We spent Memorial Day Weekend 2011 in the Hood River area thanks to an invite from friends. Each day we enjoyed a fantastic view of the Columbia River and even caught a glimpse of Mt. Adams on Saturday (bottom-left photo). If you want a view and be just a few blocks from downtown Hood River I highly recommend checking out the Riverdell Vacation Rental! Every day we walked from Riverdell to downtown whether to shop1 or feed ourselves (or both).

I am a coffee snob. There I said it. Yes, I am fortunate to live in the Northwest where some of the greatest roasters were born. And as much as I like Stumptown I also get bored with the same thing over and over. That’s why I love exploring the many, many, many options I have nearby. This past weekend it was Coava. In their own words… Coava is a family of hard working people who love coffee.

I only have a few minutes before lunch is over, but had to share…my new espresso machine and grinder finally arrived. After three weeks of no spro at home, relief is finally here. I will post much more (first impressions, videos, and more photos) in the next few days, but just had to share my joy. These photos aren’t great, but I’m racing to get everything setup over lunch so I can have play time tonight!

There is no other consumer espresso machine that has a bigger customer base nor the cult following than the Rancilio Silvia (aka Miss Silvia). Just do a Google search on Rancilio Silvia or the more common name Miss Silvia and you will start to see what I mean. Arguably it is the best home espresso machine for the money. However, she can be a bit fussy at times. Pulling the shot In my previous post, Taming Rancilio Rocky, I mentioned how important the grinder is to making exceptional espressos.

As I stated in my previous post, I no longer possess Miss Silvia and Rocky…however, I still have plenty of friends that do own the duo so I wanted to share the knowledge I have gained in the last few years with them. First, I have to admit that I have learned more in the last month than I had in the past few years all because of one phenomenon: YouTube.

Now that we will be leaving Arizona within four days we are hitting our favorite restaurants one last time. One of our favorite places to get dessert is Angel Sweet—we’ve been going there for a couple of years now and they are easily the best place to get gelato in the Phoenix area. Owned by an ASU grad, Hiro, I cannot remember the Italian company, but I do remember that it is the only one in the entire United States.