The holidays are nearly upon us, folks. I like holiday cups but I hate the fact that once January hits they look kinda forlorn. I think this one would work for me most of the fall and winter. I love it. Find it here on Amazon. image: Amazon [Read more]

I have a non-alcoholic  version  of White Chocolate Mocha as well. This is a great coffee to drink when you are relaxing and watching those old Christmas movies, the snow swirling gently outside your window… White Chocolate Mocha 1/4 cup light cream 4 oz espresso 2 tablespoons white chocolate syrup 1 oz white chocolate, chopped 1 tsp Creme de Cacao 1 tsp Amaretto Whipped cream Heat cream until it almost boils. Remove it from the heat Add the chopped white chocolate and whisk Stir in the Creme de Cacao and Amaretto, whisk well. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the white chocolate around the sides of a heated mug Pour in espresso and then the cream top with whipped cream and drizzle with remaining white chocolate Serves 1 image:sxc [Read more]

It isn’t at all difficult to make your own coffee syrups. When you make your own you can not only have those that the coffee shops use; you can have anything you can think up. The basic formula for coffee syrup is one cup of water to one cup of sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves and then simmer for about five minutes, or until the syrup is reduced by half. The different flavors come in when you add cinnamon or vanilla or whatever you like. As a general rule the flavors should be added during the simmering phase to get the most out of them. Then, just pour the syrup through a strainer and you have your syrup. If you are using extracts add them after the syrup is removed from the heat. Here are some ideas to get... [Read more]

I have come clean about a lot of stuff here. If you have read very long you have figured out I am really not a coffee snob at all; I just like really good coffee. You want to drink Maxwell House? Knock yourself out. If you like it you drink it, you wont get argument from me. Unless you are doing a review, or are a coffee roaster (or similar) you probably should just enjoy the flavor. What makes coffee perfect, to my mind, is the reason you are drinking it. I loved the coffee dates Marc and I used to have, sipping coffee and just being together. It was the being not the doing that was important. I dislike coffee cuppings because all the slurping makes me cringe. I am, after all, a rather experienced mom and when I hear those kinds of noises... [Read more]

I don’t know if you have ever bought tea online from the English Tea Store but they have some awesome tea and tea items. Until November 14 (2009)  you can get free shipping on an order of $20.00 by adding coupon code fall09. We used to buy this tea when we had the tea room and I can tell you that the tea is very high quality. One of our favorites was called Casablanca, also one of Marc and my favorite movies! The prices are very reasonable and the coupon code makes it impossible to turn down a few tins of tea. They have organic tea as well as some beautiful bone china tea pots. With the holidays right around the corner take time to stock up! image:SXC [Read more]