West Chester Dish

Ah, Sunday mornings. I know I should PROBABLY say something really wholesome, like I can’t wait to go to church, but the reality is that I can’t wait to sleep in…and then get breakfast and/or brunch and turn my coffee into a work of art.

Both “B” words make my heart hurt. And one of my favorite parts of a Sunday morning breakfast or brunch is having coffee in the restaurant. I have two techniques when preparing coffee. One is when the coffee is to go and the other is when I’m dining in. This article is about how I prepare it when dining in.

1: The coffee comes to the table. (It’s extra special if it’s in a blue or green mug.)

2: I take my spoon and set it above the mug.

3: I pour the cream (1-2 containers of cream, depending on my mood) onto the spoon.

4: I slowly tilt the cream from the spoon into the dark roast. There are two things that happen and two levels of coolness here.

a: The way it swirls together on my spoon, with bits of dark liquid spinning against the white.
b: The white spiral patterns in the coffee.

To me it looks like one of my favorite Japanese prints, The Great Wave by Hokusai Katsushika, and I pretend that the white waves of cream are like the waves in the print (I know… it’s nowhere close, but I think it’s pretty…with the little swirlies coming off the end of the waves.)

5: The swirls only last for a short period of time, so I end up stirring it so it’s a nice light caramel color and then it’s time for sweetness.

6: I like to use one solid spoonful of sugar. What I hate, though, is when the granules sink right to the bottom of the cup so that the last few sips are uber sweet and the rest is semi-sweet. Here’s how I fix that problem. I pour the sugar onto my spoon.

7: Then I tip the spoon into the hot coffee a little at a time so that each sugar granule gets saturated one speck at a time.

8: I wait until the whole spoonful of sugar is saturated and it becomes clear and easily mixable into the coffee.

9: A little dip to let the already sweet liquid distribute into the cup.

10: All liquid…no more solid sugar. We are good to go.

11: A good mix and we are good to go. (Although it looks like I’m trying to fly using my newspaper as wings or something.)

12: Ahhh…the first sip of a perfect cup of joe. Nothing makes me happier then a great cuppa coffee and the weekend paper. Plus, it kills time until the FOOD comes!

The Final Dish:

Peach and white chocolate french toast with coffee, the paper and a great date = Bliss.