why i love cold brew coffee

I like coffee. So does DH. We usually have coffee together every morning, but we don't have the same coffee.

DH uses a French press and adds lots of milk.

I drink coffee black and make cold brew.

I won't go into all the hows and how-tos of cold brew. It can be found all over the web: here is one place, and here is another.

I have made my brew in different ways. Currently, because the cork for my Toddy (no affiliate connection) went missing, I am soaking my favorite coarse ground in the Vitamix pitcher overnight and straining the liquid into a carafe in the morning. A 12 oz bag of coffee makes concentrate for about 30 cups when diluted.

That's a full month...2 weeks...10 days...or so worth of coffee, depending on your consumption level.

Even in these baked July days, I still like my morning cup hot.

Though iced is good, too.

So is ice cream.

coffee ice cream 

1 pt whipping cream

1 c. milk

3/4 c. cold brew concentrate

sweetener of choice to taste

freeze in ice cream maker or as for homemade ice cream

And did I mention ice cream?

banana coffee ice cream

3 frozen bananas

1/2 c. half and half

1 c. cold brew concentrate

(no sweetener needed with the bananas)

blend in Vitamix or blender until creamy and partially frozen

As I look at the photos, I'm thinking I should add that chopped chocolate is a nice addition to coffee ice cream. Apparently.

Popsicles

coffee popsicles

1 c cold brew concentrate

2-1/2 c. milk

sweetener of choice to taste

stir ingredients together and pour into molds, adding stick when partially frozen

What else could you do use cold brew concentrate for? How about—

milk shakes 

affogato 

liqueur 

Any other ideas? I'm wide open.

sam

Sam & cool kids Simon & Sophie

Two weeks ago, after more than 3 years of tweeting together, Sam and I finally met. Sam wrote about it so well on her blog, but I wanted to note it here too, as it was and will be, I'm sure, the highlight of my year.

Almost from the time Sam and I started exchanging tweets, we joked about being able to teleport into each other's homes for a cup of coffee and conversation. She came across as a warm, likable person, someone who was easy to talk to and fun to be with. More than that, she had that indefinable quality of a likeminded soul, a true friend.

It turns out that she was everything I imagined: effusive, funny, sweet, intelligent. We talked as long-lost friends right away, which felt completely natural, even as I was amazed by it. It was like we had skipped all the preliminaries of getting acquainted, going straight to the easy comfort of hanging out and cooking and laughing together; but in fact, we'd had years of conversation, brief and extended, reading each other's blogs and chatting in groups. We already knew each other.

There are all kinds of friendships: childhood pals, classmates, neighbors, fellow expats/new moms/homeschoolers. With luck, a few of them stick and become part of your lifetime community. I'm glad to now have Sam and Chris as part of mine.

twitter & irl friends Brian, Robyn, Jen, Chris, Sam, me, Lisa (photo by DH)

summer project #2: rubber duckie decoy

Fast and simple, my favorite type of project:

Many years ago, a tiny S spied this duck decoy in the back corner of a junk shop and fell in love with it. My dad, doting grandpa, duck lover and insane collector that he was, happily paid $3 to indulge his grandchild and clutter up our house. It soon found its way to our little backyard pond, where it has been floating these past 10+ years.

No beauty when we got it, it was after a decade of weathering in dire need of a makeover. I had yellow spray paint, some white out and a Sharpie; for the investment of a small bottle of orange acrylic, Mr. Faded Decoy Duck became Mr. Shiny Rubber Duckie. And of course he wouldn't be complete without Ernie along for the ride.