The best part of waking up...

I think the most enjoyable thing I consume most days is my first cup of coffee in the morning. I know, I know, that probably isn't going to inspire confidence in repeating the recipes I post on the blog, but they really are delicious, or I wouldn't post them! (And trust me I have had some FLOPS, which can usually be detected by a lull in posting for a few days.) But as I begrudgingly force myself out of bed in the morning, the only bright spot is the coffee pot, shining like a beacon through the morning fog.

And that cup of coffee hits the spot like few things can. I think the only other times I feel that intense food-satisfaction on a regular basis is after I finish a long run or race and get to eat. (That's how I motivate myself through the final miles...just finish and you can have a Five Guys cheeseburger. Sad, I know.)

I don't have an espresso machine or a milk steamer, much to mother's dismay whenever she comes to visit. I have a $10, 4-cup generic coffee pot. (Nic doesn't drink coffee, so why waste the counter space with something bigger?) I create my own poor, just-out-of-college, economy Starbucks. I heat up the skim milk in a wee-tiny saucepan, a hand-me-down All Clad that I think is really intended for melting butter. (A special pot just for melting butter! Alton Brown would be appalled by such a uni-tasker.) So, that's kind of like steamed milk. I use pretty decent coffee, some South American Kona blend I bought at Costco, and then the real treat--hazelnut syrup. (The whole bottle cost about as much as one hazelnut latte at Starbucks.)

Five minutes, three ingredients.