Sweet and Light

My father seemed to always be sipping from a bowl of coffee. When he was home, which was when he wasn't working or bowling one night a week, the rich aroma of coffee brewing would permeate the house. The glass percolator was never stored away in the cupboards. It was either in the dish rack drying or on the stovetop in use.

After a day of work he would stretch his aching back out on the living room floor with his feet up on the ottoman. If I happened by he would shoot me a pleading look with a wink and say, "Make your old man a cup of coffee." He drank from one of those old fashioned handleless bowls, ribbed on the side. A hold over from a time past. The same kind of chipped bowl from which my grandparents would have eaten their breakfast of warm milk and yesterday's bread. He liked it sweet and light. Two heaping teaspoons of sugar and plenty of milk. I would inevitably over fill the cup. To avoid spilling coffee enroute to the living room I would sip and sip again.

I vividly remember his first visit to my home when I had moved out. How pleased he was when I presented him with a bowl of coffee. He succumbed to lung cancer at an early age. Whenever he appears in my dreams we always sit and chat and share a cup of coffee.

To this day I drink my coffee sweet and light from a bowl size cup. When traveling, one of the first purchases I make is a beautiful locally made cup for my morning coffee.

I have to admit to being kinda fussy about my first and only cup of joe every day. I like it just the way I like it. Organic, locally roasted Ethiopian & Sumatran Full City Roast. http://www.catskillmtcoffee.com/home.htm

I warm the milk in my stovetop frother. My favorite after years of experimentation is the Frabosk "Faenza" Milk Frother. A porcelain cup that sits on the stovetop. (No microwave in my kitchen. All gadgets are mechanical) My morning ritual is to get the coffee brewing. Sugar in the cup. Followed by a generous amount of warm, frothed milk. Strong coffee poured through the cloud of white leaving just a dot of darkness visible.

Buon giorno!