Tuesday Revews-Day

Tuesday Reviews-Day: Keurig 2.0 K550

Tuesday Revews-Day

It’s a fun day when new toys come in the mail.

I give points for packaging, and the booklet that came with the brewer is quite spiffy with it's tissue liners, etc.

I give points for packaging, and the booklet that came with the brewer is quite spiffy with it’s tissue liners, etc.

Though I suppose it’s not quite right to call the new Keurig 2.0 system a toy, it’s more like a workhorse! I received the K550 model through an Influenster promotion and have been getting to know my new coffee maker for the past couple of weeks. Now, since this was a promotion, I figured they’d be sending out the basic model (the 350) and, believe me, I wouldn’t be complaining! I’ve wanted a Keurig for some time but I couldn’t quite justify the cost just for me since Todd drinks neither coffee nor tea. So when I picked up my brewer and found it was the large, feature-full K550 I was even more impressed, and impatient to try it out!

My first brew! See the black circle on the lid? That tells you it's the updated K-Cup that'll work in this brewer.

My first brew! See the black circle on the lid? That tells you it’s the updated K-Cup that’ll work in this brewer.

Things I love about my K550:

  • An 80 oz reservoir with a charcoal filter that means I only need to fill it up once a week (on average) for my morning coffees and evening teas. And when it needs a refill the screen asks nicely, “More water, please”
  • The brewing size options and strength control that does the measuring for me at a push of a button, saving me time, and not making me think too hard about using either a regular cup or a travel mug.
  • The choice of tank light colors to match my kitchen—it’s a small but nice detail and the little touches are what set them apart from the more utilitarian machines.
  • And, of course, the ability to brew a carafe as well as a cup! This was another big detractor to buying a Keurig in the past, since I want to be able to offer my guests coffee and cup-by-cut can be tedious in group situations.
The tank light in "action." There's also a nightlight feature that comes in pretty handy if you forget to leave the light over the stove on ;-)

The tank light in “action.” There’s also a nightlight feature that comes in pretty handy if you forget to leave the light over the stove on 😉

Some things I’m not 100% on board with:

  • It doesn’t work with the refillable pods. This has to do with the machine reading the code on the K-Cup lids for quality control issues. So my Mr. Coffee will only be put on the shelf until the old coffee stash is used up, not put out to pasture just yet.
  • The auto-brew function is only for carafes. A bit of a bummer, but it’s still so quick to brew the single-servings in the morning there’s no immediate inconvenience.
  • The samples that ship with the brewer are all caffeinated, and I don’t really do caffeine for medical reasons. You’d think that at least one sample in the multi-pack could be decaf or even one of the herbal tea blends, right? After all, judging by the website offerings, 16% of their K-Cup varieties are caffeine free in one way or another!

That last one I’d researched so I picked up a couple boxes of decaf K-Cups before the brewer arrived, then a few more when I next went to the store. Since I’d been under the weather I was drinking more tea than anything else, and a surprising perk to using the K-Cups was no tea bag in the mug to deal with. I mean, sure, duh, but it was one of those things that I was so used to dealing with that not having to was pretty cool. It’s also nice for evening cup of Sleepytime that I bring up to bed with me, not having to worry about the tea bag or a mug. My Earl Grey Decaf K-Cups are on their way and I’m really looking forward to them!

Yummy coffee on a messy desk... such is my life!

Yummy coffee on a messy desk… such is my life!

As for coffee, I’ve been switching between the Green Mountain Hazelnut Decaf and the Donut Shop Decaf in the mornings, occasionally swapping in Tazo’s Zen Green tea (not totally caffeine free, but fairly low; low enough where it doesn’t trigger my arrhythmia in any case). I’ve also got a few more cases of K-Cups coming in to try out: the current buy 2 get 2 free offer when you register your brewer at Keurig.com comes in handy for stocking up, especially if your local selection is a little spotty.

One of the big complaints I’ve seen among reviews is the fact that the older K-Cups won’t work with the 2.0 system for the same reason the refillable pods don’t: the lids don’t have the right encoding or whatever and if you try to put one in the machine it’ll give you a rather polite ‘Oops!’ message and not let you brew it. If you already have a stash of K-Cups, you may want to put off upgrading to the 2.0 system until your stock has run low.

With the size and strength brewing options of the 2.0, not to mention the little check box for teas or other specialty items, I really hope Keurig will come out with their own refillable K-Cup that’ll work in the 2.0 brewers. I’d definitely buy one so I can use it with the loose teas I have. Plus, for folks who like to support local beaneries that don’t have the volume to produce K-Cups, it’d be a great way for Keurig to bridge the gap between local coffee producers and their brewers. In the mean time, the K550 does have the option to dispense up to 6oz of hot water at a go, so I could still use my stock of tea bags up. (I suppose it’s also useful for watering down coffee for those who like theirs on the weaker side. Different strokes!)

The hot water feature. The option comes up whenever you close the top after removing the spent K-Cup, or you can press the little water droplet on the side of the screen.

The hot water feature. The option comes up whenever you close the top after removing the spent K-Cup, or you can press the little water droplet on the side of the screen.

The K-Cups do have a major leg-up on the convenience factor, though, and I certainly like that the only clean-up is taking out the used pod. The brewers do require periodic maintenance, but even that doesn’t seem too onerous (use of a descaling solution for build-up and then running a reservoir or two of water to rinse it out), and I think the use of the optional filter in the tank is supposed to keep the mineral build-up to a minimum.

Overall I’m thrilled to finally have a Keurig of my own, and I look forward to trying out the carafe feature over the holidays (when I can brew a pot of “leaded” for my family and still make my own decaf without any extra fuss). It’s made my morning and evening routines that much easier–even a few minutes saved each day adds up!

***In case I didn’t make it painfully clear already, I was sent a Keurig 2.0 K550 brewer for the purpose of testing and review through my participation with Influenster.com. All opinions expressed are my own.***

Tuesday Reviews-Day: Spicy Shelf and a GIVEAWAY!

Tuesday Revews-Day

About a month ago Todd and I were standing in our new/old kitchen, pondering where we were going to put our spices. In the last kitchen we used a large rack meant for I’m not sure what, mounted on some free wall space that was convenient to both our main prep area as well as the stove.

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Unfortunately, no such space existed in the Dollhouse kitchen, and we had a lot of spices to contend with. Tabling the issue for the time being, I went back into my office and what was waiting for me but an offer to try out the Spicy Shelf and host a giveaway so one of you can try it out as well!

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So, the Spicy Shelf is one of those As Seen on TV products that you might have seen on late-night television. Sometimes these products get a bad reputation but we’ve actually used several with positive results, including the Magic Mesh screen “door” on our screened porch! So I was more than willing to give the SpicyShelf a shot since it seemed like the answer to a very pertinent problem.

The pieces ready for assembly...

The pieces ready for assembly… (unintentional “action” shot)

The spicy shelf came with 2 shelves, several extenders, and two different heights of legs for use in cabinets with or without shelf pins.

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These are the tabs on the legs and the slots on the brace that keeps the legs from wiggling at the base… as if they could!)

 

The legs, in fact all of the components, snap together quite well and are shaped so that there’s really only one way to put them together–the right way–and getting them apart again (as I dry-fit the shelves to my cabinet) is pretty tough. All in all, the unit feels pretty stable to me.

Hmmm, not *quite* right. And the instructions made it seem like having one side unsupported by either a wall or another Spicy Shelf was not the best of ideas.

Hmmm, not *quite* right. And the instructions made it seem like having one side unsupported by either a wall or another Spicy Shelf was not the best of ideas.

Now, the width of our chosen cabinet was just wider than the suggested maximum width of a single shelf but was just wide enough to accommodate one skinny Shelf and one shelf with the narrow extenders added to each side. To have some fun, and allow for some of the larger bottles we have, I used one set of tall legs and one set of short.

That's much better!

That’s much better!

And they worked out just right! I could have added another narrow extender but the construction of our cabinets weren’t going to allow it thanks to an interior beam in the right front corner.

It's almost like the display!

Maybe a little fuller than the display, but still quite easy to access!

Of course, I still have far more spices than these were intended to hold, so when everything was in there was still a bit of doubling-up on the bottom rows, but if you’re capable of more editing than I, your kitchen cabinet might look more like the demonstration pictures. It’s still quite easy to access everything and, as advertised, the taller condiment bottles can sit in the middle of the u-shaped shelves to maximize space.

And 2 rows of vinegars/sauces fit in there, too!

And 2 rows of vinegars/sauces fit in there, too!

 

Is there anything I would change/improve upon the Spicy Shelf? Slightly deeper shelves would be nice for the larger spice bottles and jars. They fit, but having an extra centimeter would make them feel a lot more secure.

That one tiny suggestion aside, I really am glad we got the chance to try out the expandable shelf system and might even order another set to use elsewhere in the house! According to the video on spicyshelf.com it works well for craft rooms and cosmetics, too. Of course, if you’d like to get a set for yourself, you have two options. First, you can enter the giveaway by guessing how many spice bottles, jars, and canisters I have in the single shelf where my Spicy Shelf resides (this does not include the bottles of vinegars, soy sauce, etc.–just the dry bits). And while you can see some of them in the pictures above, some areas are 2-bottles deep, so it’s still anyone’s guess.

Except me, of course, because I counted them!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Use the Rafflecopter widget above to enter. The contest will run for one week (through Monday, August 25th) and I’ll contact the winner on Tuesday, August 26th. The contest is open to US residents only and you’ll need to share your street address with me (no PO Boxes) so that I can pass it along to the shipping agent (the prize will come directly from them, not me).

Of course, if you just cannot wait, you can use promo code SPICE5 (that’s the number 5 at the end, not an ‘s’) over at www.SpicyShelf.com and get $5 off your own set!

And if you’re curious about what we did with the old spice rack, turns out it just fits in our under-sink cabinets and is now holding rolls of foils and boxes of bags and baggies. Yay for not wasting anything, including space!

A place for everything...

A place for everything…

In case it wasn’t obvious, I was provided a Spicy Shelf for the purpose of review. All opinions are my own and no further compensation was received for this post.

Tuesday Reviews-Day: People I Want to Punch in the Throat

Tuesday Revews-Day

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Oh, come on, tell me you wouldn’t be at least a little curious about a book with a title like that!

Blogger Jen Mann gives us one of many short lists of people who rouse her ire on a regular basis:

• anyone who feels the need to bling her washer and dryer
• humblebraggers
• people who treat their pets like children

Look, everyone has their hot button issues, it’s just that most of us are too polite to talk about them in mixed company or splash it around the Internet. Mann has no problem with that. Or, as she puts it, no filter.

In People I Want to Punch in the Throat we get to read her unvarnished (and sometimes unflattering) experiences with online dating, the wedding that was the result of those AOL days, their move to the suburbs and the kids they are raising there. Once kids are in the mix we get the real meaty stories: everything from playgroup politics to room mom megalomaniacs.

Now, I’m not a mother nor do I have any aspirations to be one, but I’d like to think that–were I ever beamed up to the mothership–that this is the type of mother I’d be. Snarky, witty, and usually ready to call people on their bull. I wouldn’t necessarily keep my craft stash hidden in the basement, of course, but a lot of the other stuff I could so see myself saying/doing.

Of course, that’s what makes ‘People’ such a delight to read: seeing ourselves, or at least the selves we’d hope to be, in someone else’s words makes us feel slightly less different-in-a-bad-way. Know what I mean?

The essays in this book are quick reads, so you could really draw it out and savor it. At the same time, each one is so entertaining that I found myself tapping to get to the next page, and Jen’s next exploit, the advancing clock be damned and my need for 7 hours of sleep forgotten!

So mark your calendars, ladies, because People I Want to Punch in the Throat is set to be released on September 9th and this is one you’re going to want to pick up.

I was provided a digital copy of People I Want to Punch in the Throat for the purpose of review. All opinions expressed are my own.

 

Tasting Thomasville: Old Mexico and Granddaddy’s Barbeque

Tuesday Revews-Day

Continuing on our search for staple restaurants in our new town, the next box to check was Mexican!

Todd and I had our first date at a Mexican restaurant. Six years later we brought our families to that same restaurant for our rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding. We have a few favorite places in Tallahassee (La Fiesta, El Jalisco, Morelia) and several places we’ll not step foot in again. We take our enjoyment of Mexican food seriously, is what I’m trying to say.

Old Mexico is located downtown, on North Broad Street, so is walkable when the weather is nice. It was sweltering when we visited back in June, so we drove to avoid harshing the promise of a Margarita with heat stroke! It’s a bit dim inside of Old Mexico, and like a lot of large, boxy spaces the noise level can get pretty high, but that’s not something that bothers us in general.

They put their drinks on the front/cover of the menu–a fact I had not figured out when I was trying to figure out what types of Margaritas they had. Instead, I just ordered my usual: on the rocks, with salt, large! Now, when I said large I suppose I was expecting a double. Something along the mug size that other places have. Old Mexico’s large Margarita is the size of my head and not watered down like a lot of the fishbowl drinks you get at happy hour specials in Tallahassee.

Pardon the low-lit grainy shot: combo of dim restaurant and my previous phone's habit of adding extra shadow to front-facing pics!

Pardon the low-lit grainy shot: combo of dim restaurant and my previous phone’s habit of adding extra shadow to front-facing pics!

I’m sad to say that I couldn’t get anywhere close to finishing it, but I gave it a good, Dollhouse try!

Todd’s regular-sized strawberry daiquiri was large enough on its own, so I’ll still with that size unless I know I’m gonna be there a while!

Onto the food:

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I am a big fan of chiles rellenos and it’s sort of my litmus test at any new Mexican place I try. I was a bit surprised that they were round, but they tasted amazing (and, no, it wasn’t the Margarita tasting for me). (Yes, there was the usual flour breading on them, I ate some of it–again, knowing my personal FODMAP limits helps me work around these sorts of situations–but also left some of the breading behind. It was worth it.) We’d also ordered a tamale–another good indicator of overall quality–and it was just as amazing as the rellenos.

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Todd was just as enamored of his meal (burrito platter that he’d already tucked into before I got a picture), so I think we’ll definitely be going back. After all, he didn’t get a chance to try their flan, yet!

A few weeks later we were pondering our options and decided to try out the local bbq scene. Now, in Tallahassee, local chain Sonny’s is nice and reliable and they do have a location in Thomasville, so we could have always gone there. But where’s the fun in that?! Instead, we tried a place some of Todd’s coworkers liked, Granddaddy’s Barbeque.

It’s rather informal inside: you order at the counter and they call your name when you’re order is ready for pick-up. One thing that puzzled us about their menu was that you could get the trio combo of chicken, ribs, and pork for less than the Pick 2 combo… Not really much deliberation went on after seeing that, as we both got the trio to get the best idea of what this place was all about.

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Indulgence in the name of research. Honest.

For sides (ahem, “trimmins”) Todd ordered the Brunswick Stew and the Mac & Cheese, while I got the coleslaw and fries. The one thing this place was missing was wet-naps on the self-serve station or the tables: this is messy eating! And you’ll smell like smoke (meat smoke, not cigarette smoke–even if Georgia does still allow smoking sections in their restaurants) when you leave. But these are not necessarily bad things.

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The ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender, if a little fatty on our visit. The chicken was surprisingly moist, and the pulled pork was tasty, though not my favorite of the three. Todd was a fan of the Brunswick Stew but said the Mac & Cheese tasted like your typical Velveeta mix, nothing special there.

I have a feeling we might order their Family Pack or Plantation Platter for the next gaming night as it seems about right for sharing with fellow carnivores. For our next visit I’ll scale back my order to maybe their loaded nachos with chicken or pork, and there’s still the smoked turkey and brisket to try.

Of course, there’s more than one local bbq place in town, so who knows, Granddaddy’s might have some competition for our favorite. That remains to be seen!

Next time on Tasting Thomasville: frozen treats and a Greek-Southern fusion that really hits the spot (and tugs on the heartstrings).

Tasting Thomasville: Chinese Buffets & Moonspin Pizza

Tuesday Revews-Day

Wherever you live, you probably have a list of favorite restaurants; places you go when you’re craving X, Y, or Z that can always count on. Relocation means finding new favorites, and can make for some truly tasty homework as you get to know your new town.

Obviously, that’s exactly what we’ve been working on, bit by bit, starting with the first evening we spent in Thomsaville as new home-owners.

I’m not a fan of buffets. If I wanted to fix my own plate, I’d have stayed home and cooked, okay? Plus, the “all you can/care to eat” feature is lost on me as I purposely try not to stuff myself. The one exception to trough-style places is Chinese buffets. For whatever reason these get a pass from me and I really do appreciate a good Chinese buffet, especially for nights where cooking is out but you want food in a hurry that didn’t come from a drive-thru window.

Since we were downtown for the local Rose Parade and Festival, we decided to test out the nearby Chinese place: Hong Yip. The food wasn’t anything spectacular (the buffet, at least, we haven’t tried them for take-out, yet) and it felt a little dive-ish, so we’ll just leave it at that (though the barefoot patrons at the next table could have contributed to that feeling a little more than usual). The Urban Spoon reviews are pretty good, though, so maybe we just caught them on a bad night, who knows? Another weekend, still on the hunt, we walked into and right back out of Yummi Express (it involved a walk-up counter, not what we were after; again, we might try them another time) and headed up the road to the Hibachi Buffet (not sure if it has another name).

The Hibachi Buffet looked like it used to be a Ryan’s or something similar from the layout inside, but the buffet was large and featured a fair amount of variety (including frog legs, for those so inclined). Nothing amazing, but passable. They even had basic sushi and, while I didn’t try it this time, a hibachi option that was actually manned. It got the job done and we’d probably go back, but it still wasn’t as good as our favorite buffet in Tallahassee.

Sadly, the best sushi in Thomasville appears to be at the Publix deli. But, hey, at least now we know!

Having explored our limited Asian-cuisine options close to our new home (we’ve seen a sign for a 4th option, but we’re not sure if it’s actually still in business), we moved onto another staple: Pizza!

Image via MoonspinPizza.com

Image via MoonspinPizza.com

If I recall correctly, Todd did some digging and found out that Moonspin Pizza offered a gluten-free crust, so giving them a shot was an easy yes. Turns out, Moonspin is quite the place to be on a Friday night: we managed to snag a table inside but just barely, and a considerable crowd was not too far behind us!

He ordered the large calzone. He also took some of it home!

He ordered the large calzone. He also took some of it home!

Todd ordered a calzone and I ordered a gluten-free, sauce-less, onion-less version of their Lucky Moon (chicken, arugula, and feta) with a bit of olive oil brushed on the crust.

They say they make everything in-house, but I didn't ask if everything included their gf crust.

They say they make everything in-house, but I didn’t ask if everything included their gf crust.

The pizza was fantastic, but I doubt they’ll be a last-minute take-out option. Moonspin bills itself (and rightly so) as gourmet pizza and their prices reflect that (His calzone, my pizza, and our drinks came to just over $30). Still, we now know where the good pizza is!

Next time, though, I think I’ll order their Salad Pizza. (Yes, a salad served on a 10″ pizza crust–someone next to us ordered that and it looked so good!)

These aren’t mean to be full-fledged reviews, just our impressions as we try out different places in our new town. Next time on Tasting Thomasville it’s time for Mexican and BBQ (though not on the same night, or even on the same weekend!).