There is a movie or TV show out there somewhere, or just in my memory, where a child is having very bad dreams about monsters. He/she is told to try to not dream about bunnies. By not thinking about bunnies the child obviously dreamt about bunnies and not about monsters. I feel like anxiety is a lot like bad dreams that way. When you are trying not to think about the things making you anxious, you think more about them. The challenge is finding your bunnies.
Knitting is definitely one of my bunnies. The past few weeks I have been knitting almost nonstop and I have felt a lot calmer and lighter. My brain is occupied so it doesn't drift down those not so pleasant paths as often. Also, the wonderful weather we have been having has helped. Some rain but also a lot of sun and warm enough breezes to keep the windows open.
There is a little bit of downside to knitting all the time. After spending a good chunk of the weekend curled up on the couch, my lower back was starting to hurt. Last night, I pulled out my exercise ball and plopped down on it. I have enough balance that I can knit while sitting on it!
Not only is this nice weather making feel good but it's causing me to start craving ice coffee. I'm not sure if Starbucks is just having a sale or trying to get rid of their Tribute blend to bring in something new. But whatever the reason, their Tribute blend is buy one get one free for all bean, kcups and via packaging. I've tried the k cups and really liked them so I figured I would stock up on some ground coffee. At buy one get one and fresh grinding right there I couldn't really say no.
I no longer have a drip maker, my Keurig replaced the last one that broke. I've found that when I want to make a larger quantity of coffee then just one cup (which is very rare) my french press does the job fine and doesn't take up any extra counter space. Also, I can easily make it stronger if I need the coffee for baking. So when I get ground coffee I get the french press or course grind.
I've tried making ice coffee at home but it never tastes as good as when I stop at Starbucks. The keurig method of brewing over ice makes watery lukewarm coffee. And when I've tried previous drip makers it comes out tasting burnt, plus I don't really want to wait for it to cool. I did a little web searching and found out about cold brewing coffee. You mix coarsely ground coffee with cold water and just let it sit for 4-12 hours. Still involves waiting time but I found that if I mix the coffee and water in my french press at night, then stick it in the fridge. In the morning I just need to press and I have delicious ice coffee all ready.
I have this 34 oz french press (the milk frother is fun for lattes). I add 1/2 cup of coffee grounds then fill it with water, give it a good mix then put it in the fridge. I may try it with more coffee to make a stronger concentrate that I can then water down if I need to with milk later. Cold brewing coffee makes a less acidic bitter tasting coffee, which is perfect for ice coffee. The coffee concentrate can last two weeks in the fridge so after I press I put the rest in a mason jar to use the next day. Smitten Kitchen is a great food blog but she also has a good cold brew coffee post.
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