Happy New Year, and Julie & Julia

Happy New Year!  It was a crazy Christmas season, and we all at Transcend were overwhelmed with the level of support we experienced over the Christmas craze.  We all had a good week off too, and we appreciate everyone's patience with us as they fasted from fresh roasted coffee.  In short, we had a great year and look forward to all that is going to happen in 2010.  I need to sit down and recap the year that was and perhaps need to pontificate a bit on the year that will be, but that is another post.

Just watched Julie & Julia (a movie about Julia Child and Julie Powell) and must say I enjoyed it very much.  Maybe I am getting older (almost 41) or maybe it is something else, but I do enjoy movies that evoke emotion, passion and joy.  And for me this movie did just that.  It was all about the passion and joy of cooking, and for me, this is close to my heart.  My passion for coffee is a given, and even my passion for wine.  But I also truly enjoy cooking.  We had (including kids) 30 people over for dinner on New Year's eve and the 7 hours of cooking for me was both exhausting and exhilarating.  One of my favourite gifts this year for Christmas was Thomas Keller's cookbook "ad hoc at home" which is full of not only great recipes but real advice on cooking.  I think at the end of the day, it is all about passion!  I want to do that which I love, and share it with those who want to join the ride.  I think that is why I am so excited about coffee, as so many people want to get on the train which just happens to be Transcend.  It is why I get so excited when someone else opens up a serious cafe, or roastery, or winery or wine bar, or bistro, and just wants to do it for the love of doing it.  Too much in our world right now is about the bottom line, or the shareholders.  Too much is about things that have nothing to do with the heart or our souls.  And that is why when I watch movies like Julia & Julia, I am inspired, and spurred on to work both harder and dig deeper into the world of coffee.  It is why we do what we do.  Some days it is easy to get caught up in the world of numbers, financing, and all of that which sucks the life out of us.  But it is movies like this which remind me that it is about celebrating life, celebrating friends and sharing our passions with those who wish to join in.  I don't have Julia Child's cookbook, but I will be buying it, and I will start to cook some of her recipes.  Until then, I will work through Keller's book and tomorrow night will cook his recipe for braised beef short ribs.  I am all over chefs who advocate the use of more butter and more oil.  My advise to you all is to be close to your friends, and drink great wine with them, eat amazing food and oh yes, always always, buy fresh roasted coffee, grind just before brewing, and drink less more often.