August 2010
Apples to Apples
I grew up visiting Yakima, Wash., a lot so I’ve enjoyed many apples in my day – apple pies, apple strudel, baked apples, applesauce and much more. So, while travelling through Germany, when I encountered a delightful-looking apple turnover pastry called apfeltasche, I just had to try it!
The pastry dough had a flaky crust with a moist, tender center, and it was filled with yummy fresh-baked apples. The apples were the star of the show, but for added depth there was a light dusting of cinnamon that really complemented the flavor. The pastry was folded together with a medallion of dough to seal it – and it made you feel extra special, like you were opening an invitation to a chic party. Enjoying it on the café patio with my husband on a lazy morning, watching the world go by, made it even tastier.
Ballad of a Mad Man
The return of Mad Men provides a welcome respite from sundown channel-surfing during a time of the year when there’s not much going on in TV land beyond bad news and worse reality.
Now in its forth season, the critically acclaimed drama centered on a brooding bunch of ‘60s advertising guys and dolls is becoming less of a showcase for vintage fashion and dated mores and more about the makeup and character (or lack thereof) of its shifting and shifty protagonists. Bourbon before noon and Lucky Strikes in the nursery only go so far.
Still, the little details beyond the offerings of the office bar and dizzying array of gravity-defying hairdos continue to give the series texture and pizzazz.
Think of the music, which in the past has included everything from Ann-Margaret kittenishly cooing “Bye Bye Birdie” to Bob Dylan soberly intoning “Song to Woody.” The hallmark of Mad Men’s selections, like the soundtrack to The Sopranos before it, is to avoid the obvious and dig a little deeper into the vaults.
Coffee and Cheese High in the Alps
With the cowbells hanging in the eaves of the huts, I could tell the cows were up high in the mountains. The other, more obvious clue was the cows themselves blocking the trail. Either way, lucky for me this meant fresh alpine cheese!
On a recent hike from Mürren, Switzerland, I stopped at a little hut to enjoy the view and check out the tasty signature cheese. 6,384 feet up, I had great coffee (Starbucks VIA® Ready Brew Italian Roast) paired with alpine cheese in a truly unforgettable setting.
Garcia Passed this Wa
Some milestones have a mysterious impact. Of course, there are seismic episodes – Pearl Harbor or the assassination of John Kennedy or 9/11 – that make indelible impressions on entire generations. And then there are more personal watershed moments, like the passing of someone in public life who one way or another affected your life.
Fifteen years ago this month Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead was found dead at a treatment facility in Forest Knolls, Calif. I was never a Deadhead. Though I was involved in San Francisco’s music community for a decade and was even granted a brief interview with the man (unsurprisingly, he struck me as thoughtful and openhearted), the level of reverence followers of the band maintained was alien to me.
Pick of the Week Goes Digita
Some of my very first memories involve music. I remember learning the words to “Octopus’s Garden” in my first grade music class. The scratchy sounds of Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl” as it played on my parents’ record player in our den. REO Speedwagon on the radio as I played under the kitchen table while Mom cooked dinner. My dad bursting into our bedrooms on our birthdays, belting out “Birthday” off the Beatles’ White Album.
My love of music has stuck with me my entire life. When I came to work at Starbucks a few months ago, I was so excited to work on Pick of the Week, our program that lets you download a free hand-selected song on iTunes®. Even before I came to Starbucks, I looked forward to walking into my favorite coffeehouse (Northgate, hollaaa!) and picking up the newest Pick of the Week card. I love discovering new music and Pick of the Week does an amazing job of introducing me to music I’ve never heard before. Now that I’ve seen the whole Pick of the Week process, I have even more respect for the masterminds behind the project and the artists who participate.
A Right Royal Occasion…
Grand opening of our new-look store in Scotland’s Royal Mile!
I felt so privileged and honoured to attend the launch of our redesigned store on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh last month. Led by Tim Pfeiffer, our global head of design, the team’s goal was to give the store a distinctly local feel, taking influence from classic Edinburgh tea rooms and coffee shops. The team used locally sourced and recycled materials where possible (including reclaimed vintage items from Edinburgh antique shops and salvage yards) and restored many of the original interior features of the building, including adding a library featuring great bookshelves that makes you just want to kick back and enjoy a good book with your coffee.
Let’s Go! Go! Go
Back in 1978, Bob Dylan sat for a Rolling Stone interview with a writer named Jonathan Cott. Cott was perhaps the most erudite rock writer of the time and his scholarly tone seemed to prompt the Bard of Hibbing to make big, bold pronouncements.
At one point the two men drifted away from weightier issues to discuss the state of rock ‘n’ roll, which Dylan insisted didn’t really exist anymore. He’d never played rock ‘n’ roll, the singer asserted. Nor did the Beatles or the Stones. What he referred to as “pure rock ‘n’ roll” faded away with late ‘50s/early ‘60s figures Little Anthony and the Imperials and Phil Spector. In other words, it was all over before many even knew it had begun.
Now you don’t have to buy Dylan’s argument entirely – or really much at all – to see what’s he’s broadly asserting. There’s a freshness to the various genres of music in their formative years, when artists are operating without a whole lot of rules or order. Think of jazz in the ‘20s or hip-hop in the late ‘70s.
Galápagos and the Natural Order of Coffee
When I think of the Galápagos Islands, I think of natural science, Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution. I am taken back to my school days where I learned about their many wonders: a unique ecosystem, rare bird species and exotic flora.
Today we are discovering another wonder from this place: its incredible coffee. We have never offered a coffee from here, and I think it speaks to our ability to discover exceptional finds.
The coffee comes from the island of San Cristóbal, which is one of the largest in the Galápagos chain. San Cristóbal has a peculiar ecosystem that plays a big role in the flavor of this exceptional coffee. The land enjoys plenty of fresh water from small rivers fed by a volcanic crater lake. And the cold Humboldt current that pushes inland creates mountain-like conditions that allow the coffee trees to flourish at low altitudes. The coffee is certified organic, shade grown and bird-friendly.
I have to say the coffee had a lot to live up to in my mind, based on all the stories and lessons I learned as a kid about this mysterious place. But I was not disappointed – the coffee tasted as exotic as the place I imagined. The flavors are familiar yet complex: a juicy mix of fresh green herbs like tarragon and thyme, balanced by notes of soft cocoa and spice.
Galápagos San Cristóbal arrives in selected stores as our first Starbucks Reserve™ coffee. Discover it for yourself soon as it won’t be around long.
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