Yummy Fall Flavors Surround Me

I love the flavors of the fall season, especially pumpkin and eggnog flavors. I believe Jason already wrote about the pumpkin we somehow grew at our Stevenson address, well yesterday we put all the pumpkin pulp into a food processor and today we made our first batch of pumpkin bread. It's not going to be ready to try until tomorrow morning, but I can just imagine now how wonderful it's going to taste. We froze five or so more cups of the pumpkin pulp so we can continue to make pumpkin bread or pie throughout the winter season.

I love the new coffee drinks that Starbucks come out with for the season such as the Pumpkin Spice, Gingerbread, and Eggnog Lattes.

I bought spiced pumpkin creamer at the store today and I can't wait to drink some delicious flavored coffee at work tomorrow- YUMMY!! As I sit writing this now I can smell the bread baking downstairs and it's amazing smells are consuming me.

Divine Pork Chops

I love when I cook a recipe perfectly. Yesterday I concurred Alton Brown's Molasses-and-Coffee Pork Chops, you can check out the recipe on www.foodnetwork.com. Every bite was amazing, I have never made a sauce so delicious. I totally recommend it, the only thing I had to change was instead of cooking the pork on the grill I just fried them on the stove top. Jason was loving it too, while he was eating it he looked at me and said "I'm so glad you can cook." It was so sweet and what's also great is that I enjoy to cook. Thanks again Alton, your recipes are always divine.

Chi-Tea and Coffee Makers

I've been making my own batches of sweet ice tea for a while now. Sometimes they turn out okay and on a rare occasional they turn out great. Well I've finally perfected a recipe that turns out wonderful every time. I use 3 regular caffeinated tea bags (I use Red Rose these days.) and two bags of Raspberry Zinger Herbal tea. I brew them in 12 cups of hot water for about 45 minutes to an hour. I then put a 1/2 cup of sugar and a 1/2 cup of honey into a large left over plastic tea container (I usually save one of the plastic Arizona Green Tea jugs, they're a perfect size and you can just put the top on tightly and shake it well to mix the contents.) I then add my hot brewed tea in and shake it well. I've started to add a few tablespoons of lime juice to add a little sour bite to the tea. Then I fill the rest of the tea jug with cold tap water. I usually don't fill all the way to the top, so there's room to shake the tea well. I then shake all the contents real good and stick in in the frig. It turns out so tasty, I came up with a name for my creation, it's called Chi-Tea. I think it's pretty catchy.

Another thing I wanted to share is how I'm brewing my tea these days. My tea pot has never been very efficient, you can barely hear it when it starts boiling. It usually starts shooting water out. Also the plug got caught under a burner recently and melted the plastic, so it doesn't even fit on the kettle anyone. So I've started measuring 12 cups of water into our coffee pot and heating the water in that. It's awesome cause even if you forget it for a bit it stays hot sitting on the coffee burner. I then turn the coffer maker off and put the tea bags directly in the coffee pot. It really works well, just make sure the coffee maker is clean so your tea doesn't taste like coffee.

Our Farmer's Market

Farmer's Markets are the best. We have one of the best ones in the area across the street from us every Saturday morning. I want to get there today before everything is cleared out, so I will have to keep this short. You can get personally grown fruit and vegetables, local coffee and pastries, homemade soaps, and so much more. A lot of local artisans will have stands too, selling their hand-made crafts and jewelry. It's a way to get to know the folks in the area and really feel like you're contributing to the community. It can be a bit crowded, lucky for us parking is never an issue. The Waverly Farmer's Market is a top five reason why I love our neighborhood, now I just have to come up with four others.

Loving the Coffee

I know it's not the best thing for my tummy, but I really love the taste of coffee. I've started drinking it more often since I've been unemployed. The creamers they have these days make the coffee even tastier.

During the Summer months I make iced coffee. It really wakes me up in the morning. Being in the house most days it's sometimes hard to stay motivated, so the coffee gives me that extra burst of energy to get me working.

During my Senior year in high school I remember drinking coffee all the time. It was the perfect drink right before an exam. I was dating a guy that worked at Starbucks so that might have had a lot to do with it.

I also love coffee-favored ice cream and chocolate covered coffee beans. I am a fan of the taste and I can't help but indulge every once in a while.

Liquid Sleep Replacement

Ah yes. Coffee. Blissful addiction to millions of people around the world. One of the few substances with shops devoted strictly to it.* A rarity in the food world. Something that people will consume even if they don't like it, just to derive its effect. And, unlike alcohol, which is imbibed by people in an effort to get each other into bed, just the mention of coffee means the act is a lock. It's a simple seed with deep connections to most of humanity.

Interestingly, I don't really drink coffee to wake up. Caffeine in lower doses doesn't seem to affect me. I can down an energy drink and still manage to nod off. But I still have a cup every morning at work. I just like it. The flavor, the accompanying creamers, and the socializing at the coffee pot. Really, I think I'm attracted to the ritual. I'm a creature of habit, and certain morning rituals just feel right. Coffee in the morning eases me into the day. I think it actually relaxes my nerves as opposed to jangling them.

I can't wait for my morning cup.


*Interestingly most of those shops, Coffee, Bagel, Donut, Pancake (House), Waffle (House), etc. all revolve around breakfast. Maybe because people are too bleary-eyed in the morning to go anywhere without a very specific purpose.

French Vanilla and All of Its Delicious Brethren

Flavored artificial coffee creamers occupy a very warm place in my heart.  And my stomach.  They've become an integral part of my morning routine, and their absence is hard felt when I run out and forget to repurchase.

I like coffee on its own.  I do.  But only really good coffee has the legs, for me, to stand naked, but for a coat of half and half and a lump of sugar.  And no coffee ever goes completely buck naked down my gullet.  Black coffee, for me, is exactly like sucking on a bar of completely unsweetened chocolate.  No one does that except ascetic monks in Hershey, PA.

The coffee we have at work is great because it's free.  But that's its only redeeming quality.  It smells like burnt shell casings, and tastes as if it was brewed two decades ago using a hobo's tube sock for a filter.  Flavored coffee creamers are the only thing standing between me, that coffee, and gangrene of the throat.

Okay.  So that's a bit overly dramatic.  The coffee isn't remotely that bad.  But it isn't great. And since I enjoy a cup of coffee every morning, it presents a great opportunity to try the huge assortment of flavors available in today's coffee creamer arsenal.

If I had to pick a top five, it would be, in particular order, White Chocolate Coconut, Italian Sweet Creme, Mint Chocolate, Raspberry Something or Other (I can't exactly remember), and plain old French Vanilla.  But there are so many good choices.  You could have a different flavor everyday and not run out until you did.

I'm sure they're not good for me, though.  Artificial coagulants and sugar drenched chemical flavorings are probably just the beginning of what you shouldn't be putting in your body.  But I'm taking the risk because of the love content.  200% of your daily recommended value of warmth and goodness.  That's hard to beat.