Mexican Coffee

Mi Amiga Mary directed me to this delicious Mexican Coffee recipe. I had to convert the measurements from mL to tsp, but I think everything worked out as it should.

1/2 cup ground coffee beans
1/3 cup chocolate syrup
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 cup milk
4 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla

In coffee filter, mix coffee grounds, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Brew coffee as usual (I made 8 cups). Combine milk, chocolate syrup, and brown sugar in saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour sugar mixture into hot coffee(or vice versa), add vanilla.

This is delicious. Next time I make it I might toss a pinch of cayenne pepper in with the coffee to give it a little more of a kick.

Anticipation Cookies

On Election Day (hereafter referred to as "Obama Day"), I took the day off work so I could be sure to vote. I walked to my polling place at 10 am, voted in less than 5 minutes, then started freaking out because THERE WAS NOTHING MORE I COULD DO. I realize this is not entirely true, but since I was suffering from election exhaustion and could not bear the idea of braving the streets to beg others to vote on my party's lines. I did make some calls from the Obama site, which made me feel a little better, but also creeped out by the fact that it was so easy to get people's first and last names, phone number, age and sex. And polling place. Anyway, I passed a little more time by baking cookies. This particular recipe comes from the inside of the oatmeal container and is called "Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies." Magic!

-2 sticks softened butter
-1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
-1/2 cup granulated sugar
-2 eggs
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1 1/2 cups flour
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-3 cups oats
-1 cup raisins (I used the rest of what I had, plus handfuls of chocolate chips and walnuts)

Heat oven to 350. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, add to egg mixture. Mix well. Stir in oats and raisins, etc. Drop in rounded tablespoons onto an un-greased cookie sheet (I used an ice cream scoop for ease and extra large cookies). Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool one minute on cookie sheet, then transfer to wire rack.

They worked! Obamarama!