Vietnamese Coffee

Last year, for my 30th birthday, we went to a resort in Vietnam. It was a simple time. Wake up to the sun rising over the ocean. Do some yoga. Watch the crabs on the beach and then swim in said ocean. Shower and head over for breakfast.

At breakfast, Alex would eat all the savoury Vietnamese food his heart desired and I would load up on fruit. But there was one thing we both had every morning: Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk. That and mimosas…

A Night In The Life: A Gilmore Girls Reunion Cocktail

The following is entirely made up and is not affiliate in any way with the official Gilmore Girls television show…

Scene: Rory and Lorelai are preparing to have a mother/daughter night in.

Lorelai: Oh, let’s make cocktails!

Rory: Do we know how to make cocktails?

Lorelai: People are always makin’ ‘em on TV. How hard can it be?

Lorelai rummages in kitchen cupboard and emerges with some bottles of liquor.

Roasted Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream

Fall is not when the leaves start to change colour or the weather gets chillier.  It’s not the autumnal equinox or Sept. 21.  For me, fall is when Starbucks starts serving their pumpkin spice latte or PSL as it’s fondly known.  There is a similar rule for winter and the Peppermint Mocha, but that’s another story for another time.  

Shoeless Joe

The first time I experienced carbonated coffee was at Mercury Espresso Bar.  We were meeting some friends for fried chicken and donuts for lunch (because clearly that’s the right thing to do on a weekend) and we had decided to walk the four kilometers to get there (because that’s what you need to do when you eat fried chicken and donuts for lunch). 

Irish Coffee

It seems like food bloggers everywhere have been doing St. Patrick’s day posts for weeks now.  These truffles... I die!  I on the other hand, am not so organized.  I hope to have some neat (and green!) stuff up soon, but in the meantime, here is an Irish classic cocktail with my little twist.  This is by no means an attempt to liquor you up so you forget my inadequacies...

Irish coffee has four main ingredients: coffee, whiskey, sugar, and cream.  My secret (not so secret) is to add a little bit of Kahlua.  

Traditionally Irish coffee is not topped with whipped cream, but simply heavy cream that is layered on top of the coffee.  I whisked mine a little bit, just until it was the tiniest bit thickened, for extra richness.  

The perfect end to any St. Patrick’s day celebration. 

Irish coffee

4 oz strong coffee
1/2 oz irish whiskey (I used Jameson)
1/2 oz Kahlua
1 tsp brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream

Whisk the heavy cream just until slightly thickened.

Mix together hot coffee, sugar, whiskey, and Kahlua in the glass of your choice (transparent ones make the layering really pop).  Grab a spoon and pour the thickened cream over the back of the spoon just above the level of the liquid in the glass so that it slowly forms a layer on top of the coffee.  The spoon helps distribute the weight of the cream over the entire surface area of the drink so that it doesn’t sink straight to the bottom. 

Enjoy!