Frothy, Flavorful, Lip-Smacking Coffee

My new refrigerator arrived today all shiny and sleek and icy cold.  Just what I wanted, OH, and needed desperately.  Talk about make a girl want to stock up with fresh green, orange, yellow and red veggies, cheeses, fresh fish and meat, nice farm fresh eggs and butter, and ripe juicy fruit, but that will wait.  Today I want to blog about coffee.

This photo causes me to want a cup of coffee every single time I look at it. There is something about the traditional white and brown cup and saucer, the sliver of foam, and the cheerful tablecloth that draw me right in.  Of course remembering the time, the taste, the experience undoubtedly is what makes my mouth water.  What, where, when, you ask!

July 2008, early morning, the golden sun rising over the Swiss alps, promising a warm summer day.  Goldern, Switzerland, a delightful small hotel called “The Gleitscherblick”.  Meaning “glacier view” which there was.  The taste, ummmm well it’s difficult to describe.  Rich, creamy, luscious, Swiss coffee served with a breathtaking view of the Swiss alps.  Goldern a tiny speck on the Swiss map, set right in the middle of heaven on earth where I was fortunate to spend a few days that summer, July ’08.

Fast forward to the Cinque Terre in Italy, the “boot”. Ahhhh, the Cinque Terre, wine, romance, sea air, houses tumbling down the Ligurian hills in shades of faded yellow, salmon, sea green, terra cotta, and coffee.  Now, this cup is completely different from the Swiss.  Italian coffee is intense, dark and full- flavored, robust, get your booty out of the chair and move delicious.

In Rio Maggiore where we roosted for a while the shop of choice was called “Bar Centrale”.  An espresso bar by day and a fast paced, noisy bar by night.  It became custom to head down the 122 steps from our digs to Bar Centrale every morning for 2 cups of coffee “Americano”.  Fresh pressed espresso topped off with hot milk, steamed just a tad.  Let’s just say it was nirvana.

In the summer of ’08 last but not least was a visit to “The City of Lights” and the sophisticated cafes where one pauses to enjoy.  Enjoy the smooth, aromatic, flavorful cup of French coffee.  A cup of coffee in Paris enjoyed with a freshly baked buttery croissant or a warm from the oven almond pastry is, well you know, wondrous.  I wondered if my jeans would fit when I returned home, I wondered if I’d ever have coffee back in Texas as good as any of the coffees I’d been delighting in for the last few weeks.  I wondered what it must be like to sit in a cafe overlooking all of Paris or the Swiss alps, or the Ligurian Sea on a daily basis and not take it for granted…….I wonder……..

I wonder too, what is the little, goofy man in the sweater, slouching in his chair, thinking? This photo makes me giggle just a bit when I see the amusing expression on his French face.  He does not have a cup of coffee.  Maybe just maybe he wonders what’s going through my blonde head, as I savor my cup of joe.

Now I will enlighten you on the purpose of all my jabber about coffee.  I love coffee for certain, but I was planning what fabulous recipe to blog about next and I’d decided on Mexican Mocha Brownies. That made me start thinking of how much I love the flavors of chocolate AND coffee in one tasty, delicious bite of these brownies.

Stay tuned…. Friday I will bake and share the recipe for Mexican Mocha Brownies.