Has it been too long since last I wrote? Yes. Am I feeling the economic crunch as all others are? Yes. How am I coping? Desperately.
Recently I treated myself to a new Dark Cherry mocha at Starbuck’s. I loved every last drip of it! However, now I found myself in a dilemma: how the hell was I going to afford this new addiction every damn day?
I like to consider myself a pretty clever woman, so I wandered through my kitchen and pantry waiting for inspiration to strike. And ya know what?
It did!
A few Christmases ago I purchased a
Moka pot for my husband. It’s a small European style percolator that brews delicious espresso on your stove top. I also enrolled us in “the program” so that we receive two containers of ground Italian espresso every few months. It’s a great way to start the day and we have used these products so much that they have more than paid for themselves. That meant I had the coffee portion of my experiment down. Now I had to think flavoring.
I didn’t own a bottle of chocolate or fudge sauce. I had no powdered cocoa that’s less than five years old. I did have a container of International coffee Suisse Mocha, but that would be sinful to use with the tasty Italian espresso. In my pantry was my special box that I keep for baking goods, such as butterscotch chips and marshmallows. I foraged that and found (to my ultimate delight) a very small amount of Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips. HOORAH!!
Finally, I pillaged the back of my spice cabinet and found a bottle of Cherry extract. Yes! All the pieces were in place.
I made sure to add boiling water to my coffee mug so that it would be nice and hot for the coffee concoction it would be receiving. Once the mug was too hot too hold (Hey, my microwave is currently out of commission, gimme a break.) I dropped in seven chocolate chips and poured the espresso over them, stirring to blend. Once the chocolate was all gooey, I added about two teaspoons of the Cherry extract. To top it off I added a smidge of half and half.
A little ingenuity and I was looking at a Cherry Mocha (sort of), and thus,
V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!!
“Was it worth it”, you ask.
“Did it taste amazing”, you ask.
“Honestly?” I say.
“Hell to the N – O.”
Y’all, life is a bitch, and her name is Cherry Mocha.
