a thrifty start to the day

In a recent post I mentioned that I have lately started hitting the thrift stores.  I started going with my daughter when we were together.  She is putting together a vintage collection for a rental/event styling business that she will have in addition to her day job.  We had so much fun that now my sister and I, and sometimes my mom and I, have been hitting the shops even when Caitlin isn't along.  It is kind of addicting. 

A few weeks ago I picked up a set of dishes for Caitlin and sitting right next to them on the shelf were these cute cups and saucers.  No place settings, just eight cups and saucers. Blue on the outside, white on the inside with these funky shaped handles. Caitlin is a fan of mid century modern and I thought that the cute handles had a retro feel.  They reminded me of the cups that Italian lattes are served in.  They were five dollars for the set.  I sent them down to Cait with the understanding that she didn't need to keep them, she could just send them back if they weren't something that she loved.  I was secretly pleased when they came back to me.  :).

Our next thrifting adventure happened this past weekend when Cait went to pick up a chair that she had purchased on an online auction.  It was a ways away so I rode along so that she wouldn't have to go alone.  In the car I mentioned that I was looking for a moka pot and that if she happened upon one in her thrifting I was interested.  It turns out that the place that had the chair was also an antique dealer and we checked out her inventory and she had a moka pot!  It looked like it was brand new.  Another five dollar purchase.

So after a couple of batches of coffee using the coffee that I had at home to break in the pot I selected an Italian dark roast espresso coffee yesterday at the local grocery store and today I made my first latte.  I don't own equipment to make a steamed frothed milk but I used my immersion blender to froth milk that I heated on the stove.  I added a sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg on top of the foam.  And then while I was enjoying my latte I watched a couple of short videos made by baristas on you tube doing coffee art.  That could be my winter project. 

I am glad for the little burst of caffeine as I have a few projects today and that little bit of extra oomph should come in handy.  My moka pot makes enough espresso for 2-3 lattes and I made two and drank both of them.  The little bit of leftover espresso that would have made the third latte would have been good over ice cream, a treat that Caitlin says they have occasionally at her day job, but alas, no ice cream in my freezer.