I Can't Believe It's Not Starbucks

It's time for another installment of Tasty Tuesday! Join the party over at Jen's spot at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam for more fun recipes!


My mom is an elementary school teacher. This means that she endures much suffering and torture (at a private school!) from late August to early June, but then she gets a couple of months off. She likes to spend her summer months wandering around her enormous, cavernous home thinking of projects she could be doing and playing with her grandbabies instead.


Imagine my surprise when she announced over the phone today that not only did she clean out a big chunk of the basement, but she had a little something for moi!


You see, my mom knows of my obsessively fanatical addiction fondness for caffeine. When you are a mother to a child whose energy rivals that of a Tasmanian Devil, you have to be at the top of your game. To make it through the day without passing out in the checkout line at Target, I rely on my good friends at Starbucks.

The problem with Starbucks is that they know they have you hooked on their $5 coffee, and they don't care. No, they don't care one little bit! So thanks to my mom, I am ready to fight back!

Mom came by with one of these:


I remember my dad purchasing it back in the early to mid-90s. It was before Friends made sitting around drinking lattes the height of coolness. My mom was highly unimpressed, and the poor old Braun probably got used twice. Lucky for me, my mom lives in a big, giant house with lots of storage space and she forgot all about Mr. Braun until today.

I cleaned up all the parts, and I had to search for 30 minutes online before I think I found the manual on a Canadian website. Go Canada!

So now, instead of this:

I can try this:


It wouldn't be Tasty Tuesday without a recipe or two, so I did a little research and found a great iced mocha recipe for those of you who aren't lucky enough to have a free, 15 year old, hand-me-down espresso machine. If mine doesn't work, then I might be using this recipe too!

These look like they'd be great for a girls' morning get-together. Let the kids play on the swingset, dine on goldfish crackers, and sip on juice boxes while you and a friend enjoy the real deal!

Iced Mocha
from Allrecipes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cold coffee
2 cups milk
1/4 cup chocolate syrup
1/4 cup white sugar

Directions:
1.Pour coffee into ice cube tray. Freeze until solid, or overnight.
2.In a blender, combine coffee ice cubes, milk, chocolate syrup and sugar. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve.

Of course, you'll need something to serve with your iced mocha!


Cinnamon Streusel Orange Muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

Streusel:
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons softened butter

Directions:
1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin tin, or line with paper liners.
2.In a medium bowl, stir together 2 cups flour, 3/4 cup white sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, orange juice, buttermilk, vanilla, and eggs. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix until just blended. Some lumps are okay.
3.Fill the prepared muffin cups halfway with the batter. Combine the brown sugar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon; sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon of the mixture onto each half-full muffin cup. Spoon batter over the cinnamon mixture so that the muffin cups are 2/3 full. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, and the butter to make a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle this generously over the tops of the muffin batter.
4.Bake for 20 to 22 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the crown of a muffin, comes out clean. Cool in the pan, over a wire rack.

Photo: Allrecipes.com

Could this BE any more delicious (said in my best Chandler Bing voice)?

{Bon Appetit!}