Day 82: Coffee With a Stranger

At the wedding I attended this weekend, I met a young woman that I felt like I had known for years, but then realized we had not actually ever met.   I had just seen her for years on someone else's facebook page and felt like I knew her.

It's the second time that has happened to me, and I'm quite sure it will happen again.

Social media is awesome and amazing and wonderful and creepy scary dangerous all at the same time.  I mean, come on, it's a little weird for it to take several minutes into a conversation before you realize you don't ACTUALLY know someone.  Creepy.

But there are also those occasions when you meet someone for the very first time and it really is as if you've known them a lifetime. And it's has nothing to with facebook, but more to do with God-appointed chemistry. I had that happen today too.

I talked to a woman named Alli Worthington on the phone FOR AN HOUR and it was like I'd known her my whole life.  We got connected through a mutual friend who said he thought we had a lot in common because we were both witty, sarcastic, but thoughtful and bright and caring too.  (That's a lot to live up to!)  And that we were both writers, bloggers, mothers, etc.

She's been around the blogging block a long time and really scared the crap poo out of me as it relates to what companies are doing with all of our "personal" information that we are putting out there on the net via facebook, blogs, twitter, etc.  Google "Big Data" and read a little, and you'll be scared too!

At the same time, I felt the oddest sense of comfort as we talked.  It was like having coffee with an old friend that you haven't seen in a while.  Warm, familiar, comfortable.  I think God does things like that.  Puts people together and makes an instant connection because He has some purpose in the connection.

All that to say, Alli, I don't know His purpose, but I am praying for your post-it notes and my flashing neon sign.  And it was great to meet you.

Day 76: Cinnamon Sweet Latte - The Goods

I am a coffee drinker, a curse . . . er . . . fact I blame on my good friend, Melanie Holmes.  Melanie was a coffee drinker long before I was, and she convinced me (more like COERCED me) to try coffee "her way."

Her way was flavored with a lot of yummy stuff in it.  And I have to say, I was hooked, literally.  I think Melanie has matured into a real coffee drinker, but I still like it sweet, hot, and full of flavors!

Oh, and, before I forget to mention it, Melanie's husband, Brian has a coffee company called Mark's Brother's Big World Coffee that does some pretty amazing things to help the poor in 3rd World Countries.  Please click on their link and check them out.  And order some coffee.  Feed your habit and feed the world!

Okay, now back to my special coffee.

I created a special nighttime coffee a lot of years back, and it's a recipe I have shared with LOTS of people.  Funny thing though, EVERYONE tells me that when they make it, it's good, but just not the same as when I make it.  (They aren't following directions . . . I'm just sayin'.)

So, I want you to follow my recipe, exactly as it is written, and then you tell me what you think of it!  Then I want you to comment about its yumminess (here on this blog, not on facebook, of course you should tell your facebook friends how yummy this coffee is because they will be thanking you for sharing something so wonderful!)

Once I think everyone has had a chance to make my special coffee and comment, I'm going to draw names from the people who comment, and I'm going to send the winner some free coffee from Mark's Brother's Big World Coffee (courtesy of me!)

Here's the goodness:
2-4 cups of coffee
1/4 -1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 cup of half and half
2 tablespoons of sugar

Make a small pot of coffee (2-4 cups is plenty.)
It has to be real coffee, not that keurig thing or anything like it.
Put cinnamon in the grounds BEFORE it brews.

While it's brewing, get out a microwave safe coffee cup and fill it halfway with half and half and 2 tablespoons (yes tablespoons!) of sugar.
(You can be dumb if you want and used low-fat milk, but it will NOT be as good!) 

Then microwave it right up to the point that it just about boils over.  You're going to have to watch it like a hawk because it will try really hard to boil over, and if it does, it's a terrible mess!  But it HAS TO BOIL.  It can't just get hot.  This is important!

Now, remove the cup from the microwave and fill it the rest of the way up with your brewed cinnamon coffee.

This coffee is so delicious.  My friends, Kelly Sherrill and Caroline Roberts and I used to drink it every Wednesday night when we had Girls' Night In.  And every single time, when they would take their first sip they would say, "mmmmm.  That's so good."

All that to say, I am going to go make myself a cup of my nighttime brew and think of my friends.  Good friends, good memories, good coffee.  It somehow all fits together.  ENJOY!

(And don't forget to come back and comment on how good it was so I can send you some coffee from Mark's Brothers!)

UPDATE:  THE WINNER IS RUTH ANN MITCHELL!