Coffee Friday - Pumpkin Spice Coffee Recipe

Hello friends... Welcome to our Coffee Friday! I hope you remembered to add some "Coffee" on at least one of your posts of the week to be able to join us!

I thought I would mention the fact that, to be able to link up you can mention coffee in any of its forms (or cafe) or even the brand of your coffee or the name of a coffee shop to be able to link up... I thought about mentioning this since someone asked if they could join when they had mentioned "Starbucks" on their post... that would be a YES... yes you can! :)


So... what else? Oh yes... today we do not have a featured blogger! So YOU are our special guest... Would you like to share what's your favorite fall dish, dessert or drink? I am looking forward to hearing your responses! And by the way...  I thought I would share a great FALL "Coffee" Recipe with all of you! You can have a "Coffee Shop" like drink (or even better) in your own home!

Definitely in great need of Whipped Cream!

PUMPKIN SPICE COFFEE
 (serves about 4)

Ingredients 

•  3 /4 cup of ground coffee (your favorite)
• 4 Tsp Ground Cinnamon 
• 2 Tsp Ground Ginger
• 1 Tsp Allspice 
• 1 Tsp Nutmeg
• 8 cups of water
• Half-half cream and sugar (to taste) -about 4 tbsp.- 
• Whipped Cream (optional.. but it is very good with it!) 

Instructions 

• Mix the ground cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice and nutmeg 
• Place in the coffee filter 
• Add the ground coffee on top of the spice mixture 
•  Brew the 8 cups of water with the Coffee/spice mixture 
• Pour into glasses/ add cream and sugar to taste 
• Top with cool whip if desired 

© Paloma K.

First Thanksgiving Menu - Let's begin!

Hello everybody, sorry I didn't post yesterday! It's been hectic here, but I do NOT forget about you! I totally remember I mentioned I would share with you ideas, tips, recipes and my whole Thanksgiving Menu to hopefully inspire you with your own Thanksgiving dinner! It might seem like it's early now but I am getting all geared up for it! Thanksgiving last year was the first time for me to host it ... I prepared everything! I was super nervous in the beginning but I had amazing "online" help from Joshua's aunts (his mom's sisters) Sadly, Joshua's mom is no longer among us... but I know she would be proud of me if she could see how far I've come! You have to remember I am a Mexican and we do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Mexico... I had "heard about it" and I had even been to a friend's house who celebrated it across the Border (in Texas), I had also read about the reasons why it is celebrated when I learned how to speak English... in those years I studied about it and loved it all and love it that it's one of the main Holidays in the USA but beyond that I knew nothing about how to put it together...

I had no clue I would one day be married to a "gringo" and live in the USA... I am very blessed to be now part of his family and to be still learning so much from his aunts! Especially Auntie Sally who even shared some of her very special secrets with me (and... due to her trust... those very secrets will remain safe with me... Sorry... I am not in liberty to share!) But don't worry... I will still share awesome and simple recipes that will make your Thanksgiving Dinner a total success!

So... last year... with hubby's aunts help (by e-mail because we moved to Texas and they are all in Wisconsin) I tried to "replicate" their Thanksgiving dinner and keep it as traditional and authentic as if it was them making it... Of course had to adapt some things to our taste and likings (I am sorry... this will sound unforgivable but we don't include sweet potatoes in our Thanksgiving Dinner... we are just not into them!) so today... I will just share the Menu that I used on everybody's places -right on top of their plate- last year!

You will see it's nothing too fancy and hopefully nothing will sound too complicated, I am mostly trying to encourage those who are going to be in charge of hosting their first Thanksgiving and let them know it's ok!!! It's not as hard as it seems... Especially when you just focus on keeping a Thanksgiving attitude and enjoying instead of looking for perfection which might only stress you out!

So... Here is the Menu I used...

Click on the image to enlarge

You can make your own in Word and add some Free Cliparts! Make it your own! For me... This was very meaningful because I was trying to honor Hubby's Aunts... that's why the clipart is about those 3 ladies bringing dinner to our very table!

What do you think? Do you like the idea? Everybody here loved it! Hopefully it will inspire you to make your very own and have everybody drooling over "what's to come"

 By the way... are you ready for tomorrow's Coffee Friday? Don't forget to link up with us... you just need to have mentioned "coffee" or "cafe" in any of your posts of the week and make sure you link back to us!

BTW... I am linking this up to The Sits Girls for their "Fall Back into Blogging" Challenge... I think of this as a "craft" ... kind of... right? So... there it is!

© Paloma K.

Beautiful Fall Cookies - Children friendly!

 Hello friends, as I mentioned yesterday I'll be sharing some great fall recipes and also some Thanksgiving tips and my very own Thanksgiving menu with you!

Yesterday, inspired by the whole "fall theme" I made some cookies, I wasn't going to share them with you just yet because I have an idea of the "order" I want to give to my posts... starting with appetizers and ending with desserts but I thought they turned out so great that I can't wait any longer!

These are some "rolled out sugar cookies" the recipe is very simple and trust me... it is a lot of fun to decorate them and let your kids "paint them" too once the cookies are out of the oven and completely cooled off!

So... Here is what I made:

To make these you'll need:

Leaf/Pumpkin Shaped Cookie Cutters
Pastry Brush (and a clean regular small painting brush)
food coloring (I use gel for brighter colors) - orange, yellow, green and brown
Parchment Paper/metal cooling rack 
Plus the cookies ... here is the recipe to make them:

Ingredients:

3/4 cups butter, softened 1 cups white sugar 2 eggs 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract   For the frosting you will need powdered sugar (about 1 1/2 cups) and milk (about 1/2 cup) plus your food coloring.

2.5 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for rolling) 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1.	In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients and stir them in the butter/sugar mix once they are ready. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with your cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3.	Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven (or until edges look slightly golden). Cool completely.

To decorate:

In your mixer (using your whisk attachment) mix powdered sugar and milk at high speed, add more sugar or milk as needed to form a thick liquid or "thin, runny paste" that you will be able to brush on the cookies, it should be thin enough to "paint" the cookies, and thick enough to "stay on the cookie", separate your mix into 4 different bowls (or as many as you need for the colors that you have) and add some food coloring to each bowl, I used orange, yellow, brown and green. Have fun painting your leaves using your pastry brush for the larger areas and the small brush for the stems of the pumpkins. Make sure to have some parchment paper under your cooling racks where you'll place the "painted cookies" to dry so you can have an "easy clean up".

So... I hope you like this fall recipe, which is also a great fall activity to have fun with your little ones... My 4 yr. old (who I am homeschooling right now) and I had a fun time talking about the wind, how it works and how even when we cannot see it we know it's there because it moves things, like LEAVES, we talked about other uses for the air, that it carries oxygen which we need to breath and how we can use it to dry things too! ... I am sure you'll find something cool to talk about too!

Don't forget our Coffee Friday! It's going to be fun!!! I hope you can mention "coffee" somewhere in any of your posts of the week and don't forget to link back to us so more can know about it and join us too!

Happy Baking!

© Paloma K.

Fall is Here! - School Memories

 Hello friends... Fall has arrived to "The Coffee Shop" I will be working on sharing with you some delicious fall recipes, Thanksgiving ideas (including my whole menu) and everything "Autumn Related" I love fall and I embrace it!... as you can see I started with my blog... and added some fall leaves to the background... I hope you like it!

Now... I will share with you a School Memory... There's a "Fall Challenge" starting today on The SITS Girls and I am taking it, at least for today... we'll see what the rest of the days are like and see if I can combine it with my already planned posts for the season!

Today we are supposed to write some memory of our school years... I will post something about my childhood... although it's been a while ago I still have some fond memories that seem very fresh... Let's see...

I am the first one from left to right... I wasn't the oldest in the picture btw...  I was about 6 there, the rest are some cousins, my sister is the 4th. one from left to right. :)

I started elementary school in the city where I was born, in Mexico, Monterrey, N.L. to be more specific (you have to google images of that city to get a better idea how gorgeous it is!) then we moved to Matamoros, Tamps., a border city (don't google it, please! LOL!) not so gorgeous but still... I have great memories... my sister and I used to go together to elementary school, I am 3 yrs. older than her but I was 4 grades ahead because I started school 1 year earlier than I was supposed to (smart girl! LOL!) anyway... There was this time when we were particularly late, way later than our usual, so my little sister was following me to my classroom instead of going to hers, I asked her why and she said: "Look, it's soo early there's nobody here yet" until she realized there was nobody because everyone was actually in their classroom! That's actually an embarrassing memory! LOL! but yes, we used to be late quite often! My parents are sooo great but my mom was always running to get to work, always kissing us too! So... we were probably late for so many kisses! Better kissed and late than not kissed and early! Am I right?  In school I loved the street vendors that gathered at the gates and by the walls around school during recess and when it was time to go home! I always bought stuff with hot pepper in it... I don't know if there's any kid in Mexico that is not into that stuff! Tamarind with chili powder, mango or watermelon flavored hard candy all covered in chili powder as well, "bolis and chamoys" oh such great stuff that could give anybody an ulcer! I remember holding hands with my bffs during the whole recess or sitting all on the floor in a circle talking about little girls stuff,  I also loved my teachers, they were very encouraging (most of them), I always felt like I was "the most important" kid in school! LOL! very weird... I guess every kid should feel like that! I did have some bad experiences, some kids would pick on me just because I was so tall (I am tall for a Mexican but not really in the USA) I am 5' 7" but I guess I reached that height pretty early... So.. I got picked on... and I was always a gentle giant so... I couldn't even defend myself... my dad had "bodyguards" for me in school though... rougher looking kids that my dad would "hire" to protect his princess... he would "pay them" with candy and treats from those same street vendors... My best memories from school I guess involve my dad... always there for me when the bell rang... I guess that's what made me feel so important too! Looking at his face look for me in the crowd of children made me feel like the luckiest girl ever... -sigh-

How about you? Do you have any good, funny, interesting, remarkable or even scary school memories to share? :) I'd love to hear all about it!

© Paloma K.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse PIE

Hello everyone, as you already know I belong to a group called "The Cake Slice"

 ... it is an awesome baking group and it's ... shhh... secret! I love it because nobody gets to know what we are baking UNTIL we display it and share it with everyone else on the 20th of each month... we vote for a cake and the winner well... that gets baked by everyone in the group and then we get to enjoy it and blog about it ... as I said... on the 20th! This month with my vacation and everything I was a little late -it's 22 already!-, today it probably wasn't "the best day" to make it but... I just couldn't wait any longer! I loved how beautiful the cakes of my fellow bakers from "The Cake Slice" were so I just got to it... I wasn't very sure about this cake because hubby doesn't really like peanut butter in his desserts... so, instead of making the whole recipe I halved it and adapted it to the ingredients I had in hand... The original recipe calls for a chocolate glaze on top of the cake but it also gives you the option of using sweetened whipped cream so I chose the cream instead of the glaze... So... I will post my version of the Chocolate/Peanut Butter Mousse CAKE turned into a pie. (which by the way... is NO BAKE!)

As you know, this year we used "The Cake Book" by Tish Boyle... We are already voting for our new book which we'll start using in November, I already have two friends who will join our "Cake Slice" secret group and I am very excited because I know they'll be great additions (Bibi and Anne), I actually invited them directly myself hoping they would accept and not only they accepted but they were very happy about it! I hope more will join though... so if you are interested in joining we are now opening up our group to fellow cake baking enthusiasts who wish to bake with us for the upcoming year. Places are limited and you will need to buy a copy of the new cake book to participate, so dedicated bakers only please.
Anyone wishing to join us can email me at (love.for.coffee[AT]gmail.com) along with their name, blog name, blog URL and email address for details. Please put ‘New Cake Slice Member’ in the subject box."

And now... my Pie Version of the  Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake recipe:

Ingredients:

Oreo Crust:
24 whole oreo cookies
4 tablespoons butter (melted)

Peanut Butter Mousse:
2.5 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1 tbsp. unsalted butter (softened)
2.5 oz. (about 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp.) confectioners' sugar
3.5 oz. (about 1/4 cup  + 2 tbsp.) creamy peanut butter
1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Chocolate Mousse
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 tbsp. whole milk
2 tbsp. + 1 1/2 tsp. granulated sugar

Whipped Topping
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tbsp. sifted confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Garnish:
Slivered unsalted almonds or coarsely chopped unsalted peanuts

Directions:

Make the Crust
- In a medium-sized bowl or a food processor, add the Oreo cookies and blend until the texture of coarse meal. Add the melted butter and blend until well combine.
Place the ground crumb mixture into a 9- or 10-inch deep-dish pie pan and press onto the bottom and up the sides evenly. Try to make the crust about 1/8 inch (1/3 cm) evenly all around.
Refrigerate the crust for at least an hour before you add the filling of your choice. This will help prevent crumbling when you want to serve it.

Make the Peanut Butter Mousse
- In the bowl of an electric mixer (paddle attachment) beat cream cheese and butter at medium/low speed until creamy (about 1 min.). Add confectioners' sugar, mix until well blended. Add Peanut Butter and Salt, Mix until blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Set aside.

- In a clean mixer bowl, using whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream at high speed until soft peaks form. Gently fold 1/2 cup of the whipped cream into the Peanut Butter Mixture until almost blended, Fold in another 3/4 cup of the whipped cream until completely blended.

- Scrape the mousse into the prepared pan and spread it into an even layer. Refrigerate. (cover the remaining whipped cream and refrigerate until ready to use).

Make the Chocolate Mousse
- Place the chocolate in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely ground.
- In a small saucepan, combine the milk and sugar, bring to a boil over med. heat, stirring frequently until the sugar dissolves. Start the food processor again (which contains the ground chocolate) and pour the hot milk through the feed tube, process until the chocolate is completely melted. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add vanilla extract and process until blended. Scrape chocolate mixture into a large bowl.
 - Using a rubber spatula, gently fold one third of the reserved whipped cream into the mousse. Fold in the remaining cream until completely blended. Scrape mousse onto the peanut butter mousse layer. Loosely cover the pie and freeze for at least 1 hour, until firm.

Make Whipped Topping (It's better if you make it right before you are ready to serve)
- In a chilled bowl of an electric mixer, using the whisk attachment, whip the cream at high speed just until it begins to thicken. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until soft peaks form. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate. 

Once your pie has been in the freezer for at least an hour you can make the whipped topping, then you can pipe your whipped topping on top of the cake (or just evenly spread it over the chocolate mousse). Garnish with almonds or peanuts. 

Enjoy! and join us at "The Cake Slice"


© Paloma K.

Some pictures of our Vacation!

Thank you all for being so patient with me this week that even when I've made an effort to have a post each day for all of you... I haven't been able to comment or reply much... As you know, hubby's had a week off of work and we took the opportunity to visit some of our friends and my side of the family, we had to cut our trip a bit short because the girls and I got sick but even being here we've had some very nice days in town....

 Here are some pictures:

Family time! Josh is at the end, my sister and mom are right by him and then... well... everyone else!

My littlest one with "Abuelito" (grandpa')

My husband and our girls (South Padre Island)

My brother serenading his niece

With my parents

We got to see this more than once on the road, it's an airplane wing, it was huge!

Hubby! - We are back in town, at a restaurant.

I guess her cup gives it away

*Swoon*

It's been great, because we haven't "pushed" anything, we were planning on visiting San Antonio, Tx. but with the girls sick we thought it was better not to, and it was the right choice, we have just been relaxing and having a great family time. :) Thank you for being here ... as my days go back to normal I'll be commenting/replying to everyone!

© Paloma K.

Coffee Friday - Things Happen!

 Hello fellow bloggers, moms, friends, readers in general! I hope you came with your hot cup of coffee, tea or whatever you enjoy drinking the most! Just sit back and relax, enjoy today's post!

We would've had such a nice featured blogger today! I was actually very excited when Jen, from Making Our Life Matter, decided to join us in our Coffee Friday Party Tradition! Her blog is one of those that make you feel like "someone gets it" you know? like someone gets what's really important in life... family, friendship, family again! She just blogs about what she cares most about and does it with humor and passion! She is the happy wife of a sports lover and mommy to two happy boys! And guess what: She is a Barista at a Local Cafe where she lives! But... and yes, there's a BUT... she had some "technical difficulties" with her computer, passwords and stuff like that and is taking some time for her to recover all her info... I was going to post about something else to cover the "absence" of a featured blogger but then I thought it would still be nice to mention Jen, especially now that she is busy with all the computer stuff, so if you can just go stop by her blog, and show her your support, hopefully we'll have her and her delicious coffee pictures in October or November.

Of course... regardless of not having a guest blogger today... I still have some coffee for you... and this time is cold! ....

During my visit to South Padre Island this week we stopped at a Dairy Queen and I wanted to show you all that I was actually thinking about you! so... I got some Frozen blended coffee drinks for us today!

I hope you enjoyed Today's Coffee Friday! Make sure you stop by Jen's blog: Making Our Life Matter and you and show her your support as she tries to get her data back!! I am sure it will make her day! You know how tragic those things can be for a blogger!

Jen!! Don't worry about not being able to share some coffee with us today... I am sure you'll be able to share some with us in the future. I love your blog and I hope many others will get to know about it through this post and enjoy it as much as I do!

© Paloma K.

Join "The Cake Slice" -places limited-

Hello friends! We are closing our year at "The Cake Slice". This month we will be baking our last cake out of The Cake Book by Tish Boyle . We had so much fun! Here are some of the cakes we baked:

Apple Cake with Maple Frosting

Creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake with Ginger Pecan Crust

Individual Warm Chocolate Cakes

Brooklyn Blackout Cake

Cinnamon Swirl Buttermilk Pound Cake

Individual Meringue Cups with Lime Cream and Fresh Berries

Ultimate Lemon Roll

As you can seen it's been a very productive year! Hopefully you've been enjoying every month when I post the pictures, experiences and recipes resulting from baking out of this wonderful book! This month I am a little late with my baking (due to our vacation and then the girls and I got sick) but everyone else in "The Cake Slice" baked an amazing "Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake"

 "Now for some exciting news! As this was our last cake from our current cake book, we are now opening up group to fellow cake baking enthusiasts who wish to bake with us for the upcoming year. Places are limited and you will need to buy a copy of the new cake book to participate, so dedicated bakers only please.
Anyone wishing to join us can email me at (love.for.coffee[AT]gmail.com) along with their name, blog name, blog URL and email address for details. Please put ‘New Cake Slice Member’ in the subject box."

Don't forget our Coffee Friday Party Tomorrow! I hope you have your post ready to join us and link up!

© Paloma K.

Never too late for peach cobbler!

Well... on Monday I posted a great recipe with lots of "soul" ... and in the same "comfort food theme" today I am going to post a "Peach Cobbler" Recipe... it's really delicious and it's also from Allrecipes.com ... I made this one two weeks ago but I hadn't gotten to post about it, I thought it was so good that even when we are welcoming fall into our lives with arms wide open it's never too late to eat a good (or I should say great!) peach cobbler...

As you know... I am on vacations right now but "The Coffee Shop" is obviously open for business. I will try to stop by and comment and hopefully reply back as much as I can but just be patient if I am not visiting as often... I am enjoying an awesome vacation with my family and pictures of our trip will be coming! so ... once our vacation is over and we're back to our routines I'll be able to blog and post and comment as much as I love to! In the mean time please remember to add some coffee to any of your posts this week and link back to us so you can link up this Friday... oh yes! We are still having our Coffee Friday! And we will have a great featured blogger for it so do not miss it! (Grab our Coffee Friday Button on our right sidebar if you'd like to use it to promote this party... the more, THE MERRIER)

And now our recipe:

Southern Peach Cobbler
(Original from Allrecipes.com)

Ok, it's meant to say Peach, not Prach... Thank you! :P

Ingredients

Filling:

• 8 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced into med. sized wedges
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Dough:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup boiling water

  Topping to sprinkle:

Mix together:

• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.
4. Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is dark golden, about 30 minutes.

 Enjoy!

© Paloma K.

Tuesday of Quotes... vacations that'll be

For most of you vacations are just a beautiful memory from not long ago... Summer was the time when I got to see everybody's trips and vacations activities... In the "Kings household" vacations were waiting for what seemed too long... Hubby had lots of work and he just couldn't take any days off... But now... it's our turn! And we are finally on vacations enjoying some family time together! So this is a scheduled post, but knowing I would be on vacations and since on Tuesday I usually like to post some quotes... I thought that would be the topic... VACATIONS!

Enjoy... and leave lots of comments! I want to know that there's still some "comment love" going on here even when I am gone! I'll be back soon to catch up with all of you! Happy Tuesday (and remember our Coffee Friday Party! I will love to see you here!!!)

 A vacation is like love - anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort, and remembered with nostalgia.  ~Author Unknown


 A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in.  ~Robert Orben

 The rainy days a man saves for usually seem to arrive during his vacation.  ~Author Unknown


 Vacation: a period of travel and relaxation when you take twice the clothes and half the money you need.  ~Author Unknown



Laughter is an instant vacation.  ~Milton Berle

 

A vacation should be just long enough for the boss to miss you, and not long enough for him to discover how well he can get along without you. ~ Jacob Morton Braude

And again... Don't forget to add some coffee to any of your posts of the week, link back to us and link up on Friday!

<center> <a href="http://www.love4coffee.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="The Coffee Shop" src="http://goo.gl/XfoA6" /></a></center>

© Paloma K.

It's all about comfort... at least the food it is!

Ok... So... By the time you read this we'll be enjoying some vacations with family and friends in Brownsville, Tx. I am writing this on Monday 9/10th and scheduling it to appear ... well.. now! LOL! It's almost like time traveling! How cool is that? Ok... it's not even close to time traveling... but it's still pretty neat to be able to schedule my posts and keep my friends that honor me with their presence here at The Coffee Shop

So... I found an amazing, amazing chicken recipe at Allrecipes.com ... The ingredients are very simple and inexpensive, I knew it sounded good when I found it but I had no clue how GREAT it would be!! It's really a keeper! I hope you enjoy it just as much as we did.

It's real Southern Food, a delicious dish right from the heart of Houston, Tx. I never thought I would love this that much... I hope you enjoy it too:

Serving Suggestion: Side of White or Brown Rice. It's delicious with mashed potatoes too. Cover rice with gravy from the chicken... YUM!

Soul Smothered Chicken 
(Slightly Adapted from Allrecipes.com)
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 whole chicken, cut into pieces (separate drumsticks from thighs too, I even cut the thighs in two)
• About 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 big white onion
• 3 stalks of celery
• 3 - 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cups chopped carrots
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken pieces with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Dredge in 3/4 cup flour, place in the skillet, and brown on all sides. Set chicken aside on paper towel to absorb the excess of grease, drain skillet, reserving about 1 tablespoon butter.
2. Reduce skillet heat to medium-low, and stir in onions, celery, garlic, and carrots. Cook 5 minutes, until tender. Stir in the flour, and cook 5 minutes more. Pour in the chicken broth, season with cayenne pepper, and remaining salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low.
3. Return chicken to the skillet, cover, and continue cooking 30 minutes, until chicken juices run clear and gravy has thickened.  

Enjoy!  Have a great week!

© Paloma K.

Get free glasses with Firmoo! - Review

Hello everybody, as I type, hubby is finishing with his packing... I just did mine... it's Friday night and we are leaving tomorrow, we'll have about 1 week of vacation! YAY! So by the time you are reading this I hope I'll be spending some great time with my family! Anyway.... I said it's Friday and after a great Coffee Friday Check it out here I thought I would start writing my review about the Firmoo glasses I received last week. It turns out that Firmoo contacted me to know if I'd be interested in reviewing either their prescription glasses or sunglasses and I chose the first! I am always on the look for good glasses, I've had to use prescription since I was 18 so I've had my share of frames and lenses... and I know that most times to get "good ones" you do have to go on the higher price range... So I must admit I was very skeptic about Firmoo... Online glasses? How in the world am I going to know if I really like the frame? If it fits? if it goes well with my face shape? or... are they even going to be accurate with the prescription? Then I went to their site and I did like the frames I saw but the prices, being so low made me actually doubt them even more! But I still accepted the challenge! So let me talk a little more about the whole experience, from the online choosing to finally get to wear them:

1. Online selection: Firmoo has over 300 designs to choose from and they have an amazing feature where you can upload a picture of yours and have a "Virtual Try-On" that is actually fun to use! I tried ALL of their available frames! it makes it so easy to actually know how something looks on you and the cool thing is that since you are "trying" all these glasses in the privacy of your home and own computer, you actually dare to try all kinds of frames that you probably wouldn't try in the optometrist's office and it might be that you find that they actually look great on you!

2. Ordering: It is really simple! You just need to get the information from your optometrist. I didn't even know what I was asking about, but Firmoo has all the questions you need to ask about your prescription and once you get that info, by phone, from your doctor, you are good to go! You just "fill in the blanks" with your and you are set! Simple and detailed! You will also need a measuring tape to measure the distance between your eyes and stuff like that but it's very simple!

3. Receiving your glasses: I actually was informed during the whole process, the customer service department gave me a tracking number so I could track my package via UPS. I submitted my application on August 28th, was informed by their Customer Service that the glasses were shipped on Sept. 4th. and my glasses were in my hands on Sept. 8th. They were very nicely packaged!

This is what I received:

I also received a special screw driver (like a key chain) and an extra pair of arms (those that hold on to the nose) and screws with it. I just didn't include it in the picture, but it's all very nice!

Then it was time to try my glasses on...

I can see perfect with them, I was very surprised... And I've gotten nice comments from people who've noticed I am wearing new glasses. I ordered Model: #BC81150 and if I could just make one negative observation is that such model appears to have some pink transparent plastic in the "designed openings" on the sides of the glasses, (picture online) and mine were yellow/orangish ... I think I would've liked them better in pink ... but they are still very nice.

So I highly recommend you to not buy anymore super expensive glasses and try FIRMOO

I also have great news! To make more people try Firmoo’s quality products & excellent service, Firmoo has launched a program offering free eyewear for first-time buyers if that is their first purchase at Firmoo .


To know more about this, please check at http://www.firmoo.com/free-glasses.html

Disclaimer: The opinion expressed on the review above is entirely mine. I received the reviewed product (Firmoo Prescription Glasses) for free. I do not give favorable reviews just because the product was for free. I am giving an honest and unbiased opinion. I do not review products that do not align with my personal convictions. I do not accept money for reviewing products.

© Paloma K.

Would you Wait for Me?

Hello everybody! As I type this I am getting ready to leave on Vacations, we are all packed and almost ready to go... I'll be out for a week but I have already scheduled posts so there's always something new for you to read here at "The Coffee Shop"

Thank you all for your support, encouragement and comments! Please "keep them coming" and know that if you are here for the first time you can just make yourself right at home and read the About Me and get to know more of our Coffee Friday so you can kind of start getting familiar with us!

If you are already a "regular" just keep having fun and ... would you wait for me? I am looking forward to sharing pics of my vacations with you!

Keep us in your prayers for a safe and fun trip... and don't miss this Friday's Coffee Party!

I'll try to catch up as soon as I come back (I think I'll need lots of coffee!)

 Again... I hope I'll find lots of comments when I come back.... that's it for now!

oh and VIVA MEXICO! Tomorrow is Mexico's Independence Day! I am happy I'll get to spend it with my Mexican Family and Friends! YAY!

Hasta la vista, Baby! :)

© Paloma K.

Coffee Friday - New Orleans Style!

Hello everybody! Welcome to our Coffee Friday Party! Grab your cup of coffee, sit back and enjoy! Today we have a great blogger among us as a special guest and she is happy to share her coffee with us today!

So here she is... Danni from: Cookin' The Keys 

In New Orleans, we would call this Lagniappe (a little something extra) Coffee & Chicory Liqueur.

"Just a New Orleans girl who was raised in the kitchen with her Grandmother. She taught me how to cook incredible food and the importance of making food beautiful. You will see me referring to her throughout my blog, as well as the use of the local lingo. Don’t laugh…………… it’s a N’awlins thing.  Although she was the greatest influence in my life, I have come along way and understand that there is a difference between living to eat and eating to live"

 Coffee Chicory Liqueur

Thank you so much for sharing your coffee with us and for supporting our "Coffee Friday Feature" dear Danni!

Let me tell you... her blog is sooo good! Just like everything she cooks... Go ahead and visit her, don't forget to say thanks for sharing some coffee with us today!



© Paloma K.

Chosen Posts from Friday!

Happy Wednesday Everybody! It's going to be a busy day here... I stayed a little late last night to get some comments and replies back to those who stopped by "The Coffee Shop" (I am not even close to finishing!) and woke up early today to write my post because I won't be able to do it later... it's going to be a crazy busy day... but I am happy... being busy is good! At least for me... and especially when I am trying to lose more weight and being "idle" can be DANGEROUS!

So... Today I am posting some of the best posts that linked up on our Coffee Friday Party! Don't forget to add some coffee to any of your posts of the week and link back to us that way you'll be able to Join the Party as well and have the opportunity to be featured during the week here at The Coffee Shop!

So... We had a great Coffee Friday Party with my friend Monica from Lick the Bowl Good she did an amazing job preparing a list of recipes from her blog to share here with us! check out the post  here

And we had great posts linking up with us... Here are two that really got my attention:

Soaking in the Sunshine by Michelle from Normal Chaos

Adorable!

 September National Food/Drink Days by Bibi from Bibi's Culinary Journey

She gives us a calendar of Food/Drink Days in the month of September... it's yummy!

So...  don't wait any longer! Just mention "coffee" on any of your posts of the week and link back to us to join! you don't even need to love coffee.. everyone's welcome to our party and to this blog! to mention coffee you can even share "why you don't like it" LOL! By the way... I'll have a "special edition" of our Coffee Friday soon for those who don't like coffee... Coffee Friday for Non-coffee drinkers? yes... we don't want to leave anybody out!

This Friday we'll have a very special guest! So you won't want to miss it! You can use our Button or just the our link to link back to us!

Invite your friends for a cup of coffee over here! The more the merrier!

<center> <a href="http://www.love4coffee.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="The Coffee Shop" src="http://goo.gl/XfoA6" /></a></center>

 Enjoy!

© Paloma K.

9/11 perceived by a Mexican

I don't know how my brain even missed that today is September 11 when I posted the previous entry! I guess I wanted to somehow block it out although I know I will always remember... and even when I was a young teacher (22) and living in Mexico when it happened... I know exactly what I was doing... such horrifying acts shook the entire world not just the United States... In my case I was in school teaching some teenage girls (I used to teach English Grammar and Spelling) and I remember going to the principal's office for some copies to give to my students,  the faces that I saw in there told me something was wrong and my mom, who worked at the school too, just looked at me and told me "The Twin Towers were attacked" I have to admit that I laughed in disbelief... She said: "Paloma, an airplane just crashed INTO one tower" I left the office not even knowing what to make of it... what was she talking about? Not the twin towers! It couldn't be! She must be wrong! Maybe is something else, an airplane? a real one? well, hopefully most people will be ok... My thoughts scrambled in my head... I remember that my students were not in the classroom anymore... we all gathered around a small TV in the cafeteria of the school where I saw that horrifying scene for the first time, I got there just in time to see the first tower collapse and everything stopped! I knew this was huge! This couldn't be happening! Did I fall asleep while I was teaching and I am having a nightmare? That had to be it... and then everything else is history... I watched it all... and then President Bush speaking... this was war!

I thought I would share about what I was doing when this tragedy that we will never forget happened... I thought I would let you know how someone from another country perceived it all...  

I thought since it's Tuesday of Quotes here at the Coffee shop I would also share some famous quotes in regards to this event that changed so many lives... and to those who lost someone in such a painful, coward act... just know that we all still think of them... And I am deeply sorry for your loss.

Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children. “
- President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001

 “Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It’s a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss and mourning. It’s also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice, and the love that lays down its life for a friend–even a friend whose name it never knew. “
- President George W. Bush, December 11, 2001

 The attacks of September 11th were intended to break our spirit. Instead we have emerged stronger and more unified. We feel renewed devotion to the principles of political, economic and religious freedom, the rule of law and respect for human life. We are more determined than ever to live our lives in freedom. --Rudolph W. Giuliani. December 31, 2001.

© Paloma K.

Tuesday of Quotes - School!

Ok... I know this post might be kind of late but having my girls still with me and not going to school I didn't get into all the "school posting frenzy" I am homeschooling my preschooler for now so... while I was teaching her yesterday it inspired me to go get some "school & Education Quotes" I hope you like them:

Quotes on School and Education:

" Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school."  ~ Albert Einstein

 "My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors."  ~ Maya Angelou

"He who opens a school door, closes a prison." ~Victor Hugo

"But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret."  ~Ronald Reagan

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child."  ~George Santayana

"Experience is a good school. But the fees are high."  ~Heinrich Heine

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." ~ Henry B. Adams

" Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them." ~James Baldwin

"Education makes a people easy to lead but difficult to drive: easy to govern, but impossible to enslave." ~Peter Brougham

 “There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

 “The home is the first and most effective place to learn the lessons of life: truth, honor, virtue, self control, the value of education, honest work, and the purpose and privilege of life. Nothing can take the place of home in rearing and teaching children, and no other success can compensate for failure in the home.”  - David O. McKay

Have a great Tuesday!

Thank you for your comments and encouragement on yesterday's post! I really appreciate it!

© Paloma K.