igigsti

We vowed to attend the cooking for solutions event 2010 last year, and we did just that. On our way to Carmel, we stopped by the Santa Cruz Mystery spot. A place we didn’t get a chance to visit last year. I had a great time witnessing the unexplained. There’s really not much to say about that except for it’s a mystery spot. Go find out for yourself.

This time we were able to bring our pups since we can trust Smokey a little more now. The 18-months-old puppy is, however, still a puppy. And the fact that two Asian walking two seemingly vicious pitbulls made the town folks a little uneasy. Nevertheless, there were also folks who applauded us for raising two pits. Thank you. Thank you very much.

This year’s trip was so much more fun than last year. The smiles from Bandit & Smokey’s faces brought instant smile on mine. The funny expression from Smokey’s first taste of salty water from Carmel Beach was priceless. She was a little timid of the water at first, but she still followed Bandit to the waves. I swear I can watch them chase each other all day long on this beach.

Bandit & Smokey on Carmel Beach, May 2010
Since Carmel Beach is within walking distance to the Inn we were staying. We made several trips to let the pups enjoy the salty water and the sun as much as possible. The sunset from the Beach was romantic and memorable. We forgot to bring a camera, but the image is still stuck in my memory bank. The pups were so good that we can just leave them in the car, saving us major dollars for the trip. Of course we made sure they would be tired as heck before we leave them behind.

Thanks to the dabeed, we planned and budgeted this trip quite successfully. We were able to visit a lot more places compare to last year with the pups. The 17-mile drive was super nice. We walked on Pebble Beach, witness the Ghost tree, and ate at the Pebble Beach Market. Followed by a night at the Aquarium to wine and dine. We had countless number of plates. Countless sips of wine. Dabeed was able to document most of them. This year, we traded in Massage, Sauna, and Shopping at the Outlet, for more outdoorsy activities. And the trade-off was great.

This was, by far, the most memorable trip I had, even though it is just Carmel. But it’s not just Carmel. It’s the company, the pups, the smiles, the sun, the food, the everything.

Keurig mini, a little single serve coffee brewer that I was once skeptical on its performance. How can coffee pod machines brew great coffee? On our recent trip to Carmel, Dave and I stayed at the Coachman’s Inn, where I brewed my first cup under the Keurig mini. It was love at first brew. The mini, simple, no non-sense, equipped with no extra functionality, limited the chance of messing up the perfect cup. Though I dreamt of owning a Keurig, I restricted myself from researching this machine because I know for a fact, if I search for it at amazon, it would be difficult to not click “add to cart.”

Despite the “effort” to not bring the “K-mini” home, somehow, it made its way to my kitchen. I blamed it on fate. On our recent trip to Target, we saw the red K-mini on clearance for $72.95. I made up several excuses why I deserved the K-mini, the Dabeed quickly put it into our shopping cart. It was a done deal.

The brewer comes with 10 k-cup starter pack. We picked out our favorites quite quickly. The Coffee People’s Donut Shop Coffee is absolute crap…. The Newmans Own Organics Special EXTRA BOLD roast is delicious, one of the Dabeed’s favorites. Now I must add, the BF was never a coffee fan. Now he loves brewing a cup to jump start his day. That’s how a K-mini will change you.


Keurig B30 with the Bandit Mug
For a starter coffee, we picked the Tully’s Kona. Tully’s K-cups are pretty mild, smooth, a good evening dessert coffee. Same with Green Mountain’s BOLD roast, pretty mild, not bold enough, but smooth, a nice evening brew. Now we just ordered the Green Mountain Island Coconut, and Green Mountain Wild Blueberry. For a BOLD roast, we picked the Timothy’s Parisian Nights. 5 STARS from 12 Reviewers, I think that’s a relatively safe pick.
I’m really looking forward to the Island Coconut. The last time I had coconut coffee, it was in Hong Kong, and the brew was heavenly….