Coffeecoffeecoffeecoffee

Caffeine is such a valuable contributor to the human experience. I can’t imagine my days without it. 

When I get it for free- in a package in the mail, which is always so delightful- it’s especially great. When it’s from Peet’s, my favorite coffee shop to visit while in school, it’s even greater. When it contains a variety of coffee, a coffee vessel, and coffee coupons, it’s even better. Oh, did I mention it was free?

 

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program, I was lucky enough to be selected to get a free box o’ goodies from Peet’s coffee.

Let’s start with this coffee mug, because it’s vastly improved my life. Why? It is BIG, keeps things hot for AT LEAST three hours (it just hasn’t needed to be tested longer than that… I need my caffeine fix frequently). The best?

It is TOTALLY LEAKLESS.

As for the coffee, I’ve tried the medium-bodied Cafe Domingo and it is YUMMY!

It did take me a bit of trial and error to find my ideal cup.

I found their ratio to be a bit off; I measured the water by filling a LARGE coffee mug twice then added 2 T of the ground coffee to my coffee maker, and that was about right. And I like pretty strong coffee. That’s good for coffee for two.

The flavor is summed up pretty nicely by the “smooth and balanced” descriptor on the bag. Smoky without the ashtray taste. Very very nice with milk.

 

Question: does anyone who reads this blog want some of these? I drink a lot of coffee… but not that much.

 

I was encouraged to recommend pairings for this coffee.

We begin with with an attempt to make my long-suffering mother a nice breakfast in bed.

Burnt french toast is always nice with coffee. (Or rather, coffee that ISN’T burnt tasting- unlike a certain chain that rhymes with “bar chucks”- helps redeem burnt french toast)

And now let’s do a Morning Meal Roundup.

Fact: it is still true that the vast, VAST majority of work mornings, I eat banana oatmeal with peanut butter, precooked on Sunday for the rest of the week as in that post.

However, I sometimes liven it up. Cinnamon-apple form is nice for autumn.

Random fact: I once talked to an old man in line at the grocery store. We agreed that a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee is a perfect breakfast year round. His apparently longevity made me feel confident about this meal choice.

 

Preparing apple cinnamon oatmeal: the key is to precook the apple, not just to cook it in the rest of the oats, or it is way way too crisp for me. What I do is:

1. Dice apple (I use about 1/2 an apple for a bowl of oatmeal made with 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 cup water) and microwave for one minute, til starting to get tender.
2. Pour apple and any juices it is accumulated into a pot with oats, milk, and water. Bring to a boil on medium height, lower heat, and simmer til it has reached your desired thickness
3. Mix ins! I like with apple oatmeal a pinch of salt, vanilla, and a bit of sweetner (cause my palate is used to super sweet banana oatmeal). My favorite choices are liquid vanilla stevia and honey.

Obviously, I still top my apple cinnamon oatmeal with a big fat delicious spoon of peanut butter.

Coffee is also great with Sunday brunch, my favorite meal of the week.

This past Sunday, I cleverly gave new life to some sausage left over from my grandmother’s sausage soup. I scrambled up some mushrooms and AWESOME farmer’s market bell pepper, then added eggs. Topped with Sriracha! With toasted English muffin and butter on the side.

A breakfast experiment: protein pancakes. For those of you who don’t regularly read weird healthy living food blogger recipes, pancakes with protein powder in them.

They were… okay looking, if a bit flat.

   

But tasted like egg and chalk. Thank goodness I’d foreseen some flavor issues and made a topping of microwaved diced apples, pears, and cinnamon.

Masked the pancakes a bit.

   

Quite attractive, but not an experiment I plan to repeat. Eesh.