Not Everyone Knows How To Make Cuban Coffee

I was spoiled early as the majority of the ladies I have known made cafe well. Local neighborhood "cafeterias" also made good cafe. The ladies showed me how to make cafe including "con espuma", the froth at the top. Woefully, I thought everyone knew how to make it. Wrong, coffee breath!

As for making cafe at home, Blanca (the children's grandmother from my wife's first marriage) was the best. Although the ladies in my life made great cafe, no one compared with Blanca.

Moreover, when I got divorced, it was Blanca who taught me that the "cafetera" (coffee maker) had to be seasoned. She told me to make coffee about six or seven times using the same coffee to get the metal taste out of the cafe. It took me a while to get the hang of it and the taste that I wanted.

When I moved to a new area, I went to several cafeterias and was really surprised that the cafe was horrible. Since most places served their cafe with a smile, I said nothing and quietly dumped my coffee in the nearest receptacle, making a mental note.

Nowadays, I know where to go to get good Cuban coffee and a meat or guava pastry which makes for a quick but filling fare. It's like anything else, some have it, some don't.....

The News As I See It: Barbie just turned 57-years-old. She looks great and is holding up well. The original Barbie was created in 1959. The first Black Barbie came out in 1968. In 1984 Barbie got married to Larry King and the rest is history.

This Date In History: 1743; The first town meeting was held in Boston, Massachusetts, at Faneuil Hall. 1794; The cotton gin was patented by Eli Whitney. 1939; The Republic of Czechoslovakia was dissolved, soon to be occupied by the Nazis.

1950; The FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list made its debut. 1958; Perry Como's single "Catch a Falling Star" became the first RIAA gold record.

1964; Jack Ruby was found guilty of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy. 1990; The Soviet Congress voted Mikhail Gorbachev into the newly-created and powerful position of president.

Picture Of The Day: Making Cuban coffee at home is a little tricky at first, but over time. it's well worth it.

Printable Things I Never Told You: 1) In the South, we don't hide crazy. We parade it around on the front porch and give it sweet tea. 2) Three out of four voices in my head want to sleep. The other voice wants to know if penguins have knees. 3) Men feel sorry for Olympic soccer players. We know what it's like to try to score for 90 minutes and get nowhere.

4) I gave my girlfriend a tip how she could wash the dishes better. On a side note, Dawn dish liquid is really starting to make my hands softer.  5) My girlfriend and I went camping this weekend in her SUV and two raccoons got in the car. Long story short, if you see two 'coons speeding in a 2011 Jeep Cherokee, call me.....and that's five !

Today's Horoscope: Pisces - March 14th: Finding that special someone in your life is more easily accomplished with Ghirardelli dark chocolate and Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream rather than tequila. However, it generally is much easier to eat that stuff at home and then go out and find love. It is likely to be hiding at either your neighborhood coffee shop or your local supermarket.

Birthdays: Georg Telemann, composer 1681, Giovanni Schiaparelli, astronomer 1835, Paul Ehrlich, bacteriologist 1854, Casey Jones, railroad engineer 1864, Albert Einstein, American theoretical physicist 1879, Diane Arbus, photographer 1923, Michael Caine, actor 1933, Quincy Jones, composer 1933, Billy Crystal, actor, comedian and writer 1947.

The AREA 51 Retirement Home Bar And Grill: The new blonde employee stood before the paper shredder looking confused. A fellow worker asked her, "Need some help?" The blonde replied, "Yes, how does this thing work?"

The coworker took the bulky report from her hands and began feeding it into the shredder. The blonde said, "Thanks, but where do the copies come out?"

At one point during a game, the coach said to one of his young players, "Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?" The little boy nodded in the affirmative.

The coach asked, "Do you understand that what matters is whether we win together as a team?" The little boy nodded yes.

The coach continued, "So, when a strike is called, or you're out at first, you don't argue or curse or attack the umpire. Do you understand all that?" Again the little boy nodded.

The coach said, "Good! Now go over there and explain it to your mother."

The Hits Just Keep On Coming: A Texan walks in to a pub in Ireland and clears his voice to the crowd of drinkers. He says, "I hear you Irish are a bunch of hard drinkers. I'll give $500 American dollars to anybody in here who can drink 10 pints of Guinness back-to-back."

The room is quiet, and no one takes up the Texans offer. One man even leaves. Thirty minutes later the same gentleman who left shows back up, taps the Texan on the shoulder and asks, Is your bet still good?" The Texan says yes and asks the bartender to line up 10 pints of Guinness.

Immediately the Irishman tears into all 10 of the pint glasses, drinking them all back-to-back. The other pub patrons cheer as the Texan sits in amazement.

The Texan gives the Irishman the $500 and says, "If you don't mind me asking, where did you go for that 30 minutes you were gone?" The Irishman replies, "Oh, I had to go to the pub down the street to see if I could actually do it."

A rescue team finally finds a crashed airplane. The lone survivor is chewing on a bone next to a huge pile of human bones. The rescuers are shocked.

The survivor says, "Don't judge me for this. I had to survive." The leader of the rescue team says, "Damn, man, your plane only went down three days ago."

That's it for today, my little woodchucks. Remember, if you see me running you'd better join me, because it’s just something I don’t do.

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More on Wednesday.

Stay Tuned !