Join Christy’s email list to get this story free! A notorious gang puts a bounty on Detective Cady Matthews’s head after she takes down their leader, leaving her no choice but to hide until she can testify at trial. But her temporary home across the country on a remote North Carolina island isn’t as peaceful as she initially thinks. Living under the new identity of Cassidy Livingston, she struggles to keep her investigative skills tucked away, especially after a body washes ashore. When local police bungle the murder investigation, she can’t resist stepping in. But Cassidy is supposed to be keeping a low profile. One wrong move could lead to both her discovery and her demise. Can she bring justice to the island . . . or will the hidden currents surrounding her pull her under for good? Hidden Currents is the first book in the six-book Lantern Beach Mystery series. Each book contains a standalone mystery, but there are overarching mysteries within the entire series. Get it now for
Captain’s Log, Stardate 06.06.2007
Many of you know that my husband, Captain Caffeine, roasts his own coffee. I thought I’d show you a few pictures.
Here is his coffee roaster. Yes, it was an air popcorn popper in a previous life. It’s actually a special design of popcorn popper in that it has vents on the side of the column instead of at the bottom, where most air poppers have their hot air vents.
He stuck a can (top and bottom removed) to extend the column so beans don’t come flying out of the popper.
Here are the green coffee beans.
They’re a rather sickly yellow-brown color. However, the advantage of keeping green coffee beans and roasting them as you need them is two-fold:
1) You get fresh-roasted coffee that’s no more than a week or two old (and Captain Caffeine says he really can tell when coffee has been roasted more than a week ago)
2) Green coffee beans can be bought in bulk because they’ll last up to a year in storage without getting stale. Roasted coffee is only good for a few months, at best.
Here’s the coffee in the roaster.
Captain Caffeine stirs the coffee every so often.
Captain Caffeine has to rapidly cool the coffee as soon as it reaches a certain point, so he pours them back and forth between two sieves, which are really supposed to be for straining soup but he got them at Goodwill for cheap and they work great.
The roasted coffee.
Many of you know that my husband, Captain Caffeine, roasts his own coffee. I thought I’d show you a few pictures.
Here is his coffee roaster. Yes, it was an air popcorn popper in a previous life. It’s actually a special design of popcorn popper in that it has vents on the side of the column instead of at the bottom, where most air poppers have their hot air vents.
He stuck a can (top and bottom removed) to extend the column so beans don’t come flying out of the popper.
Here are the green coffee beans.
They’re a rather sickly yellow-brown color. However, the advantage of keeping green coffee beans and roasting them as you need them is two-fold:
1) You get fresh-roasted coffee that’s no more than a week or two old (and Captain Caffeine says he really can tell when coffee has been roasted more than a week ago)
2) Green coffee beans can be bought in bulk because they’ll last up to a year in storage without getting stale. Roasted coffee is only good for a few months, at best.
Here’s the coffee in the roaster.
Captain Caffeine stirs the coffee every so often.
Captain Caffeine has to rapidly cool the coffee as soon as it reaches a certain point, so he pours them back and forth between two sieves, which are really supposed to be for straining soup but he got them at Goodwill for cheap and they work great.
The roasted coffee.
Comments
Just think, years from now, when you're both retired, at least he'll have something to occupy his time!
He really likes his coffee doesn't he? Reminds me of my Mom:D
I can only hope to meet a guy who has mastered the art of roasting coffee. I'm an addict.