Coffee and cookies

For years and years I never drank coffee. I've always had a love for coffee ice cream (got that from my mom) but never liked coffee. Guess you can blame Starbucks for my change. It started with the Frappachino - the frozen coffee drinks that are so close to coffee ice cream. Then I crossed over into the hot "coffee" realm - not the straight up stuff (I still can't drink that) - the "Mocha's". My favorite is the peppermint that is only available around Christmas.

Being someone who likes spending time in the kitchen making things - I started trying to create my own mocha's. Got myself a little 4 cup coffee maker and a bean grinder. Using a diet hot cocoa mix as the "base" I experimented with different flavored coffees - chocolates, almond, I even found a mint chocolate coffee, although I prefer to add a few drops of peppermint extract instead. On the weekend a nice dollop of light whipped cream will top off the concoction. The only time the little coffee pot makes straight up coffee is if we have a "normal" coffee drinker visiting.

Speaking of "concoctions" - it's that time of year for me to bake. It's my favorite time of year because I can get in the kitchen and bake all the goodies I love making and share them with others. Kiss Cookies, Cry Baby Cookies, Pumpkin and Apple pies, "the" Pecan Pound Cake, Cinnamon rolls - time to start putting the recipes online.