Category Archives: H-town (Houston)

A Love Affair With Coffee

D and I love coffee. Personally, caffeine does nothing to me. I can sleep right after I have an espresso or two (yeah, it’s a gift). Our first pre-date was actually in Starbucks in San Mateo, California. Yes, pre-date because I just had an annulment and he just started his divorce proceedings, so we were both gun-shy. Wow, there it is. Juicy bits from my personal life. I guess caffeine loosens up my tongue, the way alcohol does. Good to know…

D with his Pomeranian cup. Take note of his outfit. He's my little fashionista. I take pics of him just in case he starts a fashion blog. This will fall under OOTD (outfit of the day)
D with his Pomeranian cup. Take note of his outfit. He’s my little fashionista. I take pics of him just in case he starts a fashion blog. This will fall under OOTD (outfit of the day)

We do our coffee the old school way. D uses a French press or sometimes the stove-top one. I have a milk-frother to make my cappuccino. Last ear, I got him this copper French Press from Napa Valley. It’s the prettiest thing.

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Last week at Thanksgiving, D’s brother, Steve, showed us his bad-ass Italian espresso maker. It was so easy and convenient! As luck would have it, Black Friday had awesome deals on those bad boys, so we finally succumbed and got ourselves a Nespresso Latissima Pro from Wiliams-Sonoma .

It was  great. Espresso was very comparable to the stove-top one that we make. The biggest plus for me was the built in milk-frother. You can remove the container and put it back on the fridge. No waste! It is also self-cleaning. When it comes to kitchen gadgets and appliances, that’s my next favorite word, the first being “non-stick”. You can also pull it apart and throw it in the washer. It goes right along with my iron-clad rule, “if it can’t get  into the washer, I’m not buying it”.

the cappuccino maker at work
the cappuccino maker at work

The cons: It doesn’t come with a coffee-bean grinder the way Steve’s did. And you also have to buy the pods. That’s why it’s cheaper. D crunched the numbers, he said it evens out. I didn’t get to the nitty-gritty of it, something about cost-per-pod over x number of years. It made me sleepy…coffee and all. Oh, and it doesn’t connect directly to your water-line and there is no refrigerated compartment for the milk. I didn’t crunch any numbers on this. All i know is for the savings of a thousand dollars, I would be more than happy to walk across my kitchen to get water and put the milk back into the fridge. Just sayin….

This is my cappuccino. I added a splash of Dulce de Leche flavor. Yummy!
This is my cappuccino. I added a splash of Dulce de Leche flavor. Yummy!

Day Off(?)

My parents have always said that all my dreams will come true if I work hard enough. What they didn’t tell me is that once I’ve achieved my dreams, there’s this dirty little word called “upkeep” that requires even more hard work.

I pretty much have all that I’ve always longed for. But  days like these, what normal people would call “day-off”, I run around all day doing errands here and there so that this life I built for myself and my family does not fall apart at the seams. Nails, hair, groceries, dog-grooming, car wash, ad nauseum. The only thing I look forward to today is trying out a new dish that was inspired by my readings on Ree Drummond recipes. She’s my new Mommy Martha Stewart. She’s pre-billionaire and she works really hard to sound relatable.

I started my day with my new favorite breakfast staple—Danish Kringle. It’s from Wisconsin but Trader Joe’s have these and its almond flavor for this season. Last year, it was pumpkin. Equally yummy.

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Toast for 4 minutes, pair with coffee and voila! I’m ready for errand day.

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I’m doing Fried Ravioli with Marinara Sauce today. I’m using Trader Giotto’s Porcini Mushroom and Truffle Triangoli.

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Dip each triangle in beaten eggs then coat with Italian breadcrumbs. Do this twice before deep frying. In my dream world, I would fry this in truffle oil. But there is something absolutely wrong in deep frying a $10 ravioli in a $10/ounce oil….So I will use olive oil instead.

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Cook in small batches and in low temperature to avoid burning.

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Serve with marinara sauce.

At the end of the day, everything was yummy and shiny. Cookie and GG got groomed washed and groomed after all the rainy and muggy days. Dave even volunteered to bring Beans to piano lessons so I can finally take a break. Life is good.

Cookie and his new hairstyle
Cookie and his new hairstyle
G-wagen ready to roll
G-wagen ready to roll