NEAROF

Unless you have a reasonably tuned palate, a very large number of Starbucks coffees taste pretty much the same. It’s not the fault of the beans, no sir. It’s all about the Starbucks roasting process, which, in the traditional Starbucks method, required every bean to be roasted to a dark, oily char – hence the [...]

Bread is cheap. For a little more than a buck, I can buy a sale-priced loaf of basic white bread at my local grocery store. If I boost my budget to a couple of bucks, my choices increase. And for a bit more than $5 per loaf, I can get some pretty fantastic bread from [...]

Weight gain is a funny thing. Over time, it’s the little habits that add up to become big problems. The small daily indulgence can turn into a long-term calorie splurge. Counting calories, which I talked about in the last two posts, is particularly handy for identifying trends you never really thought about before. And what’s [...]

Near as our calendar app can tell us, it’s Christmas Eve. That means it’s time to hunker down in front of the fireplace, snuggle up with your special someone, and enjoy a warm mug of spiced apple cider. This recipe, from the lovely Aline, is easy to make, and the aroma fills a house with [...]

It’s that time of year again, isn’t it? It’s hard to believe this is the third annual NEAROF! gift guide. Every year, it’s getting harder to write this thing, probably because I’ve included all sorts of great stuff in prior years. Be sure to check out the 2010 guide, as well as the 2011 guide. [...]

“Waaaaarm up with an ice-cold beeeer!” hollered a tray-carrying vendor at a particularly chilly autumn CFL football game I attended last year, if memory serves. I loved his pitch, mostly because it’s so perfectly outlandish you can’t help but laugh, but also because some beers are designed as winter warmers, even if not in the [...]

When Starbucks first released Via, their instant coffee product, I tried the free samples offered by staffers at the store, who foolishly dared customers to tell the difference between a freshly brewed coffee and a cup of instant. While Via was easily the best instant coffee I’ve tasted to date, even four-year-old me could have [...]

Remember when coffee shops sold coffee? If a bump on your noggin prompted the loss of all memory prior to May, you’d be forgiven for thinking that coffee shops sold only pastries, iced coffee, frozen hot chocolate and decaf grande mocha Frappuccinos (hold the whip). The hissing of summer lawns? Sorry, Joni, but these days [...]