ended up buying this (and you can too right here.) for the shot glasses (for measuring), temp gauge and milk froth container. It was a bit pricey ($30) but I didn't feel like shopping around and buying all the pieces separately. (the shot glasses alone were 10.95).

but I'm happy to report that Lactaid froths. After reading some articles about "surfing" the hole on the surface of the milk, I gave it a try to much success. I actually overfrothed my latte. (I think the proper ratio is 1/3 espresso, 1/3 milk and 1/3 froth). oh, and I used freshly ground beans which helped give the espresso those 3 layers.. maybe not the perfect 3 but good enough. The machine vibrates when making the espresso though so I have to re-align the glasses every few seconds.

this will probably end my blogging on the subject of home made lattes.

(and thanks dongus for the encouragement).

did you know Downey Jr. does the DVD commentary as the black guy?

so we got these target gift cards for Christmas and I decided to get a cappuccino maker. I was inspired after Christmas at the cousin's. He made me a latte on his super duper cap-machine, one of those self grinding ones, and it was tasty. He said the machine was so nice, it inspired him to do home improvement on his whole kitchen.

Since I didnt want to do any home improvement on our rented apartment, I went with the sub-$100 Mr. Coffee pump espresso machine (vs. the DeLonghi sub-$100 pump espresso machine which got bad reviews for its frother).

So I brought it home, set it up, and man... there's a lot of steps in making a latte. You gotta grind the beans evenly (apparently it should look like salt), measure 7g (or 14g for double shot), brew out 1 oz exactly, then froth the milk (which is a whole 'nother story... there a videos on youtube about how to froth with the correct temp and how deep to stick the wand and all that). And it's messy. Grinds and milk and debris everywhere. Not to mention blood and sweat.

First try tasted like a watered down cup of hot milk. I guess I gotta hone my skills. So many factors. So little time. I should probably use freshly ground beans, not the stuff I ground over a month ago. And next time I froth, I probably shouldn't use Lactaid.

Is it all worth it? I'll let you know.

[hamlet 2 was disappointing. if you want a good steve coogan movie, see Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story]

01/01/09
Gary is sick of getting parking tickets when he's parking ticket innocent. 7:11pm - Comment

12/31/08
Gary feels like he's swallowing glass... and not in the good way. happy new year! 4:52pm - Comment

Gary is feeling sick but won't let that stop him from bringing in the new year the way he knows best... by watching tv. 12:33am

12/30/08
Gary sometimes checks his own website to see if there are any updates. 1:01am - Comment

12/29/08
Gary wishes his wife a wonderful birthday. 12:27am

12/28/08
Gary is looking forward to chili. 2:08pm

12/27/08
Gary had wendys for the first time in 1.5 years. 7:22pm

Gary wishes everyone a merry day after Christmas. 12:51am - Comment

12/24/08
Gary wishes everyone a merry Christmas eve. 11:33am - 1 Comment

12/23/08
Gary thinks splenda sucksa.... 8:27pm

12/21/08
Gary wonders if the RED camera helps save lives in africa. 3:03pm - 1 Comment

12/19/08
Gary Is watching the rehearsal of a wedding aka checking facebook. 5:54pm - Comment

12/17/08
Gary wonders if he should replace his imac or go LTO for awhile.. (laptop only). 10:24pm

Gary is thinking real hard about his next status update.. too hard. 6:50pm

12/16/08
Gary is fighting an edit scene. 6:56pm

12/13/08
Gary has boogers. and so do you. 2:47pm

12/9/08
Gary accidentally set the microwave for 30:00 instead of 3:00. it was 7:00 before i noticed. 12:43pm

12/8/08
Gary RIP imac 2005-2008. 8:08pm

Gary wonders if anyone else's imac has lasted more than 3 years. 10:34am

12/7/08
Gary is watching speed. predator was on the other night. pop quiz hotshot. what famous screenwriter was in predator? 11:40pm

12/6/08
Gary 's computer is frozen (not this one)..is this the beginning of the end? 7:30pm

12/5/08
Gary is editing a fight scene. lots of sweat and tattoos. 12:55pm - 1 Comment

12/3/08
Gary is headaching. 11:49pm

12/2/08
Gary is REDiting. 10:26pm

we've been running a bit late with Christmas errands. decorations didn't go up til yesterday and continuing with the xanga Christmas card tradition, here lies this years entry. (nuts from buenos aires if you're curious)

hmm. i feel like i should update. someone gave me call of duty and i attempted to play that today. gaming is a difficult task i have yet to develop the skills for. been busy editing this. soon will be replacing my dead imac. watching conan right now. jenny's sleeping. not much else to update..