Espresso, birthdays, and lenses

I've  found myself making espresso more often recently.  Maybe it's having Melanie stay with us (so there's someone else who'll share a shot) or maybe it's just the variety.  Probably more the later since we drink a lot of coffee at home.

Emily and  got a Saeco espresso machine a few years back at a Home Depot Expo store closing.  It's a very popular model amongst the home espresso crowd.  It has a "pressurized" portafilter i.e. the basket where you put the finely ground coffee.  Instead of tamping the coffee down like you see barristas do at your local coffee shop, you just put the coffee in the filter and spring plunger opens when the right pressure is reached.  The advantage of this is that it produces a consistent shot of espresso whereas it takes practice and consistency to tamp the coffee properly.  It can get to be quite an art, especially when you start making cappuccino and lattes.  Check out these shots of latte art at Coffee Geek.

I usually just grind my beans and make the shot and then go through all of the clean up.  When we bought the machine, it came with a few espresso pods to try.  Espresso pods are measured ground espresso (7g) wrapped in a coffee filter wrapper and stored in a nitrogen filled bag to keep the coffee fresh.  I bought an espresso pod sampler just recently and Emily, Melanie, and I have been working our way through all of the varieties.  Here's a picture of one we had today:

The advantage of this method is that it's cleaner, and the exact amount of espresso has been measured out and pressed.  The results are very consistent and ordering the sampler pack is kind of like going through a box of chocolates -- just with coffee. Here's one of the shots I made today:



I turned 34 on Wednesday and when I got home, Emily surprised me with this watch birthday cake.

She used a cupcake for the crown and used something call luster on the dial and case to give them a metallic look.  It's an Italian cream cake and goes quite well with the espresso we've been making.

Sam enjoying his slice of birthday cake.

Emily also surprised me with a lens for a birthday gift.  She got me (us?) a 10 - 22 mm lens for our camera.  This is a wide angle lens for the type of camera we have.  It's useful for taking pictures of landscapes, scenery, and architecture.  E.g. it will allow you to get the whole room in view when taking a picture -- handy when it comes time to sell your house.  Here are examples:

Our living room.

Emily in the office.

As you might expect, these wide angle lenses will distort objects closer to the camera e.g. noses and foreheads.  Here are some goofy shots Emily and I took:

Who you calling "big head"?

Does my nose look big?

 -- Chris