Linger at the Menger

Mug: Another souvenir mug from San Antonio. Chinese made, generic mug. No complaints, but no raves either. Basic, functional design with the preferred handle shape.

What makes this mug special (to me) is its source: The Menger Hotel. The Menger is on Alamo Square in San Antonio, and was opened in the 1850's. It has quite a colorful history.

• One of Texas' first commercial breweries operated there.
• General Robert E. Lee lived there when he commanded the U.S. Army garrison in San Antonio. He was there when Texas seceded from the Union, and a mob almost lynched him as they demanded the Union Army leave San Antonio. He left, later to join the Confederacy.
  
• Teddy Roosevelt lived there while he recruited his "Rough Riders" in the lobby bar, and trained them nearby at what later became Brackenridge Park.
• The Battle of the Alamo was fought on this site. The wall that Santa Ana's forces overwhelmed on their four-point assault was the picket wall that would have been next to the Menger's eventual location.

I love to stay there, usually in the old wing that dates back to the late 19th century, but also in the "modern motor court" wing that was built in the booming 1950's-60's. All true Texans love the Menger.

Coffee: I'm currently drinking the Nicaraguan coffee that I roasted. It's very nice stuff, and gets an "Approved for Future Purchase" rating.

A Hardy Mug of Coffee.

Mug: Linden brought this home from Marshall's the other day. It's a china mug (I believe), made in England. The decoration applied is of a bucolic scene reminiscent of a Thomas Hardy novel. The old church on the hill is a nice touch that reinforces the Hardyesque look of the scene.

The mug is a nice "drinker". It has a nice handle, a pleasant tactile experience for the fingers and lips, it's not too heavy or too light. All in all a very satisfying conveyor of coffee.

Coffee: The Colombian. On deck is some Nicaraguan coffee that I roasted last night. Stay tuned.

Coffee Slushee.

Mug: Another Starbucks Travel Mug. Pretty leak-proof, good heat retention, an all-around good travel mug that holds 14 ounces. The plastic lid and handle have a nice "rubbery" feel to them. Good to the lips and fingers.

Coffee: A bean from Timor that I roasted myself to a Full City roast. I bought the beans from Sweet Maria's Green Coffees in Oakland, California. Very nice flavor, sort of like a Sumatra I guess.

Note: Before there was Slurpee, there was (and still is) Slushee. 7-Eleven Corporation bought the machines and technology for their Slurpees from Slushee and took it to a new level, but the original Slushee Frozen Beverage can still be found. They have a polar bear as their mascot. There are aficionados who claim one is better than the other. Slurpee/Slushee aficionados. Who'd have imagined?

I suppose there are fanatics for everything... including coffee mugs.

Christmas remaindered.

Mug: Starbucks Holiday Mug from the Clearance Shelf at a local Starbucks. $2.99 of post-holiday joy (marked down from $9.99). It says, "PEACE on earth", with wintry designs decorating it. On the bottom, it says "Holiday 2006". Chinese porcelain, it holds 14 ounces of coffee (or whatever one might put in it). Is 14 ounces Grande or Vente?

Coffee: Colombian Supremo ground in my new burr grinder (that I'm starting to get the hang of). I neglected to document the mug when I got it Tuesday morning and had it filled with a Guatemalan coffee,

Notes: Peace on Earth Holiday Mug. The generic Winter Holiday Wish. Of course, that's all that one can really expect from a "holiday"; just a wish. I don't want to get into the "War on Christmas" stuff, because truth be told, that war was lost long ago. I just want to point out how sad it is that we would make a mid-winter wish for peace, when in Christ alone there is the reality of true peace. "Peace on Earth. Good will to all men" said the angels heralding the Christ's birth.

Postscript: Of further interest is the meeting I had that provided the opportunity to secure this mug. In my clumsy efforts at being an Alpha Advisor, I met two young "missionaries" who are trying to run Alpha at their church plant in downtown Dallas. One of them was sent here five years ago as a church planter from Antioch Church in Waco. You may recognize Antioch as the church that sent the two women missionaries to Afghanistan a few years ago.

What do Afghanistan and Dallas have in common? A need to know Jesus and his Gospel of Salvation.

Old Mugs never die... they just become pencil cups.

Mug: Handmade, low-fire mug from Italy. It fell to the table and shattered. The hand-painted decorations were just too cool to throw it away, so I glued it back together with Emer's Carpenter's Glue and saved it to use as a pencil cup.

Contents: Various stuff that fits in a verticle holder. Hi-Liters, Xacto knives, #2 pencils, tape measure from IKEA, Palm Sunday cross, and other floatsom and jetsom from my life.

Background: This mug was made by an artisan (Ceramica DeSimone) who had supposedly studied under Pablo Picasso. It's a very thick mug, but made with a very light-weight clay (and very brittle). Each mug was unique, the glaze is very rough and primitive, looking almost like something that would have been made in Roman times for general, almost disposable use (the "Big-Gulp" mug of the Roman Circus, perhaps).

Mug o' suds!

Mug: This is a Burt's Bees shaving mug with an interesting "knob" handle. Made in China, but a very authentic, Victorian design. The brush is a wood handled boar's bristle brush.

Soap: I currently alternate between two shaving soaps: a blue glycerin soap that my daughter Catherine gets for me out of Houston, and a handmade clay/lye/stuff shaving soap that my daughter Anna hand-makes herself. That's what I am currently brushing with. When I run out of soap from my girls, I use either an amber glycerin soap from Surrey out of Leander, Texas, or I use Burt's Bees Bay Rum Shaving Soap.

Background: My girls heard the "clack, clack, clack" sound of my brush against a mug many a morning while they were growing up. I presume it evokes fond memories for them.

For my inner-Yankee.

Mug: Another diner mug. Good heft, shape, and tactile experience. Ugly design, but of an esoteric sort appealing to immigrants from New Jersey, Delaware, and regions thereabout.

Coffee: Back to the Colombian Supremo. I'm still trying work out the best settings for my burr grinder, so going back to my coffee base helps in the experimentation.

Notes: White Castle is a much-beloved hamburger chain from the Eastern Seaboard that has failed to penetrate the southwest. A White Castle burger (lovingly referred to as "Sliders" for the puck-like size) is similar to a sausage/biscuit sandwich. Imagine a flavorless sausage/biscuit sandwich with ketchup and a pickle. See why they haven't made inroads into the land of the Hunger-Buster?

Eine kleine Kaffee Kup

Mug: Yet another Waechtersbach mug, this one from their limited edition German Composers Signature series: Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart. I only got the Mozart, mainly because of the PMS 285 yellow/orange color (my "official" accent color in my earth tones colored world). This mug came out of the Spanish plant, and is de facto inferior to the German mugs.

Coffee: Guatemalan Antigua that I ground in my Santa Gift burr grinder. For thirty years, I've been told that burr grinders are superior to blade grinders, but I was happy enough with my blade grinders that I didn't feel the need to spend $50+ on a burr grinder. Sam's Club has these Cuisinart Burr Grinders for $29, so Santa got me one.

Note: Regarding the list of German composers above; Austria has the world's best Public Relations team. They have convinced the world that Mozart was an Austrian, and that Hitler was a German.

Texas is a helluva place to die.

Mug: Bought this bistro mug at either Book People or Waterloo Records, in Austin. It's a beauty. Soft, deep blue glaze with a matte finish. White lettering set in Engraver's Gothic (caps/small caps). Nice big handle, wide mouth, stable (if narrow) base. I'm sure the mug comes from China, but I can't confirm that. The company that markets these is based in College Station (and has a humorous Aggie-centric version of this mug).

Contents: Mexican hot cocoa for my sore throat on this rainy, thunder and lightning, winter day.

Info: The text on the mug comes from Congressman David Crockett's parting words to the electorate of Tennessee upon his defeat for another term in November of 1835. He was just a little bitter. He left his home state in late December of that year, to be immortalized as a Texan for all time, just roughly two month and thirteen days later.

Sinnerman Hot Chocolatte

Mug: This is a Fiesta Ware mug made right here in the United States. Fiesta Ware is famous for their bright (and revolving/evolving) glaze colors. Very simple lines in a sort of Depression-era American Crafts meets Bauhaus Deco style. The shape of this mug doesn't do a whole lot for me, but the azure color of the glaze is stunning.

Contents: Abuelita brand Mexican Hot Chocolate. The Mexican hot chocolate tablets are my favorite hot chocolate drinks. The texture is always a little grainy, and the cinnamon adds a nice bite to it.

Note: Fiesta Ware almost went of business in the seventies because their beautiful red glaze was rumored to kill people. Makes a meal a little less appetizing if you are worried about radiation poisoning. Following is Wikipedia's version of the story...

Red Fiesta (and indeed the red glazes produced by all US potteries of the era) is known for having a detectable amount of uranium oxide in its glaze to produce the bright orange-red color. During WWII the government took control of uranium. Homer Laughlin and the other potteries had to discontinue the use of uranium-containing glazes. Fiesta red was discontinued before 1944, because all uranium was controlled by the US government while developing the Manhattan Project. Vintage red Fiesta plates are more radioactive (but not necessarily harmful) than other radioactive house wares, such as uranium glass. The amount of radiation is low enough that most dinnerware collectors don't consider it something to worry about. Fiesta red was reintroduced in 1959, when the Atomic Energy Commission released its restrictions on uranium oxide. It is important to note that having an X-ray conducted once causes much greater radiation damage than using such china over a prolonged period. As of current, government and third-party studies have effectively concluded that all widely-distributed, uranium-containing consumer china (Fiesta and others from various companies) is safe for food consumption, but not recommended for food storage due to the possibility of leaching of uranium (and other heavy metals, often present in some colored glazes) to the foods, especially if they are acidic.

Christmas Coffee Cantata

Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

(Silence may be kept.)

(The Collect of the day is said)

Almighty God,
you have given us your only-begotten Son
to take our nature upon him
and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin:
grant that we, who have been born again
and made your children by adoption and grace,
may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Mug: A cobalt-blue bistro mug with the Name above all names laser-incised on one side, and all the names that He is known by incised on the other side.

Coffee: Columbian Supremo

Note: Merry Christmas.

Santa Paws is Coming to Town.

Mug: Waechtersbach Christmas Mug, made in Germany. "Just how many Waeschtersbach mugs do you have, anyway?"

A bunch of 'em.

Coffee: Guatemalan Antigua from Central Market. A good alternative to my base Colombian.

Info: Happy Advent.

John 11:35

Mug: Generic Chinese mug. OK functionally, although the walls seem thin. The mug came from the Old Russian Orthodox monastery outside of Blanco, Texas as a souvenir (an ancient tradition for all pilgrimage sites). They used to possess an icon of the Infant Jesus with Mother (the Theotokos). An oil seemed to "weep" from the yes of both Mary and Jesus. I made a couple of trips there, and while I had great suspicion about the authenticity of the icon, there was undoubtedly a strong sense of the Spirit's presence (which I attributed to the gathered pilgrims as much if not more so than to the icon itself).

What bothered me about the icon was: A) It was crudely "written" (seems like a tacky criticism, I know, but it pointed to a more serious problem); B) the icon was presented on a stand that concealed it's back side (so that doubters couldn't inspect it for tubing).

I said that the monastery (Christ in the Hills) used to possess it, because the Blanco County Sheriff confiscated it earlier this year when a couple of the "monks" were arrested on charges of indecency with a minor. I don't know, but I suspect the worse.

The weeping of Jesus and Mary is real, even if the icon is fake.

Coffee: Drinking Central Market's Colombian Supremo again. Linden bought a pound and a half to help get our bill over $50 (excluding beer and wine). By hitting that magic number, she got a very nice German-made Wusthoff butcher knife.

I'll be roasting green beans again tonight.

Cute-jacked.

Mug: Crate & Barrel demitasse cup set. Made in Poland. Cute. Functional. Good finger placement (to indicate scale, I have employed a "hand-model" for this shot).

Coffee: A generic "French Roast" bean from Central Market. The remnants of last year's supply (I only drink this stuff in the winter months... a low of 36ºs last night makes today qualify). I make espresso in my Estro Vapore pressure-pump espresso machine my girls got me for Father's Day a few years ago. It's a nice one.

Confession: I usually make lattes with this machine.

Wake up and smell the coffee.

Mug: A replacement for the mug I lost at City Hall. Oddly shaped mug and handle, to be expected for a mug designed by reknowned architect/industrial designer Michael Graves. Good-drinking mug, lousy travel mug because it won't fit any any cup holder I'm aware of (doesn't show in the picture, but the base is twice as wide as the mouth) .

Coffee: Still drinking the organic Columbian I roasted myself in the hot-air popcorn popper.

Note: The mug I lost at Dallas City Hall was replaced by this Michael Graves designed mug. When I.M. Pei was designing Dallas City Hall, Michael Graves was designing Portland, Oregon's new Municipal Building. The two designs were seen to be in a kind of competition with each other: Ultra-Modernist Pei vs. Post-Modernist Graves. Whereas Dallas' city hall looks like the coastal defences along Normandy prior to D-Day, the Graves design looks like a big wrapped gift-box awaitng a child's birthday party.

I have my favorite, but I like them both.

P.S. I awoke to discover it's dawn in America. Thank God.

AhhhSCHILO!

Content: Constant Comment Green Tea. Snifffles, sneezing, sore throat, allergies gone wild. Seeking some comfort (local honey added).

Mug: Got this at Schilo's Deli in San Antonio (right above the RiverWalk, and relatively tourist-free). The Alamo, the Menger Hotel, and Schilo's are the reasons I still go to San Antonio. I used to go for the Pearl Brewery, but General Brewing Corporation (ne: Pabst) put a stop to that. Schilo's is a great place for breakfast and lunch, but dinner is only served on Friday and saturday nights. Used to see Henry Cisneros there (it was one of his getaway offices), maybe still do, I don't know. Rustic.

My only real complaint about the mug (a Chinese product) is that the glaze is too shiny, almost like a clearcoat (which it probably is: a clear glaze over ceramic base).

BTW: 1917 was a brave time to open a German deli. But, German was San Antonio's third (or FIRST) language back then.

Off topic, but topical.

Plate: (or paten) "HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM ... With these words spoken by the priest, the Catholic is taught the wafer of bread turns into the true body of Jesus. HIC EST ENIM CALIX SANGUINIS MEI ... and with these words of the priest, the Catholic is taught that the wine turns into the true blood of Jesus Christ. So Catholics are actually taught that the priest has it in his power to transform bread and wine into God!" ...copied off the internets.

From that (hoc est: this is), the Protestants, Calvinists, and Puritans coined the term "Hocus Pocus" to refer to witchcrat and magic, and to denigrate Roman Catholic sacramental theology... ignoring thereby the words of Christ, "This is (hoc est) my body."

Contents: Snickers.

Happy Halloween.

Untruth in Advertising

Mug: This is a mug I got when I was the Principal/Creative Director of a now defunct small ad agency. Untruer words were never set in type.

It's a bad mug, too. More like a soup mug than a coffee mug. The wide and shallow design allows the heat to dissipate too rapidly. The mug handle is too small: I can just barely get two fingers through there, which (combined with the width spreading the fully loaded weight horizontally) causes the mug to have an unbalanced feel.

I haven't used it in almost 18 years, but I saw it recently in a box of stuff I was throwing away and pulled it out for a laugh.

"P.M. Summer: Marketing Genius." A genuine laugh riot.

Coffee: Continuing with the home-roasted Columbian. It's even better today.

And now for something slightly different.

before

after

Utensil: I've long wanted to try roasting my own beans at home, but the coffee roasters I saw cost between $150 and $400. Out of the question for my use. But I recently read on the internets that you could roast your own coffee beans using certain types of hot-air popcorn poppers. The air-popper I've used for the last twenty-odd years is one of those. Four ounces at a time. So yesterday afternoon, I took the plunge.

Coffee: There is a coffee-shop/beanery/roasting house near me called White Rock Coffee. They happily sold me (but not without some confusion) a pound of Columbia - Valle del Cauca Supremo unroasted green beans. The coffee ended up quite nice, but I'll reserve comment until I get this roasting thing down a little better.

Blessed Mug.

Mug: I brought this mug back from my summer studies at Nashotah House Episcopal Seminary in Deerfield, Wisconsin. I spent my time in an old cinder-block dorm pretty much to myself (which considering the history of Nashotah, wasn't all bad... I think the showers are haunted). I found this old mug from the Refectory in a cupboard in the dorm commons, along with a bunch of other abandoned mugs and utensils. I purchased a new mug and performed a swap.

That's Nashotah's seal in gold foil on the mug. Very handsome. This is an American-made mug from the W.C. Bunting Ceramics Company (still in business), and probably dates to the late 1950s. A very nice mug. Good shape, nice tactile experience, holds enough coffee to call it a mug (and not just a cup).

Coffee: Back to the remnants of the Columbian today (finished it off).