Tea time! Who wants a cup?

The design is a bit much for an entire set of dishes (for me. you go ahead.), but I definitely look forward to sipping earl grey from these happy tea and coffee cups from Anthropologie. Plus two little bowls, for snacks at the imaginary tea party I'm envisioning. You're all invited.

Whipped

Oh, Starbucks. Your perky baristas. Your pleasant lighting. Cupcakes, occasionally. It all seems so innocent. But now you threaten my don't-spend-money, eat-whole-foods goals with this Frappuccino Happy Hour on Friday through May 16. Is a half-price caffeine+sugar drink worth usurping my goals? Maybe not ... but this plus an excuse to wander out if the office just may be.

Carmel frappuccino, I'll see you later. No whip.

Coffee with my name on it ...

I'm not sure how we ran out of coffee without noticing well in advance, but the threat of an empty french press sent us on an emergency grocery store run last night. Also, someone wanted peanut-butter cups.

It was a bit too late for a trip across town, so we opted for Safeway in Greenwood. Amid a pretty standard (boring) coffee selection, I spotted a small section of bright, cartoonish labels. Then I saw my name in print, and knew it was destiny. Time to try a new brand: Raven's Brew

Wicked Wolf blend is dark and balanced, no striking notes, but I can happily envision the suggestion of trying it with chocolate. It went well enough with raisin bran this morning.

The roaster offers an array of other inventive labels. The breakfast blend looks standard, the Resurrection blend looks revelatory. I can't vouch for all the varieties, but they're certainly more fun to look at than the blah brown bags of better-known brands.

Fonte's Sage Latte

Image borrowed from Cooking Light

Image borrowed from Sarah + H on flickr

I am a coffee addict. There, I admit it. And, in true Seattle fashion, I am a Starbucks hater -- though not for the typical anti-corporate-stick-it-to-the-man reason. I just don't like their coffee. It's bitter, burnt, acidic and boring. There, I said it. While Zoka's may be my one true love, as of late, I find myself having a repeated 10am affair with a 12oz 2% extra hot latte from the new Fonte Coffee & Wine Bar on 1st Ave that adjoins the Four Seasons.

While at first I found the interior coldly modern and sleek, complete with a dingbat baristra who (no joke) squealed at her horrid attempt at a leaf pattern in the foam, I decided to give it a 2nd chance. And then a 3rd, 4th...and...well...the coffee is just so damn good! And don't even get me started on their pastries...and the homemade jam? DE-licious. But, in all seriousness, in the past 2 months since it's opening, the cafe has certainly found it's footing, with an incredibly sweet team of baristas who literally start making my drink before I've even walked through the door and play the best (old) local Seattle music (I had totally forgotten about Damien's Where Shall You Take Me Album).

But, back to the point of this post (mindless wordy meanderings is inevitable when you start a blog post at 12:30am) -- today I tried one of the most inventive fall coffee drinks -- a sage latte -- complete with a rosemary rubbed cup. While my first sip took me a little by surprise (think forest in a cup), it's earthly, green, herbal goodness started to grow on me. And best of all, no sugary syrup was used! Though this was a Friday special, I'm hoping it'll still be on Monday's menu.

Take that Starbucks pumpkin latte.

Coffee and scones for a greyish day

Our first Saturday in the new house: grey, but I can smell a blueberry pastry of some kind wafting over from the neighbor's. I want coffee and scones. 

Someday I will unpack my other cookbooks, but for now I'm still living by Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. His basic creme scone recipe was fairly simple and quick, but the "little bit sticky" texture of the dough was more a "unmanagable oozing blob of dough/batter" and I added way more extra flour than the recipe intended. I also left out the currants (who keeps currants around?) and added about half a tablespoon of cinnamon.

Despite the messy sticky-dough issues, 9 minutes after putting them in the oven the scones emerged warm, soft, just a bit sugary and perfect with coffee. 

I'm taking a break from 'real' coffee, and so picked up decaf from my favorite Seattle roaster. Tony's Coffee has been around since 1971, and according to their website, they've created "the equivalent of more than 10,000,000 pounds of coffee (enough to blanket Mt. Rainier like a hot fudge sundae)." The Sumatra Gayoland organic fair trade is my favorite, and they make a decaf version. 

I also make my coffee with a french press, which yeilds the perfect small amount of excellent coffee. 

I've read various methods for french press brewing, but my standard comes from Martha Stewart (who else?) and requires first adding just enough cold water just to cover the grounds. Supposedly this keeps the beans from being shocked at the nearly-boiling water, which you add next. Let the coffee steep as long as you like (maybe two minutes, I don't really time it), then press the strainer to the bottom and pour. Serve with cinnamon scones and stare happily out the kitchen window. :)