Baskets And Brew

Happy asked:


So my husband’s family (which is quite large) gets together once a year around x-mas. Rather than buy gifts for a bunch of people, each couple is assigned another couple to buy gifts for. We’ve got a $40 limit, and we’ve been assigned a couple we hardly know.

All we know about this couple is that they are Mormon. Our generic gifts we usually give would have been like a bottle of wine and some snacks in a basket, or a movie night kit. They don’t drink alcohol and we don’t know exactly what kind of movies they would like, already have, etc. We’ve been known to give coffee gift baskets, but clearly that is OUT!!!

I know this particular couple will have more restrictions than we are used to. So if anyone on here is mormon and can give me a good indication of what would make a good gift (and doesn’t bump into restricted territory) that would be awesome. We don’t want to offend anyone and it would be nice if they actually ENJOYED the gift.

THANKS
I didn’t ask for your opinion. They are attending this party and signed up to participate in the family’s gift exchange. If your not going to answer with a viable gift, please go spam someone else’s questions.

ranchgirl asked:


hey answerers!
I’m graduating in a couple weeks, and i had some really amazing teachers this year. I want to show how important in influential they were to me, but as you can probably guess, I’m a little strapped on cash! I will be making some cookies and such to for them, and I was looking into making baskets for the 4 teachers that I want to give something too!

So… If you could give me ideas that I can use, that would be fantastic! Here are the teachers, to help ideas!

A male government teacher, who just applied for law school and hopes to be a lawyer,
A male english teacher, loves England and coffee!
Another male english teacher, real goofball, humor loving guy.
A female english teacher, sweet and a real great friendly woman!

All of them are pretty young, so no old boring gifts.

thanks soooo much for your help everyone!

[oh i almost forgot! i'm planning to be an highschool english teacher too, so these teachers have really been helpful to me!]

fish_in_dish_water asked:


Lets say you were in a coffee shop tickling your friend, and a man came over to you, said your to rowdy and asked you to leave. After your standing outside, you wrote him an apology note and try to give it to him, but he has left and you gave it to someone who works there, and they mention that he was the manager/owner?

What kind of gift could you give him to really show you’re sorry?

I was thinking a muffin basket, but some other opinions would be nice.
I am 14, to young to buy him wine, but a nice idea though

He was either in his late 30’s or early 40’s.

shelbsyd asked:


I work with Doctors and Engineers and they are so ever picky. Last year I bought wine and it was like thanks, they are BIG wine drinkers and I couldn’t afford bottles of wine that they would drink. My co-workers are buying ordiments and the other is giving coffee or teas gift baskets from Costco. I have 8 people to buy for and would like to spend about $20.00 per person. Do you have any suggestions?

pieroangelo1 asked:

soul ballads from great otis!!

Mercenary™ asked:


Put down your chainsaw and listen to me
It’s time for us to join in the fight
It’s time to let your babies grow up to be cowboys
It’s time to let the bedbugs bite

You better put all your eggs in one basket
You better count your chickens before they hatch
You better sell some wine before it’s/its time
You better find yourself an itch to scratch

You better squeeze all the charmin you can while mr. wimpole’s not around
Stick your head in the microwave and get yourself a tan

Talk with your mouth full
Bite the hand that feeds you
Bite on more than you chew
What can you do
Dare to be stupid

Take some wooden nickles
Look for mr. goodbar
Get your mojo working now
I’ll show you how
You can dare to be stupid

You can turn the other cheek
You can just give up the ship
You can eat a bunch of sushi and forget to leave a tip

Dare to be stupid
Come on and dare to be stupid
It’s so easy to do
Dare to be stupid
We’re all waiting for you
Let’s go

It’s time to make a mountain out of a molehill
So can i have a volunteer
There’s no more time for crying over spilled milk
Now it’s time for crying in your beer

Settle down, raise a family, join the pta
Buy some sensible shoes and a chevyrolet
And party ’till you’re broke and they drive you away
It’s ok, you can dare to be stupid

It’s like spitting on a fish
It’s like barking up a tree
It’s like i said you gotta buy one if you wanna get one free

Dare to be stupid (yes)
Why don’t you dare to be stupid
It’s so easy to do
Dare to be stupid
We’re all waiting for you
Dare to be stupid

Burn your candle at both ends
Look a gift horse in the mouth
Mashed potatoes can be your friends

You can be a coffee achiever
You can sit around the house and watch leave it to beaver
The future’s up to you
So what you gonna do

Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
What did i say
Dare to be stupid
Tell me, what did i say
Dare to be stupid
It’s alright
Dare to be stupid
We can be stupid all night
Dare to be stupid
Come on, join the crowd
Dare to be stupid
Shout it out loud
Dare to be stupid
I can’t hear you
Dare to be stupid
Ok, i can hear you now
Dare to be stupid
Let’s go, dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid
Dare to be stupid

Tweengirl asked:


Valentines day is coming soon. And I got a lot to do for some special people. So I got about 5 days to plan out what I want for V day, and to give gift baskets to about 3 families!!! Including my mom, my dad and my brother.

(My brother is special needs and I love him so much. He loves me to! And by the way, he is only physically disabled…..so just because he’s in a wheelchair doesn’t mean he has a mental problem…..he understands everything I say. It’s hard for him to communicate sometimes but he’s a happy free spirited boy. Im sorry to write this it just gets on my nerves when I mention him and people are rude and say the same thing. By the way, don’t be scared of people either……they know.)

Anyway, I have a lot to do. I need some ideas how to decorate the baskets and what to put in them. One of the families has little kids about 3 and 4 and a new born.

The other 2 I got covered. I just need to have some of the ideas for decoration…..and what’s inside. I think a stuffed animal, roses, a coffee mug ( they all drink coffee-not the kids but….), some cookies, ( heart shaped ones) and a card. Maybe a Balloon too! What do you think?!!! Thanks!!!!

gigagetawodi asked:

Humble Pie sings Black Coffee

Brian Connors asked:


There are three circumstances that are feared when it is gift giving time. The first is not knowing what to get a certain someone. The second is not having the time to shop for the gift. The third and most profound is both not knowing what to get someone and not having the time to complete the shopping mission. What is a sure-fire strategy for you or anyone else to counter any of these situations?

The answer is Unique Gift Baskets. Why, pray tell, is this such a certain tactic to defeat the demons that torment those that only want to make another person happy with a simple gift? Well, these baskets can complete the task of shopping for a gift in the most effective and efficient way. Let’s first confront the three circumstances listed above.

Don’t know what to get someone? Just think a little of what interests that person. You know, things like coffee, tea, chocolate, gardening, casinos, golf, movies, picnics, NASCAR, spas, or handyman stuff. How about comestible items such as gourmet food, Italian food, healthy, kosher or even spicy food? He or she has gotta love one of these choices, right? Well, there are unique gift baskets that specialize in each and every one of these themes. One is sure to have your name on it as the ultimate answer.

Don’t have the time to shop for a special gift? Just let technology do the work for you! Go online to your favorite search engine and type in the keywords that fit the type of unique gift baskets that you need ASAP. Click around a spell to the alternatives given. See what’s out there and select the one that hits the nail on the head that is within your budget. The basket can be shipped to you or to the very doorstep of the lucky recipient. Pretty easy, eh?

Have neither a clue as what to get someone nor the time to drive hither and thither to find something halfway decent to give? What’s the secret solution to this problem known by only the privileged few? You are not going to believe the answer. Take a wild guess. C’mon, you can do it. I know you’ve had a long day but give it your best. Got the answer that took me years to figure out yet? Of course you do! It’s Unique Gift Baskets to the rescue once again. You are now one of the exclusive members of society who has unlocked one of life’s most mysterious and esoteric truths!

Take the advice of aGiftBasketParadise.com and get the upper hand when it comes to shopping. Know thy enemy and counter the attacks of both time and uncertainty with the weapon of buying unique gift baskets online. Victory will certainly be yours, my friends….and by the way…you’ll also save gas money too!

Fenton Wayne asked:


Whichever blend of coffee you prefer or whatever type of equipment you are using to prepare the coffee the objective is the same. To release the coffee oils and soluble coffee compounds into solution in the final beverage.

Not all the soluble compounds are desirable particularly tannin so it is important to brew the coffee is just the right manner to produce the perfect cup.

Although it is possible to extract as much as a third of the mass of coffee from the grounds the optimum amount is about 20%

There are six important factors to consider when making fresh coffee.

1/ The coffee grind – By this we mean the particle size of the coffee grounds. This varies typically from largest to smallest thus: coarse, medium, fine and espresso (or very fine)

Over-extraction can occur if the grind size is too small for the method and equipment used resulting in a coffee being bitter and too strong. If the size is too large then under-extraction will occur resulting in a weak wishy-washy coffee.

Typically one would use a coarse grind for a coffee pot, medium grind for a cafetiere (French Press), medium to fine for a typical filter drip machine and espresso grind for an espresso machine.

2/ Freshness and quantity of coffee – Coffee beans should be stored in a cool dry place out of direct sunlight and ideally kept in an airtight container. The coffee should be ground to order as ground coffee will lose some of its subtle flavours and aromas if is left exposed to the atmosphere for very long.

It is vital to use the recommended dosage of coffee depending on the equipment being used. Increasing the brewing time, but using less coffee will not work very well but produce an over-extracted beverage. Using more coffee than recommended but a quicker infusion time will result in an under-extracted coffee.

3/ Temperature and water quality of the water – Always use fresh cold water to start off the brewing process. Ideally the water should be filtered to remove unwanted taints and odours and be very slightly hard.

Ideally water that is between 94 and 98 degrees Celcius should be used – not boiling water. If the water is too hot the coffee grounds can be scolded imparing the flavour.

4/ The infusion time – The length of time that the hot water is in direct contact with the coffee grounds is crucial in producing the perfect cup. In reality this is determined by the equipment being used to brew it, so always follow the manufacturers guidelines.

As a rough guide however consider the following.

10-30 seconds for espresso grind 3-6 minutes for fine grind 6-8 minutes for medium grind 8-10 minutes for coarse grind

5/ Brewing method employed – Basically there are three different methods employed to make coffee. These are steep & strain, filter infusion and pressure infusion.

Steep and strain simply involves putting hot water in contact with coffee grounds in a pot or container until under extraction has occurred. The resulting brew is strained to isolate the coffee liquor.

Filter infusion is common in many applications and uses a filter basket filled with coffee grounds that has hot water added from above. The infusion time is relatively short as the water infuses briefly with the coffee until the liquor passes thought the basket into a flask or container below.

Pressure infusion – Hot water is forced under high pressure though a small tablet of compacted grounds to produce an individual serving of coffee. This is the standard method of producing espresso.

Again it is imperative to use the right method with the correct type and grind of coffee.

6/ Cleanliness – Coffee contains oils that will leave a tarry residue on equipment that can contaminate and spoil the taste of subsequent brews. Daily washing and cleaning of equipment is an absolutely vital part in producing the perfect cup.

Have fun – producing a great tasting cup of your favourite coffee should be an easy and enjoyable task.