Well, we did some deck spray painting on Sunday, but because we’ve never used one of those rental power sprayers before, we didn’t realize how quickly they go through paint. We (OK, Hubby) got the job about 2/3 of the way finished and then we ran out of paint. The paint store is closed on Sunday and the sprayer is $80 a day, so we returned it and will rent it again (probably not until this weekend) and finish up soon.
My excellent masking paper/taping job:
Hubby, spraying with a little trepidation:
Hubby fuel (iced latte):
On a (sort of) related note…
We left behind some very dear friends (E & A, and their 3 kids, D, Z and A) when we moved back to Texas from Virginia. Over the years that we were in Virginia, we shared many, many cups of coffee with these hospitable folks. We even stayed with them on our last few days in town, after the movers had left with all of our possessions (but we were still tying up loose ends of the home sale). As a going-away present, we bought them the “fancy” espresso maker that they had been lusting after for years. While staying with them for those last few days in July of 2004, we decided that the machine was amazing and that we HAD to have one of our own. We ordered one immediately and had it delivered to our new house in Austin. It was waiting for us on the doorstep when we arrived and we had it set up and operational before we even had a working telephone. Hubby and I are both die-hard coffee addicts and since Hubby works from home, our daily coffee consumption (the machine has a “cup counter”) can be a bit staggering. We recently noticed that our machine has made over 9,000 cups (we also use offer made-to-order coffees when we have parties, so not ALL of these cups are ours). Hubby is going to try to take a video when it rolls over to 10,000.
Impressive. I just checked ours, we have had our machine since Feb, and we have brewed 961 cups.
Staci, you need to post how many your machine has brewed, since Lara is the reason we all have coffee running through our veins.
Ok ok, our is at 1,707
Wanna hear something really desperate? We just bought a second fabulous machine to keep at the hilltop house. It was a bummer spending the night up there without it. Talk about priorities… we don’t have BEDS yet, but we have the coffee machine. What does that tell ya???
I am a friend of Trish’s and that is how I found your site. What fantastic food! Can’t wait to try some of them. Most of all, I want to know where all of you found your coffee makers??
That’s pretty funny, but I totally understand! We can’t wait to see the “Hilltop Hideaway” – especially now that it has good coffee! 🙂
Christie –
I’m so glad that you like the site. Please let me know what you think
after you try the recipes. I’m not sure where Staci and Trish got
their machines, but I got mine from http://www.coffeemakers.com, I think (I
got it 4 yrs ago, but I did order it online). It is a Capresso C1500.
I love it and can HIGHLY recommend it, but they don’t make it
anymore. There is a new version, though, that is similar, but a
little “fancier” (it has a separate, insulated milk cooler for
foaming/steaming for lattes and cappuccinos). There are a couple of
different versions available and you can check out all of their
different features at http://www.capresso.com. I think that the Impressa F8
is probably the closest to the one that I have.
I just happened to be at Williams Sonoma today, buying vanilla bean
paste to send to Trish, ironically, and I noticed that they carry the
machines there (so it would be a good place to look them over in
person) and that they happen to be on sale right now. They are only
going to be carrying one Capresso model in the future, so they have
all of the rest of them on sale so that they can clear out their
inventory. They are still over $1000, but they are $200 – $300
cheaper than they normally would be at Williams Sonoma. You still may
be able to find them cheaper online, but then you can’t see them
beforehand…not sure if you live near a Williams Sonoma – if you’re
one Trish’s friends, you could be in Greece or Bali or Australia…who
knows?
$1000 is still an absolutely ridiculous amount of money to spend on a
coffeemaker, of course, but if you’re really into coffee, they are
absolutely worth it. I can brew one cup at a time, can vary it to the
exact strength that I want, can choose how many ounces I want, can
have steamed or frothed milk with the touch of a button and it’s
absolutely delicious. If you have any kind of Starbucks habit at all,
you will absolutely make your money back with one of these babies. My
Hubby works from home and I am a stay-at-home mom, so I’m around quite
a bit, too (even if it’s just to grab a cup of coffee on my way out
the door). We average 6 – 8 cups of coffee a day (together), so that
would be at least $30 at Starbucks (before tip). We’ve already made
9000 cups with this puppy, so we’ve definitely saved a ton over buying
those at Starbucks. We also send my daughter around at parties with a
“custom coffee form” on a clipboard, taking orders: tall or grande?
cappuccino or latte? splenda or sugar? cinnamon on top?
You might ask Trish about her machine, too – she has a different kind,
I think, and may have some recommendations that are different than
mine. My parents have one that allows you to even choose the
temperature of your coffee, but it’s a lot harder to operate (mine is
pretty much “push one button” operation).
Sorry to write you a novel in response to your kind question, but can
you tell that I’m a little enthusiastic about the darned machine? I
hope that you find one that you like and thanks VERY much for the
feedback.