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Weekend coffee is most always done via french press and ground while i'm heating the water...roughly 1.5 tbsp per 8 oz...once the water is boiling...remove from heat and pour as soon as it stops boiling...stir with chopsticks till i get roughly 3/4" of foam/bloom on top...cap my press for 4 minutes...press and serve.

Weekday coffee #1 Breville K-cup maker conveniently located between my bed and shower...hopefully i ground beans and filled up the re-usable filter the night before...I try to get 2 tbsp in there and brew a 12 oz cup...if i forgot which so often is the case i keep a variety of BOLD style K-cups around for convenience.

Weekday coffee #2 My gym serves River Road coffees from a commercial drip coffee maker and I always grab one for the drive home. No clue how they measure it out.

Weekday coffee #3 Commercial drip coffee maker at the office with Community Coffee French Roast. Roughly 10oz ground coffee by volume per 10 cup pot.

i may have a problem

I've got 2 tips for battling dry poached chicken:

1. brine your chicken overnight before hand...i do this with all poultry and lean cuts of pork before any type of cooking.

2. get an instant read thermometer and pull those suckers out as soon as it says 165 F degrees (73.9 C).

also be sure your chicken stays fully submerged and you cook at a gentle simmer (can bring to a boil at first then turn down if you're concerned about killing off bacteria)

When turning on the stove or firing up the grill is not an option, I like to make a little antipasto platter and find a good cool glass of white wine.

Also do a lot of whey protein smoothies with a banana and some frozen fruit and maybe snack on some almonds.

I make a cherry-tarragon sauce to serve with steaks(ribeye usually)...its approximately 1 cup of red wine reduced by 66 percent with a few sprigs of tarragon and cracked black pepper...stir in about 4 ounces of cherry preserves and finish with a bit of salt and butter. quick and delicious.

I once got the strangest look from a co-worker when I requested we stop at a Publix while on a business trip so I could see what it was all about. Going to be in Denver/Vail this weekend...hope to check out their offerings as well.

I used to spin some vinyl everytime I was in the kitchen...mostly jazz...that and a glass of wine would put me in the perfect mood to create.

Nowadays it seems like I'm always trying to cook while watching some type of sporting event...maybe thats why I seem to be low on creativity lately.

Maybe its time to revisit some of those old records.

A few of my thoughts on the subject:

The most heart winning meal I've ever had cooked for me had very little to do with the food(though it was a pretty decent spinich manicotti dish) and everything to do with the sincerity with which it was made and served.

I've almost fallen in love with a girl just because she was better at making my grandmother's best dishes than my grandmother was...thats some seriously comforting food right there.

The meal to my heart...give me seafood...think french techniques and southern italian feeling...fresh herbs...something with a sauce...fruit if its in season...pairs well with wine. make it healthy (or appear to be healthy). make it feminine and classy and adventurous...thats how I'll think of you for making it.

Please only do this if you have kitchen skills...otherwise just attempt to make something from scratch for a change and I'll truly appreciate the effort and that you stepped out of your comfort zone just for me.

Thats a good question and hopefully somebody has a better answer than me...I've always brined my chicken first, then soaked in buttermilk afterwards. I've been tempted to make a buttermilk brine to see if it could shorten the process but it didn't really sound like a good idea. While I'm still working on the perfect crispiness and breading for my chicken, i'll stand by the flavor and texture of the meat against just about any other chicken i've had.

I usually go one of two ways...

5 parts Bombay Sapphire
1/2 part Vya Dry Vermouth
1/2 part Vya Sweet Vermouth
3 Panola jalapeno stuffed olives...and a splash of the brine..or Marzetti white wine marinated olives.

or

4 parts Martin Miller gin
1 part Vya Dry Vermouth
1/2 part Vya Sweet Vermouth
twist of lemon

@fpcoach- Thanks for recommending Scotts in Lexington..I'm going to be in the area in a couple of weeks and will have to make a drive over to try it out.

I have both a Krups brand ice cream maker with the freezer bowl and the Cuisinart stand alone with the built in compressor. The Krups was very inexpensive($40 bucks I believe) and made plenty of decent batches of ice cream for me, though if my base wasn't cold enough my frozen bowl would warm up before the ice cream/sorbet was finished. The freezer bowl was quite large and took up lots of space in my freezer that I really didn't want to give up to an empty bowl all the time so I had to plan ahead at least a day or two if I wanted to make ice cream. I bought the much pricier Cuisinart ice cream maker ($299 at Williams-Sonoma...had a gift card to ease the pain) on a whim one day while planning a 4th of July party and wondering how I was going to make the 3 different types of sorbets we were planning on. One Cuisinart ice cream maker and about 2 hours later they were finished and in the freezer. Its extremely versatile and handy to have, but its heavy and loud and rather large to store away. I get a lot of enjoyment out of being able to just plug it in and turn it on...leads to a lot of experimentation. I would like it a lot better at $200 but I don't feel ripped off at $300.

you can't go wrong with any of the recommendations on this page...i'm very impressed with my fellow Serious Eaters.

a couple of comments of my own:

New Orleans is hot in May and June, but not unbearable and I've never seemed to mind when visiting for pleasure...work is another story. Also, keep in mind that the first two weekends in May is JazzFest and decide if that is a plus or a minus for your plans.

@msmeanie-I'd been waiting for someone to recommend Dante's Kitchen...fantastic food and I love the brunch...particularly the bloody mary made with Dante's own cucumber infused vodka...or was it gin? either way they were incredibly spicy and refreshing.

Other things to try:

Burger and a Monsoon at Port of Call

Stuffed Flounder and Macaroni n Cheese at Jack Dempsey's

Paella at Lola's

Atmosphere wise I really like eating on the Upstairs Balcony at Ralph's on the Park.

Now I must go talk a couple of friends into making a day trip to N.O. very soon.