My Favorite Summer Drink

In the summer one of my favorite drinks on a hot night is a Gin & Tonic. We had friends over the other night and they introduced us to a new kind of Tanqueray....

I could not believe the difference in taste!

It truly was the best Gin & Tonic I have ever had. This will now become a staple in our house.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Jen

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How to re-use your K-cups!

For those of you who know me, there is nothing I love more than the perfect cup of coffee! I used to love my French Press until my husband gave me a Keurig for Mother's Day last year. The only drawback was the amount of garbage we were producing by throwing away the K-cups after one use. I think we have solved this problem. You can see our solution as you read on.  This is the model we have for at home:

It is a B130 in room brewing system.

 You add water for each use.

At school we have the Keurig elite.

I love this one because you can keep the reservoir filled with water for multiple uses.

We try to be kind to our environment in our household so we purchased the Keurig K-cup re-usable coffee filter and filter basket. I really love this thing!

I recently found this little gem on the Internet but have not tried it yet. Some of the reviews say it has sharp edges and is difficult to snap on. It retails for 19.99 but might be worth trying.

This is how we re-use our K-cups at home!

Here's what you will need:

 A pair of sharp scissors

Your favorite coffee, ground on the espresso setting

Rinsed and dried K-cups

Press'n Seal

After the initial brew with our K-cups we rinse them out and let them dry. If the inside of the cup is  perforated you must throw the K-cup away(very important).

Fill the K-cup to just below the rim about 1mm. Enough so that the Press' n Seal will not touch the coffee when you are covering it.

 

Each K-cup requires 2 cut pieces of Press' n Seal cut into squares.

After about 4 cuts with the Press'n Seal we wipe the scissors down because they can become sticky.

Pull tight the Press-n-Seal one layer at a time(very important)!

If it is not tight it will not brew properly.

Press edges onto K-cup.

We use the assembly line method with these and do them in a mass quantity to make it time efficient for us. We usually get 3-4 more brews from our K-cups when we re-use them.

Do you see the hole the Keurig punches in the cup when you use it?

On the second brew just line up the cup so it punches a new hole. I have never lined it up exactly so that you use the same hole. It might work I just have not tried it. Before closing the Keurig make sure to run your finger along the rim of the K-cup to ensure it is sealed (important if the one you are using has been sitting around) otherwise you will end up with coffee grounds in your coffee.

I would love to hear how this works for you!

Jen

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Fall Decorating!

When decorating for Fall I love to use touches of brown, white and orange.  Here are a few simple changes we have made both outside and in.

The cinderella pumkins are easy to stack when making our pumpkin man for the front porch. As it gets closer to Halloween we will carve the top pumpkin.

I just love my hurricane lamps from Michael's!

They are so versatile and changing them depending on the season is so easy and inexpensive. Inside are real corks from wine my husband and I have shared, the pinecones are from a mix that were inside my sister/brother-in-laws gift baskets from their wedding and the acorns were purchased from Walmart.

Here are how my electric candles look when lit. They really add a nice warm glow in the evening.

I always have this bud vase on our desk and just change out the flower depending on the season. Fresh flower's always make me smile!

My favorite scent for fall is this Harvest candle. I prefer the multiwick candles because they look so pretty when they are burning. I also have this air freshner in my bathroom.

The boys even got in on some of the decorating.

When the decorating was done I sat down to have my favorite Fall drink, a Chai Latte.

Happy Columbus Day Weekend!

Jen

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A Refreshing Drink!

Ginger Brew is a drink that my husband used to purchase at our local coffee shop. We decided to learn how to make it ourselves for a fraction of the cost! It is now a staple in our refrigerator during the summmer.

Ginger Brew

6 cups water

3-5 inch piece of ginger root peeled and sliced thin

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups fresh squeezed lemon juice or lemonade

(adjust any of these quantities based on your taste)

1. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil with the sugar and ginger. Boil 5 min (forgot to take a picture of this step).

Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Blend (I love to use my immersion blender), let steep 15 minutes.

Strain

Pour into your favorite pitcher and add 4 cups of water.

Serve over ice with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper .

Have a great weekend!

Jen

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Ahhhh Friday!

I don't know about you but I breath a sigh of relief when Friday rolls around. Friday night we get to relax a bit. Tonight I am looking forward to a little quiet time with my hubby and here is how we will be spending it.....

Drinking some of my new favorite wine and ....

watching this movie. Have a great weekend!

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My French Press

My friend's who know me well understand there is nothing I like better than a perfect cup of coffee. If I wake up and go to the cabinet and there is no coffee.....let's just say it isn't pretty. We make our coffee in an 8 cup french press that my hubby gave me as a gift many years ago.  There are lot's of good "how to" video's out there with regards to making the best press coffee. I choose the pour and dump technique.

 One of our favorite brands of coffee is the Eight O'Clock French Roast. It came highly rated in the Consumer Reports magazine many years ago and does not break the bank. If you like your coffee really fresh you might want to buy your beans whole and grind them fresh for each press. We now either grind it in the store or buy it pre-ground. Coffee doesn't sit around this house for too long.

I fill the press in between the 4-6 cup mark with coffee, pour in boiling water, let it steep for 4 minutes (picture below), stir and press. Many people then pour their coffee into an insulated container to not only keep it warm but so it doesn't get too strong. Again, I am not a rule follower when it comes to making coffee so I leave it in my press.

Ahh! Now I can enjoy a nice cup of coffee.

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