Category Archives: the coffeepot’s on

>Aargh, ya must wash after ya use da head, me lads

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I missed it. Well, I knew it was Talk Like a Pirate Day, but I also knew if I mentioned it to my fourth grade class they’d be lost for the day. No math. No reading. No Social Studies. Well, Creative Writing might have included some interesting dialogue. But in the category of better late than never, I went to a place where the grog, er, coffee is strong, and took the quiz to find my inner pirate. Here’s my result.

You are The Cap’n!

Some men and women are born great, some achieve greatness and some slit the throats of any scalawag who stands between them and unlimited power. You never met a man – or woman – you couldn’t eviscerate. You are the definitive Man of Action, the CEO of the Seven Seas, Lee Iacocca in a blousy shirt and drawstring-fly pants. You’re mission-oriented, and if anyone gets in the way, that’s his problem, now isn’t? Your buckle was swashed long ago and you have never been so sure of anything as your ability to bend everyone to your will. You will call anyone out and cut off his head if he shows any sign of taking you on or backing down. If one of your lieutenants shows an overly developed sense of ambition he may find more suitable accommodations in Davy Jones’ locker. That is, of course, IF you notice him. You tend to be self absorbed – a weakness that may keep you from seeing enemies where they are and imagining them where they are not.

What’s Yer Inner Pirate?
brought to you by The Official Talk Like A Pirate Web Site. Arrrrr!

(Phew! At least they didn’t say I was the ship’s cook.)

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>Shoulds are bogus and hindsight is 20-20.

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>It was definitely one of those days.

Should (not): The secretary on the phone at 7:20 telling me that Amigo had fallen and bumped his nose shouldn’t have used the phrase “I don’t know if it’s broken”.
Reality: She wasn’t a nurse, and didn’t describe the injury very well, despite my Red Cross training and my detailed questions.
End result: I worried all day. I even emailed husband.

Should: The historic house down the road should have been clear in their phone call.
Reality: Both the secretary and the principal thought it was a “deal with this within an hour or lose the trip!” situation.
End result: We were cranky when we made the return call because we hadn’t arranged a field trip there, and we eventually found out the call had just been outreach to recruit more schools to visit.

Should: Teachers should communicate all special needs, even gifted and talented, to the next teacher.
Reality: A student today told me he was supposed to be in the next grade’s math program, accelerated by a year.
End result: The jury’s still out. I sent out a quick email to the relevant teachers, and I’ll check the child’s file tomorrow. I couldn’t today; I was dealing with a field trip phone call (see above).

Should: I should have stopped worrying about Amigo’s nose.
Reality: Since I didn’t see it or talk to a qualified medical person, I had no idea how serious it was — or not.
End result: He talks like he has a cold (which he still does), had a small headache, and strongly resembles a football player with a bandage instead of a breathing strip across his nose.

Ah, well, as my coworker so wisely said, “If you bang your head on the wall, all you’ll get is a sore head.” So instead of pounding out my frustration, I think I should have a cappuccino and some cinnamon toast. Comfort food is called for after a day like this.

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>comfort foods for a fall cold

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>Comfort foods served or consumed today as Amigo and I suffer through our annual fall colds and mourn the little bunny:

cinnamon toast on homemade bread
half-caff coffee
large cup of juice
leftover homemade chicken noodle soup
canned fruit (strawberries and peaches)
mint ice cream (small scoop) with whipped cream
two cans of caffeine free diet coke
water bottle (constantly at side)
mutant homemade cookies (they look bad, but taste great)

I feel good that our fridge doesn’t look like Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard. We had a lot of leftovers of quality foods that we could just grab and heat. Maybe that tomato soup from the freezer will thaw by suppertime. I am grateful for the bread machine and the crockpot. Without them, we’d eat a lot more junk.

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>Coffee and Blogging

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>Coffee and blogging.

Coffee and blogging.

Go together like….(insert your own analogy here, but keep it appropriate and clean. My children read this blog, and so does my mother).

When I first contemplated starting a blog, I thought I should name it something to do with that delicious and aromatic beverage I enjoy every morning. Then, as I surfed the blogosphere, I realized that most of the best coffee names were already taken. Compost Happens is just right for me, and the term “groundskeeper” can mean so many things, including taking care of coffee, so I feel good. Just in case you’re curious, here are a few of those with “coffee” style titles. Ah, yes, my kindred spirits.

Mommy Needs Coffee would have been me, but Jenn chose the name first. Busymom uses the tag line “better parenting through coffee.” Mocha Momma is not just a coffee lover, but a teacher, too. Then there’s the Caffeinated Librarian, with a cute T.S. Eliot quote in her header. Measuring your life in coffee spoons is not unusual, at least in the blogosphere. Merritt, unwilling resident of Iowa, claims that her blog is Just the Coffee Talking.

And this one is not a coffee blog, but she’s talking about ways to freeze zucchini, so I think I’ll memorize Farmgirl‘s suggestions before I go out to the garden. I never know how many of these lovely squash I might find!

All this coffee talk is making me thirsty. Feels like a good day for a Cafe Vienna in a Vince Lombardi mug.

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>Another recipe: Depression Cake

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>I’m drinking less coffee these days.
Oops, sorry, you fainted. I’ll start over. Are you sitting down?
I’ve been drinking less coffee lately. I keep finding myself with extra coffee left over, and I don’t like to waste it by pouring it down the sink. I can pour small amounts into the plants on the deck, but there are limits. I don’t want my petunias shaking from a caffeine high in their hanging basket.
Here’s a recipe that lets me use up as much as two cups. You can replace the coffee with water, if you prefer. I think the coffee gives it a richer taste. If you don’t have leftovers, make two cups of instant. Decaf, half-caf, or full strength, it doesn’t matter.

Depression Cake
(Named for a historical time period, not a state of mind)

2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups strong coffee
2 cups raisins or currants or chopped dates
½ cup applesauce
2 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 cup all-purpose, 1 cup whole wheat)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. each ground cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnuts or almonds (optional)
Powdered sugar for garnish (or serve with whipped topping)

Preheat oven to 350.
In large saucepan, combine granulated sugar, coffee, raisins, and applesauce. Simmer 10 minutes. In large bowl, blend remaining ingredients, except powdered sugar. Stir raisin mixture into flour mixture. Pour batter into well-greased and floured 13 by 9 pan. Bake at least 30-40 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Let cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or serve with whipped topping.

Adapted from a recipe in a California Raisin cookbook put out at least ten years ago.

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>Another top ten list

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>After I wrote my list of ten about Amigo, I promised La Petite I’d write about her, too. She responded, with her voice positively gooey and dripping, “Ooo, I feel so special.”

1. We share a talent for sarcasm.
2. We enjoy shoes. She loves her Converse All-Stars, and I actually enjoy taking her shopping for them because it’s so much fun.
3. We’ve seen all the Harry Potter movies together. I’ve read the books, too; she prefers the movies. Sometimes we chat afterwards, and I can fill in the back stories that the movies have to skip to save time.
4. We love our bunnies. In fact, our crazy bunny Peanut loves us best. He isn’t very fond of the men in the family.
5. We don’t mind getting dirt under our nails. she is good with flowers; I take charge of the vegetable garden.
6. We could watch the movie The Blues Brothers over and over again. We quote lines from the movie when they seem appropriate, and we know all the trivia. (Yes, Carrie Fischer’s salon is the “Curl up and Dye.”)
7. We can share a box of mixed chocolates without conflict. She likes the milk chocolate, while I prefer the dark.
8. We like fresh tomatoes and fresh green beans, right off the vine. Mmmm.
9. We enjoy our caffeine. She lives on Mt. Dew, and I love my coffee.
10. Green Bay Packer Football. ‘Nuff said.

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>Tasty Tuesday from the backyard garden

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>Remember this dream? I didn’t make a meatloaf recently, but I did bake a rhubarb cake. We had so much fresh rhubarb I decided I had to bake, despite the hot weather. I cut up extra rhubarb and froze it: snack size zipper bags hold 1 cup each. Perfect.

Fresh Rhubarb Cake
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped rhubarb, frozen or fresh
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Optional: powdered sugar frosting for drizzle,
whipped topping, or vanilla ice cream

Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 13 by 9 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
In a medium mixing bowl, cream the margarine/butter and 1 cup of the sugar. Add the egg; beat well. In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
Add one third of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat well. Beat in half the buttermilk. Add another third of the flour, then the rest of the buttermilk, ending with the flour. Stir in the rhubarb.
Spread in the prepared baking pan. Combine the remaining cup of sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle over the batter. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake test done with a toothpick or skewer.
Optional: Drizzle with powdered sugar frosting or other dessert sauce of your choice. My family likes this cake served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on the side. They even eat this for breakfast. Yes, I allow it. Nutritionally, it beats the heck out of a toaster pastry or donut! Did I mention it’s great with coffee?
Leftover cake lasts longer if refrigerated. It tastes great microwaved for a few seconds.

Thanks to Betty Rohde of the Super so fat, low fat, no fat cookbook. This recipe is adapted from hers. If you bake it the low-fat way, it has only 0.5 fat gram per serving.

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>Daisy’s Top Ten List: #8 is (gulp) True! (so is #9)

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>8. Whenever possible, I shop early for Christmas. In fact, I’ve already started.

This is not from uber-organization; it is necessity. Starting at the end of November, we have four birthdays and Christmas all within eight weeks. If I didn’t shop ahead/ year round, we’d go broke by February.
What did I buy already? Eat your heart out, family, I’m not telling.

9. I am older than my husband.
His birthday is exactly two weeks after mine. I am two weeks older than he is.
By the way, his mother tells me he was born about two weeks after his due date. Um, honey? About that problem you have with getting places on time? Is it, perhaps, a birth defect? Just kidding. He’s not really a chronic latecomer. 🙂

In between thunderstorms today, I settled in and read more of Harry Potter #5: The Order of the Phoenix. I plan to re-read the entire series before the new one comes out in July. I finished #4 over the weekend, returned it to the library (the only book in the series that I don’t own), and started on Harry’s adventures before going back to Hogwarts for his fifth year. Thunderstorms are great reading weather. That is, except for the little detail of the power going out before the coffeemaker was done brewing…darn it.

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>Good morning, and good news

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>I resist checking my school email during breaks, especially summer. Both my left and right brain need a mental break from the stress of the school year. I check in once a week at first, and then less often as I begin to relax and let go of the year’s baggage.

I checked in this morning and found this piece of correspondence.

“The reviews of your articles are back. The decision is that we should publish these in the fall issue of the WSRA Journal. Congratulations! Thank you for thinking of the WSRA Journal for your work.”

I think this calls for a toast. Coffee, of course, in my Wisconsin State Reading Association mug.


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>Love Thursday and a new coffee mug

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> Mmmm…coffee. And camping, too.

My camping teacher friends gave me a little goodbye gift last week. They got together and managed to buy a small backpack-style bag filled with camp goodies. It had a camp pencil, a pen and notepad with the camp name across the top, a keyring, and (you guessed it) a coffee mug. The mug, however, isn’t an official camp mug. I kept hassling the camp director (nicely, really, just teasing her) that she needed to have mugs in the camp store. I even suggested a few simple designs for her. Since they didn’t carry mugs (yet), my friends procured a dining hall mug left over from a long-ago fundraiser. I’m sure I drank from this one or its twin several times over the three-day trip. Now I’ll sip from this and remember my camp co-workers and how much I loved getting up in the crisp, cool, woodsy mornings and having my coffee outside the main lodge. Oh, and I’ll smile at how hard my friends worked to get this perfect little souvenir.

(Oh, D., camp leader, I hope you don’t have a shortage of mugs now. I’ll make it up to you if you do. Really. Just say the word.)

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