Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Day #8; "Tic Tac Tart", "Beard Boy"

Today I may or may not have had my first day of work...
You'll have to come back tomorrow to find out for sure though~

So again I went to Tyler and said, "hey, what should I draw for my drawing today?"
And he said, "you should draw Jeff eating Tic Tacs!"
So, yeah. I drew Jeff eating Tic Tacs.
"Tic Tac Tart"



And I just have a really handsome boyfriend, okay?!
"Beard Boy"



Well that's all for today!
See you tomorrow~

Tasty Tuesday #2

 How to French Press and Two Vegan Latte Recipes

Wow, I can't believe that I'm officially starting week #2 of my blog!
I am so happy with keeping up so far and I'm super excited to continue on through the entire year.
I especially can't wait to get super efficient and be, like, two weeks ahead in blog time and not just one day ahead like I am right now...
Actually not even that considering I did this entire blog this morning!
But it's okay because I needed some ~coffee~ this morning...


So for today's Tasty Tuesday I will show you how to French Press coffee and how to make yourself some delicious vegan beverages~

First you must gather up your supplies:

A finely ground espresso and some sugar-free syrups
(Of course you can always use a less strong coffee and full-sugar syrups, heck, use whatever you want, I don't care! You can make tea in a French Press, man!)

A kettle to boil water in and a clean French Press~


Begin by measuring scoops of coffee into your French Press carafe.
I do a slightly heaping scoop for maximum flavor but a more level scoop would be better.
A scoop is good for ~1 cup of coffee or 6oz-8oz of water.


Once your water is boiled, let it cool for a moment, you don't want your water too hot.
I like to measure my water out 1 cup at time to allow time for water cooling and to keep track of how many cups I'm making.


Let the coffee steep for ~4 minutes.
Longer for stronger and eventually bitter, and shorter for weak and flavorless coffee.


I like to set the lid with the plunger up on top of the carafe to help keep the heat in.

When done steeping remove lid and stir the coffee gently.
I used a wooden spoon to avoid "harming" the granules and ~flavoroids~.


Next is the cool part~
Very slowly, while holding the lid in place, press the plunger down.
(Never ever rush or slam the plunger down because you risk splash back with some very hot water.)
You may feel resistance, this is normal. Like in my photo above, I got about halfway and could not go much further, so I took a photo, let it rest for a moment, and then pressed it the rest of the way down.

And tah dah!
Oh my glob you just made the most delicious coffee you've ever had!!!!! ~ヽ(⌒∇⌒✿)ノ



(PS make sure you pour all your coffee into mugs because it will become bitter sitting in the grinds.
And save your grinds in something airtight (preferably with less liquid than mine ^) because I have a DIY using them on Thursday~)



~ ~ ~ ~ ~

But wait! We're not done yet!
Here comes the best part~

I'm going to give you two drink recipes ~simultaneously~



A dark chocolate latte and a vanilla-caramel latte~
First thing you must do is put your sweetener in your empty mug.
(I know you're jealous of my Foothill Transit mug~)
For the dark chocolate latte I used two packets of Sugar in the Raw and for the vanilla-caramel latte I used ~1/2 tbsp of each of the syrups, maybe a liiiittle bit more of the caramel...

Then pour your still hot, freshly French pressed espresso into your mug. Stir to dissolve/mix.
I usually fill the mug ~1/2-3/4 of the way up.

Next is the tricky part, almond milk can be a little finicky so I like to pull my milk out of the fridge as I'm prepping to French Press so that it can warm slightly.

Then with one hand stir your coffee + sweetener mix and with the other slooowly pour in almond milk.

Keep pouring until desired shade of brown~
Left is the dark chocolate latte and the right is the vanilla-caramel latte~

And oh man they were sooo gooood that I drank both mugs to myself (◡‿◡✿)~



If you make yourself some coffee or lattes I'd love to hear about it in the comments!