Perfect Cold Brewed Iced Coffee

Have you seen that list going around with all the problems only coffee addicts could understand? Well, I understand all of them.

I am a coffee nerd. I enjoy using an electric food scale, coffee grinder, and timer just to make a single cup of pour over coffee (the ritual of it is half the experience!), and regularly ogle all of the beautiful French press pots you can buy online.

And now, with the warm weather approaching (finally!), I am ready for iced coffee. All the time. But, I am not down with watery, weak iced coffee made by just pouring hot brewed coffee over ice, or shelling out $2-4 at my nearest Dunkin/Starbucks/etc everyday.

Triple Chocolate Mocha Scones with Espresso Glaze

Spring has finally arrived here in New England, and with the change of seasons comes cool (but not COLD), rainy mornings that are just meant for a hot cup of coffee and something just a little bit sweet to nibble on.

This morning, I was rummaging around through my cupboards, looking through half empty bags of pantry staples purchased from the bulk at my local co-op and found a chunk of callebut white chocolate and a generous handful of fair-trade semi-sweet chocolate chips. With coffee on my mind, I decided to make mocha scones.

Maple Vanilla Popcorn with Pecans

Once a year, I prepare for pure, unadulterated gluttony. I'm talking butter sculptures, baked potatoes the size of your head, candy apples covered in chocolate (then covered in more candy), enormous cream puffs, the ubiquitous burger topped with bacon on a buttered Krispy Kream donut instead of a bun, maple cotton candy, and all manner of fried delicacies - oreos, vegetables, whoopie pies, snickers bars, BUTTER, you name it. Ok, maybe I don't eat those things. Not most of them, anyway. Definitely not the burger.

If you live in Connecticut, or Massachusetts, or maybe even Rhode Island, you know what I'm talking about. The Big E, the biggest fair in the northeast, and the 6th largest fair in the nation. I think every New Englander has to have been to the fair at least once.

One of the highlights of the fair is checking out all of the "statehouses," where you can find interesting food, products, and other goodies from each state. I made a beeline for the massive area in the Vermont statehouse devoted entirely to maple products, and promptly scooped up a bottle of organic maple syrup while I was there this past weekend. After staring at that gorgeous bottle of syrup for two days, it finally came to me: Maple Vanilla Popcorn.

No wait. Maple Vanilla Popcorn WITH PECANS.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Tarragon

Mmmmmmm. Fall.

I think it's about time I just said it. Fall is my favorite season. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally a beach girl, but there is just so much AWESOME to fall.

Case in point, fall foods. Fresh pressed apple cider, squash and pumpkins and Brussels sprouts from the farmers markets. And just about any kind of soup, to help you transition from the hot and humid summers by the shore to the cool fall nights.

Roasted cauliflower soup in particular.

Pumpkin Scones with Spiced Maple Glaze

There is a chill in the air.

I woke up this morning curled into ball under my blankets. It seems that we are getting an early preview of crisp fall mornings here in CT. I'm not complaining. Although summers here on the shore are just magical, there is something about a cool New England fall morning that just feels right to me. It means it's almost time for boots, and sweaters, and pumpkin.... everything. Pumpkin everything!