Back in the day, I could pull a mean shot of espresso. I've worked as a barista in two different coffee shops: Espresso Love on Martha's Vineyard and Riverside Roastery and Espresso in Old Ellicott City, MD (now known as Bean Hollow).
So even though I could make lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos, americanos, et. al. and had the smell of freshly roasted coffee beans coming out of my pores at all times, I was not a coffee drinker.
Occasionally I would sample an espresso drink and then suffer through the caffeine jitters the rest of the day. But never would I drink a cup of coffee.
And then I had my second child and everything changed.
After Ellie's first week at home, I knew that I would need some sort of legal "drug" to get me through my days. One of my last minute Christmas gift requests was for a Keurig machine. We own an old beat up coffee maker that stays in the basement and only gets used if we have guests. But I wanted something easy that I could use quickly while jiggling a crying baby and fighting the sleep-deprived brain fog.
I've fallen in love. My drink of choice is a vanilla coffee-latte-cappucino hybrid. After a week of drinking coffee with french vanilla creamer, I did some internet research and found this nifty Nespresso milk aeroccino/frother. It was pricy, but worth it as it's now my favorite kitchen appliance and has a permanent place of honor on my kitchen counter.
1) Brew 10 oz of Green Mountain french vanilla coffee with Keurig machine.
2) Steam and froth 1/2 cup of skim milk in lovely Nespresso Aeroccino machine.
3) Add sugar and steamy/frothy milk to coffee
4) Drink and enjoy. Breeze through diaper changes, dirty dishes in the sink, and the vacuuming of dog and cat hair throughout the house.
5) Repeat at 3:00 p.m. (nap time!) and again at 8:00 p.m. (both kids asleep!) but with decaf.
6) If out and about, augment with Starbucks vanilla latte.
