Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op

Just Us! is, simply put, really great. Their coffees are delicious and their ethical basis is certainly worth applauding. I mean their products are from free-trade origins, mostly organic and produced by a co-op which believes in people before profits. How could you not support that?! I really have to dwell on the fact that the people at Just Us! think of everything in regards to their business. On the flipside, there is a local coffee roaster here in Moncton that treated me to a rant when I asked if his coffee was free-trade. He argued that it didn't change the taste so he couldn't really be bothered. That is an extremely short sighted view but, then again, businesses tend to be short sighted and disregard any social responsibility. So that's why I'd rather buy my coffee from the Annapolis Valley rather than from right here in Moncton. Ethics trump locally produced.

We visited the Just Us! factory in Grand Pré, Nova Scotia and found it to be a really nice spot worth the stop. They had the café with a whole selection of coffees and teas that we don't get here in Moncton, a really neat little museum about fair-trade and coffee growing processes which was really nice and showcased the thought that goes behind Just Us! coffee. There's also a large window where you can watch the guys roasting and bagging the coffee. Pretty neat.

Now if I hadn't been on a budjet, I would have bought everything in the store. As it were, I limited myself to buying three varieties of coffee that we don't have in stores here, some organic free-trade sugar and rooibos tea. The first coffee, Rainforest Rhapsody, is a light roast and is therefore light in taste. It's a good coffee for someone who likes a mild coffee but I'm into a bit more body; that's why the Jungle Blend or Rise Again coffees are more along my tastes. They're both rich and earthy, each with their own characteristics. But so far - and here I speak of ALL coffee I've ever tasted in ALL of my years of coffee drinking - the Mocha Java is hands down the best coffee ever! It's full bodied, rich and has strong notes of chocolate with an slight aftertaste of fruit. Really a great coffee. I'm going to do my damndest in the next weeks to get the friendly people at Just Us! to ship the Mocha Java to my local co-op food market from now on.

Busy Times

I've recently chosen to change waitering jobs from Cora's Breakfast to the Barn Yard BBQ. It's a smaller restaurant that's closer to town and because it's not a chain, it's more informal...hell, my uniform consists of a plaid shirt, jeans and a tool belt. Plus the food is really great. Everything is smoked for hours. Whole chickens. Pork ribs and roasts. Beef brisket. It all comes out beautiful. Plus I get to sneak some of my own food in if I catch the guys at the right time.

The unfortunate things about this move is that, being the nice guy that I am, I gave my old boss a 2 week notice and worked at both places for 2 weeks. So 8:30 to 5:00 at the day job, then working nights at the barnyard plus weekends at Cora's. I'm tired and had little to no time to myself which means that the food takes a backseat.

Pretty much the only time I had to make food was in the mornings. So I made loads of egg sandwiches, omellettes and fruit plates but really nothing worth writing about. The only good thing related to these breakfasts is that I've discovered the organic section of my grocery store. I now buy my coffee from the absolute best coffee company Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op. Their coffee is fair trade, organic, and the company is a co-operative. You can't have any less capitalistic and environmentally friendly than that. Also in this section of the store I've found soy cream cheese, soy milk, Bob's Red Mill products, organic cereals, hand crafted sodas, organic beans and pastas and so on. It's all a bit more expensive but worth it in an overall view.

Anyways, I'm back in the kitchen now. Like tonight I made a whole chicken in the crock pot with yellow cury paste and coconut milk. I've noticed that things cooked in the crock pot tend to loose any oomph they might have unless they're meant to cook for a long time like sauces or stews or soups. I mixed the chicken with some of the juice and couscous but the result was uneventful. Even the rice krispie squares I made were more exciting than this.