Great Espresso made with a Bialetti Percolator

I love a great cup of coffee. I mean, a reeaallly delicious cup! When life gets me down, the aroma of a cup of superb, strong espresso relaxes me. I don't know why, but it does. I just love it immensely. However, if I happen to taste a crappy cup, it will only put me in a foul mood. There is nothing worse than drinking a flavorless cup of black water. Yuck.

On a daily basis, in the mornings when I'm rushing to work, I would use my ceramic French Press to make my coffee. Once brewed, I'd just pour it into my travel mug or thermos and off I go. But, there is nothing compared to using a stove top percolator to make a cup of REEAAALLLLY good coffee/espresso at home. Not that it takes any longer to do... I just enjoy the process of making it, watching it fill up in the little pot when I have more time. On weekday mornings, I'm always in a rush to leave so I can't be watching the fire when using the percolator.

I stayed home this entire weekend and made my good and strong coffee with my Bialetti Percolator. I love how the aroma lingers in the air when I make my coffee this way. It is much stronger and it's so satisfying. The percolator I have is the 6 cup (which is like 1 American cup) Bialetti Break~ Caffettiera (Espresso maker). I love this thing so much!





I use my trusty KitchenAid coffee grinder to grind my coffee beans right before I make my espresso. The texture of the coffee should be like grains of sand. I find that this grind works the best for the percolator.





To make the coffee, just loosely fill the funnel shaped filter with the freshly ground coffee. Fill the little tank with filtered water and screw the top of the coffee pot with the tank together tightly.








Make sure the flame is on low. You don't want the flames to wrap around the coffee maker because it could burn.



After a few minutes, you can hear the coffee start to fill up. The right amount of heat combined with quality coffee will give crema like any good espresso should.



When the coffee is almost filled, it's best to remove the pot from the heat, so the remaining coffee wouldn't be shooting out. I've made a mess quite a few times with out really paying attention. Not good. Also, this way the crema will still be there when you pour the coffee out.



So good!



This is the cheapest way to make real Italian style coffee at home. Just froth some foam as topper and you'll have a nice cup of cappuccino! Yum!



What is life without a delicious cup of espresso! Enjoy!

Weekend movie w/ bratz babyz Cloe

The apartment has been in a big mess for quite a few weeks now. Originally I wanted to use Labor Day weekend to get uncluttered, however there just never seem to be enough time to do what I plan. Normally, I wouldn't let the place get so messy... actually, I have no idea how all the rooms became so disorganized... after all, I am sort of a neat freak, but now I don't feel so good looking at the mess I've managed to create. Oh well... I suppose one can allow some slack once in a while. And, I really need good rest instead of stressing over getting organized again.

So... I end up bumming around all weekend and watched a movie on DVD. And, I watched it twice! It was the move " Valentine's Day". These days, I rarely go watch movies in the theater unless it's a movie that requires the larger than life "movie-going experience" such as the epic movie AVATAR. Anyhow, I never did see Valentine's Day. So, with a bag of chips by my side, I watched it Saturday night and again today, Sunday. That was how much I loved the movie. I just thought each of the stories intertwined in the movie were so well played out. It was so charming and definitely would have made me more emotional if I had watched on Valentine's Day this year. Well, I just enjoyed it very much.



My bratz babyz, Cloe kept me company while vegged out. Sometimes, just really need to relax and do nothing... even if my apartment is a big mess! I had a really stressful work week. I guess I'll plan to clean up next weekend (again).