Monkey poop makes the best coffee

Rich coffee lovers are going crazy for a new kind of coffee, made from the coffee beans that have been through the alimentary canal of the Indonesian monkeys. You can get a cup of such coffee in exclusive American cafes for five dollars. Mark Mauntanos, an importer of this expensive product advised, about 230 kilos of this coffee is delivered to the world market during a year. Experts say, the people of Indonesia have known such a drink for hundreds of years. They noticed that the monkeys, which live in the palm-woods in Sumatra and Java eat coffee beans, but do not digest them. The Europeans, who studied the nature of the most developed apes stated that they selected only the best coffee beans, which went through their intestines undigested.

Latte tax stirs up coffee lovers

SEATTLE, July 24 (UPI) -- Seattle voters must decide soon whether to allow a 10-cent tax on their beloved "designer" coffee to fund early childhood education.

The proposal is on the Sept. 16 ballot and it's causing a lot of extra stirring along coffee row. Some say it's a class issue for the measure would only tax latte and other expensive Starbucks-type drinks, not tea, cocoa, or regular drip coffee.

More...

Coffee grounds, charcoal best for refrigerator odor

by Leah Leach
Victoria (TX) Advocate

If you still can't get the smell of spoiled food out of your refrigerator or freezer after Hurricane Claudette pulled the plug July 15, an expert with the County Extension Office in Victoria has some suggestions.

Assuming the food's been tossed out and the appliance has been thoroughly cleaned, coffee grounds or charcoal are the best bets for absorbing residual odors, said Maggie Jover, county agent for family and consumer sciences, Thursday.

Many have tried baking soda or newspapers, both of which do absorb smells. But, "sometimes when you have rotted food, the smell is more powerful than baking soda can absorb," said Jover, who added, "Newspaper is good but it won't absorb odors as well as coffee grounds or charcoal."

More...

Quotable...

If you ask the wrong questions, you will always get the wrong answers.

Man celebrates Hussein deaths with free coffee

To celebrate the death of Saddam Hussein's two sons, a Juneau resident treated patrons of Jordan Creek Coffee to drinks Wednesday.

"He just came in here with the sign and said 'I'd like to buy them an Americano or a cup of coffee,' " said Misti Hogberg, owner of the coffee shop in the Jordan Creek Center. The sign featured black-and-white photos of the sons and encouraged customers to ask about the "R.I.P. Special."

Odai and Qusai Hussein were killed in a gunfight with American military forces on Tuesday. U.S. officials said both were murderers, leaving behind a body count some claimed ran into the thousands.

More...

JEFF SMITH'S TIRAMISU

Source: "Frugal Gourment Cooks Italian" by Jeff Smith

FILLING

1/2 c Espresso or:
Triple-strength coffee, at room temperature
1/2 c Sugar
1/4 c Brandy
2 Egg yolks
1 lb Mascarpone cheese
1/2 lb Package Ladyfingers
4 oz Semisweet chocolate, shaved

ICING

1 c Fresh whipping cream
1/4 ts Vanilla
2 tb Powdered sugar

GARNISHES

Cocoa powder, for dusting
Shaved chocolate

Line the inside of a loaf pan with large sheet wax paper if possible use another loaf pan to better shape it, be careful not to tear.

Stir espresso, sugar and brandy in mixing bowl until sugar dissolved. Reserve 1/3Cup. Whisk egg yolks into this and add the cheese and whisk until smooth.

One at a time, soak ladyfingers in reserved coffee, (don't oversoak,) place them crosswise in pan, they will expand and will fall apart if too heavily soaked. You may have to trim them, make layer in bottom of pan.

Spread on half cheese mixture then half of the shaved chocolate. Then another layer of ladyfingers rest of cheese and chocolate, then last layer of ladyfingers, bringing up the flaps of wax paper. Wrap pan in plastic wrap and refrigerate 6 hours. Invert pan on serving platter tapping bottom to remove loaf. Remove the paper. In mixing bowl whip icing ingridents til stiff. Spread over cake in attractive manner. Dust top of cake sprinkle with chocolate if desired. Slice and serve.

Yield: 8 servings

Peace talks take cue from ancient reconciliation ritual

By Elaine Ruth Fletcher
Religion News Service

JERUSALEM -- When Israeli and Palestinian officials shook hands recently in Aqaba, Jordan, over a new cease-fire accord -- dubbed a "hudna" by the media after the classical Arabic term -- Elias Jabbour was elated that an ancient Arab concept in conflict resolution had suddenly become part of the lingua franca of modern Middle East peacemaking.

But the deeper meaning of the Arab concept of hudna -- and of the more complete reconciliation that is supposed to follow, known as "sulha" -- has not yet been fully digested by modern politicians or the media, Jabbour said. As a result, a little more than a month after the June 4 agreement, each side is already accusing the other of violating the accord.

Jabbour, an Arab Israeli resident of Galilee, is a traditional sulha and hudna negotiator who has been trying for decades to expose Israelis and Palestinians to this ancient Middle Eastern process of conflict resolution.

Jabbour's grass-roots work among Jews and Arabs in northern Israel can be credited with helping to introduce the concepts of hudna and sulha into the lexicon of Arab-Israeli peacemaking -- from Galilee, Gaza and Tel Aviv all the way to Washington.

"I am elated that the thing that I was preaching and lecturing about -- this old ancient way of peacemaking -- has been adopted now by the great politicians who never heard of such a thing 10 years ago," says Jabbour, 68.

Jabbour said despite some perceptions, the process of hudna and sulha is not exclusively Islamic. While the prophet Muhammad and successive Islamic sages and rulers integrated the practice into Muslim belief, hudna and sulha rituals have their origins in the pre-Islamic era of Arabia. In the centuries since, the process has been used by Christians and Jews, as well as by Muslims, said Jabbour, who is Christian.

Traditionally, there is no contact between the two enemies in the hudna stage of peace negotiations. But in the ritual of sulha, interaction between rivals becomes highly important, when the mediator -- known in Arabic as "jaha" -- invites the rivals for coffee. The coffee is usually prepared by the stronger party and offered to the weaker, in order to restore his injured sense of honor.

More...