Do You Like Coffee?

My daughter has learned to make the best coffee from Hcousin! She loves giving people things and she has found that a cup of coffee made just the right way is an easy way to extract some happiness. I was always in search of ways to make awesome coffee and had tried a few things. But I settle for the easiest most of the time. My girl on the other hand is patient and derives much satisfaction from making it the right way every time.

She is going to explain here in her own words how she does it.

In The Mix

any brand of instant coffee powder - a little less than 1 1/2 tsp (we used nescafe classic)
sugar - 1 1/2 tsp
water - 1 tbsp
milk - 1 cup

How To Do

Hi there, would you like to know how to make extra frothy coffee? Well if you do, then this is the place to look. It is important to get your supplies ready before you begin. Everything mentioned in the "in the mix section," a small bowl, a small pitcher, 1 cup, and a spoon.

First, get your bowl and fill it with the coffee powder and sugar. Then take your cup, fill it up with as much milk as you would like, put it in the microwave, put the number of how long you want it to be heated up for, and press start. I do it for 89 seconds.

Next, add the water to your coffee powder mix and stir with your spoon. Stir continuously until your microwave starts to beep or do whatever it does when it is done.

Pour your mix and the milk into your pitcher and start  pouring the coffee from the cup to the pitcher and back.

Keep doing this until you get it frothy enough for you. Now it's time for you to finally sit back, relax, and enjoy your frothy coffee!

            
                TIPS ON HOW TO ENJOY YOUR DRINK
     
            1. read a book
            2. sit outside
            3. make a froth mustache

Tea Ceremony & My Girl's Grape Juice Recipe

It started out rather innocuously. From an inconvenience I felt once when making several cups of tea one at a time in the microwave. Making it the old fashioned way on the stove was just too slow for that day. I thought if I could get a teapot small enough to get in the microwave and large enough for a few cups of tea I could just pour it all out in one stretch. As with all such things, the idea stayed just that for a long time. Then something brought it back to the top and I made an impulsive buy of a teapot  only to find it too tall for the microwave! That got returned and the whole plan got discarded. At least for the time being. Last week we drove to an outlet mall that we hadn't visited in the longest time and I spent some time in a favorite store of mine. The Corelle Outlet. You can find all sorts of cute kitchen stuff there. Many Indian parents shop there before their return trip to get some unbreakable everyday stuff for a good price. I bought some stuff that I liked and then I remembered the teapot. My son spotted this cutesy little guy and the decision to buy was immediate.

As luck would have it I spotted something else on the shelf. The glasses that reminded me of those roadside teashops where tea was always served hot with a flourish or thud in one of these!  My dad depended on them to quench his thirst when going on long trips. So we came home, washed teapot and glasses with soapy warm water and our tea ceremony got started. It will last at least for the duration of the holidays when time and temperament seems inviting for such an act. I had planned on using my lovely teacups but once I got the glasses, they were the natural pick:-)

Here is how we do it. Around 4 to 5 in the evening, kids and Mom gather in the kitchen. Mom gets the teapot and kids get the glasses, help with pouring 2.5 glasses of milk plus 1.5 glasses of water. Add in 5 tea bags and 4 tbsp of sugar, close the lid and microwave for 4.30 or more. Now you can let it sit in there and steep or take out depending on your needs. Remove the teabags, stir the sugar and pour out carefully into glasses. Make sure eager hands touching their glasses "for the same amount of tea as parents" don't get spilled over. Call Dad and gather round the table to sit and sip the tea. All of us are enjoying this very much. Who would have thought? Bring on the holidays anytime I say.

 

My Girl's Grape Juice Recipe

She is always busy if she gets the board and the marker. This time when she was done this is what we saw.  A recipe for grape juice. Thought I'll post it here. 

 

Above picture is an illustration of the method. Recipe follows:

I did ask her what to do once you have all the listed ingredients to get the grape juice. She gave me a look that said, why ask about something so basic!! I'd say remove skin from the grapes and put all in the blender is what she meant:-)

Smoothie - Smooth and Easy!

Smoothie shops are all abound. Yet there is only one shop that I care to have smoothie from and for this one I am willing to go the extra mile - the shop being at the other end of the mall :-) - just for my pine-orange-banana fix.

As always when a craving hits I have to get to work I guess. This was before food blogs. I had yet to discover them. But I could still search for a recipe couldn't I? I found a whole bunch and after many a try, public opinion settled on my current and final adaptation. Be forewarned that you will need a blender with ice crushing option for this.

In The Mix

ice cubes - 12
milk - 1 cup
ripe banana - 1
sugar - 4 tsp
frozen fruit concentrate - about 4 oz. or 120 ml.

How To Do

Put all the ingredients and blend using the 'ice crusher' button. Blend till all the ice is crushed but not so it turns into water. A smoothie needs the crunchiness of the 'yet to melt snow cone' ice texture to give it credit. Should not take more than a minute. Do the crushing in bursts to make sure the smoothie is retaining the desired texture. When it comes to a smoothie, it is all about texture, texture, texture. At least for me:-) Pour into glasses and settle down for a lazy afternoon. The above will make four cups.


Any fruit concentrate will do but pineapple-orange is the best with banana. Orange-mango is the next best and this is what I used here. I usually buy a 12 oz can and use 1/3rd of it each time. Also don't add more sugar than what is given no matter how much you are tempted as that will take away the subtle sweetness of the smoothie and render it rather common. I am sure using other fresh fruits instead of the fruit concentrate will also work but I just have not tried it, having found 'the one' already!

That Fresh Cup of Tea!

Ours was a coffee household. And I am a coffee girl. The only contact I had with tea is when we go on long road trips mostly to visit relatives or for shopping or to get things done and my Dad asks to stop the car in front of one of those roadside tea stalls in the pretext of getting the person who is driving a glass of hot tea while it truly is for him! I also used to try some and never really took to it. I did love all those trips with my Dad and cherish them all the more dearly now that he is no longer with us.

Guess who the tea boy is? That is right! My husband. So I have gingerly come to accept this drink as an item in the house. We always make coffee and tea in the microwave so there never is a problem drinking what we each crave:-)

All this changed a little when we visited India last time. My HDad always gets up early and is the one who makes tea. His tea is good! The kids having grown up a little I had a chance to observe his tea making and after coming back we decided to make tea the old fashioned way sometimes. Now this is a must for us on weekend evenings..

How do you make tea? It is easy and the only bad part would be cleaning up the bottom of the pan after tea is made. But if you have already fallen for the drink then this is not a problem.

This will make tea for two.

To prepare

water - 1 cup
milk - 1 cup
tea powder/leaves - 2 tbsp (we buy taj mahal or red label from the indian store)
sugar - 5 tsp

The Way
Boil the water and milk together. Wait near the pan lest you have a spillover mess. As soon as the milk boils up remove from heat. Will take around 3 minutes or more. If you were a little late and the milk keeps boiling over, then blow on top to keep it down. Add the tea powder and sugar and close with a plate/lid to cover completely. No need to stir.


Now you can go off and prepare your snacks in anticipation or just wait 5 minutes at the least. We used to joke that after closing the lid we should now checkout the garden or read the newspaper like HDad would do for proper timing:-) The longer it sits, the stronger the tea will be. You can also change the tea powder/sugar quantities based on your preference.

Open the lid and stir lightly with a spoon. Pour to cups through a small handheld collander and you are all done!

Tips:
Number of cups should be the same as the number of people. Water to milk ratio is always 1:1.
Add as many table spoons of tea as there are people. Add 2times the number of people for sugar plus one more. So if you need to make tea for 5, that will be 2.5 cups of water, 2.5 cups of milk, 5 tbsp of tea and 11 tsp of sugar.

Oatmeal and Cofee for BreakFast

Well, what is new you might say. Nothing much really except that I apparently have some time on my hands? No, it is more like I do love it sooo and have yet to be bored with the way I take it that I simply had to record it. The actual method was arrived at by my husband yet I am the one who takes it regularly that way. My daughter loves it too and calls it “mommy’s food”.

What We Need

Oatmeal & Honey Cereal - ½ cup

Oatmeal (original plain) – 1 tbsp

Banana – ½ ripe

The Method

Mix the 2 oatmeals together in a small microwavable bowl and fill with water so all flakes are submerged. Now drain the water. Wait time is not necessary but will not harm the taste. Microwave for 40 seconds. Let sit for a minute. Remove and stir well with a spoon. Do any sharing at this time.

Using a spoon or knife, dice the banana into the bowl in circular shape. Mix together gently. Enjoy with coffee.

Easy Coffee

Fill a microwavable cup with milk. Use wholemilk for best results. Using reduced fat versions or half milk/half water is OK if you are not a milk fan but can affect the taste.

Microwave the milk for 130 to 145 seconds. Add 2 tsp of sugar & 1 tsp of Nescafe Classic Coffee. No other brand will do and this is available in all grocery stores I believe. If you need more exotic coffee taste then I have heard that Brookbonds from an Indian grocery store is rather good. I have yet to try this. Adjust sugar and coffee to your personal satisfaction. There! Your complete breakfast is ready!!!!