Simply delicious iced coffee...

Emphasis on 'simply' as well as 'delicious.'

I have mentioned this before, and had a request for the 'recipe.' Took me awhile, but finally, here it is.

Ingredients:
water
ground coffee
milk
sugar or sweetener
ice

This is a 'cold brew' coffee. Which works for me, because I've never learned how to make coffee the conventional way...I don't drink hot coffee. I have read that cold brewing also cuts down on the acidity, so it has a smoother flavor.



First find a container to brew your coffee in. This is the one I like to use. I make as much as it will hold, but you can 'brew' as much or as little as you want. I place about 3 heaping Tablespoons of ground coffee in the bottom, and add about three cups of cold water. Stir gently, so that the grounds are wet through. Cover container, and place in the refrigerator overnight.



The next morning, place a coffee filter or cheese cloth over the top of another container pushing it down into the container, and hold in place with a rubber band. Pour the container of cold-brewed coffee through the filter into the second container. (I like to do this through a fine sieve to catch the majority of the grounds...it seems to go a little quicker.)



Once filtered, pour about a cup of the coffee into a tall glass.



Sweeten with sugar or artificial sweetener to your taste, and pour in milk...about an equal amount to the coffee in your glass or to your taste. (I use two envelopes Splenda sweetener and 1 cup fat-free milk.)



Stir well, and fill the glass with ice. Enjoy!

For the remaining filtered coffee, cover the container, and place it back in the refrigerator. It keeps well for a week or so, so for the next couple of mornings, you won't have to go through the brewing/filtering steps.

Sunday visit...

Bobby, 10


Diego, 8

Quality time spent with two of the boys today. I thought the balsa puzzle/sculptures would be challenging for them, but they breezed right through them. Of course, this is the kind of thing that's impossible to do when their little sisters are nearby.

I'm hoping we can borrow them again before too long. It gets harder every year with school and sports.

This land is your land...

This is one of my favorite spots in the world. Every day on my way home, I round a curve, and the road just opens up in front of me. I don't think the photo adequately captures the way the hills roll. We're over the fourth hilltop in the distance.

It always makes me think of the Woody Guthrie song, "This Land is Your Land."

"...As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me..."

My favorite subject...

Ooooohhh, I love it when somebody asks me a question, and Becky asked the best one EVER!

She wants to know what a Sonic Coke is.

So here's the answer, Becky: A Sonic Coke is a fountain drink of the Coke variety from my favorite fast food place of ALL time...SONIC drive-in restaurants. Not crazy about their food. But they have MAGIC ICE (crushed) that makes the drinks really special (according to me and lots of other Sonic aficionados). They also have carhops on roller skates...so nostalgic.

As soft drinks go, I can take them or leave them, and never keep them at home. But when I go to town, I HAVE to have a Sonic drink. Actually, when I'm working I usually go twice a day...for a Coke in the morning, and then for unsweet iced tea later in the day (they have a happy hour with half-price drinks in the afternoon).

I keep telling Carey that someday I want to renew our vows...at Sonic!

Guilty pleasures...

I went back to work today. And I came home to find that Carey had washed, dried, and folded all the towels. Believe me, there was a mountain of towels to be washed! And since they were all germy, I had wanted to get that done before he got home and had to be exposed to them. I wanted to...but I didn't. (Up until now he managed to miss the whole bombardment of contagions.)

Anyway, now I'm feeling the requisite guilt. I'm making up for it by watching baseball with him. But I'm thinking about guilty pleasures. And I have to say that coming home to completed laundry is right at the top of my list.

A few others are: Midnight bowls of cereal. Sonic cokes (probably nobody believes that I still have a little guilt about them, but I do). Days when I spend the whole day in bed reading. Law & Order marathons. Ghost Hunters. Procrastination.

Okay. Enough confessions. My soul says, 'good enough.'

My life according to the Eagles...

photo from amazon.com

Here's something just for fun that I saw over at Joolz' via http://sundaystealing.blogspot.com/.

INSTRUCTIONS: Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a song title. .

Are you male or female? (Witchy) Woman

Describe yourself. Midnight Flyer

How do you feel right now? Peaceful Easy Feeling

If you could go anywhere, where would you go? In The City

Your favourite form of transportation? Those Shoes

Describe your morning routine? Life in the Fast Lane

Your best friend is? New Kid In Town

What's the weather like? Tequila Sunrise

Pet peeve? Lyin' Eyes

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called? The Long Run

Your relationship? The Best of My Love

Your fear? After the Thrill is Gone

What is the best advice you have to give? Take It to the Limit

If you could change your name, you would change it to... James Dean

What do you say when you are frustrated? Get Over It

Thought for the day? Take It Easy

How would you like to die? Victim of Love

Your soul's present condition? Heartache Tonight

Your motto? Love Will Keep Us Alive

Getting better...

I'm doing so much better. My stomach is still iffy, and I'd rather be horizontal than vertical. But my temperature is back to normal...thank goodness! I had to go back for yet another blood test today. Now they are saying it wasn't typhus after all, but a viral infection.

I hate being sick. I'm not good at it. I really come from extremely healthy stock. Growing up in the home that I did, being sick was considered a personal weakness. It just was not done. In fact, after I got my immunizations to start school, I never saw another medical doctor again until after I graduated from high school.

But somehow, in the last few years, I've had a few things to contend with...Meniere's Disease, a bad gall bladder, a herniated incision, the car accident, the hysterectomy, the pulmonary embolism.

My sisters are nine, eleven, and thirteen years older than I am. And periodically the question comes up...why do I have stuff wrong with me when they don't? My only guess?

Because I'm an old egg.

Is this the face of typhus?...

Well, that is one of the possibilities...sure seem to have all the symptoms. I didn't even know people still got that.

I seem to be back among the land of the living today. I had my moments of doubt. I think my doctor may have too. She said I seem to have a thing for cheating death. Not quite true. I would prefer not to play with death at all...but if I have to play, I'm damn well gonna cheat as much as possible.

I haven't even been able to think about powering up the computer lately, but having the laptop as I recline today is a blessing. Do I catch up on other blogs because I feel better? Or do I feel better because I've been catching up on others' blogs? Not absolutely certain, but this sure didn't hurt. :)

Okay, it is definitely time to call it a day.

Under the weather...

I have been SO sick since Saturday. I go from chills to 103 degrees F. I just haven't been able to do ANYTHING. Yesterday I was in the emergency room for five hours. They sent me home with a 'maybe' diagnosis and three antibiotics.

So I'll be back when I can.

Red is not my color...

I have painted my toenails red.

I did it for the little girls' party. They love having their nails (fingers and toes) painted...the brighter the better...so it seemed like kind of a celebratory thing that they would like.

I really hate it.

Whenever I catch a glimpse of my feet, they look like someone else's. They look like my Aunt Jo's. Don't get me wrong, I love my Aunt Jo. But her feet do not belong at the end of my legs. Now, I'm not absolutely certain that she has ever had her toes this color. But I always think of her as somewhat glamorous, and I think this is a glamorous color.

I'm not glamorous. Or bold. Or desirous of drawing attention to myself.

My preference is a french pedicure. It looks tidy. Subtle. Practical. Now these are some adjectives I can relate to.

Still, it is good to break out of our routines now and then. Maybe a nice plum...

The tea-party party...

The guests of honor. Chloe, 3; and Caitlyn, 4.

The girls had a combined birthday party this year.



The table was so pretty. (Left click to enlarge if you want a better view.) I love the polka-dot cake Kasey made. Just frost your cake and press Necco candies into the icing. I saw the idea on a really cute blog, that I was sure I had on my favorite list, but now I can't find it. I wish I could give proper credit.

The fruit-ka-bobs were so pretty, and the kids helped to assemble them.

The thing I could not walk away from was the spinach dip...love that stuff.


These edible tea cups were a hit! Thanks, Joolz. I couldn't find iced cookies, so I just used plain round wafers, and iced them with ready-made icing. Bobby, 10, told me they were the best thing I had ever made. LOL For the past ten years, I have gone to great lengths to make that boy's taste buds happy...who knew it was this simple. :)


These were a little more work, but not by much. Placed them in cellophane bags so they could be favors.


They loved their tea party.

Today...

...I wish I had some more cantaloupe and blackberries.

...I am looking forward to the little girls' birthday party on Saturday. (And I got everything needed at the store to make these for it...SWEET!)

...I am SO excited to have our old friends coming to visit on Sunday!

...I am thankful I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow (oh, the pain! oh, the agony! oh, the big, angry, painful zit! [really it's a cyst, and it really DOES hurt!--is that too much information?])

...I enjoyed lunch out with my sweet husband.

...I am happy to have found an easy and tasty recipe to make my own iced coffee in the mornings.

...I cleaned the bathrooms.

...I am wondering how I'm going to get the rest of the house picked up by Sunday.

...I wish I could make like Samantha Stevens.

...I'm going to bed early (for me). G'night!