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 …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 …read more

I know, it is way too early for eggnog but tempis fugit, right? Starbucks’s Eggnog Latte is one of the drinks I like and I have been working on a version of one. Now, nearly anyone can make them because you can start with your handy dandy frozen JazzyBird shot if you don’t have an espresso maker! How cool is that?

Do not try to make an Eggnog Latte low cal, please? There are just some things  meant to be high calorie and this is one.

I said on Baking Delights that summer should run from Memorial Day to Labor Day. It just seems right. Everything that happens after Labor Day is just sort of insipid…summer packing up to leave like a three day guest on day six.

This chai latte sort of eases the transition from summer to autumn with those amazing chai spices…but thick and icy cold. Say goodbye to summer tonight, sitting on your porch with some friends and sipping this….
Iced Chai-Coconut Frappe

1 cup your favorite chai, made double strength and cooled
1/4 cup sweetened coconut milk, like Coco Lopez
1 oz Amaretto or 1 tbs …read more

If you haven’t noticed it is August. Hot. Dry with intermittent bouts of humid. It is like the entire summer just collapses on top of  Texas in August.

And no matter how cool you are..you just gotta stay cool. Here is a great way to do it. This iced coffee recipe is worth buying old fashioned soda fountain glasses for. Seriously good. It was a big hit at the tea room.  It calls for 4 oz of espresso. Here is a GREAT place to use that JazzyBird that is still in the freezer.
Mocha Chiller

4 oz espresso, chilled
3/4 cup  coffee  …read more

I love the July 4th celebrations. The whole idea  of picnics, family get togethers, fireworks, and listening to the Star Spangled Banner just does something for me. Generally we open the house up to anyone who wants to come, put up the volleyball net, the horseshoe spikes, the hatchet targets (yes my kids throw hatchets at targets, doesn’t everyone’s kids?), and point people in the direction of the creek if they want a swim.
The house fills with flies as people run in and out and gallons of lemonade, tea, cokes, and other beverages are consumed. The only requirement is that …read more

One of the things that they make at the Landmark restaurant in Dallas is a fruit lemonade. The flavor changes daily; watermelon, honeydew…. The drinks are so refreshing, so good, and so unique that of course I wanted to be able to replicate them at home. Since it is lemonade I knew there would be lemon juice..but you know me..I wanted to take it a step further.

White tea. Adding the tea gives the flavor another depth and it is really good. White tea is very delicate so it doesn’t overpower the flavor of the fruit, in this case honeydew.
For an …read more

So, I am reclined here this morning, mostly wasting time. We could say “twittering” away my day…and we would be right. I am also sipping a cup of Boca Java’s Light Up Las Olas. Not the first cup, mind you… a cup.
Light Up Las Olas is a dark roast, blended from Columbian and Brazillian coffees. The aroma of the beans is spicy and licorice-y.  Nice.

The flavor is described on the site as having notes of cocoa. Eh. Maybe.
The flavor is warm and smoky, a bit too acidic at the end for my tastes. Slight nuances of marshmallow on the intake, …read more

So, as some of you know, I worked hard this past week trying to get a menu done for my daughter’s baby shower. I wanted it to be just right, not because it was her first shower (this is her third adorable child) but because Erin is just that awesome.

After a lot of thought and research I ended up with:

Balsamic and basil strawberries
Mango chicken salad tea sandwiches
Spicy curried chicken tea sandwiches
Mushroom, bacon, and Parmesan palmiers
Earl Grey truffles
Chocolate Irish Cream coffee
Custom roast coffee
Custom blended tea
A selection of other teas.
Sherbet punch

and of course, cake. Not just any cake but almond cake with …read more

I don’t know.  It seems to me that we looks for any excuse for a celebratory dinner these days.  Not a bad idea really! I can remember ..you know, back in the horse and dinosaur days, when Cinco de Mayo was the fifth of May.  Now, the Hispanic areas of town celebrated, yeah they did.  But the mostly Anglo suburbs? We pretty much stuck with out pot r0ast and apple pie.

At some point in the late 1980s Cinco de Mayo began to take off a bit and now I think they celebrate it everywhere.  In fact, Marc and I were …read more