Independence Day!

Happy July 4th!!

My little sister's son is 2 today!  We had his birthday celebration on Sunday.  My sister made him a 'special' breakfast.  

Oatmeal with M&M's and raisins.

Growing up, birthdays were special.  You see, we always got to pick what was for dinner. 

And I am sure in most people's family; you get special privileges for your birthday.  My birthday is in September, and when I was growing up, we had a wood burning stove for heat.  And I really wanted it to snow.  And it DID!  (It was flurries that didn't stick, but still...) Since it was my birthday, I didn't have to help haul wood into the house. (Score 1 for me!)

Have you ever gone to a comedy club?  Well I have!  Since the Boyfriend had today off, he agreed to take advantage of the ACME Insiders Club promotion that was going on last night.  It's a pretty good deal.  You get 2 free tickets, and they have a dinner special at Sticks Restaurant, which you don't have to do.  This time it was steak and potatoes with choice of a domestic beer or glass of wine for $10 a plate.  We added on caesar salads for $1.25 a piece or whatever.  Pretty decent.

I have only been to the ACME Comedy Co. here in Minneapolis.  I have now been there 3 times. The first time was with the Boyfriend and a couple few co-workers.  The second time was with just a couple co-workers.  And now, the most recent time with the Boyfriend.

I would like to just point out.  You may watch those TV specials where there is a stand-up act on stage and the audience 'participates' with some good natured heckling.  That is actually frowned upon.  Who knew?  Definitely not this girl.  The first time I went, the comedian's phone started ringing on stage.  He was like, oh, who is calling me.  I yelled out (when I say 'yell' I mean it was loud enough to be heard, not really a yell)something along the lines of 'tell your mom to call back later'.  Some guy came over and was like "Ma'am, there is no heckling here, if you do it again, we will ask you to leave."  Oh, well, good to know. 

First off, don't call me ma'am.  I was like 28. Gosh. 

Second off, dude, this is what I thought you did.. my bad.   If I were a stand-up comedian, I would need the audience participation.

The Boyfriend asked the guy to get him a drink.  That is where they are bad though.  The waitresses are pretty crappy.  Last night we got 1 drink after about 15 minutes of being seated.  Good thing we had a little left from dinner in hour hands when we walked in.  No mind that she never came back after she delivered our drinks.

All in all, it was a great date night.  I got dressed up, slapped on some war paint, and the Boyfriend came home from work and changed his shirt, and threw on some AXE body spray.  Wish I were a guy.  I told him next time, I will go ahead and show him how I would really like to be treated when going on a date, he's gotten lazy.  I want some flowers that will die in like 5 days, and someone to open my friggn' door.  Do a little role reversal on him.

It is hot here in the midwest, as well as everywhere else apparently.  I do not feel like going out.  The Boyfriend has no interest in going to the beach.  Let's be honest, I am not a 'beach' person really either.. but it's hot.  So we haven't left the house.  I made a couple of iced cold brewed coffee's for us - even skipping the 2 mediums for $4 at the local Caribou because I LOVE my cold brew so much.

We will see what else we do, we are going to have to eat sometime.. maybe pick up some Jimmy John's or Subway and go melt in a park somewhere.  I should probably research some fireworks displays..

Here's a photo from last night (he didn't even shave..).



Date Night!

Cold Brewed Coffee!

I have a new obsession.  I will admit it.  It is borderline cRaZy.  But, I am okay with it, because it also saves me a couple of greenbacks a week.  Okay.  Honestly, about $20 a week.  Which is uber ridiculous.  I know.

Please note, both are not mine! One is the Boyfriend's.

See, I drink what I would call 'fake' coffee drinks.  I go to the Caribou, or Starbucks and order a mocha of some sort, lately it's been over ice. At Caribou it's a White Northern Lite Mocha - no whip.  Or at Starbucks I get a Mocha Frappuccino.  I generally will go to Caribou though, not sure why, maybe because it is sweeter. 

But my problem comes in, that I will stop 3-4 times a week. In my city, I pay $4.70 a pop.  And that is too much to be wasting a week; I would rather buy shoes or something more fun, and lasts longer.

So I was floating around trying to find a way to make something as enjoyable at home.  I found this blog, but there are tons out there with a recipe.  And they all pretty much follow the recipe published in the New York Times.

People say cold brewed is better for you, as it it is less acidic.  I say okay...?  Whatever that means.  The coffee does taste better than the made in a coffee maker, and cooled coffee.  There is a different flavor in it.  I am serious!

My dad quit drinking coffee because he wasn't enjoying the flavor any more.  I didn't know that, and brought him some when I went to the Patriot Ride (post can be found here).  He was quite surprised that it was Folger's cold brewed coffee, as Folger's was his brand he drank, and he said his didn't taste like this.. :)

I like Snapguide.  It's an app for my nifty iPhone.  It hasn't really caught on I don't think.  They have a little fine tuning to do, but I hope it does catch on.  You can make step by step guides in a SNAP! :)

You can see the guide that I created here if you would like, but it is pretty basic.

You will need a large container, preferably with a cover. A strainer, a coffee filter or two, a large bowl for the strainer to sit in, filtered water and your favorite blend coffee of course!



Basically everything you need!

The recipe:

1 cup of coffee, ground

4 1/2 cups of filtered water

Put them together in a container, stir them up to make sure all of the grounds are wet, set it on the counter for 8-12 hours.  I do this while I sleep, and in the morning, I set up the strainer, put a coffee filter in it, and strain it. 

AND Boom! Coffee is ready to enjoy.  But not straight - are you nuts?! This is a highly concentrated mixture!!



Mix it half and half with water-milk, cream what have you, and enjoy with ice.  The NYTimes says you can heat it/add hot water to it, but I am currently not interested in trying it that way.  I fill the cup about half way with ice, dump the coffee mixture in about 3/4 full, put some milk, and about 1/16 cup of Italian Sweet Cream Coffee mate.



Hello lovely!

I am not going to lie, it is kind of nice to come home in the morning after a 'run', grab a shower, get ready for work, dump this together and head off to work.  I will literally head to bed looking forward to the morning, because I know I will be enjoying this!

Hope you try it - SOON!