Purely Random

Yesterday marked an exciting day in the life of Mike Beattie: I made my first trip to the Saturday Cafe at Enrico Biscott. As you my have gathered from my previous effusion, I hold Enrico’s in high regard. The Saturday Cafe is an opportunity to experience some of their excitingly rustic food without committing yourself too the bread class. If you’re not sure that you want to take my advice and enroll in their bread class, at least give the cafe a try. (more…)

About 4 months ago, I fell in love with the concept of baking my own bread. Why? It all started with the bread baking “class” from the Enrico Biscotti Company. In just a single-session introduction, I didn’t learn all the intricacies of bread, nor was I able to actually reproduce the loaf of bread we made in class—at least initially. The primary outcome of the class was inspiration: I started baking bread every Saturday morning.

On Sunday, I took that class for a second time—this time with two new friends. If you like too cook (or have any interest in baking or Italian food culture), you should sign up and take the class as well. Breakfast alone is worth half the cost. (more…)

This weekend, I’m going to attend PodCamp Pittsburgh. I only heard about the event on NPR while driving home from work yesterday, but it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for lately. PodCamp falls into the genre of the un-conference. These are a big deal in the Silicon Valley and aim to dismiss what traditional conferences have become: big commercial affairs that seem to focus more on volume than actually assembling a synergetic group. In an unconference, anyone who wants to claim a session can sign up for the room and go for it—maintaining much of the low barrier to entry that typifies the Internet. (more…)

The more people that end up being invited to a dinner party, the less manageable that party becomes. It’s inevitable: as you invite more people, the amount of food required grows. Even the variety of food required expands as guests with what I’ll call “limited flavor tolerances” become involved. The result: lots of running around doing prep work and trying to please too many different people instead of bringing a close group of friends together for an enjoyable meal. I’m guilty of these sins, and they must stop. (more…)

Let me step away from the traditional breakfast post for just a moment: today, I’m going to talk about a coffee shop. Realize that I’m a novice coffee drinker at best, but I find that there’s a lot of opportunity for variety in that world, and I’d love to become more aware of it’s intricacies. Variety, as we should all embrace, is the the spice of life. (more…)

I’m a big fan of tea. I’m sure that’s at least partially inspired by my mother, who so frequently has a hot cup of tea in front of her that my first words were, “hot tea!” So, of course, when I came into contact with Wick’s and Beans at some point last year, I was both intruiged and excited. In fact, I was so excited that it couldn’t be completely explained by some maternally-inspired appreciation of tea. I think it has much more to do with my love of small storefronts run by a connoisseur. This brings me to Margaret’s Fine Imports, which is nothing more than a bigger, better Wick’s and Beans in a new location. (more…)