365 Days of Coffee + Recipe

I am consistently amazed, inspired and generally awed by the creative food bloggers out there in the blogosphere.  Seriously, people like Aran at Cannelle et Vanille and Alice at Sweet Savory Life [to name just two out of scores] make me want to quit my job, plant a garden, and buy kitchen accessories [accessories being such trinkets as loaf pans and salad tongs].

Instead, I'm slowly but surely letting foodie goodness come into my life via the absolute most simple recipes imaginable, and through necessity.

Case in point, the three overripe bananas in my fruit bowl this morning, and the fact that I own a single muffin tin.
Even I could manage this, and in less than an hour, all told:

[okay, editing the picture and photoshopping in the recipe took me another hour, but you get the idea]

Bonus:  These are actually really, really good.   I mean, "How did I do this?" delicious.  No mixer necessary, no mascarpone.  Just about an hour and some effort, and I feel so accomplished.

Enjoy your Sunday -

365 Days of Coffee [by the book]

Or, you know, on top of it.

[ahead of the times]

Apartment Therapy totally jumped on my beach ball bandwagon:

via Apartment Therapy

Maybe I didn't have a bandwagon so much as I had a post that included several shots of a beach ball I loved on.

And maybe they're going approximately seven steps further by including their beach balls in decor.

Whatever.  I totally started it!:)  Beach balls for all!

PS:  Tomorrow, we're heading to a swap meet at Robarts Arena for SIS.
A swap meet!  That's like a big ol' flea market, right?  Anyhoo, many pictures will be taken, items may be procured . . . I think I'll go to bed early for this:)

Smiley faces all around  -

365 Days of Coffee [candidate]

So I'm thinking of changing my blog header [and my layout, and maybe the name, and maybe I should . . . the list goes on] and have been kinda/sorta testing shots.  I'm fairly certain the header above was created my first week of blogging, and since that seems like light years ago, I'm up for something new.

This is my current stab at an image, but I'm thinking it's too neutral.  Am I this neutral of a person?

No.  No, I don't think I am.

Plus the drips on the side skew a little Monster Energy Drink, and I'm not a fan of that stuff.

How often do you change your blog components?  All the time, or have yours been around forever [or what seems like forever], too?

365 Days of Coffee [behind the scenes]

While taking this picture, directly behind my back, there was a large pot of oatmeal silently boiling over.

The entire stove - all the way to the floor - was affected.

The joys of daybreak cooking.

365 Days of Coffee + It's Never Trash

Awhile back, these adorable West Elm Owls were on sale, and [despite their "Put A Bird On It"-ness], I had to have them.  In case you don't feel like clicking the link, this is what they look like:

Product Photo - West Elm

Hello, super-cuteness.  I named them Fezzig and Inigo, and they had been very happy occupants of various rooms throughout my house.

Then the combined clumsiness of CKP and myself struck, and Inigo went down, lost his head.  It was a sad moment. 

CKP apologized, we agreed to get a new one, and he started toward the garbage can.

Startled Me:  "Are you going to throw him away?"

CKP:  "Honey, it's trash.  Yes."

Adamant Me:  "Honey, it's never trash."

Am I right, or am I right?

I'm so right.

Saturday in Sarasota [Casperson Beach]

What:  Casperson Beach

Where:  Venice, Florida

When:  Year-round, Dawn-Dusk since there are no lights along the beach/walkways

Why:  Peace, Quiet & Shark-tooth hunting!

It's really hard to find an unpacked beach on the West Coast of  Southern Florida - or really, anywhere in the state.  One would think that would so much beachfront to choose from, the crowds would get spread out a bit more, but this is not the case.  Casperson is usually a good bet for reading and such, though, so with that and uncluttered photos in mind, we headed down on Saturday.  

It's a few miles past Venice's more lauded beaches and is considered [by those who consider these things] to be the premier for hunting shark's teeth, possibly because it hasn't been as picked-over as its cousins at the Service Park and Pier beaches.  

One thing about tooth-laden sand?  It is hot.  Ridiculously, you'd-think-it-was-pavement hot.  I tried taking the obligatory "Lonely Flip-Flops in the Surf" shot, but seriously, I could not stand on the sand in my bare feet long enough.  These are the shots you get instead!

This is actually not our setup.  Ours was much less photogenic with my tripod, two mismatched and threadbare Rite-Aid towels, plus the shoulder-slung travel cooler CKP and I usually reserve for roadtrips [read:  typically hidden in the car, and not for public viewing].  Additionally, we camped a bit further down the  beach, to avoid this:

Yeaaahhhhh, about that . . . Truly, though? They're a super-friendly bunch, and walking just a few minutes further, we forgot about them.  This was our aviary viewing:

Ahhhh. 

CKP went off tooth-hunting and during his trek, the shark teeth came to me.

This is Gary.  Gary wandered up behind me while I was artfully composing one of those never-going-to-look-the-way-they-do-in-my-head images [the bane of my photographic existence], and pretty much scared me to death.

"Hey!  You want to take a photo of something?"

Yes, oh loud, sweaty and half naked sir, yes I do.  What I was looking at in the other direction.  

[I kid.  Gary was a sweetheart after the initial shock].

"Here, young lady.  Take a look at these!"

Unceremoniously, he opened and dumped this at my feet:

Now those are some impressive teeth.  He explained that he went out scuba diving most mornings around dawn to find them, and sold them at local fairs and such [maybe I'll see him at next year's craft festival?].  He also explained that CKP wasn't apt to find much out there without dedication and the required tools, but that he'd "have a hell of a good time tryin'."  Then Gary ambled on off, and turns out he was right - CKP found zip, but I got a few pictures of him sitting giddy in the shallow surf, with his nose into his cupped palms full of ocean.   

Sadly, he declined to have those posted.  Wuss.

My great find of the day was the beach ball.  I loved the daylights out of this beach ball.  I spent a good hour and a half chasing it around the beach, into the rocks, tossing out too far and having CKP fetch it, toss it for me this time.  It was just such a happy ball - not faded yet, not deflated - tight and taut and it made that perfect 'doink' noise when kicked or caught.  Eeek!  I'm bouncing just thinking about it.

[This is my first collage in Lightroom - super-simple, I know!  I'll get better]

Like a good Girl Scout, I left it behind for another child or child-at heart to discover when we left.

365 Days of Coffee [fluff & fold]

I'm an avid proponent of the 'fluff' option on my dryer, but in my case, 'fluff' is a misnomer.

These should be much more wrinkly - but then again, they're towels.

See, I forget about the dryer.  It's as though once I've sorted the laundry, loaded it into the washer with whatever detergent/bleach/softener is appropriate, waited 45 minutes for it to run, picked through what goes into the dryer, loaded and set that, I feel like I should be done with the laundry.  I feel like that's enough.  

Consequently, I think the 'fluff' or 'de-wrinkle' option needs to be renamed the Procrastination Cycle.  Put a little piece of tape over the word 'fluff' and just set it for the corresponding time I feel like not folding and hanging the laundry, because really?  It's taken up too much of my time already.

365 Days of Coffee [unclassified]

It is far too hot, so this would be today's espresso . . .

. . . on the rocks?  Chilled?  Iced?

Just plain not hot.  

I'm not sure how it would be classified by the folks at The Oatmeal:

But I think they'd understand if I just called it "July in Florida."

365 Days of Coffee [salad-inspired]

While browsing my reader this morning [such a great way to start the day, fresh with ideas], I came across this Cucumber,Tomato and Shrimp salad via Destined to Design:

Photo and recipe by Sonia at The Healthy Foodie

De-darn-licious, no doubt?  Tasty enough to try?  Exceptionally eatable?  All of the above, I assume.

So, yes, I'm making it sometime this week, but here's the best part for me - the flower garnish.  Seriously.  It's beautiful and edible and such a finished finishing touch [I envision the chef neatly arranging the flowers on top of the salad with one delicate, plucky hand before grandly sweeping her arm in an arc over her head as if she had just done a magic trick - ta daaa!].

I want one, too!

I'll be the first to admit that I like hers better.  

Especially given the following exchange between CKP and I:

"Honey, are bougainvillea edible?"

"I don't know."

"Really?  I put some in my espresso, but I think they're okay, right?"

 "I'd look it up online before I drank it."

[Jayca stares at empty espresso cup, proceeds to believe she feels 'woozy' for the rest of the day]

Side note:  I'm not sure what's up with all the grain on my blog photos lately.  They look crisp and clean in Lightroom at 1:1, but I must be missing something in the export, because here [at less zoom] they're all . . . ick.  If you have any ideas, please leave me a comment.  Toute aide est appreciee!

SIS Preview

Caspersen Beach - we had a ball! We're off to gorge ourselves on all-you-can-eat sushi[!!], and wishing you the same kind of gluttonous, indulgent Saturday night  . . . 

365 Days of Coffee [extra fuel]

Today was beach day.  Which means lots of walking, lots of heat and not a lot of room to carry snacks. 

So, you know, oatmeal with two espressos and an iced coffee [each!] later, we're just about ready to go . . 

Except the latte art force within me was strong this morning, and that force could not be denied.  Now if only I could create something recognizable and not just "Ooooh, swirly!"

365 Days of Coffee + DIY Cup Display

Our collection of espresso cups is growing by leaps and bounds.  Not only because I can't resist them at ReStore and Goodwill, but because I break them [alot], and if one gets gone, inevitably we get three more.

A new way of storing them was absolutely necessary.  So Jayca went spelunking in the garage, and decided to get crafty with this desk [which was replaced by a DIY'ed Alexander the Great a little while back]:

This guy had already been hauled out to the patio, half-stripped and sanded:

See that drawer in the back?  He's my target, my prey, my salvageable star.  I sanded off all of his paint [not so good with the stripper]:

I poly'ed him and painted him:

Added some mismatched knobs [well, two match - they're part of another knob purchase, when I decided on-sale knobs at Anthropologie required at least a five-item purchase to justify the shipping] and hooks, et voila:

Cup display!  Now we'll get a little fancy . . . 

Hey now, I'm a rock star, got my game on . . . 

[Posting on Home Stories A to Z, just for kicks!:)] 

365 Days of Coffee + free good karma

There are a lot of causes in the world, a lot of good deeds needing to be done, and most days I am overwhelmingly glad that I don't have a billion dollars, because I would absolutely not know where to even begin donating it.  

I can usually be found donating my time or expertise [because every little bit helps somewhere] but today - today! - I gave up something else altogether.  Today I gave up a piece of me, in the hope that maybe someday, someone can use it.  

I'm about to ask you to do the same [mostly because I know how marvelous you are]

Two envelopes - as in, this is so easy even CKP did it

In each of those envelopes is an extra-long Q-Tip with inner-cheek cells on it.  

Yep.  

That's right.  

I gave up my cheek cells, and I gave them up to fight leukemia.  

Because my cheek cells can do that.  

And they can do it at the whopping rate of zero dollars.

I feel like a superhero [and you can, too!  I'm absolutely okay with a sounding a bit infomercial-y here:)]

To start, go DKMS website and click on the big happy mouth at right.  From there, you affirm that you don't have certain conditions, are 18-55, etc then plug in all sorts of information that you may think is strange [this is  one of very few instances where 'white' isn't specific enough for ethnicity].  So, essentially, you register.

They send you some extra-long Q-Tips.

You rinse out your mouth, swab each cheek for 10 seconds, seal the Q-Tips in the provided envelopes, and put them in the mail.  

[How handy that I've illustrated that last step for you!]

Of course, if you'd like to donate/cover the $65 cost of processing your sample, you're a super-superhero, and they have an envelope for that, too.  

One chance in 200 says you will get a call [over your whole lifetime] that you are, in fact, a match for someone who needs bone marrow.  At which point you take a day off, get an all-expenses-paid trip to the hospital [dinner and a nap included!], are home at night and back to work the next day [donating is much less complicated than House makes it seem, apparently]. 

And you [yes, YOU . . . all you, baby!] have saved a life.   

Like I said, so easy CKP did it.  

Get Swabbed.  Save A Life.  [And let me know when you do!  Not because either one of us will get paid or a bonus, just because . . . yay!]

365 Days of Coffee [loupe view]

Get it?  Up close view of cantaloupe?  


I really am quite the dork at heart.

PS:  When cutting this melon up to serve with/for breakfast this morning, I was amazed at how easily the fruit came off the rind.  Amazed, I tell you.

Then we tasted it.

The most bitter, mushiest, least-happy melon ever.  Of course, that made it all the easier to mess around with for photography purposes vs actual feeding purposes:)

Bonne journee -

365 Days of Coffee [breakfast envy]

I've mentioned before that CKP and I have completely different ides of breakfast, and this morning was a perfect example:

His

Hers

As if that wasn't enough breakfast envy, I've recently discovered Jennifer Causey of Simply Photo, and her beautiful project, Simply Breakfast:

Everything looks so soft and pretty and delicious [and simple, of course].  

Talent and tastebuds are wonderful things.  

365 Days of Coffee [cherry cherry boom boom]

Cherries are absolutely having a moment in our house - every week for the past month, we've gone though a bag of Bings within the first two days of having them.  This morning, we picked up just over two pounds of Rainiers, and they're a quarter gone.

I'm not even doing anything interesting to Nature's Candy!  Seriously.  Just letting them hang out on the counter after rinsing.  We're constantly popping them, these drive-by snacks on our way through the kitchen.  The Bings even doubled as lipstick . . .

 . . . and props! 

[Yes, I have had a growing bowl of withered stems and pits on my counter for the last couple weeks, as well]

As I was playing with my food, Lady Gaga kept creeping her way into my head [did you know Cherry Cherry Boom Boom is the pseudonym of her producer?  I figured she just liked the way it sounded], so I feel I must include one of my Fourth of July fireworks:

Plus, it just starts your week off with a bang!  Cherry cherry boom boom . . . . . . [will be stuck in my head all day]

Saturday in Sarasota [Dinner & a Movie]

As you know, we were rained out of the beach yesterday.  In an attempt to save our weekly date day, we actually [seriously, totally] went to dinner and a movie.

[When was the last time you went to dinner and a movie?  I calculated mine to be about the year 2000, for both Gladiator and High Fidelity. Prior to that, it was Titanic.  I'm a 'rent and takeout' kinda girl.]

In order to make this a bit more special than Applebee's and the Hollywood 20 [also: cheaper] we decided on dinner at a Colombian/Cuban diner on 301, almost in Bradenton [for the unfamiliar, it's a more industrial area - in some of the outtakes, you would be able to see the Zippy Lube next door].

 
I exclaim over the color every time we drive by, so might as well pop in!

As far as the food, I'll just show you some pictures, tell you it was quick and it was under $30 for the both of us, with tip.  Can't complain.

CKP had Columbiana, a super-sweet soda

Salchipapa and an empanada for starters

Pechuga a la plancha [for me]

Sobrebarriga Criolla for CKP

Next, we were off to Burns Court, a tiny, walking-only section of downtown Sarasota.  

Aaa-OOOOH-ga cars excepted

Parking on the neighboring streets is, ahem, trying, but worth it to stroll among the 1920's-50's era buildings, now housing photography and art studios, a cafe or two, antique and salvage shops [!!], some wish-I-could-afford-it condos and our destination, Burns Court Cinema.  

When it first opened, it was more of a foreign-language, art and independent film theater [or so I'm told], but now caters to the cultured masses on a more frequent basis.  Solely for the showing time, we went to see:

  

And loved it.  Well, I unequivocally loved it, and CKP didn't fall asleep, which means he was pretty well into it.  Roger Ebert's review is a great preview to the movie itself, and I think by reading it you'll be able to tell if this is your kinda movie either way.  

I think.

I'm no movie critic.

But the setting was enchanting [well, yeah, it was Paris in the 20's] and the costumes were crush-worthy and even the modern-day stuff 'n things were still in Paris with beautiful blond people.  I swooned [except over one pretty predominant theme in most man-about-to-get-married movies that is, sadly, in this one] and decided for the billionth time that I'm moving to Europe and spending many happy nights in the rain.  

Walking out of the cinema, hand-in-hand in the muggy evening, I wanted so badly to capture the twinkling lights and street-lamped corners, the quiet and delicate mood of Burns Court.  There were coffee shops cleaning up for the night, other rambling couples, and I had a head full of romantic notions.

Pascal, however - who had been shivering in the theater for the last two hours -was not feeling cooperative in the sudden heat. 

Sigh.  Even the camera fog looks good to me!