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WFMW – Great Coffee at Home

WFMWIt’s fall and time for cool days, slippers and snuggly quilts. As the weather turns grey and rainy (Fall in the pacific northwest is pretty much grey and rainy) I find myself stocking up on boxes of tea in all flavors and assortments.

However, this being coffee land (the Coffee Belt?), I thought I would discuss coffee for this week’s Works for Me Wednesday. If you hate coffee and are strictly a tea drinker, please don’t leave, scroll to the bottom and leave a comment about your favorite type of tea.

Before I moved to Washington I had only a passing interest in coffee. I enjoyed it occasionally, not caring much about roasts, brands, or mode of brewing. I drank it mostly at work, although I should say we used to have a great brewing equipment (check out this homepage  for the equipment provider).

stone bridge out on the property

For five years we lived out in Washington’s beautiful rainforest territory, 30 minutes to an hour from the nearest grocery stores or shopping centers. Lets just say there wasn’t a Starbucks around the corner. During that time I perfected a Poor Man’s Mocha:

Mug of hot coffee
Package of hot cocoa

I developed quite the repertoire of fancy add in’s:

Cool Whip or Reddi Whip
Flavored Creamer (chocolate raspberry was a favorite)
Chocolate dipped spoons (a homemade Christmas treat)

After we left the country and moved to the city, okay the suburbs, I began to frequent coffee stands and Starbucks. An addiction was quickly formed. To make things worse, my friend (and neighbor) Julee, was on a first name basis with some of the baristas at the drive thru coffee place down the street.

“Kathy, I’m heading out for coffee, you want anything?

I mean, how could I resist that kind of intense peer pressure?

It turns out coffee is not only addictive but a bit expensive as a weekly (daily?) habit. After spending more money than I wish to admit, I decided it was time to find a homemade solution to my favorite drinks. At this point I was off sugar so I wasn’t interested in mochas or frappacinos, I just wanted to be able to make an excellent Brevé or Americano. I wanted to do so, however, without paying hundreds of dollars on a fancy Espresso machine.

I did some extensive research online (where else) and came up with a plan for the perfect coffee to suit my tastes. While no where near an expert, I can finally make a delicious coffee drink right at home that rivals any coffee stand.

Necessary equipment/ingredients:

French Press coffee maker
Aerolatte Milk Frother
Good quality coffee
Milk

make me some coffee!

That’s it. A French Press is only $20 or $25 at Target or Amazon. The Aerolatte can be found at Amazon or Bed, Bath and Beyond. I buy Starbucks coffee at Target and San Francisco Bay coffee beans at Costco. I was using strictly Starbucks but a friend recommended the French Roast by San Francisco Bay so I decided to try it. I mix regular and decaf together.

I make the coffee in my French Press – stronger than you would almost think is drinkable. :) Probably double the normal amount. In the microwave I heat up 2% milk (1/2 to 3/4 cup) for a minute. I like my coffee rich so I use 2%, you could easily substitute nonfat. Once the milk is heated, I use the milk frother to frappe the milk until it is nice and foamy. I pour a cup or cup and a half of coffee into my Starbucks travel mug (which is amazing and keeps my coffee hot for hours and hours), add a little bit of sweetener, and then mix in the frothy milk.

Yum! I now have a delicious coffee drink made right there at home. If I wanted a mocha flavored drink, I would probably add some coffee syrup (easily obtained at the grocery store), Hershey’s syrup or use flavored creamer.

What’s your favorite coffee drink? If you don’t drink coffee, do you prefer tea? What kinds? My family LOVES tea and has been known to linger in front of the tea selection at the store, discussing possible blends with great passion. :)

Pop by Works for Me Wednesday for other tips and ideas.

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 282

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Tuesday Tips for Parenting – Play a Game

new logoThis tip is so basic, I feel a bit sheepish posting it, but I still think it’s worth sharing.

Take the time to play a game with your child.

That’s it.

Ignore the mess in the family room. Let the dirty dishes sit in the sink for an extra hour or two. Don’t worry about folding laundry. Screen calls and allow the answering machine to do its job.

Put on the kettle and make tea or hot cocoa. Pop some popcorn. Turn an everyday, average afternoon or evening into Game Night.

I know it’s difficult to set aside time with dance, gymnastics, and sporting events eating up the week days. And don’t even get me started about homework. What joy, however, to carve an hour out of the day to sit together and play a game. The laughter and time spent as a family will create precious memories and a legacy for your children.

For a great collection of game reviews (complete with pictures and detailed information), go to Callapidder Days. Katrina regularly share games that her family enjoys. I’m planning to plunder her site for Christmas gift ideas this year.

Games don’t have to take hours and hours. Gamewright sells dozens of card games, almost all of which can be played in less than 40 minutes, many in only 20 minutes. The website sorts the games by recommended age and is a wonderful resource of kid friendly games.

shall we play?

We played Citadels this evening, one of Joshua and Tim’s favorites.

Another excellent source for games of all kinds (with categories for card games, children games, dexterity based ones, 2-player games, party games, and on and on) is Newspiel. We have purchased many games from this company over the years and been consistently pleased with their prices and selection.

We are always looking for new and fun games to add to our collection. Leave a comment and share your family’s favorites.

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 281

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Have Some Whipped Cream

This being Tim’s birthday week (he can’t have the entire month because Joshua’s birthday is also in October – they have to share), we invited Grandma and Grandpa to join us for lunch after church. In a rare fit of planning and organization, I put ingredients for a hearty stew in the crock-pot before leaving for church. Don’t worry, it won’t happen again.

stew anyone?

A lovely lunch in honor of Tim!

Because no birthday of Tim’s would be complete without some serious chocolate, we had an ice cream pie for dessert. I think ice cream pies could happily replace traditional birthday cakes in our family. Upon reflection, however, I should note Grandma makes an amazing Black Forest Cake that often graces Tim’s birthday celebrations.

Of course, who needs cake or pie when you can go straight to the toppings.

load me up!laughing with a full mouth is dangerousI'll take just a little bit

We didn’t have any candles but there was plenty of whipped cream to go around.

Happy Birthday (Week), Tim. We love you!!

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 280

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Chestnuts, Roasting on an Open Fire

Well, not exactly an open fire. Or roasting, really. Or chestnuts, to be completely truthful.

It all started on a quiet Saturday. Nobody was away on an overnight, nobody had friends over, nobody had meetings or other engagements out of the house.

Kathy and I opened the day in prayer, asking God specifically that He would help the day to be a fun relational day, and that the attitudes of the kids would reflect the fact that we like being together as a family. At breakfast, as I tickled and laughed with the children, David asked me, “Why are you being like this, Daddy? Usually you don’t act like this. I have been a bit preoccupied many recent Saturdays with work and other responsibilities. Time to have some silly family togetherness.

Around 2 pm, I inveigled everyone into a walk around the lake near our house; although it started to drizzle, we had a good time. As we left the park, I noticed two large chestnut trees, having recently dropped hundreds of their glossy mahogany-colored fruit and their prickly husks.

The First Lake Expedition
This crew, however, was not particularly prickly about being photographed.

Apparently none of us know the actual words to ‘Chestnuts, Roasting on an Open Fire’, but that didn’t stop us from bellowing out the few lines we did know, on the way home. Following my lead, the children have learned to compensate with volume for a lack of musical talent. Never having roasted chestnuts over any heat source, let alone an open fire, I decided to sponsor an expedition back to the park to harvest the chestnuts.

We gathered bags and bags of them, to the evident dismay of a rather scruffy-looking squirrel, which seemed intent on eating them all. We did him a favor — overdose by chestnuts is probably a painful way to pass from this world. Arriving home, I did a quick search for chestnut recipes online, and we began to prepare a batch of the nuts for roasting on a cookie tray.

Bags o' Nuts
Don’t they just look too good to eat! Our mouths were watering …

Kathy was on the phone with her mom, who was very impressed with our foray into the world of Christmas lore. Unfortunately, she had never actually tasted roast chestnuts, and was not a good source of information on the topic.

I immediately thought of my Mom, who grew up at least part of the time on a farm. She used to tell us stories about the many old-fashioned Christmas traditions they enjoyed. I figured her generation probably had more in common with Little House on the Prairie than the hustle and bustle of this modern age. “After all,” I figured, “she’s old — she probably knows about this stuff.” We got her on the phone.

“Nope,” she answered. “I’ve never even tasted them.” I guess all that old-time Christmas nostalgia is a crock. She compounded my disappointment by mocking me: “Also, watch out for those poison chestnuts. They’re just like mushrooms, you know.”

I rolled my eyes, which had little effect, over the phone. “We saw a squirrel eating them, Mom. Shows what you know.”

Prickly Girl
For some reason, we all wanted to show Kathy (who didn’t go nut-gathering) the prickly husks.

Mom was quick with an answer to that. “Ah, but as everyone knows, squirrels can tolerate a much higher level of toxicity than humans.” She’s a hoot, my Mom is. I laughed patronizingly and hung up, threatening her with some of our culinary efforts when she next visits.

Except that this time, she was right.

Prodded by a feeling of unease (that I have come to recognize is from the Holy Spirit), I did a little more research online. As it turns out, Sweet American chestnuts were nearly obliterated in the United States by the dreaded Chestnut Blight, so that most American chestnut trees were wiped out by 1940. Apparently the blight continues, and so even chestnut trees that have grown up since 1940 are often killed by the blight fungus before they reach maturity. Chestnuts eaten today in this country are almost entirely imported. The chestnuts we harvested so gleefully are from an unrelated horse-chestnut tree, toxic to humans (but not, strangely enough, to deer or squirrels).

Don't put those in your mouths, kids!
Fortunately, most of us, no longer toddlers, are past the ‘put everything in your mouth’ stage.

I’m told that the horse-chestnuts have a very bitter taste, which may have limited the number we would have eaten, but I felt we had a narrow escape. As I read on one website: “Chestnut poisoning is rarely fatal, but typically causes vomiting, loss of coordination, stupor, and occasionally, paralysis.”

As I read on another website:

Horse chestnut trees do not produce the “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” that Nat King Cole croons about every Christmas. The edible chestnut grows on the European sweet, or Spanish, chestnut. The ones we buy for the holidays are most likely imported from Italy.

Horse chestnuts contain a bitter poison called aesculin. Even though we see squirrels going after them, horse chestnuts are toxic for humans.

I’m thinking of a new Christmas Carol, adapted for modern times:

Aesculus, baking on an aluminum cookie sheet,
Drizzly mist, falling on your ears
Yuletide carols, being sung out of tune
and folks without raincoats, standing in the rain.

Everybody knows, some stomach ache and stupor
help to make the season memorable
tiny tots, with vomiting and paralysis
will find it hard to sleep tonight.

… but I don’t want to give away the whole song. I contacted Freddy Cole (Nat’s younger brother) about singing it for me; so far, he hasn’t returned my call.

Tim
Project 365, Day 279

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Outback Birthday Bash

I have a wonderful husband. Truly, he is helpful and kind, funny and wise, patient and thoughtful. He also understands being a mother of five is exhausting, full-time work with no overtime pay.

Those pamphlets for Whispering Pines (Home for Haggard Homeschooling Moms) sometimes look mighty appealing.

As a result of this awareness, Tim is very careful to make sure I carve out time for myself – walks with a neighbor, work-outs at the Y, and occasional outings with girlfriends. Last week I snuck off on Thursday night for some shopping with another homeschooling mom. This evening I went to dinner at the Outback, celebrating a friend’s birthday.

the girls

Sabrina, Holly and I after a delicious dinner.

We had a wonderful time, talking and laughing, discussing everything from courtship to September 11. On the way home I reflected on how generous Tim is to me. He hardly ever takes time for himself in this way yet never fails to encourage me to go off and enjoy myself. I came home refreshed and cheerful, ready to once again face the demanding joys of motherhood.

The dinner was a birthday celebration for Holly but ended up being a gift to me. Thank you, Tim, for your kindness.

Kathy
Project 365 – Day 278

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The musings and ravings of a bloggart family