Roasters Choice Winners Announced - 2008

Roasters Choice Tasting Competition Results

1st Place RC102 – Carribou Coffee – Ethiopian Organic Yirgacheffe
2nd Place RC 106 – Sweet Maria’s – Rwanda Gkongoro Nyarusiza
3rd Place RC109 – The Roasterie – Kenya
4th Place RC104 – Berres Brothers Coffee Roasters – Tanzania Peaberry – Songea
5th Place RC105 – Dolce Gourmet Gelateria & Café – Panama – City Roast
6th Place RC103 – Tony’s Coffees and Teas – Colombia – Tolima Microlot – Gaitania Cyerposo
7th Place RC108 – Lexington Coffee Roasting Company – Rwanda Bufcafe
8th Place RC107 – Bear Creek Coffee – Papau New Guinea
9th Place RC110 – Vermont Artisan Coffee & Tea – Ethiopian Sidamo – Organic Fairtrade
10th Place RC111 – Cuvee Coffee Roasting Company – Rwanda - Bucafe

Woooooo Hoooooo!!!!!!!

Ignorance is Bliss......

Blame

"All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you."

~Wayne Dyer

Vegan is looking better and better...

Meat and milk from cloned animals is as safe as that from their counterparts bred the old-fashioned way, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday.

How long have they been cloning animals? Let's see, Dolly was cloned in 1997 - I believe the first "successful" clone, although Dolly has since died of lung cancer. Ok, so they've been cloning sheep for 10 years, pigs and cows for less than that. Is meat from cloned animals really safe for consumption? Some research and long-term side effect would be nice. And isn't LONG-TERM 20 years? Maybe 10-15 - it hasn't even been 1 year since humans have been consuming cloned meat. Medications go through years of study (on animals & humans) before they are approved for mainstream consumption. Why isn't our food? It's strange...when bovine growth hormone was initially approved for use in beef and dairy cattle the FDA said this was "safe." Europe and Canada have sinced banned the use of rBGH (stating consumption health risks, most significantly cancer), the US has not. How do you explain increased growth rates in children, early menstruation (as early as six)? I don't think we can chalk this all up to the evolution of man.

By its very definition, a successfully cloned animal should be no different from the original animal whose DNA was used to create it. But the technology hasn't been perfected - and many attempts at livestock cloning still end in fatal birth defects or with deformed fetuses dying in the womb.
The FDA's report acknowledges that, "Currently, it is not possible to draw any conclusions regarding the longevity of livestock clones or possible long-term health consequences" for the animal. But the agency concluded that cloned animals that are born healthy are no different from their non-cloned counterparts, and go on to reproduce normally as well. I think this paragraph contradicts itself.....cloned animals are no different than their non-cloned counterparts but they don't know about their long-term health consequences but they reproduce normally???? I'm confused.....

SSSSSSCCCCCCCAAAAAAARRRRRRRRYYYYYYY!!!!!!

"The FDA says, 'We assume all the unhealthy animals will be taken out of the food supply,"' said Joseph Mendelson of the Center for Food Safety, a consumer advocacy group that opposes FDA's ruling. I think this is basically an admission that cloned animals are not the same ans their non-cloned counterparts..."They're only looking at the small slice of cloned animals that appear to be healthy. ... It needs a lot further study." KEY PHRASE: It needs a lot further study. (so just release it into the market and don't require labeling of this meat for the consumer to make the decision themselves as to whether they want to eat cloned meat - is that how you are going to study it further? Just let us americans be the guinnea pig - more cancer - oh well - at least the FDA will have their research...) "a small slice of cloned animals that APPEAR to be healthy". "We assume unhealthy animals will be taken out of the food supply..." SSSCCCAAARRRYYYY!!!!!

100% organic here I come...Let's hope they don't start cloning fish - at least I could eat that. Although research shows a negative impact on fish (death, disease and malformation) from runoff from farms using bRGH.

I know, I know meat from cloned animals won't be available for a long time and it is very expensive to clone an animal ($20-30,000) so it's not like they will be cloning animals for human consumption but just the thought and the approval from the FDA without significant research on the consequences and not requiring labeling. They say they are not under proper jurisdiction to require this but they are allowed to approve labeling for health claims. On July 10, 2003, the Food and Drug Administration announced plans to permit the manufacturers of food products sold in the United States to make health claims on food labels which are supported by less than conclusive evidence.
The current rule requires "significant scientific consensus" before a claim can be made.
"Significant scientific consensus" required to make a health claim but not to sell cloned meat...
THIS IS CRAZY!!

my soap box has ended....

Marriage

Research shows

• Marriage is associated with shorter average hospital stays, fewer doctor's visits, and lower health care costs
• Getting married reduces depressive symptoms in men and women
• People who marry live longer
• A significant positive effect of marriage on how men rate their overall physical health status
• A positive effect on women's overall health

I join the club!

:)

If You had One More Day...

I was watching Oprah yesterday (since at 4:00 PM I am not so busy in my store) and she had Mitch Albom on who wrote a new book For One More Day. It poses the question: If you had one more day to spend with someone who has passed, who would it be and what would you do/say? It is important, I think, to reflect, especially this time of year on how important and meaningful the simple things are despite the materialism going on around us. Although you may think, "here goes miss negative again, thinking about death" - this is part of my pursuit to be more positive and appreciative. As I thought about this question it became even more clear to me because of who I would spend my day with and what I would do. So, think about this today and remember how fortunate we all are to be happy, healthy, and to love each other as much as we do! I love you all!

1. If you had one more day to spend with someone who has passed, who would you spend it with and what would you do?

2. If you had one hour left to live who would you call?

My responses:
1. I am fortunate to have only lost a few really close people. Because of this I cannot pick just one. So I will talk about all three. For all of them this is true: I would want to spend a day with Grandpa Jack, Grandma Jack and Grandpa Padupski. I would want to do what they enjoy doing for the day and I would just LISTEN! There is so much unknown and I would love to know more.

I would love to start my day with grandpa Jack baking (I don't know if he liked to do this so this may be the one part that does not qualify for what they want to do but..) I would love to bake with him and listen to what he has to say. Then I would want to draw and paint with him and just listen. I would then love to go to the racetrack w/him and hear how he gambles and what he has to say about the horses. Finally I would want to finish my day w/him talking about grandma and his family. I would tell him how much I love him, how much he has influenced my life even in his passing and I would thank him for the father he gave me.

I would like to spend my day with grandma Eloise sculpting and glassworking. I would love to just listen to her soft voice talk about school and what that meant to her, to listen to her talk about grandpa and her family. I would tell her how much I love her, how proud I am of her for her accomplishments and how I am amazed more and more every time I think about it by what a pioneer she was for women in education and art. I would thank her for the father she gave me.

I would like to spend my day with grandpa padupski working on crossword puzzles. I would like to listen to him talk about when he was a child, his parents, grandma and his family. Of all grandparents, I know the least about him and I presume it is because I didn't spend enough time listening. I would tell him how much I love him and I would thank him for the mother he gave me.

2. If I had 1 hour left to live I would call Joe, Mom & Dad, Blaine & Erin.

Pumpkin Dip

2 - 8oz. cream cheese
1 small can of pumpkin
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. ginger

Beat the above ingredients together. Then add 4 cups of powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time.
Serve with graham cracker sticks.

Pumpkin Dip - I need recipe!

Erin -

The Pumpkin dip was FABULOUS!

Please send so I can publish it as the 1st recipe on my blog! :)

I love your comments - keep em comin! Attitudes is awesome!