The Many Thoughts Of Kevin

Strawberry Brown Butter Bettys

2010-05-27T10:36:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Katy for sending me this recipe from the blog Smitten Kitchen. These Strawberry Brown Butter Bettys were easy to make and came out super yummy! The only variations I made in the recipe below was omitting the lemon zest (because I forgot to get a lemon at the store) and using canned whipped cream (because I'm lazy.) Also, when making the panko I used my room mate's slap-chop like device and it worked out well. I will be making these Bettys again!

Strawberry Brown Butter Bettys
Adapted generously from Gourmet

Makes 6 muffin-sized desserts

3/4 stick salted or unsalted butter
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
6 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated
1/8 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
1/2 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs, or make your own, below*)
1 1/2 to 2 cups strawberries, stemmed and sliced (I forgot to jot down the weight, but it was less than a half pound of whole berries)
? Softly whipped cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

In a small pot, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, reduce heat to medium-low. The butter will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Don’t take your eyes off the pot as while you may be impatient for it to start browning, the period between the time the butter begins to take on color and the point where it burns is less than a minute. Remove from heat.

Lightly butter muffin cups with some of brown butter, then sprinkle with granulated sugar. Roll bread slices with a rolling pin to flatten. Brush both sides with additional brown butter, then gently fit into muffin cups.

Stir together brown sugar, zest, salt and panko, then add strawberries and toss to coat. Stir in remaining brown butter. Heap strawberry mixture into cups, pressing gently.

Cover pan with foil and bake 15 minutes. Uncover and bake until strawberries are very tender, about 10 minutes more. Let stand 5 minutes before removing from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

* Make your own panko: Sure, it’s not exactly the same thing but I’m convinced that you can make very panko-like crumbs if you do the following — Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Tear one to two slices of soft, crustless white bread into 1-inch pieces and pulse them in the food processor until coarsely ground. This will make a generous half cup. Transfer crumbs to a rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown and dry, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool. Use.

Filters

2010-05-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm loving my new camera! One of the fun things about it is the use of filters directly on the camera itself. The filters themselves have customization so you can make one photo come out hundreds of ways. It's pretty awesome.

Here we have nice photo I took of the Painted Ladies in Alamo Square.

Now we have the same picture but with pastel filter. Pretty spiffy, eh?

Here is the watercolor filter. You might recognize this photo from my Snap. Post. Repeat. blog.

Here we have the HDR filter.

The fisheye filter. I think this would be better on a portrait or macro photograph.

The extract color filter removes all the color from the picture except one of your choosing. Here I kept the color green in the picture.

This is a high contrast filter.

Here is a miniature filter. It blurs part of the image to create a fake miniature scene. I think this filter would work better on a different type of picture, like a cityscape one.

The retro filter is fun. You can change the tint to either a blue hue or a brown hue.

The soft filter reminds me of a soap opera.

I didn't think the starburst filter was doing anything when I was looking at the picture on my tiny LCD camera screen but now I see the starburst. I bet this filter would be awesome with a night picture!

The toy camera filter makes the picture look like it was taken with a cheap toy camera that has a plastic lens. I find it funny that the toy camera types of photographs have been so popular because of their distorted artsy look despite the fact that they are (originally) created with, well, cheap toy cameras.

Here is a water color filter of a photograph of San Francisco from Twin Peaks. It came out really neat!

Here is the extract color filter again. I think this picture looks stunning.

And here's another watercolor filter picture.

I could post more and more, but I think get the idea about how much fun they are. BTW, did I mention that I love my new camera!?

Mother's Day (a little late)

2010-05-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

Due to unforeseen circumstances we had to move our Mother's Day activities two weeks after Mother's Day. But, it was a beautiful day in San Francisco and Mom, Jamie, Alice and Nancy drove down from Napa and enjoyed the day with Dave and I. We started out having tea at The Secret Garden Tea House. After our bellies were full of pastries and tea we took a stroll through The Botanical Gardens followed by a jaunt to Twin Peaks where we took in the view of San Francisco. We ended the beautiful day at Alamo Square Park where the famous Painted Ladies are. It was a gorgeous day and everyone had a great time!

(BTW- The day was also a learning experience with my new Pentax K-x camera. The pictures below get slowly better as the day progresses and I get more accustomed to the camera's settings.)

Happy 19th Birthday Kelly!

2010-05-15T22:46:00.001-07:00

Tim's 32

2010-05-03T21:49:00.000-07:00

Tim turned 32 yesterday. Here are some highlights from his Birthday Brunch.

Easter Over Two Days

2010-04-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

Easter started on Friday when we decided to dye eggs at work. It continued onto today with Easter lunch at Mom's. I thought I got some cute photos so I wanted to post them on here. That cute puppy would be my Dacchi :)

Ten Phones In Ten Years

2010-03-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

While thinking about upgrading my cell phone I happened upon the realization that I’ve had many, many phones. I then had to count my phones and think about how each one seemed like a new marvel in technology when I got it, but then seemed old and outdated when I replaced it.

Ericsson SH888
My first cell phone was a hand me down from my dad. We activated it as a prepaid phone with Cellular One in 2000/2001. I was old when I got it and quite frankly sucked.

Nokia 5110
Everyone had this Nokia. It was a solid phone with the easily changeable custom face places. This was my first contracted phone and thus was free (what a concept back in 2001!) A few months after I got it Cellular One was consumed by AT&T Wireless.

Panasonic EB-TX310
To date, I believe this is still the smallest, thinnest phone I have ever owned! It had programmable ring tones, changeable color backlights and a speakerphone! The sad part about this phone is that a month after the year warranty expired it just stopped working. It was completely awesome up to that point.

Nokia 3310
My replacement phone when the Panasonic died. It was cheap and easy. Not a bad phone, much like the 5110 above, but I wanted better…

Nokia 6800
…And better I got! This beauty was pretty awesome with it’s fold out QWERTY keyboard and a little joystick for games and navigation (which I was always scared I was going to break!)

Motorola i860
Having been fed up with AT&T I switched to Nextel (what the hell was I thinking?) This phone had a cool little trigger button that made the phone flip up like a switch blade. It was also my first camera phone. It wasn’t too bad as phones go, but when Nextel was married off to Sprint I jumped ship and left this phone behind.

Samsung SGH-T629
Ahh, sliders. The newest thing to make basic phones cool. I couldn’t afford an iPhone so I got this bad puppy with T-mobile.

BlackBerry 7280
With my need for connectivity and tech increasing, I bought this guy off eBay for something like $25. It was old, used and beat up but I was able to get email and surf the web!

BlackBerry 8700c
About a month after I got the 7280 off eBay I found this handsome devil for $5 more. He was still used but less beat up and had a much better screen.

HTC G1
My prize in the list of phones! The very first Google Android phone. It’s been an awesome phone and I really want to get another Android phone.

So there we have it, ten phones in ten years. Kind of cool how ten years has shaped mobile technology. It makes you wonder what will be available ten years from now...

Proof!

2010-03-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

See, coffee loves you too!

Incriminating Photos

2010-03-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

When I was asked if I wanted to go to my friend’s mom’s Playa Party I first thought, “why is she having a pimp style party?” Well, I was wrong. So wrong! It wasn’t Play-A, it is actually short for La Playa where Burning Man is held and our gracious birthday hostess attends every year. Her house was decorated inside and out like a Burning Man camp with tents on the inside of her house, pillows, throws and lights everywhere. Upon entering the house one is whisked away to the wardrobe room where you are assaulted by several Burning Man minions and you yourself are transformed into something... Psychedelic. I submit for your viewing pleasure a photo of myself as some wizard thing... And Dave as a self proclaimed Nubian Queen. Enjoy.

UPDATED: Pork with Burgundy Mushroom Sauce

2010-03-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

After another go at this recipe I made a few more minor tweaks that resulted in some big differences in flavor! I took some advice from Katy and added some sugar, a half cup brown sugar to be precise. Also, on a tip from Tim I reduced the heat of the sauce before I added the wine. Tim's thinking is that when the wine gets thrown in at a high temperature that it goes through a chemical reaction resulting in the vinegar taste that my first go around with this dish had. So I turned the sauce down to a medium simmer for about five minuets before adding the wine. Both changes made this sauce savory sweet and oh-so-delectable! Below is the original post and the second version of the recipe.

I recently reworked a recipe I found on The Pioneer Woman from Steak with Burgundy Mushroom Sauce to Pork with Burgundy Mushroom Sauce. It turned out well. There was something missing from the sauce though, perhaps some sugar? I will try it too refine it and report back! Below is the altered recipe. Please check out the original recipe from The Pioneer Woman.

Ingredients
8 small pork tenderloin cutlets
½ cups Butter
1 pound White Mushrooms, Sliced
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
3 whole Green Onions, Sliced
½ cups Brown Sugar
1-½ cup Red Wine: Burgundy, Merlot, Cab, Etc.
Salt And Pepper, to taste

Preparation Instructions
In a large skillet, melt butter over high heat. Throw in mushrooms, garlic, and green onions and cook, stirring occasionally until mushrooms are nice and golden. Reduce heat to a medium simmer and let sauce come down in temperature for about five minuets. Pour in wine and brown sugar and stir, scraping bottoms of the pan. Allow to cook for several minutes or until liquid is reduced by at least half. Don’t be afraid to splash in a little more wine if needed. Fry a pork in a separate skillet till cooked. Spoon mushrooms sauce over the top.

Rule of Acquisition #69

2010-03-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

Overheard at work: "Yeah, I can take it in Quark... (giggles)"

To which my reply was to send around this:

Yes, I went there.

Pork with Burgundy Mushroom Sauce

2010-03-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

UPDATED POST & RECIPE! Please follow the link to the updated recipe.

I recently reworked a recipe I found on The Pioneer Woman from Steak with Burgundy Mushroom Sauce to Pork with Burgundy Mushroom Sauce. It turned out well. There was something missing from the sauce though, perhaps some sugar? I will try it too refine it and report back! Below is the altered recipe. Please check out the original recipe from The Pioneer Woman.

Ingredients
8 small pork tenderloin cutlets
½ cups Butter
1 pound White Mushrooms, Sliced
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
3 whole Green Onions, Sliced
1-½ cup Red Wine: Burgundy, Merlot, Cab, Etc.
Salt And Pepper, to taste

Preparation Instructions
In a large skillet, melt butter over high heat. Throw in mushrooms, garlic, and green onions and cook, stirring occasionally until mushrooms are nice and golden. Pour in wine and stir, scraping bottoms of the pan. Allow to cook for several minutes or until liquid is reduced by at least half. Don’t be afraid to splash in a little more wine if needed. Fry a pork in a separate skillet till cooked. Spoon mushrooms sauce over the top.

Golden Gate Park

2009-04-24T01:29:00.000-07:00

Tim and I had a nice little stroll through the park today. The first structure is Portal of the Past. The rest of the pictures are from Strawberry Hill.

From GG Park 042309

The 10 Best Shows of All Time!

2009-02-12T16:14:00.000-08:00

Top 10 best shows of all time. Ever. Dot, the end of it.

10) Scooby-Doo – This lovable pup has been pleasing audiences since 1969. A cartoon with a live laugh track? Awesome!

9) Futurama – Suicide booths in the future. Enough said.

8) The Simpsons – Another great show that’s been on since the dawn of time. Who hasn’t spent tons of time wasting their life away watching The Simpsons?

7) Family Guy – Think of Family Guy as The Simpsons on crack.

6) Star Trek (All of Them) – The best are absolutely The Next Generation and Voyager, but really they’re all just extensions of one another. And come on, who doesn’t want a halodeck?

5) Robot Chicken – Who knew that Snuggle the fabric softener bear getting raped could be so funny?

4) Buffy The Vampire Slayer – Vampires, werewolves, witches, and lets not forget singing demons! This show has EPIC written all over it!

3) Xena: Warrior Princess – Maybe my inner lesbian is trying to escape, but when I watch Xena I’m enthralled! Yes, it’s very corny. But when you make a show about a frisbee welding warrior princess who takes on Greek mythology you have to have a sense of humor.

2) Avatar: The Last Airbender – This is Nickelodeon’s version of anime and they hit nail right on the head. They take a deep story line and mix in spectacular imagery and imagination. The only thing wrong with the show is that it was only three seasons.

1) Courage The Cowardly Dog – Who? Yeah, no one really knows about Courage but he’s my hero. A small dog living in the middle of nowhere saving his family every week from all the crazy stuff life throws at them be it alien ducks to militant eggplants. The show is by far in another category of humor, and for most it’s probably a miss. For me, it’s a bulls eye.

Dino Kisses

2009-01-29T14:17:00.000-08:00

You have to be very careful around dinos, or they will steal your chocolate!

Blingee!

2009-01-21T16:06:00.001-08:00

OMG! Blingee.com is so much fun! I feel like a sixteen year old school girl!

Personalized Glitter Graphics

Holy Holsteins Batman!

2009-01-12T15:35:00.000-08:00

It's been forever since I last updated. I guess I've been really slacking around the holidays. I was busy with making my Christmas gifts which were home roasted coffee. They took a while to roast so I was spending the better part of December doing that, along with my normal Christmas and Birthday gift hunting. I'm particularly proud of my gift to Mike. I took one image I had of him and Sasha his beagle and made it into a zip up sweatshirt for him to use while he was out here in the cold California weather away from his Caribbean climate.

From this:

To this:

For this:

I'm really happy with the results when they arrived in the mail, and Mike was too. Over New Year's I was off to Las Vegas for the second time in my life. I love that town, there is always something to do. I didn't hit it big, but then I really didn't gamble much. I found a Star Trek slot machine that I'm in love with! As you play you earn medals and your rank increases. You actually log in so it saves your information. So when I go gambling again in who knows how long I'll log into the slot machine and the 4 medals I've already won will still be there for me! How cool is that?! I counted down to midnight in the middle of the strip with Dave, Nate and Ryan and my giant Eiffel Tower glass full of Paris Punch! It was fun! The fireworks had a newly imposed height restriction put on them this year so they were really low and disappointing. We gathered in front of the Bellagio which is about the center of the strip thinking we'd have a great view from there, but alas all we could make out were clouds of smoke. Next time we do New Year's in Vegas we'll have to go to a club party instead of congregating on the strip. We did however find some awesome Mardi Gras beads to wear. We got a lot of suggestive comments from them and their size, even from the cops. ;)

I'm funny!

2008-11-07T16:06:00.001-08:00

DEATH TO SQUASH!

2008-10-31T09:47:00.000-07:00

The roomies (Tim and Nicole), Dave, Alain and I got down to some serious pumpkin carving last night. Here are the fruits of our loins:

From DEATH TO SQUASH!

RedBull Soapbox Derby

2008-10-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday Dave and I went to RedBull's soapbox derby in Delores park. There were 75,000 people there, it was crazy packed! There were some pretty creative karts there. Here are some highlights of the derby but feel free to check out all my pictures at my Picasa album.

From RedBull Soapbox Derby!

Day Two in San Diego

2008-10-10T21:50:00.000-07:00

Today I was fed five times at luxury hotels and/or restaurants! Man, these site tours are really hard work. I've had to much food and wine the last two days I feel like I'm going to bust. However, I feel like I can recommend some really good places to eat in San Diego! I think the only thing that would make this trip even better is if a friend was here with me. The group of people I'm with are all wonderful but the only thing we have in common is shop talk and where we live, the bay area. If a friend was with me it would all be better. But then if a friend was here I might not be on my best behavior... LOL

When I got back to my room this evening I had Champagne and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for me. They had two glasses for the Champagne, I guess they think I'm going to have a guest over... Hmmm... I wonder if they can get one of the cute bellboys to join me tonight! :)

Rancho Bernardo Inn

2008-10-09T22:38:00.000-07:00

I'm in San Diego for a Familiarization Trip. What is that? A familiarization trip is usually set up by a third party company hired by hotels in one area to get you to go to said area and familiarize yourself with it and their properties in hopes that you will host events and functions there. Got it? Good!

So I'm in San Diego saying at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. It's a gorgeous property. It's a bit more conservative than my personal tastes but all together very wonderful. I started by checking in and finding myself in a very comfortable and luxurious room. See said picture below.

I even had a special autumn cheese and caramel apple snack platter waiting for me in the room. Very chic. Then I whisked myself away to my complementary spa treatment. I opted for the hot stone massage. It was wonderful. The hot sensations of the stones with the deep tissue massage incorporated was so relaxing. I am in heaven!

So after the massage I got a tour of the property. After the tour I was treated to a seven course meal. This was my first seven course meal ever. They had wine paired with every dish. It was exquisite. See the menu below to see what I experienced. Yes, experienced. I can't really describe any other way. The chef came out a couple times to check in on us. He was very nice and very attractive! ;) By far the best wine was the dessert wine with the seventh course, a Alcyone Dessert Tanat, from Uruguay, 2005. It tasted like chocolate and sex. I could have orgasm! Everything was Exquisite, even the water they were serving was Evian!

Upon my return to my room I found a delicious chocolate surprise waiting for me! The chef had personally made a chocolate mousse and torte for us. I think I am in taste bud overload! Yet again, see the picture below.

So far this is day one of three here in San Diego. I'm suppose to be pampered like this the whole trip, but so far the next few places have a high bar to reach. Man, my job is tough...

Car Selling...

2008-09-30T13:01:00.000-07:00

Anyone in the market for a car? I'm selling mine...

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/cto/861329902.html

2004 Saturn VUE

$8,000 OBO

82,000 Miles

Great Condition!

4-Cyl. 2.2 Liter

5 Speed Manual Transmission

2WD

Air Conditioning

Tilt Wheel

Dual Front Air Bags

Power Steering

Power Windows

Power Door Locks

Power Sunroof

Privacy Glass

Cruise Control

CD Player with Sirius Satellite Radio and iPod connector

I just moved to San Francisco and I no longer need a car anymore. So, alas I am selling my dear Saturn. This VUE is in great condition and gets killer gas mileage! It has a cool collapsible basket in the back cargo area for groceries and what not. There are no scratches, no dings or body damages. It has the Saturn dent resistant side panels which are a testament to its dent free condition. I truly love this car and would buy one again. If you have any questions, please contact me at the email above! Also, the photos below were taken on 9/28/08.

Sasha Pictures!

2008-09-30T11:31:00.001-07:00

I picked Mike up from SFO the other day and took him to his folk's. While there, I got to see Sasha!!! She's gotten a little meat on her bones and some freckles on her belly, but she's still as cute as ever!

Red Wine Poem

2008-09-30T00:28:00.000-07:00

The red wine is talking
I hear it tell me about my past
I cannot avoid it
I do not want to avoid it
I wish I could make sense of all the paths
So many taken
So many not taken
Did I choose the right ones
Did I choose the wrong ones
I think too much
Others think too little
Damn my conscience
Will I ever be satisfied
Will I ever be happy
In ten years will I be alive
In ten years will I be happy
Why can't I be happy
Why can't I be content
I am good at many things
I am not great at anything
People like me
I like myself
I don't think that is enough
I wish it was enough
Would I be a different person 400 years ago
I am so much
I am so little
I am just getting by

Sint Maarten Photos

2008-09-09T10:49:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a week since I got back from visiting Mike in Sint Maarten and I have yet to post my photos. Well, here they are! I didn't take my camera with me much because I didn't want to lose it or get is stolen so I only have a few pictures. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Oriental Beach where I went swimming in the ocean. Alas, all I can do is give you the picture of the beach from Google Maps. You can see the floating trampolines Mike and swam out to and jumped on even from the satellite pictures! It was a blast!

From Sint Maarten

Cell Phone Victory!

2008-08-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

So the CA court ruled that it's illegal for cell phone carriers to have early cancellation fees, or contracts. Sprint was ordered to pay back customers who had paid these fees and to even pay customers who canceled early and didn't pay the termination fee (like myself.) This ruling might get overturned, but for now its not.

I wonder when CA will start enforcing this? With this ruling it would make canceling my T-mobile contract simple, and it should make my collection from AT&T disappear. So either I can switch to AT&T and get an iPhone, or AT&T won't be able to legally lock the iPhone and I can just take one over to T-mobile...

I hope the wheels on this get rolling soon!

Read about it at:

San Francisco Chronicle
Tech Trader Daily
G4

Pool Party

2008-08-16T22:10:00.000-07:00

I had an awesome day at a pool party, hosted by the wonderful Scott. His friends were away for the weekend and gave him their awesome house in Atherton to use. So of course he throws a party! This house is amazing. Three levels with lots of statues and art. They even have a tyrannosaurus skull in their living room. Yes, TYRANNOSAURUS! It was a great day, check out my pictures:

BJ's are BAD!!!

2008-08-13T09:47:00.001-07:00

I have a Black Jack widget on my Google Desktop that I was playing with today. I wasn't winning a lot of hands. I know some of the basic rules for BJ, like if the dealer shows a low card chances are he'll bust trying to get to 17 or above. Despite my best efforts, I can't seem to really come out ahead. Personally, I think I have bad luck. I mean, how can I get three aces in a row!? CRAZY! Maybe I should be playing a poker widget instead...

Tea Gardens

2008-08-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

I had a great time today out and about in the parks of San Francisco. First I went to the Japanese Tea Gardens in Golden Gate Park. I always enjoy going there. The whole place is so serene, although all the tourists that were there today kind of took away from that. I also love the koi fish, as you can see by my many pictures of them. From the Tea Gardens I went to Sutro Heights. I don't know what it is about Sutro Heights, but it's climate is magical. It's always nice there. There could be fog surrounding it but the park itself will be clear and a nice 75 degrees. I saw some sort of a heron there walk around which was neat. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera so I didn't get any pictures. As always there were lots of dogs, which I just adore! From there I went to Ocean Beach where it's always nice. I soaked up some sun (my face got a little pink) and enjoyed walking through the sand. It was a perfect day in San Francisco and I'm glad I had the chance to get out and enjoy it!

Mac & Cheese with Clarice

2008-08-05T10:38:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Tim and I went over to Scott's for dinner. He made a yummy mac and cheese with bacon from scratch. Props to Scott for being pretty handy in the kitchen! While at Scott's I got to hang out with my pal Clarice! Clarice is part dachshund and chihuahua. Remind you of anyone else? Clarice spent a lot of time in my lap and so did Fatty the tabby. It was a nice afternoon of cute pets and good company.

Honky Tonk Food

2008-05-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

I just saw the craziest thing at Wal-Greens and I had to get them! Dwight Yoakam has his own line of frozen food! CRAZY!!! I'm having the pizza fries right now, and surprisingly they're kind of good. The macaroni bites remind me of the TGIF's appetizer, which are good. I hope they are too. Here's his office page for the products. http://www.bakersfieldbiscuits.com/

Crazy!

2008-04-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting article from the Journal of Analytical Toxicology, October 2003. Yeah, its almost five years old but still good.

Caffeine levels differ among coffee brands
Scientists at the University of Florida College of Medicine recently analyzed 16-ounce servings of caffeinated coffee from specialty shops. They found almost twice as much caffeine in the strongest brew--Starbucks regular, at 259 milligrams (rag.), compared with the weakest, Dunkin' Donuts regular, at 143 mg.

Another type of Starbucks caffeinated coffee purchased from a single Gainesville store for several consecutive days varied even more, from 259 mg. to a whopping 564 mg., almost as much caffeine as three maximum-strength NoDoz[R], said Bruce Goldberger, an associate professor and director of toxicology in the University's Department of Pathology, Immunology, and Laboratory Medicine and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Addiction Medicine.

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Although some people think that they are bypassing the stimulant, seven decaffeinated coffees from various shops all contained some caffeine, although less than 18 mg. per 16-ounce serving.

"I don't think people really know that there is a wide range in (coffee's) caffeine content," said Dr. Goldberger. "Our experience with specialty coffee is that it is not consistent."

Coffee drinkers might have to live with uncertainty, an important consideration for those who monitor their caffeine consumption, he said.

Caffeine can enhance human performance by increasing alertness and by speeding reaction time, but it can increase the heart rate, blood pressure, and anxiety, according to previous research cited in the study.

The caffeine content of Starbucks coffee varies, according to a written statement provided by Lara Wyss in Seattle in response to a request for comment on the study.The statement read in part:

"We emphasize that any absolute numbers reported on caffeine levels in Starbucks coffee do not reflect what a customer would receive in every cup of Starbucks coffee. There are many variables that contribute to caffeine content from cup to cup," including the type of bean, roasting and brewing methods, and grind.

Starbucks regular drip coffees contain an average of 200 mg. of caffeine per eight-ounce serving; the decaffeinated drip coffees contain an average of 5 to 11 mg. of caffeine per eight-ounce serving.

Caffeine is a stimulant that naturally occurs in more than 60 plants, including coffee, according to the International Food Information Council Foundation in Washington, D.C. The average American consumes about 200 mg. of caffeine a day, mainly from coffee. An eight-ounce cup of drip-brewed coffee typically contains 85 mg. of caffeine.

Although caffeine is recognized as an addictive substance, the investigators do not usually encounter patients seeking help for caffeine dependence, said Dr. Mark S. Gold, a professor and chief of addiction medicine in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida.

"Caffeine dependence is a non-issue for me because people won't leave their home for it, won't mortgage their house for it," he said.

He conducted the study in two phases. The first phase included a one-time purchase of 14 caffeinated brewed coffees from six retailers in Bethesda and Severna Park, Maryland, including Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Big Bean, Hampden Cafe, Royal Farms, and Einstein Brothers. Six espressos and seven decaffeinated brewed coffees were also purchased. Caffeine was isolated from the coffee and was then measured by gas chromatography.

The espressos ranged in size from 40 to 170 milliliters (ml.) and contained 58 to 185 mg. of caffeine. The larger servings contained more caffeine.

All of the decaffeinated coffees contained less than 18 mg. of caffeine per 16-ounce serving. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not require decaffeinated coffee to be absolutely caffeine-free.

The second phase used 16-ounce cups of Starbucks' Breakfast Blend, a mix of Latin American coffees, purchased on six consecutive days from a single Gainesville store. Results for the six days were, in order: 564 mg., 498 mg., 259 mg., 303 mg., 300 mg., and 307 mg.

The study results demonstrated the need for retailers to inform consumers of the caffeine content in ready-to-drink coffee because many of the beverages contain a high amount, said Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C.

"Until now the focus has been on coffee packages, but this study indicates the need to have caffeine-content information at coffee shops as well," he said.

(Source: Journal of Analytical Toxicology, October 2003.)

How crazy is it that you can have nearly double the amount of caffeine in your coffee and not really know it? I can sometimes feel jittery from one small cup of drip coffee, but the next day not even feel motivated with a quad americano... And decaffeinated coffee still has caffeine... That should fall under false advertising.

Crazy, crazy, crazy...

The Night Pier

2008-04-27T10:16:00.001-07:00

I've been taking a renewed interest in photography lately, probably due to Kelly. Kelly has such a talent for it and I'm a bit jealous. I wish I could take pictures as well he does. I've been trying to play with the settings on my camera more when I take pictures. Before I was just pointing a clicking and letting the camera do the thinking. Now I'm playing more with the ISO, white balance, shutter speed, exposure, ect... Here are some photos I took at night on the Berkeley Pier. It was such a warm night and the pier was so beautiful. I'm glad I caught some of it on film.

Cookies!

2008-04-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

Kelly had me over yesterday to make cookies. He's never really made cookies before. How does one go through life without making cookies!? Isn't that like a sin somewhere in the bible? They came out really good! Best part was the big tub of them I got to take home with me! Mmmmm!

Look at that Shadow!

2008-04-26T09:43:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Kelly and I went to the one battery at the Marin Headlands that's right by the Golden Gate. I knew this spot was awesomely photogenic and I wanted Kelly to take some pictures there. He ended up taking some really phenomenal pictures. Here's one he took. I just can't get over the shadow from the bridge. It was such a clear a beautiful night, perfect for taking pictures.

Blizzard is a hog!

2008-04-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

I found this cool program, WinDirStat, that maps out your disk space and presents it in a colorful "image" of sorts. Each color shows a file type. Here's the picture of my disk space usage (click to enlarge):

Pretty, eh? So after looking at this I was wondering what an MPQ file was being that its taking up most of my disk space. Straight to Google to find out. It's Blizzard's file format for archiving game files. And what's the only Blizzard game I have on my computer? World of Warcraft, just like ten million other people! I knew that WoW was large program, I didn't think that it would be taking up the majority of my disk space! 12.7GB of disk space! How crazy is that?! I canceled my subscription to WoW about two months ago because I've been so busy I haven't had time to play it. I always thought that maybe I'll sign back up "some day" and didn't want to delete the program. Maybe I should... I guess I won't worry about it until I actually need the space but good lord!

Mike the Headless Chicken

2006-11-13T04:58:00.000-08:00

Do you know about Mike the Headless Chicken? He was a rooster that lived for 18 months after getting his head cut off. They now have an annual Mike the Headless Chicken Day in Fruita, Colorado. And I might add that the very first Mike the Headless Chicken Day was on my birthday! Coincidence? Personally, I would have named him Lucky.

Welcome to Casino Kevin!

2006-11-13T04:09:00.000-08:00

LabPixies has come up with some fun gadgets that I've added to my Google Homepage. In fact, I've taken all their casino games and made my own casino tab on my Google Homepage. They have some other fun games and gadgets too like you're own loading bar and a Round'em Up game (that I gave up on after five minuets). Try as I might, I can't put any on here. Stupid blogger won't allow them. But give them a click and have some fun.

Fish for Throught

2006-11-13T03:14:00.000-08:00

Pam's House Blend (from over there in my link section) had some of these Jesus fish alternatives on her blog. I like these two the best! I want the T-Rex for my Saturn so I can totally be recognized by everyone on the road as a dork!

In the begining...

2006-11-12T05:57:00.000-08:00

What to do when you have internet access and seven hours to kill at night? Post random things online to spread joy to the world! Hooray!