I learned the hard way that not all cities have coffee shops on every block like Seattle. And I’m talking two hours of dragging a giant suitcase around Brooklyn at 6 a.m. “hard way.” Damn you, Seattle. Damn you for keeping me in a sheltered, caffeine-infused cocoon of coffee shop couches,  low-fat bran muffins and ceramic “for here” mugs. The real world is hard and without free wifi and easily accessible electrical outlets! You should have prepared me.

#FirstWorldProblems #NewYorkisHotandSmellyintheMorning #Aren’tHashTagsFun?

I ran across a great little recipe this week that I just couldn’t keep secret. Instead of letting those devilish (and calorie heavy) little pastries and scones tempt me at the coffee shop, I whipped up these fun muffins that were featured in one of my coffee table reads. SO good! I encourage you to put on your apron and be delighted.

Better Blueberry Muffins

• Makes 12
• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Total time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

(Muffin batter)

• 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup plus 2 teaspoons sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats (not instant)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons lowfat buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups fresh blueberries washed and dried

(Topping)

• 1/4 cup blueberry all-fruit spread
• 24 fresh blueberries, washed and dried

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flower, 1/2 cup of the sugar, oats, baking powder, baking soda in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk buttermilk, egg, oil, and vanilla. Toss blueberries with flour mixture. Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture and stir gently. Line a 12-count muffin pan with paper liners (or spray nonstick pan with cooking spray). Divide batter evenly; sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until tops are just set. Remove from oven; top each muffin with 1 teaspoon fruit spread and 2 blueberries. Bake 3-5 minutes more or until golden. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and serve.

Pair with your favorite cup of joe and enjoy!

Source: July 2010 SHAPE magazine

Yep, you read that correctly. I think I’m a bad Seattleite. Why? Well, because I really don’t care for coffee. When I moved to Seattle several years ago, I was all about the coffee break. It was the best time to connect with coworkers and step away from the desk for a few minutes. But, as I watched my already meager bank account drop lower and lower, I decided enough was enough! No more spending money on coffee. I switched to tea at first, and then became a water addict (read: the kind that comes straight from the faucet. None of that bottled, bad-for-the-environment plastic-y tasting kind). My plan has been quite successful over the last few years – bank account is looking up and I actually lost a little weight.

So why am I seemingly bragging about this feat? Well, yesterday I broke my rules… and paid dearly. After staying up way to late on Monday night attending The Ataris’ concert with my little sister (which was awesome, btw), I needed something to help me wake up at work on Tuesday morning. So, I marched down to the independent coffee house on my block and ordered a medium caffe mocha. Almost instantly, I felt more awake and alive, which was the goal. However, after five minutes of happy sipping, this coffee rookie spilled said coffee all over her desk and shirt! Ugh. Bye bye brand new white tank top. THEN, I spent the rest of the afternoon with the jitters. As I tried to type, my fingers challenged me to find the right keys to press and mocked me as I tried to write on sticky notes… my preferred method of organization.

So that’s it! I vow I’m done with coffee for good. Seattle’s signature gloom really doesn’t bother me, so I see very little need to inject myself with “liquid sunshine” to elevate my mood.

Have you given up coffee? Any good, low-cal alternatives you can suggest?

COFFEE!!!

So I know that everyone was probably here at 8:00AM anxiously awaiting my Saturday entry.  Rest assured there is good reason why this is coming to you a little late.  Also, with the amount of caffeine I consumed this morning I should be able to type this thing out in record time.

Many of you are probably familiar with the local coffee roasters at Caffe Vita.  They have five locations in Seattle (Capitol Hill, Fremont, Queen Anne, Pioneer Square and Seward Park) and also sell their coffee to many restaurants and cafes not only in Seattle but across the country.  My boyfriend and I have been working our way through pretty much every variety of coffee they have and it has been an enjoyable experience.

This morning we had an even more enjoyable experience.  Once a month at the Capitol Hill Caffe Vita they have the Caffe Vita Public Brewing School.  It is an opportunity to learn more about brewing coffee then you probably thought you needed to know.  I think everyone who call themselves coffee lovers (and Seattle has a lot of them) should definitely take this class.  It is always on a Saturday and runs from 10aM to noon.  It is free but you do need to sign up ahead of time as the classes do have limited space (click here for more info).

Andy, your knowledgeable tour guide through the world of brewing will take you from the nuances of the simple pour-over method to the complex and time consuming Japanese cold brewing system which drips in water at a rate of 43 drops per minute.  Never again will you have to wonder how fine to grind your coffee (from very fine for espresso to very coarse for the French press) or how hot to have you water (generally somewhere are 205 degrees).  And of course, the best pat is that you taste each and every method.  We used the same coffee for each method so you can really see how the brewing method changes the character of the coffee.  It’s astonishing that a slightly different configuration of filter, coffee and water can yield such dramatically different results.  The most surprising was the cold brewed coffee which came out sweet, thick, and very smooth.  It would have been perfect with a little cream and some ice.  It was delicious.

At the end of the two hour period, felling just a bit jittery, we applauded our instructor and each got a free sample of the coffee beans as well which was really just a bonus as I was totally satisfied by my experience already.  So, if you love coffee, you should really take advantage of this great opportunity to learn a little more about the process.  I highly recommend it.

*photo courtesy Ceci Campagna

Spring is here.  You can tell by the date, the flowers on the trees, the warm palette of color that has replaced the Seattle winter grays and browns with green and yellow  and white and pink.  And the sun!  The sun is out, and bright and sometimes it’s even warm outside!

So why, I wonder, have I been stuck in my apartment for the last four days, running through tissues like they’re about to go out of style, coughing hard enough to act as the bass for my own stereo, snorting and sneezing like a train that’s had its belly filled with napalm?

This unforeseen, unexpected, and unprovoked germ circus caused its first tragedy on Thursday, when it caused me to miss the first Major League Soccer game of the

Courtesy of the Seattle Times

season.  GO SOUNDERS!  That’s what I was thinking in my plague-induced sleep.  First game of the season, here on Qwest field, versus Philadelphia Union.  Were we awesome?  Oh, absolutely!  Of course!  Exactly what you’d expect from Seattle.  Sigh. So I hear, at any rate.  Hey, we won!  That’s what really matters.  We won hard, we totally shut those turkeys out, we beat them but good!  And the game got featured on ESPN, don’t tell me that soccer in America is just a fad.

Yeah, I missed it.  But their next game is against the New York Red Bulls on April 3rd and you can bet I’ll be all over it.  And for the rest of their schedule, please do see here.  As you peruse the schedule, please note with pride that, out of all of the teams in the League, our name is the coolest and makes the most sense without any silly commercial pandering or unnecessary repetition.  C’mon.  It’s true.

At any rate, back to the bacteria festival.  I managed to venture out of my apartment once, on Saturday, and even then my dear friend Sarah and I agreed that it was a mistake.  She had to send me home.  But not, at least, before I was able to try the ginger-spiced apple cider at Vivace on Capitol Hill.  It was delicious and a balm to my throat.  I recommend it for any time you’re in the mood for something extremely tasty; or even if your throat just happens to feel like someone’s been sharpening serrated German knives on your esophagus.  The cafe itself had a great atmosphere, and I am 85% positive that if my olfactory system had been in working order, I’d've been able to smell the delicious pastries they’d set out on display, or the rich, dark coffee that they served.  Oh, and the service!  Despite the long-ish line, the baristas behind the counter kept it moving, and I even got more of the delicious ginger-apple drink than I’d ordered – they made a little extra and gladly poured it into a second cup for me.  The space itself was open, not too crowded, and a lovely place to sit and sip out a lazy Saturday.  Or a whatever Saturday.  Or a nauseous and wretched Saturday – you know, whichever one comes your way.

In short, being sick sucks.  Twice.  But I can at least take heart in the fact that the Sounders and Vivace will still be around when I’m no longer feeling like Typhoid Mary – and you, of course, can enjoy them whenever you’d like.

Specifically to my two favorite coffee houses – Neptune Coffee and Wayward Coffeehouse.

Neptune Coffee is a fun place with lots of booths, FREE Wi-Fi and a great selection of nibbles and beverages. They work hard to provide a menu that doesn’t include things with trans-fats or high fructose corn syrup, and partner with local vendors and distributors that also believe in environmentally and socially sustainable products. A couple of examples of their partnerships include their pastry supplier (Little Rae’s in West Seattle) and their dairy provider (Sunshine Dairy).

One of the best things about Neptune is the neighborhood involvement. The proprietors and members of staff truly love Greenwood, and want to help in any way they can. A couple of the guys grew mustaches for one of the many Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. fundraisers, and their trivia nights are hosted by Seattle Geekly. This month’s was Princess Bride trivia, and next month will test your knowledge of Dr. Who. Allow me to talk myself up and say that I and my former roomies WON a Buffy-themed trivia night. I will give you a moment to sit in awe.

Speaking of Buffy, there is another great little place a hop, skip and a jump down the street from Neptune. Only this coffeehouse is dedicated to the memory of a different show from the Whedonverse – Firefly (as well as the movie Serenity). There are regular Browncoat meetings, and Wayward is a self-proclaimed haven for geeks.

The Wi-Fi is FREE here as well, and there are a bunch of events throughout the month. Fridays and Saturdays are full of free music, and the first Friday of every month is Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film Night. Next week’s film will be Them! and entrance is completely FREE.

Wayward offers only 100% organic, fair trade, shade grown espresso (if you’re into coffee…), and rBST/hormone-free milk. You can also order a vegetarian or vegan sandwich, to go with a steaming bowl of soup. The sandwiches are named for Firefly characters, and my personal favorite is the Mal. Whether you’re a Joss Whedon fan, or someone who likes a comfortable place to grab a bite and enjoy a cup o’ joe, Wayward is the place to be.

So, take a gambol along Greenwood Avenue, and visit two of my favorite neighborhood spots. You’ll be glad you did.