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Terra Bean Coffee

Sunday, December 9th, 2012

Around these parts, you can support countless farms by buying their diverse products, whether it’s beef, honey, tomatoes or … coffee? That’s the goal of Madison-based Terra Bean Coffee, which partners with roasters who directly source their coffee and features a different artisan roaster and farmer each month.

“The reason that I am doing this is to build awareness of the origins of coffee amongst consumers to encourage them to place the same value on supporting small-scale coffee farms as they do on other agricultural products,” Founder Tamara Goldschmidt told me.

She invited me to learn more about her mission and sample this month’s coffee, La Colmena from Los Alpes, El Salvador. The coffee is excellent–good flavor, not at all bitter and something I could easily drink every morning.

But I don’t think that’s the point. This is a coffee I would probably never have heard about otherwise. Each coffee comes with a one-page flyer that includes background on the roaster and farmer (in this case, I learned how Mike Johnson of Johnson Brothers Coffee worked with farmer Luis Alonso Araujo to rebuild his farm).

Not all the coffee is fair trade certified, as Terra Bean Coffee’s objective is to “ensure that businesses that are truly creating sustainable relationships are being featured, regardless of whether they have the seal.”

You get a 12-oz. bag of coffee (ground or beans) each month with your subscription. Three months is $19.95/month and six months is $18.95/month.

Food & Wine Festival shopping list ’12

Sunday, October 21st, 2012

Whether you’re in search of some good food or need ideas for the holiday shopping season, here’s a list of items I purchased or will purchase from the Isthmus Food & Wine Festival held last weekend:

  • Mrs. Chippy’s Caramel Corn from Chippy’s Kettle Corn. I also enjoyed the Yumchata Oatmeal Cookie flavor and the Buffalo Wine & Bleu Cheese Dressing flavor.
  • Old Fashioned Malted Milk Powder Malt from CTL Foods. If you like Whoppers, you’ll love this. Try adding it to coffee.
  • Strawbanero jam from Blue Collar Cafe & Jams. Excellent combination of sweet and spicy. Loved the Bluebanero, too.
  • The garlic beefsticks and Teriyaki beefsticks from Otter Creek Organic Farm. These make a great snack!
  • The goat salami and Tuscan salami from Underground Meats. Makes me regret not signing up for its meat-CSA last year.
  • Plain 9-12 Gouda from Holland Family Farms. I had always ignored Gouda … until now.
  • Brick spread from Widmer Cheese Cellar. Why waste a cracker? I could eat this straight from the container.
  • Rob Abuelo 12-Year Rum. I doubt I’ve had a better rum. “Smooth” would be underselling it.
  • Dark Amber Organic Maple Syrup from Kickapoo Gold. You’ll never use Aunt Jemima again.

Eat like an Olympian

Sunday, August 12th, 2012

During the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the media made a big deal about Michael Phelps eating about 12,000 calories per day. Fast forward four years, and I don’t recall one story about this. I would have liked at least one story in which he talks about what he will eat now that he’s done with competing.

Anyways, I thought I’d put together a meal plan that consisted of 12,000 calories. You can see it’s an absurd amount of food, even with calorie-laden items like doughnuts. At six meals per day, a person would have to average 2,000 each sitting, roughly the entire calories an average person eats per day. All numbers are from MyFitnessPal.com:

Meal Item Calories
Breakfast Biscuits and gravy (3)
Corned beef hash (1 cup)
Bacon (4 strips)
Orange juice (24 oz)
600 + 390 + 140 + 328 = 1,458
Mid-morning snack Jelly-filled doughnuts (2)
Chocolate milk (2 cups)
580 + 416 = 996
Lunch Medium Chicago-style sausage pizza (four slices)
Breadsticks (4)
Blueberry pie (1 slice)
Mt. Dew (36 oz)
1,120 + 560 + 390 + 510 = 2,580
Afternoon snack Poutine
Deep-fried cheese curds
Orange soda (36 oz)
460 + 570 + 510 = 1,540
Dinner KFC extra crispy chicken (4 thighs, 2 wings)
Garlic cheese bread (2 servings)
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Lobster bisque (1 cup)
Cream puff
Beer (36 oz)
1,360 + 380 + 120 + 340 + 240+ 205 + 420 = 3,065
Late-night snack Gyro
French fries
Taco Bell Baja beef chalupas (2)
Gin and tonic (2)
Jack and Coke (2)
Vodka and Lemonade (2)
450 + 380 + 820 + 180 + 270 + 270 = 2,370

Total calories: 12,009

Wanna see someone eat 12,000 calories in one sitting? Check out this video:

    Madison Symphony Orchestra Urban Air

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