Walking through Target today I saw this espresso machine on the clearance shelf for only $34! It has a 15 bar pump. My old espresso maker (which I haven't used in quite a while) did not have a pump, but got its pressure just from the force of the steam expanding in the heating chamber. An espresso machine with a pump heats up the water ahead of time and does not start being forced through the coffee grinds until you push a button to start the pump.

A Middle Eastern halal grocery store and kitchen opened up just down the street from us. We went there tonight to check it out and get some take-out food for dinner. It was pretty good and we are excited to finally have a Middle Eastern place nearby. We tried a falafel sandwich, a shawarma sandwich, and a large side of Jerusalem salad. While we were wandering around the store I picked up a bar of soap made with olive oil and laurel oil.

Their meats looked really good. I guess you would expect that from a halal store. They had an entire aisle of hookah pipes and tobacco. Interesting.

When we were walking down the frozen food aisle one of the guys from behind the prepared food counter approached us with a tray of little glass cups with hot sweet tea. What a nice touch!