spilled espresso

After a very busy and productive week following a busy and hectic visit to South Carolina and leading into another very busy week, Will and I decided to take a super slow and lazy Sunday for ourselves, complete with sleeping in, gorging on pancakes, going to a movie in the middle of the day and cruising around the aisles of Target with our wee one, Ms. Ally. A busy day of doing nothing can be enhanced in its greatness by starting the day off with the perfect cup of coffee! Here are a couple little tips that will enhance your morning coffee time...

#1- use a quality coffee brewing method like a coffee press. It takes a little bit of extra time but the anticipation only adds to the experience.

#2- buy whole bean coffee and grind it just before brewing to keep those oils fresh and the flavor strong.

#3- spend the extra money on good beans... do I really need to elaborate on this one? Auggie's coffee house in Redlands is a small coffee shop with big coffee loving attitude! They roast their own beans on site and have a variety of amazing flavors for under $20 a bag (that's less than a certain large coffee chain charges and their beans taste like burnt pebbles!)

#4- put a small pinch of cinnamon in the bottom of your favorite mug and pour the coffee on top. Cinnamon brings out the yummy coffee flavors. If you can stand it, drink your coffee black! Coffee tastes amazing on its own and not only will you be opening yourself up to new flavors and experiences, you can cut calories by skipping cream and sugar.

I hope these tips can help you enjoy your coffee time a little more in the morning! When I first met Will I ordered a double espresso on our second date and he admitted to me he does not drink coffee. I was mortified! Coffee is a huge part of my life and I loved to share it with the people around me, but I let it go and decided to look at the positives... I was thinking about all of the positives while staring at his butt as he walked away. When he came back he rocked the table and my double espresso spilled all over my lap.

Then we fell in love.

There were many coffee-less mornings and I didn't mind, but when Will bought me a bright red coffee press to celebrate the end of breastfeeding Ally and we picked up some coffee beans I persuaded him to try a sip. He was instantly hooked and we now have "coffee time" every morning before he goes to work! It is my favorite time of day besides for my foot massages at night and that is why I love coffee... it brings people together! Try these tips on someone you know who doesn't much care for coffee and I bet you will be sharing coffee time together in no time!

effortless darlings, effortless...

Betty Crocker said that to have any successful gathering of friends you must make your effort to put the party together look, well... effortless! I was feeling like I had accomplished just that as the first girl to arrive to my "coffee break" walked in the door. On the dining room table I had casually laid out the desserts and cakes, strawberries with freshly whipped cream, coffee freshly pressed in my red coffee press and all of the coffee fixings. The rest of my house was pristinely clean, Ally had just laid down for a nap and I was all dolled up in that special kind of way where you look like you actually didn't doll yourself up but in reality it took you a couple hours to get ready. There were chairs in a circle in the living room and toys waiting to be played with for the toddlers. All in all it looked cozy, casual and effortless.

In order to achieve this special kind of effortlessness, I planned ahead exactly one week. On day 1 I planned the menu I would be serving for the small get together and invited guests. Day 2 was dedicated to the shopping. I do not put anything in my coffee so I knew I would have to buy little packets of sugar and we would need cream. Day 3 was too soon to do any real getting ready, but I put together my game plan and did laundry and other such normal things all the way through day 4. Day 5 was baking day. I spent the entire day baking aunt Pearl's apple cake, angel food cake, and my own dark chocolate brownies. The kitchen was a wreck... Day 6 I scrubbed the house from top to bottom. Shelves got un-cluttered, laundry was all put away, the floors were cleaned and everything was put in it's place... and then I spent the rest of the day chasing after Ally as she reverted it all back to disarray. This literally took me all day and by the time she went to bed I was pooped. Day 7, the day of this small get together, I quickly got myself ready, fed the baby and got her cleaned up, tried to clean up the messes she had already managed to make, set everything up and anticipated anything else I might need to put out, cleaned the floors one more time, put out the dog, put the kettle on for coffee and tea and ta da! It is time for people to arrive. Looking effortless took a lot of effort.

Thankfully, Aunt Pearl's cakes were less effort and more fun. This time I was prepared so when the recipe's procedure simple read: "bake for one hour" with absolutely no further instruction, I took all of my previous knowledge of cake baking and was able to fill in the many blank spaces. I liked this cake for its denseness and the fruit and nuts in it. It reminded me of something you would eat for breakfast alongside a big mug of coffee and the paper. Very similar to my own mom's banana bread recipe that we have all used and loved for years. Here is the original recipe. I substituted pecans for walnuts because they are cheaper and I used golden raisins because they were all I had in the pantry.

Apple Sauce Cake

1/2 cup lard
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups applesauce
1 cup pecans
4 Tbsp hot water
1 tsp soda
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup raisins

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Bake one hour.

I know what you are thinking... lard?! So let me answer your question now: no I did not substitute the lard. It was one of the things that made this recipe intriguing and I found that lard sells quite cheap in the baking aisle at Stater Bros. :)

The other cake was a light and flavorful angel food cake. I followed the recipe exactly; even the part where it said to beat the eggs "long and hard". I have a ridiculously juvenile brain and this made me laugh for a long time. Whoo Aunt Pearl, get it girl! I served it with strawberries and the fresh whipped cream and made a little strawberry shortcake. This one is my favorite so far.

Angel Food Cake

6 eggs
2 cups sugar
6 Tbsp orange juice
2 cups flour (I used super fine cake flour)
1 tsp vanilla
(I also added a couple Tbsp of blood orange olive oil from the Temecula Olive Company for the orange flavor)

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Beat egg yolks with 1 cup of sugar, beat long and hard. Then add flour with orange juice. Beat whites with other cup of sugar, fold into yolks, add vanilla.

put in cold oven and bake one hour in ungreased pan.

All in all my effortless coffee party went off without a hitch. Everyone ate and talked and the kids played sweetly between us. Now I wonder if I am ready for the dinner party I have set myself up for on Friday?!