Month: April 2012

The cope-a-meter.

I’m having an off day. One of those, “Why did we move here again?” moments that seems to be lasting for DAYS. Last week my cope-a-meter blitzed past “coping,” raced on towards “what the heck are we DOING here,” and then landed firmly in “I just really want some decent cheese.” If you need to know anything about living in Burundi, it’s that once you start dreaming about lands with better cheese… it’s over for you. At that point, the CHEESE point, the needle on my cope-a-meter officially broke.

Yes, we made a dramatic move and launched our family in a life altering direction FOR THE BETTER… but today I have nothing positive to say about it. TODAY being a family with our feet planted firmly outside our home culture is hard.

It would be a complete lie if I told you I didn’t STILL struggle with living my life here. As an outsider. The color of my skin, the language I speak, the culture I come from… NONE of it blends easily in this place. I KNOW we are capable of living here, of coping, of making it work. It’s just… I’m not sure I’m ok with just “coping.” When will we be THRIVING. Really, when?

I wonder if Myles will be ok learning in a French speaking school. Will French ever feel “normal” to him? I wonder if my kids will notice that I am just a little awkward in this place. That all its “foreign-ness” has me on constantly feeling like a teenager. I worry if living here will shape them in a NEGATIVE way that I could not predict. Could not prevent. Could not control.

Here I am.

A person who has to fight to believe in the good EVERYDAY.

A pessimism junkie.

It’s nice to meet you.

All images film, Hasselblad 501 C

April 30, 2012
Underneath the coffee trees

I love it under the coffee trees. Don’t you? We’re off to the coffee hills again tomorrow. I’ll be photographing more of the harvest process and Coffee Guy will be talking with farmers and making sure the coffee cherries are being processed correctly .

I can’t wait. Being among the coffee trees re-connects me with the very reason we made such a dramatic move in the first place. My boys run free in their gum boots in the middle of Africa and my heart swells a bah-zillion times.

Love,

me

April 26, 2012
Brew Guide: Burundi Bush Brew

This coffee brewing method is rustic. It’s so simple that even if you don’t own any fancy coffee brewing equipment, you probably have everything you need to get started right now… as long as you have coffee. The first time I ever had a cup of Burundi coffee I was IN the bush of Burundi consulting for a coffee washing station. Before I started my day of checking on the washing station’s progress, I went to the house of the man who had started up the coffee cooperative I was visiting. He brewed me coffee in this very old tech, full bodied, somewhat rudimentary but entirely tasty way. This method is the Burundi coffee making method. If you have traveled to or live in Burundi, you know that you can either go to one of about 4 cafes with an espresso machine or you get served coffee made in a similar fashion to this. It’s also a great method for camping or electricity-less mornings.

You can pretty much just have a rummage in your kitchen cupboards to come up with the supplies you need to brew this coffee. A few key things you need for this method are a mortar and pestle, a sieve or strainer, freshly boiled water and freshly roasted coffee..

Use the mortar and pestle to grind the freshly roasted coffee. Do yourself a favor and never buy pre-ground coffee, your palate will thank you. The key here is to grind the coffee just fine enough, avoiding grinding it so fine that you get a lot of sediment running through the sieve. We are showing you lots of detailed shots of our grind so that you can see roughly where to grind to. Although, we both agreed the coffee could have been a little more finely ground than what you see here. Measure out one heaping Tablespoon per cup of coffee you are going to make.

Put your ground coffee into a pitcher and pour in just enough off boiled water to cover the grounds. Allow this to “bloom” for 30 seconds. Pour in the remaining water. Get a good estimate of how big the pitcher is and don’t add too much water. A good ratio is 250ml/1 cup of water per heaped Tablespoon of coffee.

Agitate the coffee and let it steep for four minutes all together, including “bloom” time.

Pour your coffee through a strainer into a carafe (pre heating the carafe will keep your coffee at a drinkable temperature for longer) or directly into your (pre heated) cups.

There you have it Burundi Bush Brew! Ideally speaking you would make sure you were enjoying a Burundi freshly roasted coffee while using this method.

Enjoy!

CG

April 23, 2012
Brew Guide: AeroPress

Not an espresso, not a filter coffee. The AeroPress is a hybrid coffee making method. You will be left with a cup of coffee full of complex flavor and bursting with aroma. Using espresso-like extraction, instead of brewing the ground coffee, gives your palate a similar experience to having an espresso.

1. Get your grind right. Many grinders can be adjusted to different settings depending on what coffee you are brewing. Even my little Hario hand grinder can be adjusted.

Use the provided AeroPress scoop (apx.3 tablespoons to one AeroPress scoop) to generously deliver one scoop of coffee for every ounce of water. Your grind should be just a bit more course then an espresso grind. If it’s too fine, you won’t be able to press the coffee without tremendous difficulty. If it’s too course, the coffee will run out fast with little to no pressure.

2. Fit the paper filter into the AeroPress and pour a small amount of hot water through the press to pre-heat and rinse the filter.

3. Add the ground coffee into the Aeropress (use the provided funel to prevent spills, or don’t) and pour in the off boiled water. For off boiled water wait 30 seconds after the water has boiled before pouring it onto the coffee, or get really serious and use a temperature gadge to get the water exactly at 175*F/80*C for optimal brewing. Add water only up to the mark (1-4) equal to how many scoups of coffee you used.

Really this is just a suggested amount of water to coffee ratio. I personally add 3 scoups of coffee and add water to the 4 scoop line. Taste multiple cups and make it to your taste.

4. Stir 10-15 seconds. I call this agitating, and my wife saying I’m very good at it. This step must not be skipped, it guarentees even and maximum extraction of flavors.

5. Fit the “plunger” and palce the AeroPress directly over a pre-heated cup. Slowly push down half way. Place over a second pre-heated cup and slowly finish the extraction by pushing until the rubber stopper meets the coffee grounds. Enjoy! Some like to add hot water to make this delightfully potent and small coffee into an Americano, and I’m of the opinion that there is really no reason you shouldn’t take your coffee however you want.

6. The AeroPress produces a near perfect “puck” when you turn the coffee grounds out after brewing. You can rinse the paper AeroPress filter and use it again (especially if you live in Central Africa where new filters are hard to come by) or you can dump the filter and grounds into the compost or even directly onto the soil beneath your plants. Plants love coffee almost as much as we do!

No matter how you like your coffee, the AeroPress is one of the smoothest, cleanest and most beautiful ways to extract amazing flavors you will not be able to attain through using a French press or drip brew device. Need to buy one? Try here.

Looking for more Brew Guides? Here they are!

CG

April 19, 2012
Our South African-ness

I am a firm believer that there are places on this earth that make “us” more “us.” Like a good friend, these places connect with our souls… in these places we feel like it’s not that difficult to be the people we were MADE to be. South Africa is one of those places for me. It is the “home” my heart dreams about. I spent a decade of my life there. It’s where I became a mother. A photographer. An artist. A believer in so many good things. A friend to some of the best people on the planet.

I feel like the best possible version of myself when I set foot on South African soil.

We just spent two weeks in our favorite South Africa. Being there was like returning home… except to a home that isn’t fully ours anymore. Right now, this little family is working up the courage to keep making our NEW LAND home. This journey has brought us and others GOOD THINGS, but it’s hard to keep the VIGIL and remind myself of that especially when

we just stared the place we love in the face for two weeks, and walked away again.

While we were there…

Late at night I think about it,

here in this place I love…

this South Africa of mine.

…

Everywhere there are bits of us.

Every friend has mementos

of the life we lived…

couch here,

books there,

vase here.

Scattered across homes.

…

We gave it up.

All of it.

We somehow…

let it all go.

It’s just stuff, right?

…

Do I want my old life back?

Yes, a little.

I sleep in their pretty houses.

I remember mine.

I envy a bit. I wish.

I see the BEAUTIFUL SOULS.

I remember what it’s like to

have them as FAMILY.

…

They say,

“When will you come back?”

I say,

“I don’t know, but I KNOW WE WILL.”

…

South Africa is my land…

it’s my HEART’S property.

I race up against it when I shut my eyes to dream.

I know it better than my passport home,

And it bothers me more than just a little…

to only be a guest in it.

April 18, 2012

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