It's "bean" a long week...

Ah, Saturday feels good! "Summertime, and the livin' is easy..." Well, this last week wasn't easy. It was hard. But, it's behind me, Praise God! I persevered. I overcame. And, I am being rewarded with this beautiful day!

I'm having a COFFEE BEAN GIVEAWAY!

Originally uploaded by Refracted Moments™

Coffee Bean Giveaway

Ethiopian Oromia Medium Roast from Higher Grounds

In honor of my first month of blogging and to follow the coffee themed posts that have been made, I am giving away 1 pound of whole bean Ethiopian Oromia Medium Roast Coffee! This is a 100% organic, fair trade coffee from Higher Grounds. This company is working towards protecting the rights of coffee producers in remote countries, and helping to keep their businesses sustainable while preserving the environment. They describe this particular coffee as "one of the world's most distinctive coffees with a complex floral bouquet and light, crisp notes of citrus and dark berries. A crisp, clean finish makes for a delectable cup!" Sound yummy? This coffee is also extremely compatible with cream.

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS:

• Post a comment by clicking on the "comments" link beneath this text. ONLY ONE POST PER GUEST.
• The deadline to post is midnight on Thursday, August 9th.
• The winner will be selected by Random.org. Feel free to invite your friends to enter.

Woo hoo! My first month of archives!

My
first month
of blogging is now
officially over. My posts
are tucked neatly in my site's
July archival folder. Now, with much
enthusiasm, I commence into the month
of August! I'M HAVING A BLAST! I've met some
wonderfully warm ladies and I've had visits
from family and friends who faithfully
support what I do. I've dropped in
on the blissful blogs of others:
adding beauty, humor,
and creativity to my

mental cache!

Voilà!

Bodum Chambord 8 Cup French Press

This is the French Press that I use.

Did you know... The word "coffee" stems from the Italian word caffè, from the Turkish word kahve, and also from the Arabic word qahwa. The Italian and Turkish sound pretty close to "coffee".

Deja Brew

Deja Brew: The feeling that you've had this coffee before.
- Author Unknown -

For me, "deja brew" ended when coffee really introduced itself to me. A long time coffee drinker, I had imbibed what I believed to be decent and even extraordinary coffee. And like most avid coffee drinkers, I had lived through far more unpleasant coffee experiences than positive. (I can still taste some of those bitter memories!) Sure, the chic coffee cafés enlightened me to what coffee becomes, all dolled up with cream, artificial flavors, and sugar. And, I have indulged in the more finely tuned espresso fare. All wonderful, but I was still looking for that je ne sais quoi-- that indescribable "something".

Then I discovered the French Press... You might as well know that when I discover something, it's as if my name has been added to history books! If it wasn't in my mind, it didn't exist. Of course, this is only my initial reaction until I am forced to make a landing. Then I feel slightly overlooked because no one told me sooner.

The French Press, or the press pot, was a revelation for me: an epiphany, the crème de la crème! I dare not add "coffee maker" to the end of French Press since it doesn't "make" the coffee; it allows coffee to be what it always has been, au naturel! With this method, coffee is no longer subjected to having its true character boiled into oblivion. I equate this to a world class singer being insulted and diminished by a mediocre sound system. The gift is beautiful; the mode of delivery is impaired.

After purchasing my French Press, I was naturally intimidated by a new methodology. Like anything, a French Press can produce less than "flavor-able" results if directions are not followed. However, once I found my routine, I was deliciously pleased.

My first sip exploded with aroma I didn't think coffee could produce. The flavors were robust, ceremoniously stepping up to my palette like a processional bearing gifts! It delighted me with force majeure! Much like multi-layered perfumes, I was delighted with fruity, nutty, smoky, and even floral tastes that were intoxicating.

If you have never tried French Press coffee, I encourage you to do so. CoffeeGeek.com has an incredible primer and tutorial that will remove intimidation and answer any questions you might have. It's waiting at the link above. And, I would love your feedback s'il vous plaît!

Trees

TREES

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth’s flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

-Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

After this beautiful poem, I find myself remembering a humorous twist by Ogden Nash...

I think that I shall never see
A billboard lovely as a tree.
Perhaps, unless the billboards fall,
I'll never see a tree at all.

-Ogden Nash
US humorist & poet (1902-1971)

Baked Crepe Pudding

Flickr.com: uploaded on March 1, 2007
by creampuffsinvenice

Can you tell that I'm stranded at my home tonight and severely hungry? Ivonne from Cream Puffs in Venice placed this fabulous photo and recipe on her blog back in March of this year. I wasn't blogging then. However, thankfully, archives connected me to what I have missed.

Ivonne is the inspiration behind Cream Puffs in Venice. She is from a large Italian family and she resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her background is quite inspiring, having visited her Grandparents as a child in Italy, and participated in their daily tasks of tending the garden, vineyard, chestnut trees, and watching over their beehives! She comes by her culinary talents from both sides of her family. Her bio is fascinating. I encourage you to read it.

The recipe for this masterpiece is posted in the archives on her site. But I warn you... You'll get lost in all of the scrumptious food-ography!

Jam Sandwich Cookies

"Jam Sandwich Cookie," uploaded by creampuffsinvenice on Flickr.com

Sunday afternoon... I'm inside being pampered by air conditioning-- but feeling a bit blue. My Mac PowerBook G4 is sitting in the South Coast Plaza Apple store waiting to be shipped to Texas. Just when I started blogging, my Mac came down with an in-my-face thin vertical line dissecting my screen. In the 13 or so years that Mac and I have partnered together, I have only had 2 problems and the first one did not require sending my computer-- my mini me-- to another state. I don't like it. But, my options were to have it fixed in the Apple Store for $1000.00 plus, or send it off and pay a flat rate of $330.00. This decision did not require prayer and fasting... So, I am using my daughter's Toshiba laptop. It's not as user friendly and all my little nooks and crannies are missing, but I am getting to where I want to go.

Cross legged on the couch, I am doing what any red blooded, mental-pausal woman without her computer would do-- I am eating hommus with pita and looking at Flickr.com dessert photos. Reasonable, yes? I typed in tea sandwiches, found the stream of photos by "creampuffsinvenice" and sort of somersaulted into this picture perfect cookie! My hormones were immediately arrested!