Coffee and Popcorn
I am now the mildly annoyed (and mildly stimulated!) possessor of a coffee addiction. I know it’s an addiction because on days when I don’t have coffee I get a terrible headache two or three hours after my body was expecting its caffeine infusion.
On the one hand, I really prefer not to be addicted to things, but on the other hand I really appreciate that little rush of alertness (not to mention a milky sweet treat every morning), particularly on days when my two year old takes forever to fall asleep (thus requiring me to stay up extra late if I wish to have any time to myself) and then also decides to wake up at 5am. Luckily, this doesn’t happen every day…oh, except it does.
While my brain occupies itself with the philosophical issues related to substance addiction, my hands have been otherwise occupied, first acquiring a coffee maker (a second Aeropress to match the one I have at work — I really love my Aeropress), then acquiring some coffee, then acquiring some cups from which to drink said coffee (when my brain is not involved my hands take much longer to get things accomplished) and this morning I awoke to find that all necessary pieces of the puzzle had finally been assembled and that I could finally enjoy a cup of coffee at home instead of finding an excuse to venture from the house in order to purchase (much less satisfying and much more expensive) coffee out about town.
Of course, it’s not quite as easy to make my coffee at home as it is at work, because at home I have to contend with dirty dishes, the lack of a water cooler with a hot water spout, two leg-entangling children, and cups that, despite claiming to hold 12 ounces (which should be more than enough for the 8 ounces and milk and 3 ounces of water I use to make my coffee), actually only hold 12 ounces if you fill them so full that the liquid is bulging over the top, prevented from spilling only by tenuous surface tension. But eventually I prevailed and sweet milky coffee was enjoyed by all (my children insisted on a sip as well).
Tonight the boys and I are having a movie party. Last weekend my five year old was fixated on the idea of going to see a movie at a movie theater and without thinking it through, I agreed that it sounded like a fun idea. It wasn’t until I really started thinking about the logistics that I realized there’s no way in hell my two year old would sit still for an hour and a half to two hours and that the whole movie going experience would likely end in much angry hissing on my part and much disappointed crying on my children’s part as I dragged them from the theater. So as an alternative I came up with the idea to have a movie party, which consists of renting a couple kid movies, making a lot of popcorn, and then snuggling into blankets on the floor to watch and snack. I’m thinking homemade kettle corn* (an excellent solution for times when you’re craving salty and sweet and crunchy) and this recipe, which I haven’t tried but certainly sounds promising.
*Kettle Corn: 1/2 cup popcorn kernels, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup oil (not olive). Toss into large pot, cover, and heat over medium high to high heat while shaking constantly until popping more or less stops. Dump into big bowl and salt while mixing to ensure even distribution. Oh, and you can add a few drops of food coloring to the pot in the beginning if you want to be fancy like that (I almost always want to be fancy like that).