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{Recipe} Pumpkin Spiced Latte

You all know by now that I am a huge fan of coffee. And I especially love my "pumpkin spiced latte's." One of the negatives of living on the other side of the world, was that most of the Starbucks didn't serve the seasonal drinks except at Christmas time. I attempted to make my own Pumpkin spiced latte's but since I didn't have all the ingredients, I didn't quite succeed. I was close, but not successful. 

My dear Grandma is aware of this pumpkin spiced love of mine and found a recipe for me in a magazine. 

I tried it last week and OH. MY. GOODNESS. It is delicious!

And an even bigger plus is that the syrup keeps for up to a month, refrigerated. 

Most of the recipe's I have found online or on Pinterest are only for one serving. 

This one? I probably won't even use it all up!

So if you are in the area... come grab a latte!

It is even good cold!

Enjoy this beautiful fall season with this delicious drink!

Pumpkin Spiced Latte
* 2 cups sugar

* 2 cups water
* 1/4 cup pumpkin
* 2 cinnamon sticks 
(I didn't have cinnamon sticks so I used powdered cinnamon which worked fine)
* 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

In a saucepan, simmer sugar, water, pumpkin, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk for 10 minutes and strain twice (if using pure pumpkin, I used pumpkin pie filling). Chill (up to 1 month). Mix 1 to 2 TBSP. syrup with coffee and warm milk to taste. Top with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spice if you would like.
Enjoy!

Directions

I love treats from home. Especially when those treats involve coffee. I am addicted to pumpkin spiced latte's from Starbucks in the fall. My sweet Mom bought me some VIA Pumpkin Spice packets. I had my first one about a month ago and it was delicious. 

Do you know what is even more delicious though? If you follow the directions. The first cup I had I missed the "Just add hot milk" note. Last night I decided to try it. And???

It was even more delicious than just adding it to hot water! Yes, I should probably read the directions a little more often.

You live and you learn.

Happy Monday!

Hard to Believe

It's hard to believe that we are in the midst of the Christmas season in western NY when...

I sat out on my front porch yesterday morning in the 60 degree weather, drinking my morning coffee.

We will be back to reality this weekend when the snow flies again. I will admit that it felt more like April than December today. It's hard to think about Christmas shopping, baking, wrapping, etc. when it's this warm out.

Yes, it was a nice little treat but I'm glad the cooler weather will be back. Who would have ever thought I would be saying that? I guess after almost 2 years in southern China where it is only "cold" 2 months out of the year, I have come to miss it. Just a little though.

Day 23 of Thankfulness: Coffee

I am thankful for coffee.

Some would say I'm addicted. I would say I'm in love. I absolutely love this hot beverage, especially in the morning when I'm still trying to wake up. Nothing quite like a hot cup of coffee while sitting down for my quiet time each morning. 

So why in the world did I pick a country where they really don't drink coffee? Hmmmm, now that, my friends, is a good question. Thankfully, I have dear friends back home who support my addiction and send me coffee. And yes, we do have Starbucks here but sadly no Tim Hortons. I have to take what I can get though, right?

Recipe: Homemade Coffee Creamer

I am addicted to coffee. And the first step in overcoming an addiction is admitting you have a problem, right? Yes, I have a problem. However, it is a problem that I do not plan on overcoming at the moment. Someday? Maybe, but not today. And part of my coffee addiction? I LOVE creamer. Yes, those sweet flavors that change based on the season and are terribly bad for you. *Sigh* I just love them. So you can just imagine how hard it is sometimes living overseas where I can NOT buy coffee creamer. I can buy the disgusting powered stuff for a pretty penny which I refuse to do. Therefore, I have struggled through survived the last 17 months living in China with just milk in my coffee (I am not a sugar in my coffee type girl). Okay, there have a been a few exceptions like when my sweet cousin, Stina, sent me some powdered French Vanilla and Hazelnut flavored creamer which isn't bad if mixed with milk. Or when my thoughtful sister-in-law, Cindy, mailed me Starbucks instant pumpkin coffee along with liquid creamer packets to try to make my own "pumpkin spiced latte" last fall. Of course there was the time when my bloggy friend, Valerie, sent me liquid packets as well. Okay, so I am blessed with wonderful people in my life who cater to my addiction. 

Recently Valerie, passed on a recipe on Facebook that she thought I might enjoy: Homemade Coffee Creamer!

At first, I wasn't positive if I could get the ingredients. I have milk and vanilla (to make the vanilla one), but sweetened condensed milk? Turns out you CAN buy that here (pretty easily in fact) so I was set to go! I made the creamer the other night.... and????

It is absolutely delicious. So much so that I just had to share the recipe with you all in the link below. And yes, I definitely plan on trying some of the other flavors as well. 

Check out the recipe here HERE!