(christmas) coffee w/ bailey #3

closing out the year with a cup of coffee & my little chihuahua, bailey.

olde tyme christmas

reminiscent of days gone by, this pic was taken yesterday and given the antique effect with streamzoo's iphone app.

rainy day coffee

nothing is better than a hot cup of coffee on a cold rainy day … unless it's TWO hot cups of coffee on a cold rainy day!

coffee for christmas

christmas day was filled with coffee and more coffee. my daughters know me very well because they both gifted me with bags of coffee. my younger daughter lives in san francisco, so she came with coffee from the san francisco coffee roasting co. on pier 39. my older daughter just came back from hawaii, so she came with a bag of 100% kona from the wailele estates. do i have awesome daughters, or what?!

the coffee scoop

probably thee most basic tool in your coffee station is the coffee scoop. i have a drawer full of scoops but i like this one the best. i bought it at peet's coffee. it is made of brushed stainless steel, measures 2 tbsp and has a really good weight to it. it will outlast all of your plastic scoops and probably most of your metal ones too! i've had mine for years.

clever coffee dripper

my christmas present to myself was the clever coffee dripper from sweet maria's. it is a full immersion brewing method that is kinda like a hybrid of a french press and a hario v60 dripper. awesomeness.

merry christmas!

merry christmas and happy brew year!

be caffeinated

ok, this isn't a photo i took, but it is an image i created.
happy holidays!

nosey doggie

i was setting up a shot when bailey, my little chihuahua, decided to come see what i was doing. she stuck her little head right in my shot and tried to steal a coffee bean!

butler nutcracker

i love the german made nutcrackers, so when i saw this richard glässer butler carrying a tray with coffee and the morning paper, i just had to have him. wouldn't it be awesome to have someone that would bring morning coffee on a daily basis? sehr wunderbar!

dear diary...

does anyone actually write longhand anymore? i think it helps if you have a pretty journal, a fancy pen (like my sterling silver pen from tiffany & co.) and of course a hot cup of coffee.

marley coffee

i had ordered a package of one love from marley coffee and in less than two weeks this is all i had left. it was a very nice coffee and i'm looking forward to ordering more (it is out of stock at the moment). stir. it. up.

i had to order the mug too :)

get your kicks (& coffee) on route 66!

i found this sign in the parking lot of our local grocery store on foothill bl (route 66). since route 66 is so historic, it seemed fitting to make the picture black & white.

did you know the original route 66 would take you from chicago all the way to los angeles!

caramel brulee latte

only available through the holidays. get it while you can!

what time is it?

by golly, it looks like it's coffee time!!!

chemex

i have been loving my chemex coffee maker ever since it arrived 8 months ago. even though the chemex was invented in the 40's, i just discovered it this year. there are no bells or whistles, no buttons to push, nothing automatic about it. it is just a simple glass carafe (similar to the ones you'd find in a chemistry lab). if you don't mind spending a few extra minutes preparing your pot of joe, you'll get a better brew outta this guy than any electric machine.

let's rediscover why we're friends

i think it's funny, with all the holiday cups starbucks has this year, i would get the one with the doggie. maybe he saw the bone necklace i was wearing!

spanish latte

if you have never tried a spanish latte, i suggest you go out and order one. best. latte. ever. this one is from urth caffe, an adorable little cafe in west hollywood. (the secret ingredient is condensed milk!) i haven't seen it on too many menu boards but if you run across it, order it.

coffee w/ bailey #2

on a recent trip to san francisco, we had to go to blue bottle coffee to see what the buzz was all about. we went to the one in the ferry building, on the embarcadero. it took a bit of searching, but we found it. the wait in line was 45 minutes but i was stubborn and i waited it out, though a couple of people ahead of me got tired of waiting and left. my poor hubby and doggie were probably wondering what happened to me. (they had to wait outside - no dogs allowed - whatever.) i don't think i would wait that long again. the hype was more exciting than the coffee. the coffee was decent enough, but it wasn't worth the 45 minute wait.

coffee cup flower pot

everywhere we go, we are on the lookout for unusual coffee related items. one day we came across this adorable little coffee cup planter, in orange (my favorite color). now the search was on to find just the right plant for it. it remained empty until i found this moon cactus. i think the burst of color in the cactus flower is awesome and is exactly what the cup needed.

freshly ground beans

to make a proper cup of coffee, you must start with freshly ground beans. whatever you do, don't buy pre-ground coffee in the supermarket. if you do, you are buying stale coffee and you won't be getting a quality cup of coffee. invest in a good burr grinder so you can buy freshly roasted, whole beans and grind only what you need, as you need it. i like the capresso infinity burr grinder. it is a good mid priced grinder. you don't need anything more expensive and you don't want anything cheaper. freshly ground quality beans really do make a difference.

before & after the brew

i thought it would be fun to show coffee beans before & after the brew in a dainty cup & saucer. i normally do not drink out of such fanciness but i was feeling snazzy that day. i have an eclectic assortment of mugs that i prefer to use for their varied sentiments; plus they hold more coffee!

like coffee

do you like coffee? do you like facebook? when i saw this mug, i just had to order it. it is from perpetual kid (a company i love!). i just had to photograph it with my facebook page open next to it. not very original i know, but if it had a chihuahua mug i would probably put it next to my little bailey. hey! note to self: find a chihuahua mug to photograph next to my teeny chi :)

coffee at 30,000 ft

you don't have to be a coffee connoisseur to know they serve stale coffee on an airplane.  best thing to do is to buy your favorite brew in the terminal and take it on-board.  you will be enjoying your coffee long before the plane even leaves the tarmac.

no raw sugar???

we went out to dinner the other night and as i glanced over to the packets of sugar, i noticed there was only white, yellow, blue & pink packets.  no brown!  where is the sugar in the raw?  i do not like white sugar or any of the substitutes that have been invented.  i am a raw sugar kinda girl.  this is exactly why i ALWAYS carry my own emergency packets of sugar in the raw in my purse.  catastrophe averted.

just say no

it’s estimated that 2.8 billion pounds of trash is created by these single-use cardboard sleeves. invest in an eco-friendly reusable sleeve and say NO to the cardboard sleeve.

my hubby's the best

yesterday was my birthday and this is what my wonderful hubby had ready for me when i got up.  yep, he's a keeper!

troll santa

with christmas just 3 weeks away, i thought it would be fitting to post a cup of coffee in a holiday setting.  what is more christmas than a santa nutcracker?  so here is a mini starbucks mug ornament, filled with coffee, and my steinbach troll santa nutcracker.

did you know that according to german folklore, nutcrackers are thought to protect your home & bring good luck?  and the reason they show their teeth is to ward off the evil spirits.
happy holidays!

coffee w/ bailey #1

for my third photo i decided to get bailey in on the action.  she is a chihuahua we rescued last year and our constant companion.  we usually brew our own coffee but when the weather permits, we will go out for our daily fix and of course bailey comes with us.

black w/ 2 sugars

i now drink my coffee black; i no longer add creamer.  (yay for me!)  however i have been unable to quit the sugar.  i have an uncontrollable sweet tooth that requires me to add a couple of packets of raw sugar.  i have tried to reason with said tooth, but it just won't listen.  i have managed to reduce my sugar packets from three down to two but that is as far as my sweet tooth will allow me to go.

i love coffee

as i was going through my pictures to pick the one i wanted for my first post, i tried to find the one that would sum up what this blog will be about.  i decided on this one.  a heart made out of coffee beans.  enjoy.