coffee

Emerson Creek Pottery Review plus Giveaway

February 22, 2013 By Virginia 22 Comments

Emerson Creek Pottery is a company, based in Virginia, that prides itself on its handmade, American Made, ceramic pottery. They craft dinner ware, bake ware, kitchen ware, and home décor items that are safe, lead free, and beautiful.

You all know I love my coffee. Just. Can’t. Get. Enough. That being said, I couldn’t pass up the chance to review a handmade latte mug.

I chose the blue iris pattern because it reminded me of the iris that my Mom used to grow in our yard when I was a kid.

The latte mug arrived nicely packed, with plenty of bubble wrap to keep it safe. It is a beautiful, timeless, piece of handmade ceramic pottery. I love that it is dishwasher and microwave safe!

Emerson Creep Pottery would like to offer my readers a coupon code for 20% off any order with minimum subtotal of $25. The coupon code is TBC22 and it will expire 3/25/2013

Emerson Creek Pottery would also like to give one lucky TBC reader a latte mug of their own (winner’s choice of design). Giveaway open to US residents, excluding HI.

Enter for a chance to win in the Rafflecopter widget below…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now that you’ve entered the giveaway, check out the Emerson Creek Pottery showroom and like Emerson Creek Pottery on Facebook.

Filed Under: Giveaways, Reviews Tagged With: #MadeInUSA, americanmade, coffee, giveaway, latte, pottery

Posts May Contain Compensated or Affiliate Links All Opinions are My Own

If You Give a Mom a Coffee Cup

February 13, 2013 By Virginia 6 Comments

I could have just as easily titled this, “Confessions of an easily distracted Mom…”

If you give a mom a coffee cup, chances are, she’ll want some coffee to go in it.
She’ll go to pour a cup of coffee and realize that the coffee pot is empty.
She’ll turn on the faucet, to get water to brew fresh coffee, and realize she no longer hears the washer running.
She’ll turn off the faucet and go to switch the laundry.
As she is switching the laundry, she’ll realize there isn’t enough laundry to fill the washer.
She’ll ask the youngest child to bring her laundry basket in.
Then she’ll hear a cry from the youngest child’s room.
She’ll enter the youngest child’s room to see the laundry basket tipped and laundry on the floor.
She’ll pick up the laundry and find a magazine on the floor.
She’ll pick up the magazine and show it to the youngest child.
The youngest child will set the magazine on the bed, and Mom will realize the bed is unmade.
She’ll make the bed and notice a pair of socks on the floor.
She’ll pick up the socks and remember she was switching laundry loads.
She’ll take the laundry in and put it it in the washer.
As she is adding detergent to the washer, she’ll pour some on her fingers.
After starting the washer, she’ll go to the sink to wash her hands.
When she turns on the faucet, she’ll realize there are dishes to be rinsed.
As she rinses the dishes, she’ll see her coffee cup next to the coffee pot.
And chances are, when she sees her coffee cup, she’ll want some coffee to go in it.
And she’ll realize she never started the pot of fresh coffee.

:::le sigh::

Are you easily distracted, too?

Filed Under: Humor, Life in General, Parenting Tagged With: coffee, humor, parenting

Posts May Contain Compensated or Affiliate Links All Opinions are My Own

Coffee Smoothie with Fage

April 1, 2012 By Virginia 16 Comments

You know that I enjoy coffee. I also enjoy smoothies. One day I thought, why not combine the two?

The result?

To make my coffee smoothie, I used the following:

8 ounces brewed coffee, cold
1 banana
1/4 cup Fage Plain Greek Yogurt
2 tablespoons Splenda zero calorie sweetener
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 to 2 cups ice (depends on how thick you like your smoothie)
Kraft Cool Whip Whipped Topping

That, my dear friends, is 165 calories of delicious java heaven in a glass. Well, it really made nearly a glass and a half, for the 165 calories.

OMY! As in Oh My YUM!

Filed Under: On the Menu Tagged With: coffee, fage, ohmyyum, Recipe, smoothie

Posts May Contain Compensated or Affiliate Links All Opinions are My Own

Tasting Party with International Delight #IcedCoffee #Cbias

February 7, 2012 By Virginia 9 Comments

I recently told you about the delivery of International Delight Iced Coffee, sent by my friend Beth through #CBias, that put a smile in my cup. The smiles kept coming, because shortly after that, I received an opportunity (also through #CBias) to share that cup o’smiles with friends via an iced coffee tasting group. I could think of no better place to share a cup of coffee with friends than at the pantry where I volunteer.

Each week, a small group of us gather to inspect and sort canned goods and dry goods into bagged food orders that we distribute to pantry patrons. Our morning starts around 8 a.m. We break at 10 a.m. for Bible Study. The pantry opens, for food distributions, at 11 a.m. and closes at 12:30 p.m. For those of us that stay the entire morning, it makes for a long day. Especially on days that we receive delivery, because then we also have pallets of food to categorize and put away.

I knew the other volunteers would enjoy a well deserved treat, so I called Pastor Marcella to ask if I could provide the treats for the week. After she agreed, I shopped at my local Walmart for the iced coffee (check out my #IcedCoffee Limerick and shopping trip here). On my way to pantry, I stopped to pick up donuts and pastries, as I thought they would be the perfect compliment to the morning activities and iced coffee tasting. Boy, was I ever right!

As I’ve mentioned in prior posts, I initially started volunteering at the pantry as an excuse to spend time with my Mom. It’s a great way to spend time together, because we both enjoy helping others.

Mom enjoyed a cup of International Delight Iced Coffee as she chatted with other volunteers. Of the three flavors, (Mocha, Original, and Vanilla), Mom preferred the Vanilla flavor.

Have I ever told you that my love for coffee is ALL MOM’S FAULT? Seriously. I started drinking coffee when I was a toddler. When I was a toddler, Mom started adding cold water to her cup of coffee, so that if I grabbed it, I wouldn’t burn myself. To this day, we both add cold water to our cup, to cool off our coffee, before we drink it. In my family, coffee was the culture. The pot was turned on in the morning when we got up, and off at night when we went to bed. See. I rest my case.

Pastor Marcella took time out to taste all three flavors…

She said that she preferred the Vanilla, as well.

Pastor Norm said he would stick with his brewed hot coffee. He’s not the iced coffee sort of guy. LOL.

Everyone that did try the International Delight Iced Coffee enjoyed it, and overall, the vanilla won out as the flavor enjoyed by most. The comment that was most frequently made about the mocha flavor was that it wasn’t chocolatey enough, which is what my husband had previously said.

Several people also said that they would be more likely to purchase the International Delight Iced Coffee if there were a lower sugar or sugar free alternative.

Learn more by following International Delight on Twitter and liking International Delight on Facebook.

Speaking of Twitter, join us for an International Delight #IcedCoffee Coffee Hour Party on 02/09/12 (that’s this Thursday) at 1 p.m. EST (12 Noon CST).

We will be chatting about Iced Coffee, recipes, flavors, and so much more. Oh, yah, and if you RSVP below and participate during the party, you have a chance to win one of (3) $25 Walmart Gift Cards and (1) $100 Walmart Gift Card.

Party Deets:

WHAT: #IcedCoffee Twitter Party – get inspired to host a coffee klatch
WHEN: Thursday, February 9 th, 1-2 PM EST
WHERE: On Twitter on your computer! Follow and use the #IcedCoffee hashtag during the party, you can also use the Tweetgrid created just for the party – http://bit.ly/w1vJob.
FUN: Tips, coffee talk, faves and giveaways.
FOLLOW: Follow @RebeccaEParsons, @LaurenRodkin, @MonicaJohnson and @inDelight and RSVP.

NOTE: You will have to follow @inDelight to win prizes during the Twitter party.

RSVP here.

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are my own (or those shared with me by the tasters).

Filed Under: On the Menu Tagged With: CBias, checkthisout, coffee, IcedCoffee

Posts May Contain Compensated or Affiliate Links All Opinions are My Own

Ten Cool Coffee Mugs and one Jazzed Up Java Head

September 13, 2011 By Virginia 15 Comments

The day started off alright, and then I realized I was down to my last T-disc. It was an Espresso disc, so I ran it four times to make a nice LARGE cup of ~~energy~~ coffee. I unplugged the Tassimo, wrapped up the cord, and trudged into the laundry room. With no enthusiasm at all, I unfolded the stepstool, climbed atop it, and put the brew wonder on the shelf. From the shelf I retrieved the twelve-cup Mr. Coffee pot that takes FOREVER to brew coffee. I trudged back into the kitchen, plugged it in, and looked forlornly toward the laundry room.

Then I posted on this my Facebook Wall

“I am a sad SAD panda. Had to put the Tassimo away, I am out of t-discs, and break out the Mr. Coffee that takes FOREVER to brew a pot of coffee.”

I stood nursing my cup of joe as long as I could, and then I brewed a pot.

While waiting for it to brew, I found these cool coffee mugs and thought I would share…

Smile Cup by Studio Psycho – coming soon

My Cuppa Coffee Mug

Hearty Mug and saucer from Generate

Face Mug

Crabby ‘til I get my COFFEE

Dunk Mug by Mocha – comes in left or right handed versions!

After perusing the cool coffee cups, I stepped outside to grab the mail. We had two boxes sitting in the garage, so I brought them in and called Hubs to tell him that he had a delivery. He told me to go ahead and open them.