on being a coffee addict

With the 200th anniversary of Pride & Prejudice having been yesterday, I should probably be posting about tea. I've posted about tea on here before, though that was at the beginning of this blog. I guess I'll have to make a new tea post! But today is about coffee.

I have lots of thoughts about coffee.
My main thought about coffee is that generally I like it all.
Basic filtered coffee.
French Press coffee (definitely a favorite)
Espresso.
Light roast.
Dark roast.
And everything in between.
Etc.

If there's a way to make coffee, chances are I'll like it. (I'm not too keen on flavoured coffees, though.)
I even like chocolate-covered coffee beans!

The thing is...coffee isn't cheap. Nate and I were discussing coffee and prices yesterday (yes, that's how important coffee is to us!) and we both came to the conclusion that at this point we are better off buying better quality coffee (we had just been purchasing the containers of pre-ground Hills Brothers Coffee) and paying a bit more. We've been consuming less coffee already this year than we were last year. Part of this is probably because we're eating better! Whole foods FTW! Anyway. I prefer purchasing whole beans and grinding them myself; I have a sweet little grinder that works great. (That's also the best way to prepare coffee for the French Press because it needs to be a coarser grind.) It's a little bit more work, but honestly the coffee tastes so much better. So the consensus is that our future coffee purchases will be whole bean only. This kind of leaves out flavoured coffees, but those aren't really that great. More on that in a moment.

As far as whole bean coffee goes, I still do like Hills Brothers. Starbucks is good, too, but I've actually gotten to the point where I don't want to spend money there. Not that they really bother me or anything; the place is just too tempting. And I prefer independent coffee shops. There's just a cooler atmosphere. (Sorry for sounding hipster there; I never really liked being a mainstream consumer so yeah.) But I've been researching different kinds of coffee lately, because I'm a nerd like that. Based on what I've tried in the past and what I've been reading online, fair trade and organic are seriously the way to go. Not only for the reasons most people buy fair trade and organic, but because that coffee is inevitably amazing. I'm actually super interested in purchasing some coffee beans from Grounds for Change because it sounds like exceedingly good coffee. I'm sure that in the future I will be reviewing various roasts from various places.

Of course, I don't have a problem purchasing coffee at the grocery store. That's fine. I'm there a few times a week anyway; Nate called me a "European food shopper," which I take as a compliment. He meant it as one! Besides, shopping for small amounts of food at least a couple times in one week makes it easier to spend less money, at least for me. Anyway. I don't buy coffee at Wal-Mart anymore, though. Who knows how long it's been there...and I don't buy food at Wal-Mart to begin with, so why would I buy coffee? In fact, I avoid Wal-Mart for the most part.

So, flavoured coffees. I used to buy them with wild abandon. Well, not quite wild. And not quite with abandon. But I would occasionally snap up the packets that would make one pot. But what I quickly discovered was that unless there was peppermint in the coffee, I couldn't really taste the flavours. And sometimes all I could taste were the flavours; it seemed like the coffee was watered down. (I found out that this is because in order to flavour the coffee properly, it has to be barely roasted. Ugh.) And if I want flavours I can just add creamer or syrup (of which I will now be making my own). And then I stopped purchasing creamers because even that didn't taste right.

Yes, I am a coffee addict, but not because I need the caffeine. I just like the taste and experience of a delicious cup of coffee. Nate is also a coffee addict, but more so because of the caffeine. I have noticed that he doesn't need as much, though. We have almost completely stopped buying soda (mostly we use it for mixed drinks and that sparingly), and he doesn't complain of caffeine headaches as often. I sincerely hope this is because of my cooking and food choices!

Anyway, to wrap up a long and involved post, I want to challenge you if you are a coffee drinker. Try grinding some whole beans yourself. Maybe even try a French Press. And look into the world of fair trade and organic coffees. You just might find your new favorite roast.

monday morning vignettes and inspirations no. 1

A kitten sleeping on my scarf next to me and a cup of coffee are a perfect way to begin a Monday morning. Especially when the coffee is in my awesome Doctor Who mug that my youngest sister gifted to me for Christmas. (She happened to watch one episode with me last autumn and was hooked. That show does that to people. I'm not even kidding.)

So, plans and inspirations for the week.

I plan to wake early each morning and read my Bible over a cup of coffee and perhaps some toast with jam. Waking early is a good feeling, though not always if one hasn't slept well. But if I wake even just an hour earlier than I usually get up, think how much more fulfilling my day can be. Besides, going to the fitness center early in the morning is probably better than when I've been going, which is shortly before lunch time. I'd rather there be fewer people there....

I have a painting project in the works, as well. Hopefully this will get done this week. Pinterest was my inspiration for that, but it's probably an inspiration for everything these days. ;)

Other plans include some major cleaning in the refrigerator and cabinets. It's amazing what one can forget about when it's shoved in the back of the fridge! My inspiration for tackling this seemingly impossible task is Pinterest, again, and the following three books:

 

 

 


 The latest issue of Real Simple is also serving as an inspiration.

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Seems like a lot to tackle in one week, especially when there are still the usual tasks to do and meals to cook. But since I like cooking and did most of the meal planning last week, that shouldn't be a problem. Besides, I gotta start somewhere, right? If I ever expect to start crafting/sewing/painting/gardening then I have to complete step one, which is to have a semi-organized home. And beyond saving money with the ideas and recipes in the above books, we have the added bonus of being inspired to mostly consume real foods and clean the house in a toxin-free way.

I sound a bit like a crazy environmental hippie, don't I? But I am genuinely inspired (yes, I keep using that word, but because it's true!) by the people who live this way. Besides, it's all a part of my quest to be healthier and live in a healthier home. And if "convenience" products disappear, it won't be a problem. :)

[gardening post no.1]

It may be a tad early to be planting much here in Wisconsin, but I thought I'd at least start a few herbs. In the past, I have always managed to kill what I try to grow when it comes to herbs, but I think that has to do with forgetting about them...
Hopefully, now that I have my own house, my memory will work better.
Or something of that sort.

Anyway.

Do you know what is an excellent use for old coffee cans?
Poking holes in the bottom of them and using them as pots!
Considering my husband and I drink a lot of coffee, I'm pretty sure I'm saving myself some money.

Just use a screwdriver and a hammer to pound some well-spaced holes into the bottom of the cans for drainage!

I have three other cute pots that I bought at Kmart the other day, so I used those, as well. I had six coffee cans, but I only used three of them for right now. I didn't have quite enough potting soil, plus I didn't want to plant everything and then, well...kill them. Blah.

So I planted the seeds of six herbs out of the many that I purchased.

Here is what I planted:

• Spearmint
• Stevia
• Cilantro
• Oregano
• Sweet Basil
• Cress

I have plenty of others to try out, but I had to start somewhere.

They all need full sun, so the deck is a great place for them. I'll have to bring them inside at night still, but hopefully not for long.

This is my favorite pot:

I planted the spearmint in here, since of course I'll probably use it to make tea. :)

Also, I adore my pink metal watering can.

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Like I said, I sincerely hope and pray that these herbs grow well. I probably ought to invest in a "growing light" to put them (and other plants) under when I bring them inside, since there really isn't a place in the house that gets full sunlight other than in the late afternoon.

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"I never had any other desire so strong, and so like to covetousness, as that one which I have had always, that I might be master at last of a small house and a large Garden."  ~Abraham Cowley, The Garden, 1666

"Forget love....I'd rather fall in chocolate!"

So that's not actually true; I'm in love and quite happy to be there. :-)

However, I have chocolate on the brain today because of a book I began reading this morning and have nearly finished. Okay, I'm halfway through it. Chocolat, by Joanne Harris, is a delectable book! It is lovely because it is set in a sleepy French village called Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, and partly because the protagonist, Vianne Rocher, opens up a chocolate shop and the descriptions given of the treats she sells are mouth-watering. I can almost taste them as I read.

Joanne Harris had written other novels, apparently. Her writing style has intrigued me all day, and I will have to look into these others that she has published. I suppose I must allow for the fact that she is British (and part French, imagine that), since I have a tendency to enjoy writers from the UK more than from my home country of America. Not really sure why that is....

I spent a good part of the afternoon at the Borders Cafe in town, drinking a lovely coffee concoction that was called Cinnamon Swirl. No, it had no chocolate. I originally wanted something with chocolate in it, like a mocha, but for some reason the Cinnamon Swirl Brewed Coffee on the menu caught my eye. It certainly caught my taste buds!

My lovely drink and my book. Yes, I took a library book into Borders. But, it was only the cafe part AND I had it in my bag!

And now my coffee is gone and I decided to leave my book open for this picture. Note the epic Dragonology bookmark; I probably bought that at this Borders like, two years ago.

And then I came home, washed my car (it REALLY needed it), went swimming, ate dinner, and wrote this blog. Loveeeee life. :-)