Coffee

If most normal humans are made up of nearly 90 percent water, I am at the very least 80 percent coffee. Not only do I drink it from morning to night, loving the hot black spark perking through my body and mind, I've come to savor its myriad roasty flavors, the manual craft of brewing gear, and especially its culture of rituals - which can be oh-so-hard to change. Like most discerning Philadelphians, my ritual for more than a decade has been a cup of La Colombe, the city's "house brew," judging by the number of restaurants and cafes that have a pot of Corsica or shot of Nizza at the ready.

The goldfinches have long since devoured the sunflower seed heads in my garden. Time to get out the feeders and go buy birdseed. Estimates are fuzzy, but at least 55 million Americans join me in this effort, says George Petrides Sr., managing director of the National Bird-Feeding Society. And we spend a hefty sum doing it. Expenditures on seed, feeders, birdbaths, birdhouses, and the like come to $4.5 billion a year, he said. Helping birds doesn't have to stop there. Two other consumer choices are important - paper products and coffee.

In a world where people sue McDonald's for serving coffee too hot, a Philadelphia woman has sued a Dunkin' Donuts for serving coffee she says was too sweet - so sweet it sent her into a diabetic coma. Danielle Jordan, 47, of Oxford Avenue near Langdon Street in Crescentville, filed a personal-injury lawsuit against the Dunkin' Donuts on Frankford Avenue near Bridge Street and Northeast Donut Shops Management Corp. Jordan is seeking unspecified damages for problems caused after she ordered coffee with artificial sweetener on June 15, 2009, but the server put sugar into the brew, according to the suit, which was first reported by the Courthouse News Service.

In a world where people sue McDonald's for serving coffee too hot, a Philadelphia woman has sued a Dunkin' Donuts for serving coffee she says was too sweet - so sweet it sent her into a diabetic coma. Danielle Jordan, 47, of Oxford Avenue near Langdon Street in Crescentville, filed a personal injury lawsuit against the Dunkin' Donuts on Frankford Avenue near Bridge Street and Northeast Donut Shops Management Corp. Jordan is seeking unspecified damages after she claims she ordered coffee with artificial sweetener on June 15, 2009, but the server put sugar into the brew, according to the suit, which was first reported this morning by the Courthouse News Service.

The design came to her in a dream. Just as Keith Richards came up with the riff to "Satisfaction" in his sleep, Cupcake Lady Kate Carrara woke up one Sunday in 2009 and quickly grabbed crayons to record her vision of a cupcake truck. When she brought the drawing of the white box truck sprinkled with giant jimmies and lined with a metal flounce to a car detailer, he said he could do everything except the giant cupcake springing from the roof. "Go under an overpass and you'll knock that thing right off," she remembers him saying.

By Lanny Morgnanesi   I've become free of a drink that controlled too much of my day and punished me with physical pain if I ignored it.   It's fun to joke about coffee. But I'm not joking. I'm the type of person who gets incredible headaches from caffeine withdrawal. If I was running a little late in the morning, unable to make or purchase coffee, I'd arrive at work wondering when and how I would get my coffee. If I decided to wait until after a morning meeting, and the meeting ran long or something else came up, I'd missed my chance, and a monster within me would put a clamp on my brain.

A proper red-eye gravy gets its bold richness in part from a dose of strong black coffee. Shawn Sollberger, chef and co-owner of the new Northern Liberties pub Gunners Run, combines his grandfather's technique for chicken-fried steak with his North Carolina neighbor's red-eye gravy recipe. Instead of adding ham to the gravy, as is the norm, Sollberger crumbles bacon into the oil he uses to pan-fry the top round steak. He deglazes the pan with coffee. It's served with sauteed spinach and black-eyed peas.

LOS ANGELES - Sometimes, a cup of coffee is more than just a cup of coffee. That, at least, is the fervent belief of two Arizonans, one a buttoned-down Presbyterian minister, the other a tie-dyed Roman Catholic renegade. They are convinced that a steaming cup of cafe arabica could help solve the problem of illegal immigration. And that's just for starters. They also believe it can bring together liberals and conservatives, fulfill the Old Testament's prophetic vision of a "new heaven and new earth," and bring the wolf together with the lamb.

PHILADELPHIA Coffee with Bass Freshman Councilwoman Cindy Bass would like to open a district office someday, but in the meantime she's looking to connect with constituents in other ways. Bass, whose district is in northwest Philadelphia, will begin regularly holding "Coffee with the Councilwoman," an opportunity for residents to chat up Bass at their local restaurant, coffeehouse or diner about neighborhood issues. The first coffee meeting will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday.

Gluten-free, but good The taste and texture of gluten-free products has not necessarily improved with the number of new creations, but the ones from Ginnybakes are an exception. Made with brown rice flour and other organic ingredients, the cookies are baked to a delicate crisp and taste truly as good as those made with wheat, especially the chocolate chip, the butter crisps, and the chocolate chip macadamia. The nut bars, a yummy mix of almonds, pistachios, coconut, and dried fruit, are my new fave.