But, I just want a cup of coffee...

I've been trying to remember where this all started - turning everything food related into a reinvented science project...artisan breads, organic milks, private label wines, hand conched chocolates, salt from every sea on the planet, and now, specialty coffee, again.

Food deconstruction is huge in restaurant cooking right now, and certainly, Alton Brown's "Good Eats" and "America's Test Kitchen" have paved the way for home cooks to join in the fun.  But there's something about all this that has finally gotten to me. It happened when I tried to order a cup of coffee.

Coffee was a huge part of the food renaissance/revolution a few years back - Tully's, Peet's, Starbucks, etc...we all traded in our Folger's for a double-half-caf-extra-foamy-latte a while back.  I remember the coffee scenes in Steve Martin's "LA Story" and in "You've Got Mail", making fun of our beverage fetishes.

I just didn't expect it to be happening again, so soon, coffee taken to ANOTHER level, after all, where is the limit or IS there a limit or SHOULD there be a limit?.  How much reinvention of one's favorite beverage can one take in a single lifetime?

This is all about Blue Bottle Coffee...BBC started quietly a couple of years ago, being sold at a few Farmer's Markets.  Not all FM, just a few of them scattered about San Francisco and the East Bay.  Then BBC opened a cafe in SF, and then another and another - but just a few.  When they opened at the SF Ferry Building Market, I finally saw them.  Dozens of 20 something's standing patiently in a line, pecking away at their phones, while they wait for DRIP coffee, yes, I mean good old fashioned coffee filters drip, drip, dripping coffee into a cup...and it takes what seems like FOREVER to get your coffee.

So, BBC roasts their own beans and creates their own blends.  One of their claims to fame is that no bean is sold more than 48 hours after roasting.  After all, who wants 3 day old coffee beans.  Bags are sold in 1/2 pound portions, beans only...and each bean has its very own grind and use instructions.  Apparently, your house will explode if you dare put a bean meant for a french press in your Mr. Coffee. Each bean or blend has been given names that only the people at BBC understand.  The rest of us just go along...

I was given the task of bringing specific beans with me to friends in Marin.  Marin County is one of the wealthiest places on earth, but they are light years behind us poor folks in the East Bay when it comes to food.   BBC does not have a store there - yet.  So, at around 2 pm on Wednesday, I ventured to the heart of BBC, their roaster/cafe headquarters in Oakland.  Only 5 people in line in front of me, okay.  Finally my turn, "I need 2 pounds of 17 Foot Ceiling and 2 pounds Giant Steps, and I'd like to try a cup of Giant Steps".  The coffee doctor behind the counter blinked at me and quietly whispered, "ah, we don't have any more of either of those beans today and we don't make Giant Steps here."  I was taken so by surprise at this news... "well, when will you have these beans?"  "We have them almost every morning, but you have to buy them by 9am - 10 at the latest." I leaned in closer to whisper, "but I have to work in the morning - don't tell anyone - they'll know I am not an animator at Pixar, or a software developer at Apple, and I so love to pretend I belong here."

So sorry, but I'm in a coffee shop and there's no coffee.    Why don't they make Giant Steps?  Because GS needs to made in French Press and alas, they only make drip, drip, drip coffee in Oakland and you can only have what they happen to be dripping that day.  But I didn't get that info until my second visit the next day, when I rescheduled a client so I could be at BBC by 9am. I got the Giant Steps beans, but alas, no 17 Food Ceiling - I had to settle for Hayes Valley Espresso beans instead.  And I felt brave enough to order a decaf latte for myself.

I took a sip, hmmm... this latte is... almost cold.  I took another sip, yep, definitely on the tepid side.  I left the cafe, and then I turned around and went back in to face the coffee doctor.  "Uhmmm.... this latte is rather, ah, lukewarm..."

"Yes, we believe that the beans respond best to milk that is not more than 140 degrees."

"Well, I respond best to hot coffee, so what do we do here?"

He made me another latte, and it was borderline hot, but I decided not to push this any further.    

And, so, you are wondering - how good is this stuff?  Well, damn good actually.  Smooth, not bitter, no coffee aftertaste, I could even drink it without sugar.  I can hardly wait to go back and do it all over again...

Red or white...

How many wine glasses does one person need?  Recently, I organized a client's kitchen, and in the process, we removed dozens and dozens of wine glasses from the cabinets.  My client was amazed to see how many wine glasses he had accumulated over a few years.  They were tucked into every corner of every cabinet, mostly coated with dust.



How does this happen?  A couple of parties and before you know it, you are the owner of dozens of wine glasses.  And especially in California, you're suppose to have glasses for every kind of wine you might serve...white, red, rose, dessert, sparkling, port, etc.

So, how do you decide how many is too many?  How much space for storing glasses do you have?  How often are you going to use all the glasses?  Can you use a "generic" glass and serve whatever wine in them?  Can you borrow glasses from a friend if you needed to?  All these are questions you have to answer when you are deciding how much glassware you want to own.  

Personally, I have 4 red, 4 white and 4 champagne glasses.  That covers the maximum number of sit down guests I can fit into my condo.  If I have more people, I borrow glassware from a neighbor.  

When we put my client's kitchen back together, this is how many glasses he decided to keep.

Here's a great article about choosing wine glasses from The Wine Doctor:

"I suspect most wine drinkers could quite adequately get by with just two or three different types of wine glasses. I would suggest as starting point the three types of wine glasses mentioned above - a standard glass for whites, something a little larger, perhaps, for reds, and of course a flute or similar style for Champagne or sparkling wine." 

The organizing gene...

At some point, when I work with a client, they ask me why some people are so organized and they are not. I've been looking for some scientific data on this, but so far I have not found anything profound.

I only know that, in my case, it comes quite naturally to me. For whatever reason, I have been both organized and neat, for as long as I can remember. I also know that my younger sister, with whom I shared a room, was not. Interestingly enough, she has grown into a much more organized and neat person.

I also know that my organizing skills have improved remarkably over the years. Of course, as a professional organizer I get lots of practice. I find solutions much faster and can handle a wide range of problem areas. But there are tons of things in life that I can't do. So, I simply think of my organizing skills as part of my DNA.

Yes, you can learn the principles and techniques of organization.  As your personal organizer, the tricky part is imparting this information so that it weaves its way into your own natural behavior patterns.  I am not interested in turning you into me.  I am much more interested in improving your life in such a way that it becomes quite natural for you to apply those techniques in your everyday work and living environment.

There's a great debate about whether being neat and being organized are the same, or whether one can be organized without being neat or vice versa.  Personally, I think these are elements that cross over.  The degree to which one must be neat to be organized is an issue.  I have met plenty of people whose desire to be perfect has left them plenty neat, but not very organized.

Photo from The Container Store

Pay, and pay again....

Last week I was working with one of my elder clients and discovered that she has been paying several well known non-profit organizations repeatedly because they send her money requests that look like invoices. Additionally, she has been duplicating payments for magazine subscriptions because they keep sending invoices.

When I studied these fake invoices I could certainly see how they could easily fool someone. Quite frankly, I am appalled at these tactics, especially by groups who we all know are doing great things for the the world.

Last year I found that one senior client had still been paying AT&T monthly for the lease of her 35 year old Princess phone. And the real shocker was that AT&T wanted that phone back or they would charge her for it again! That useless phone cost her over $1200.

Another client had to pay Comcast for a modem because it was easier than trying to struggle through the calling process to get it picked up. I've seen clients break down in tears over trying to get a human on the line for utility services.

I find one of the best ways to track of memberships, subscriptions and donations, is a good old fashioned spread sheet. I note the date of the payment, the amount, and the expiration date of the subscription or membership.

A work of art...

I was looking around the house for just the right place to set up my IPAD recharging station, when it  hit me - it's a work of art, so why not display it as such...

My sofa end table before...

My sofa end table now...

When it's in use, I'll put my Toby Klayman back in its place.  

Life happens...

Last month, my cat, Littleone, was diagnosed with Diabetes.  This has meant bringing into the house a whole new set of treatment supplies:  needles, insulin, testing kits, etc.   In order to fit these things in, some reorganizing had to take place.

As it happens, the easiest place to give her shots is in the kitchen, so now some of my precious kitchen drawer space has to be turned over to her medical supplies.  So, I went to work rearranging a drawer... not so bad, actually.

In August, I worked with a client whose child has severe allergies, and we decided to set up an allergy medication station in the kitchen pantry.  Right there with dog biscuits, is everything they need to treat a reaction.  We chose that spot because it's most likely to be the central location where everyone can access medications in an emergency.  We also duplicated this station on the 2nd floor and a mini station in the car.  (Note that this photo was taken before we labeled the boxes.)  

If you find that you need to set up a medical station, decide where the most likely places are that treatment will take place.  Empty an accessible drawer or shelf and set up your station.   Be sure everyone in the house knows where the medications are, can reach and manage them, and how to use them.  Label your boxes, drawers or shelves accordingly.  

Boho... Boohoo

Okay, I'm a bit behind... A young client has introduced me to this particular style of decor.  "Boho Chic" is a mix of bohemian, hippy, shabby chic, flea market finds, Anthropologie, Mary-Kate and Ashley, vintage, gypsies, Rachel Zoe, Stevie Nicks, Janis Joplin, long stringy hair with loopy curls, and things that drip and droop.  It celebrates life in layers - the more the better, color and patterns.  2011 is suppose to be a big year for Boho... structure is out, geometrics are out, minimal is out and so is, gulp - ORGANIZATION!  Oh, oh... better dust off my resume...  (But I have to ask this:  who's dusting this stuff?)

From:  http://blog.bohoglamour.com