The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 02: A Comma (is a Restful Pause)

[ChloeTzang]

Oh Chloe! your humility is sweet, but stop that. You might be--at least in reader's reactions--the best erotic writer who's hit these pages in a while. Recognize what you've done and let us learn from your input.

Thank you. That and Tex's comment just made my morning. I do recognize I'm new here tho, and I still have a tremendous amount to learn. And who better to learn from than all of you who've been writing here for so much longer. A lot longer for some. And now, a little writing, a little coffee, some toast and fruit and some home made yogurt and I'm out the door and off to work.

Got my latest story up and back to working on my Nude Day story that didn't make it. I am SO finishing that sucker before I do anything else!!!!!!

https://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4411/27156178.1e/0_16ea6e_e6749acc_L.jpg

 

[Handley_Page]

T
https://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4411/27156178.1e/0_16ea6e_e6749acc_L.jpg

That's the best "first thing in the morning" that
I've had on my screen for a very long time: Thank You.

Personally, I prefer my coffee with milk or cream, and I'll take Demerara sugar every time.

Meanwhile, the rain has stopped, but it's got quite cool.
More coffee, I think.

 

[sharingfantasies]

So I think the nearest three star Michelin restaurant to me is either San Francisco or Chicago.

I got curious and did some looking around. Interestingly, Michelin ONLY covers restaurants in NYC, Washington DC, Chicago and San Francisco. So even though everyone talks about the great restaurants found in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New Orleans, those restaurants will never get Michelin stars just because of their location. So many people say that using the James Beard awards gives you better insight to great eateries in the US. However, here are links to the Michelin Starred restaurants in the US

https://www.finedininglovers.com/blog/news-trends/chicago-michelin-guide-2017/

https://www.finedininglovers.com/blog/news-trends/michelin-guide-new-york-2017/

https://www.finedininglovers.com/blog/news-trends/washington-first-michelin-guide/

https://www.finedininglovers.com/blog/news-trends/michelin-guide-san-francisco-2017/

And for the British and Irish: https://www.finedininglovers.com/blog/news-trends/michelin-stars-great-britain-ireland-2017/

 

[geronimo_appleby]

Ah, yes. Heard of the show, haven't watched it.

good book. so far.

 

[TxRad]

Morning all. You too GA.

Up early and out of bed also. Fresh coffee for everyone. There is even a box or two of donuts on the counter. Help thy self.

 

[sr71plt]

I wondered when this passel of cats I'm sitting with would be comfortable enough with my presence to wake me up to put their breakfast out. Today, day thirteen. With look I'll be headed home on day fourteen. Putting coffee on now.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I wondered when this passel of cats I'm sitting with would be comfortable enough with my presence to wake me up to put their breakfast out. Today, day thirteen. With look I'll be headed home on day fourteen. Putting coffee on now.

I'll join you. A large strong one. Been busy this morning and I need my down time communing with my coffee mug.

So the friend is recovering? That's good.

 

[NotWise]

Today it's a bagel and cream cheese with my second cup of coffee.

 

[Handley_Page]

Two absolutely ghastly Teas at the local historical place.
But this evening - ah - a real one.

 

[NotWise]

I learned how to hand-pollinate squash yesterday, so first thing this morning I went out and pollinated a zucchini. The male flower and the female flower were from the same plant.

I thought later, "That's incest, you know. You're mating a brother and a sister."

Then I realized that it didn't make a difference because I was just going to eat the baby anyway.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I got curious and did some looking around. Interestingly, Michelin ONLY covers restaurants in NYC, Washington DC, Chicago and San Francisco. So even though everyone talks about the great restaurants found in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New Orleans, those restaurants will never get Michelin stars just because of their location. So many people say that using the James Beard awards gives you better insight to great eateries in the US. However, here are links to the Michelin Starred restaurants in the US

https://www.finedininglovers.com/blog/news-trends/chicago-michelin-guide-2017/

https://www.finedininglovers.com/blog/news-trends/michelin-guide-new-york-2017/

https://www.finedininglovers.com/blog/news-trends/washington-first-michelin-guide/

https://www.finedininglovers.com/blog/news-trends/michelin-guide-san-francisco-2017/

And for the British and Irish: https://www.finedininglovers.com/blog/news-trends/michelin-stars-great-britain-ireland-2017/

This is absolutely true. There is no excuse for using Michelin in the US. While many of the country's eateries are tolerable only for those who have had their tastebuds surgically removed or who are blind drunk, there are also many place well off the official French radar that serve food worthy of genuflection. Just look up Thomas Keller.

 

[TxRad]

I learned how to hand-pollinate squash yesterday, so first thing this morning I went out and pollinated a zucchini. The male flower and the female flower were from the same plant.

I thought later, "That's incest, you know. You're mating a brother and a sister."

Then I realized that it didn't make a difference because I was just going to eat the baby anyway.

Is cannibalism allowed at Lit?

Evening all,

A fun day was had by all. Sunbathing and swimming on the one hand and writing on the other. Tomorrow the lawn gets mowed one way or another. I'd borrow my neighbors sheep but that would mean I would have to build a front fence. Too much work.

The evening coffee is ready.

 

[litfan10]

Is cannibalism allowed at Lit?

Evening all,

A fun day was had by all. Sunbathing and swimming on the one hand and writing on the other. Tomorrow the lawn gets mowed one way or another. I'd borrow my neighbors sheep but that would mean I would have to build a front fence. Too much work.

The evening coffee is ready.

Hey Tx! Sounds like the world is treating you well - good to hear! Have fun!

 

[NotWise]

This is absolutely true. There is no excuse for using Michelin in the US. While many of the country's eateries are tolerable only for those who have had their tastebuds surgically removed or who are blind drunk, there are also many place well off the official French radar that serve food worthy of genuflection. Just look up Thomas Keller.

If that's the limit of Michelin ratings in the US then they shouldn't be doing it. Even Santa Fe has restaurants that *are* travel destinations, which should qualify them for Michelin's three stars.

 

[ChloeTzang]

If that's the limit of Michelin ratings in the US then they shouldn't be doing it. Even Santa Fe has restaurants that *are* travel destinations, which should qualify them for Michelin's three stars.

Hmmm. I'm not exactly someone whose paid a lot of attention to restaurants except to find food. Gourmet restaurant hunter is not my middle name. Except for dim sum. But you've got me interested.

 

[NotWise]

I just got a text from my youngest. She's the ballet dancer.

The prima from New York City ballet who's pictures were plastered on her wall when she was growing up is a guest teacher in the school where she is now the assistant director. To quote her text, "She hugged meeeeeeeee!!!!!"

How many people get hugs from their childhood idols? Wouldn't that be awesome?

 

[Hypoxia]

=Even Santa Fe has restaurants that *are* travel destinations, which should qualify them for Michelin's three stars.

Quite. And they aren't even all on Canyon Road.

 

[Hypoxia]

Is cannibalism allowed at Lit?

Only the good kind.

Meanwhile:

* Yesterday featured a 4-hour drive for my cardiologist to say I need more exercise. The pacemaker comes later.

* Today had a 4-hour drive for my retinologist to say I'll have my other eye lasered next Monday. The first eye was done Monday last week. Wow, fast turnaround! Soon I'll be able to drive without a blindfold.

* Tomorrow I may have to do a 1-hour drive for labwork, xrays, MRI, and stuff y'all needn't know. No therapeutic massage, alas.

The tenor guitar stuff is coming along nicely.

 

[Handley_Page]

From what I have seen & read, a 'Michelin rating' is an excuse to charge a fortune for some fodder, wrapped up with a posh set of cutlery. As I recall it, Rumpole (the Old Bailey hack) had a few remarks on the subject. If I can find it, I'll quote it.

 

[oggbashan]

From what I have seen & read, a 'Michelin rating' is an excuse to charge a fortune for some fodder, wrapped up with a posh set of cutlery. As I recall it, Rumpole (the Old Bailey hack) had a few remarks on the subject. If I can find it, I'll quote it.

Michelin stars are awarded by the culinary criteria of the French. The French tend to assume that no chef trained outside France can be any good therefore restaurants in countries other than France are unlikely to be given as many star ratings.

And:

1. The French don't believe Americans would recognise good food.
2. The French haven't forgiven Americans for naming French (or Freedom) Fries. Those fries never were French - they were Belgian. As for Freedom Fries? The Americans tend to forget they could never have won their Independence without French help against the British.
3. It's revenge for McDonalds and Heinz Ketchup.

1. still applies if you substitute British for American and
3. is changed to "Revenge for Yorkshire Pudding and Spotted Dick".

Also - The French think Americans don't know how to make coffee, and the Americans will never be forgiven for California's great wines.

 

[ChloeTzang]

From what I have seen & read, a 'Michelin rating' is an excuse to charge a fortune for some fodder, wrapped up with a posh set of cutlery. As I recall it, Rumpole (the Old Bailey hack) had a few remarks on the subject. If I can find it, I'll quote it.

For my idea of "posh" cutlery (see image immediately below). My partner's Mom gave us a collection of complicated cutlery for Christmas this year. Old silver Fish knives and forks, and these weird cake knife/fork combination things, and a whole set of old ivory handled cutlery that her Mom had given her for a wedding present. I assume I am now accepted into my beloved's family. (His Mom's reaction when she first met me - "You didn't tell me she was Chinese!!!!" Me, very helpful. "I'm not, I'm Vietnamese Chinese French Polish..." - at the time it was sort of weirdly funny but after almost four years she seems to have adapted...). Guess I should look up what you do with them and try using them. My partner says he vaguely remembers using them a few times at Christmas when he was a kid and his Mom hauled them out. With my Mom, "posh" was anything that wasn't disposable chopsticks or plastic forks. LOL.

http://www.lasersareus.com/images/source/chopsticks/Plastic/Z3JQI5.jpg

And now, Coffee. Breakfast. Work. Got almost nothing written yesterday. Was so tired after work I came home, napped, had dinner early, slept. Was fast asleep when himself got home and woke up this morning with him fast asleep so I guess it's tonight before our lives intersect more meaningfully. He didn't wake me up when he got home which means I must have been totally zonked. Usually all it takes is the garage door and I'm wide awake.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/26/81/db/2681db5e3094b3887d1b72cbd9cfffe8.jpg

And my new story is meeting with mixed reactions. Those that enjoy the impact of reality head on (the five stars) and those that want a totally happy ending stroke story (one star on up...). It's a bit different from my previous ones and I tried a mixed first person / second person style. First time I've tried that and it does need a bit more editing to improve it but I'm kind of happy with it. Sitting down in the 4.4's right now but creeping up..... May even end up with a little red H eventually.

And now, back to work on "The Temptation of Sammi Woo."

 

[Hypoxia]

Also - The French think Americans don't know how to make coffee, and the Americans will never be forgiven for California's great wines.

Yeah, when Two-Buck Chuck beats a Mouton-Rothchild in a blind taste test, the universe quavers and demons fall from the sky. As for the coffee, well, we have our ways... [/me glares at my French Press]

Meanwhile, jewelers in the Sacramento Valley have reported a large recent influx of people bringing in PLACER GOLD to sell, sometime several hundreds of dollars worth PER DAY each. Where's it from? Well, y'all may recall the recent failure of the spillway on the Oroville Dam. That's at the north end of Gold Rush country. Gold-hunter are harvesting the washed-up debris. Could their finds be taxed to help pay the billion-buck cost of repairs? Yeah, sure.

More coffee. More tequila in the coffee. More staring out, pondering my fate.

 

[NotWise]

Michelin stars are awarded by the culinary criteria of the French. The French tend to assume that no chef trained outside France can be any good therefore restaurants in countries other than France are unlikely to be given as many star ratings.

A lot of the chefs at top restaurants here are French-trained and some are actually French.

1. The French don't believe Americans would recognise good food.

Hmm. Maybe that explains why French cooking is popular. We just don't recognize good food.

2. The French haven't forgiven Americans for naming French (or Freedom) Fries. Those fries never were French - they were Belgian. As for Freedom Fries? The Americans tend to forget they could never have won their Independence without French help against the British.

In vernacular, they're just called "fries" anyway. I don't know of anyone who ever called them "Freedom Fries." That was ridiculous.

3. It's revenge for McDonalds and Heinz Ketchup.

Maybe McDonald's should just serve the burgers uncooked.

I read an article recently that McDonald's is losing popularity here and starting to struggle a little. I'm helping them struggle; the last time I ate at McDonald's was 46 years ago. I don't eat ketchup, so they could be right about that.

Also - The French think Americans don't know how to make coffee, and the Americans will never be forgiven for California's great wines.

We make coffee in a lot of different ways. What French method did we miss?

Very few Americans have ever tasted those really great California wines. They cost $hundreds/bottle and at least some can only be bought by subscription.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I read an article recently that McDonald's is losing popularity here and starting to struggle a little. I'm helping them struggle; the last time I ate at McDonald's was 46 years ago. I don't eat ketchup, so they could be right about that.

Very few Americans have ever tasted those really great California wines. They cost $hundreds/bottle and at least some can only be bought by subscription.

Ahhhh MacDonalds. Burgers. Now you're talking my kind of restaurant. Lol. Burgers and pizza. They changed their CEO and their marketing and hiring policies and they've been going downhill for a while now. I haven't gone to a MacDonalds since I was a kid. Prefer A&W or Five Guys. Chick-Fil-A as well.

As for wine, far prefer those Australian and New Zealand wines. Chile has some good ones too and waaaay cheaper. Nothing like a good Shiraz with your Five Guys burger and Cajun style fries. Yum! I know, I'm a barbarian. Or a New Zealand reisling with dim sum.

 

[Handley_Page]

For me it's likely to be a glass or three of Gewürztraminer with my burger; when I can be bothered.

Last time I drank some French wine, I thought it far too dry; too sharp.
But I have tasted some of the really good burgundy and loved it.
Such a shame it's so expensive. . . .