How to Store Coffee

I was doing it wrong (though I'm a tea girl since living in London!), but I thought some of you might like to have an update!

Storing Coffee

There are popular misconceptions on the way roasted coffee should be stored and maintained. The enemies of roasted coffee are moisture, air, light, and heat. Storing your coffee away from them will keep it fresher longer. Therefore, an airtight container stored in a cool, dry, dark place is the best environment for your coffee.
Freezing Coffee - Not as Good as an Iced Mocha

Some people store their coffee in the freezer thinking it is going to keep the coffee fresh. Here are a couple of reasons why storing coffee in your freezer is a bad idea:
Coffee is porous. This is a good thing for fans of flavored coffee as the beans absorb the coffee flavoring syrups and oils that are used to make flavored coffee. However, if given the chance, coffee can also absorb other things like the flavor of seafood or the moisture that your freezer produces. This moisture will in turn deteriorate the coffee and even make it taste like, well... like a freezer.
When coffee is roasted, the beans release their oils and essences to give the coffee its distinct flavor. You'll notice these oils are more prominent on dark-roasted coffee and espresso. When you break down these oils by freezing, you are removing the flavor.
Think about it...if coffee tasted better and fresher from the freezer, then you would buy it in the frozen food section, your local coffee shop might look more like an ice cream parlor, and our power bills would be through the roof trying to maintain a meat-locker the size of a warehouse.
When to Freeze Coffee

How long does coffee stay fresh? A good rule to use is two weeks. Now, if you happen to have found a great price on bulk coffee, and you don't plan on using it within two weeks, the freezer can be an acceptable one-time shot. What this means is that once you take it out of the freezer, it should never go back in. The constant changes in temperature will wreak havoc on your coffee. The frozen moisture on your coffee will melt and be absorbed into the bean. When you put it back into the freezer, you are repeating the process.

The goal in freezing coffee is to keep it away from moisture. If you have a five-pound bag of coffee to store, divide it up into weekly portions. Wrap those portions up using sealable freezer bags and plastic wrap. I've even read you should go so far as to suck out the excess air from the freezer bag using a straw!

Remove the weekly portion when you need it, and store it in an air-tight container in a dry place like your pantry. Do not put it back into the freezer!
When to Refrigerate Coffee

Never, unless you are conducting a science experiment on how long it takes to ruin perfectly good coffee. The fridge is one of the absolute worst places to put coffee.
Buy whole beans and keep them whole as long as you can.

Would you cut a cake into pieces the day before you plan to serve it? Would you buy it pre-sliced? Of course not! The pieces would quickly become stale and the frosting would start to dry out. The same goes for coffee. Grinding the coffee breaks up the beans and their oils, exposes the beans to air, and makes the coffee go stale a lot faster, no matter how you store it.

This holds especially true for flavored coffees!

For the best tasting coffee, buy your beans whole and store them in a sealed container in a dark place. Grind right before serving.
Vacuum-sealed coffee

Vacuum-sealed coffee does not equal fresh coffee. When coffee is roasted, it releases carbon dioxide and continues to release it for days afterward. Fresh-roasted coffee can be packaged in valve-sealed bags to allow the gasses to escape and will taste best about 48 hours after roasting. To be vacuum sealed, the coffee has to first release all its CO² or it will burst the bag. The vacuum bag will indeed help preserve coffee longer while it ships and maybe sits on a store shelf, but before it shipped it had to sit around for a while before it was "sealed for freshness." Vacuum sealing is best for pre-ground coffee, which we already know is not going to taste as good as fresh-ground coffee.
A quick review for serving the best coffee:

Buy whole beans directly from a coffee roaster if possible.
Look for valve-sealed bags, not vacuum-sealed.
Store your coffee beans in a sealed container in a dark place.
Grind your beans just before brewing.
Enjoy!

Laurel's Latest

From Lo's Blog:

Holy Moly! Good news today! We went to the U of I for the first follow up after being released...Laurels labs are most excellent and fabulous! YAY! All blood counts were beyond normal. Laurels little white cells are in the normal range...as well as hemogloben and platelets are very happy and normal. This is so encouraging! The Doctor was giving Laurel high tens! (versus high fives!) Yay again. If you could see the smile on her (the doctors face) you would know this was super great news. Yay again. Laurel thanks you all so much for your prayers...as she tells me to tell you with tears in her eyes....couldn't do it without you. This is so positive and you need to know your faith, prayers and just being there with your love are working.
PS. from Sandy...please get better- she's a pain in the...Oh so kidding just so you all know Laurel being here with me is so much a blessing. She and I are being perfect for oneanother. Not only am I able to be there for her she is being there so much for me too....can't tell you what a blessing she is being. hugs to you all!
Love to you all,
Laurel and Sandy

Laurel's Update - Laurel's Latest : )

From Lo's Blog:

The short and the sweeeet of it.......Laurel is now staying at Sandy's in Iowa City - close to the hospital and clinic, BUT not too close!

Yea! She was released from the hospital Friday. She was unhooked, untied, and untethered from all the hospital paraphenalia! CELEBRATE, CELEBRATE, shout in the streets! Needless to say - she is thrilled, too.

She is still having some challenging times/moments, but Laurel is optomistic that her body is gaining strength in the grafting process (we are too). You are a champion! You are the best in my book!

Laurel is so comfortable and just loving being at Sandy's - (picture this) wearing her Hawks sweatshirt today, for game day, and plans to watch them win over Michigan State. : )

(I think this is from Nancy.)

Laurel's Update

Hello, friends and family!

Here is the latest from Laurel.

She met up with a couple bumps in the road yesterday and today, (actually last 3 days). As she said, "It's just the way it is".
Much of her lab results are still very good, but not ready to go home just yet (or to Sandy's house).

I could expound on how wonderful I thought she looked today (on skype) and how great it is to talk with her, but I will honor this space as hers, and only convey to you what she reports!

She WILL be leaving U of I Hospital soon! Continue those good thoughts, well wishes, and prayers!

Love to all,
Nancy

Laurel's Update

Update from Nancy:

The results are in - no, not the Hawks game! Yes, they won, but a greater, much greater victory, is to be able to shout at the top of my voice ….Lo is improving so much that they say she can hopefully leave the hospital next Tuesday! Yes! You got it right, Tuesday, October 20!

Laurel feels she is now coming out of the most difficult phase of her hospital stay. The last five days have been just “sucky” (my word, not hers). Now she is seeing that light at the end of the tunnel, the wellness light. Dr. Silverman, the transplant guru doc, is very encouraged about Laurel’s great progress. Thanks to everyone for their absolutely incredible love and support. One of Laurel’s nurses said, in her 20 years at the hospital she has never seen so many cards in one room!

The beautiful gal with the bald head is feeling very comfortable with her new look (as she should – she is adorable). She loves the "no-fuss-just-pat-dry, I’m outta here look"! She also likes that she now looks like her three boy's from the back side. :) She’s looking forward to getting some fun winter hats. Good time to be bald, she says, as the leaves fall from the trees and we prepare for the winter months ahead.

My sister has always been so creative and artistic and she continues through all her endeavors in the hospital. She has been keeping the hospital Rec. Dept. busy: Finished a mosaic box for adorable Jade; and, currently learning to crochet – GO LO! Oh, and was the BIG bingo winner last week!

Laurel has made a new, very special friend while in the hospital – Sophia. She is a little Pomeranian that gave Laurel a big kiss when they met. Sophia’s owner said, “She never gives kisses!” Sophia knows, she gets it – Our gal, Lo, is the best (either that, or she had some left over jelly on her cheek!)
When Lo gets her discharge papers (hopefully) Tuesday, she will be moving in with Sandy while her Kalona house is being made more "environmentally friendly” for her return home. Both are super excited and looking forward to spending some time together. I know it will be great for both of them. Anyone sending mail to Laurel, should from this point on, send to: P.O. BOX 651, KALONA, IA, 52247. Her mail is being picked up and given to her while at Sandy’s house.

So, as Lo’s sister, and from all our family, I want to thank you all for your continuous and overwhelming love, care and support. As the book, Eat Your Peas – for Sisters says, “Bound together by this gift for which we have others to thank. Better off for life in each other’s company. Blessed in ways we have yet to discover. I’m so lucky you are my sister”!
Much love,
Nancy

Laurel's Update

Update from Paula and Sandy:

Hi! This is Paula and Sandy giving you the latest update on our girl Laurel. When we arrived Laurel was really feeling poorly, high fevers for the last 24 hours. The nurse explained to us that it's because of the "grafting" going on - which means her own stem cells are trying to graft with her body is not recognizing that they belong to her. This is very normal and a good sign. It's working! However she feels like crap. It was a rough nite for her last night:( The nurse also said in a few days she can have a steriod that will make her feel better but they just can't give it to her right now. We thought we'd cheer her up by bringing her to a beauty salon (her bathroom) with the best hair stylist we could find - Paula! Paula was a master stylist for sure...The only woman in the world who could look this beautiful bald is.....guess who. Your right...Laurel. She really does look beautiful and may decide this new look might be one she may want to keep:) Hey it's super easy to style! No bad hair days!
Until next time - keep your prayers comin'
Paula and Sandy
PS. she had a handsome furry friend come in and give her smooches. She loved it.

Laurel's Update

From Lo's friend, Sandy:

Lois Hughes and I are here with Laurel and she is being fiesty as ever....She confessed to us that she played the same trick on Paula Miller that she had played on me , when Paula disconnected her plug. So any of you who come to visit be forewarned! :) Laurel is doing really good...super tired of course but feeling better as they are controlling the nausea for her. Her blood counts are where they should be. We can't believe that she's already been here a week! That means only 3 weeks more at the most. The more I talk to people who have faced this disease the more encouraged I get. The new technology and treatments are so successful. We just keep on blessing this process and those baby new cells to grow and be strong! I know Laurel really enjoys recieving you notes and cards so much. At this point day to day she doesn't know how well she's going to be feeling so please call before coming to visit as it may not be a good day.

Laurel so appreciates you all so much and sends a big hug to each of you!

Burma's Ethnic Cleansing

Email received, asking for prayer:

The situation in Burma is deteriorating rapidly. As the junta prepares for the upcoming elections in 2010, they are bent on removing any form of opposition. The monsoons are ending, thus the ethnic cleansing is accelerating.

Two weeks ago, many of the IDP/refugee families, thinking/feeling that the hostilities had died down, left the relative safety of Safe Haven to return to their villages in Burma. They were gone one day when the fighting renewed. We do not where they are or if they are safe.

But, even more grave than the situation of the refugees who left the orphanage grounds is the plight of the villagers, chased from their villages deep inside of the Burma but were not able to cross the river to the relative safety of Thailand. These villagers are internally displaced, hiding within the war zone. Their situation is desperate.

Additionally, there is a massive outbreak of something like swine flu around the Thai/Burma border, 100km past Mae Sot.

Laurel's Update

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2009 7:41 PM, CDT

This update is from Sandy:

Laurel says Hi to everyone and so appreciates all of your calls wondering how she's doing. Thus me here giving you the update. Inquiring minds want to know!!!!

She wants you to know that everything is on schedule and on track. She is definately on the path for kicking this thing in the you know what! She is feeling really tired and the worst part is the nausea. yuk. Unfortunately the nausea will probably be with her for a little while longer. They are getting her nutrients to her thru "steak in a bag" (IV) Just sounds yummy doesn't it? I saw our girl yesterday and she is beautiful as ever. She will laugh at this I'm sure - but it's true.

We'll keep you posted on everything as it happens...I'm pretty sure nothing too exciting will for the next few days. She can't get into too much trouble having to walk around all connected to tubes and stuff. On the funny side - yesterday we were going to go for a little walk around the hospital wing she is in - she asked me if I could unplug her stuff so she could take it on the walk - right when I pulled the plug out of the wall she made this croaking sound - freaked me out....she was messin' with me - little stinker. Got to love our girls sense of humour.

Until next time....

Laurel's Update

The latest from Laurel (as interpreted by her sister, Nancy). Not much sleep last night and rough day today. Nausea hit her pretty hard. The staff has been so accomodating and wonderful - finally found the drug that took care of the nausea. : )

Tomorrow is a BIG day for Laurel - it's her birthday!!! The transplant staff consider the day of one's transplant as your new birthday! I like that; it makes sense. Laurel said they really make a big deal about the special day (Yum, maybe thinking chocolate cake with caramel frosting?).

At 4pm the team will bring in the frozen stem cells, thaw them, and the 1 hour procedure is on it's way!

So, come on Hawkeyes, no delay of game! OK, Lo, you know we are all there with you in spirit and heart. Sweet dreams.

Laurel's Update

Greetings from Nancy (Lo's big sister):

Laurel had a pretty good night's sleep - awake at 7am. They are shipping the chemo "cocktail" in from the manufacturer which will be there by noon and they will start the chemo between 12 & 1, Hawkeye time. Laurel had asked for a strawberry marguerita, but they nixed that request! The infusion will take 30 minutes.

The stem cell transplant will be this Saturday, 10/3. What time you ask? Well, with the Iowa game Saturday and the person in charge of the procedure having Hawkeye season tickets - you can guess the rest! It's evident that these guys (and I imagine the whole state of Iowa) bleed gold and black! What dedicated fans.

Of course, that seems to be OK with Lo. I'm sure she wants to cheer them to victory, too! Then it's on to the bigger victory....for her, and you should see her cheering section, WOW!

GO HAWKEYES! ...................GO LO!

Laurel's Update - Hospital Address

Here is the address to send your well wishes, prayers, hugs, love, and any good jokes - she loves a good laugh. (No flowers because she can't have them while undergoing treatment)

Laurel Clay
7RCS
University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics
200 Hawkins Drive
Iowa City, IA 52242-1009