guam’s version of Costco). A 2lb bag of Columbian Supreme Beans from San Francisco Bay Coffee Co. Up until a few months ago, this was our mainstay for coffee.

But recently our supply dried up and for some reason this coffee is no longer being sold on Guam. We’ve had to resort to the more expensive Starbucks whole bean coffee.  Even this is hit and miss. We have dared to foray into Western Family beans, and some other generic brands, but then gag our way back to the Starbucks every time.

Finally out of frustration I started researching online for a good source of coffee beans. Preferably some kind of automatic shipping system that I can rely on.

And thus we found Peets Coffee. My first 2 lbs of coffee beans arrived this week, along with a free complimentary lb of ground coffee. So far my husband and I are pleasantly impressed. The house blend coffee was smooth and went down easy for my morning coffee. Les tested out the Major Dickason’s blend (supposedly their most popular coffee) and now he is hooked. Tomorrow I will discover if this is truly the best coffee ever. Poor Les is worried that he has been tainted for life. Good for Peets coffee. Not so good for any other coffee company.

All we can do now is pray that the automatic shipping will be consistent and our coffee will arrive in timely fashion.

Oh and the coffee grinder? It still works great today, after 15 years.

My Attempt at Vegetarian Dinners

Not being a true vegetarian, and definitely not heading into the stream of vegan, I have however been doing my best to accommodate my husband’s desires to eat less meat. So here are a few of the meals we’ve had in the past few days.

Friday night I made homemade Macaroni and Cheese and a pot of frozen peas. I used egg noodles for the pasta. Made a white sauce with added Cheddar cheese for the sauce. Served the peas on the side. 

Saturday night we had baked salmon (the packaged claimed it was wild caught – but how far can I trust the packaging label?). Served this with garlic toast and steamed broccoli and cauliflower.

Sunday (tonight) I first baked an apple crisp for dessert and set that aside. Then I made a type of vegetarian pizza. Home made pizza dough spread with garlic butter and then topped with sliced tomatoes, mushrooms, chopped pickled artichokes hearts, basil and 4 shredded cheese mix. (On sale at Payless today). I made a smaller pizza with no mushrooms and the artichoke hearts more finely chopped for me and whoever didn’t like mushrooms. I also fried up some steak I had in the fridge that needed to be eaten. Like I said, we are not total vegetarians yet. I did however, do my weekly grocery shopping and bought no meat. (It helps knowing I have some things in the freezer I confess….) And Les and Stephanie did not eat the meat. Les was very impressed with my “pizza” and said it was a “taste sensation”. Highest compliment a wife could expect!