An interesting article. A couple of points: I wonder how a darker roast, would fair under the same conditions. I'm not a chemist, but when the oils are on the surface of the bean, can their structure be damaged in some way by the freezing and thawing? What about the residue moisture within the bean? This can vary by the roast. Can the freezing and thawing have any effect? IMHO, to be a fair test, one would have to try it with different beans, different roast profiles, and different brewing methods. The other issue is the "exchange" of flavors that often takes place. We've all experienced that refrigerator taste when something has been kept to long in the freezer in spite of it being in a so called "air tight" container. Me, I just like good coffee and its no biggy to purchase it fresh roasted and use it up quickly. We order a pound every other week. Our problem is with espresso. We don't use up the beans as quickly. Most espresso is a blend. There are only a few single orgin beans that make a good cup and a good shot. When I can get them in the roast profile I like, we use them up fast enough so the storage question is mute. Any tasting is, by its nature, a subjective thing. If you enjoy it, that's all that matters. But I do warn you, if you start drinking coffee made from quality beans, freshly roasted and ground, and properly brewed, you have a good chance you'll never be able to stomach Maxwell House again; and Starbucks will merely become an emergency fix only to be used when your supplier is unavailable. It can become an addiction for which there is no known 12 step program!

I'll admit, I don't bake my eggshells...but I buy local eggs, and wash very thoroughly (if they had salmonella, my dogs would get it from the eggs, which I also feed raw). But I would imagine birds would be much more sensitive to anything on them than my dogs might be, so baking is a good idea. I had read that the baking was just to remove mineral oils put on the shell to help preserve the eggs and dry the shells out well, not to guard against salmonella. I just wash them out well with hot water, then store in the fridge until they're really dry. Then I grind them way down into a powder for the dogs...since I mix it with their raw food (one of my dogs can't have whole raw bones, so it replaces the calcium). It takes no time at all in the magic bullet to grind them to powder, if that's what you decide to do. I actually bought the food processor specifically to make dog food with (pulverizing veggies/chopping meat). I can't imagine using the MB for that...it would take me hours with those small quantities! :-)

Snookums, quinoa is a grain. Granted a grain with high protein which makes it more valuable in some lifestyles compared to others. I think it's neither bad nor good. As far as carbs go, it's on the healthier side, but it can make blood sugars rise too fast in those who have issues with moderate glycemic foods. Maybe that is why you woke up starving? As for the quinoa tasting bland... I never toast it, but then I never toasted rice or couscous either. I'm just not that patient :) however I always toast my spices and then cook my dishes. I think it really pays off in my quinoa dishes which are just studded with all the spices. I also tend to layer my spices, for example we might do a black bean mango quinoa salad... So I flavor the black beans with cumin chili powder, I toss the chopped veggies with lime juice, and I season the quino with toasted Mexican oregano, smoked paprika, coriander and cumin, and a smidgen of tomato paste. Then I top with avocado and and a bit of fresh mango pico. If you are not supersensitive to moderate glycemic foods then give the quinoa another try. Green goos take a while to master. You'll find your perfect recipe in time. It took me forever to get a good ration of chia seeds in ours.

I have and use a stick blender. I make smoothies with just yogurt, frozen whole strawberries and banana with a splash of milk all the time. What I like about the hand held is that I can use any size narrowish container and make any amount I want to make at a time. I'll often use the end of a quart of yogurt right in the quart yogurt container. It does a great job of grinding up the frozen strawberries [they're the biggest and hardest fruit]. Then you just clean it by whizzing it in a container of water in the sink and it's really cleaned. I do take the blade off afterward just to make sure all is clean but it's much easier to clean that than a blender or the bullet. Plus you can use it right in your pots to smooth out gravy or to chop meat or small amounts of veggies. Also they're quite cheap compared to the bullet.