Starbucks Simulation

My mom gave Stuart the Totally Coffee Cookbook for his birthday. I took a mental coffee road trip as I flipped through the pages.

Six years ago, we were living in Rhode Island. Rhode Islanders love their coffee. Cars with a Rhode Island license plate come equipped with two standard features... a plastic statue of the Virgin Mary glued to the dashboard (on account of their driving) and a Dunkin Donuts coffee in the cup holder. My cup holder held a Kahlua Coolata...until we moved to Tennessee.

In Chattanooga, a Dunkin' Donuts beckoned on Hixson Pike. The first one we had seen since flying out of New York. We pulled into the parking lot to find an abandoned van parked in front the broken drive thru window. Citizens south of the Mason-Dixon line have different sensibilities. Southerners pick up their sweet tea at Chick-Fil-A. A lit Krispy Kreme light sucks cars from the street and up to the window for melt-in-your-mouth goodness. Dunkin' Donuts is superfluous.

Starbucks moved in about the time we moved out.

Here in our little town there is neither Starbucks nor Dunkin' Donuts. People keep offering us grits but this does not help. By necessity, we must brew our own java.

I came across a recipe, on page 30 of the Totally Coffee Cookbook, for a cappuccino blizzard. The recipe promised greater taste than the actual results. So I have been experimenting in my quest for the perfect frozen concoction. But...coffee makes me hyper...and tense...and shaky. Even decaf. Because I am hyper and tense I must keep creating and sampling until I get it right. Because I am shaky I cannot measure accurately. But I'm determined. I'm off to the kitchen to have another go at this!

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