My Daily Indulgence

My folks were both dyed-in-the-wool coffee drinkers. "No cream or sugar, thank you, I'll take it strong and black." When my brother and I turned coffee drinking age, Mom and Dad started to question if we'd both been switched at the hospital after birth because neither of us liked coffee.

Years later, enter into the picture my husband who loves coffee. I'm sure he was set on his wayward path by his aunt who started putting a blop of coffee in his milk when he was about four. If he weren't concerned about the health risks of over-caffeinating himself, he would be one of those people who would have a mug of java in his hand all day long. But he's sensible and limits himself to one, maybe two cups in the morning and now and then another one in the afternoon as a pick-me-up. (Good boy!)

When he and I married, I tried drinking coffee in the morning with him because, let's face it, it does smell wonderful, but I never really cared for the taste even doctored with cream and sugar.

Then several years ago with the advent of gourmet coffee shops and specialty coffee drinks, I discovered lattes. Oh my. Now that I liked! Even in our little burg of a town, someone opened a coffee shop, and I found myself inventing excuses to go into town to get a latte. (Bad turn of events.)

My husband quickly decided (rational thinker that he is) it would be far more economical to purchase an espresso machine for our home so I could have my daily latte without driving unnecessary miles and spending obscene amounts of money on my newly acquired habit.

So I picked out a very simple machine, about the least expensive one on the market that was still well rated. Various people told me not to waste the money on such a rinky-dink espresso maker. Even the manufacturer said that a machine in that price range ($99.00) shouldn't be expected to last more than a year.

Sorry, I didn't want to make any more of an investment than that. How much would I actually use it? I didn't know. But it was easy to figure out that the little machine would pay for itself in a matter of months (assuming I did use it) so I went ahead and blew a hundred bucks on it.

Did I like and use it? I LOVED it and made myself a latte every morning to start the day. How long did that machine last? One year and two weeks. Sent it back to the company hoping it could be fixed. It couldn't. (Or so they said. How would I know?) But I was hooked by then, so I bought another identical machine.

Unfortunately, that one didn't function at all. Wouldn't work. Period. I don't know what was wrong with it (damaged in shipping?), but I sent it back and received a replacement. To date, that one has lasted over four years. Yup, that's right. FOUR YEARS! So even if it were to conk out on me tomorrow, I'd say I've gotten more than my money's worth out of it. And then some.

Nearly every morning, I make myself a latte to start the day.

I add flavored syrup to the milk before frothing it, but only 1/2 an ounce rather than the full ounce (too sweet!) you get in coffee shops.

Ooooh, look at all the luscious foam!

Wonderful coffee aroma but no bitterness . . . just smooooth, creamy flavor, comin' right up.

Slurp, slurp. I'm starting to salivate now . . . I can't wait any longer.

Cheers! (Ahhh, it's the little things in life.)