Fun Mondays, Coffee, and 200 Blog Posts

How timely. Gattina, our host for this week's Fun Monday over at Writer Cramps asks: What do we drink in the morning? Especially on the dreaded Monday mornings? And from what do we drink our beverage of choice? Well, most mornings you'll find me at the computer happily drinking a cup of hot, milky coffee and checking out blog and Facebook buddies. On Monday mornings I'm concentrating on my oldest blog friends, the Fun Monday group. And this post is special indeed--it's the 200th one I've written since starting Summit Musings in May 2007. If you knew me better, especially my track record for following through on projects, you'd realize what an achievement this is. Plain and simple, I'm really glad to be a part of a community of bloggers, sharing the ups and downs of everyday life with people from all over the U.S. and several other countries. Virtual friends rule!

Now Gattina, back to your assignment. My morning beverage of choice is always steaming hot coffee with a generous slurp of 1% milk. I use a cold water Coffee Toddy plastic container to make a syrupy rich coffee extract that I store in the fridge. To make a cup of coffee, just pour the extract in a mug, add milk and water (equal parts of the three) and nuke for about three minutes in the microwave. Perfect results every time.

I have several favorite mugs, many of them bought when traveling and carefully wrapped and tucked into my luggage to keep from breaking until I can get home. The mug in the above photo is from 2005 gardening tour of New Zealand. I bought the cup at Te Papa (Our Place) Museum in Wellington on the North Island. This amazing museum celebrates the Maori, New Zealand's native people. You can see the similarities in the mug etchings and the the carvings on the walls of this Maori meeting house that was set up in the museum.

Funny how drinking from this mug reminds me of that day in Wellington. Wellington is a harbor city and we were taking the inter-islander ferry across the Cook Strait from the North to South Islands. Luckily, I spent the day in Te Papa Museum learning about the Maoris and buying coffee mugs instead of touring gardens for there was fierce rain and winds--almost threatening our ferry ride the next day. Here's to many more blog posts and cups of coffee to bring back the good times!

Juan Valdez Needs My Coffeemaker

Our host for this week's Fun Monday is Wendy from Australia and she's asking the Fun Monday regulars to spread the word about our October 12 assignment. It's a good one--maybe even a bit risky judging from some of the signup comments she's gotten so far! Anyway, Wendy would like us to share the gadget(s) that we just wouldn't want to live without. You're also welcome to reveal gadgets that you have that were supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread but are total flops. Nice challenge,Wendy. I always welcome the opportunity to put on my Juan Valdez poncho and sing the praises of my Coffee Toddy brew system. I'm sure if Senor Valdez ever decided to branch out from his position as spokesperson for Colombian coffee and pitch coffeemakers, he'd be wild about the Coffee Toddy, too.

I began using the Coffee Toddy cold brew system many, many years ago and have stuck with it because of its great simplicity. First, I live alone so every day I struggled with making a small enough amount of coffee in a regular drip machine. I drank a cup with breakfast and then turned off the machine as I left for work. In the evening if I wanted an after dinner cup of coffee I wrestled with trying to re-heat the morning brew--yuk!--or pitching the leftover and making another pot. I could also use instant but liked real coffee too well to settle for that stuff. And with whatever kind I choose, it was never hot enough by the time I put in enough milk to get that pale tan color of coffee-milk that I preferred. So, I was always "nuking" my cup to heat it up, adding one more step.

I must have been in a cooking/chef stage when I discovered the Coffee Toddy because I ordered it from a gourmet supply catalog. My first Toddy came in this burlap sack just like in this photo. And what low tech genius that sack contained. In order to make a half gallon of deep, dark, intensely smooth and delicious coffee extract that I could keep in the refrigerator for weeks, all I needed was the Coffee Toddy, a pound of ground coffee, cold water and 24 hours! Here's how you do it:

1. Plug the drain hole in the white brewing container--using that small rubber cork.

2. Fit that round white pad (it looks like a complexion buffer) in the depression over the cork. This filter pad collects all the bitter acids from the coffee when the extract drains out, making a very smooth coffee that keeps the richness of even the more intense varieties without the bitterness and acidity that you get with brewing.

3. Add 1 pound of ground coffee to the white container. Then slowly fill the container with COLD water.

4. Cover the container with foil or saran. Let it set out on the counter for at least 12 hours.

5. When time to descant the coffee extract, remove the the rubber cork and set the white container on top of the glass carafe. The extract will slowly drip out and you'll end up with a full carafe of rich coffee extract. Store in the refrigerator for weeks.

6. When you're ready for a cup of "freshly brewed" coffee, just pour a measured amount of the extract in your coffee cup, add water and milk or cream (if you use it) and heat in the microwave for a couple of minutes to the desired temperature. At first you have to experiment to get the right strength for your taste. For a 12 ounce coffee mug I use 4 oz. coffee extract, 4 oz. cold water, 4 oz. 1% milk and heat for 3 minutes--perfect every time. No waste, no bother.

The only other thing you need for a great coffee experience is a special coffee mug. Every season I like to get a new one. This one I got last weekend at the St. James Art Show in Old Louisville. Going to this show is a fall rite for me and my friends. It's set up on St. James Court in one of the oldest parts of Louisville--great historic houses bedecked with fall flowering containers and landscaping. I chose the black mug from the Red Oak Pottery booth. My creamy coffee looks and tastes wonderful from this mug.

Now be sure to check out the favorite gadgets of other Fun Monday players. And let's keep it at least PG, people! :-)

(P.S. Can you believe I actually saw this title for a magazine article yesterday? "GIDGETS--Gadgets for Girls" Honestly Senor Valdez, I did!)