The Universe

What if all
the freckles
and beauty marks
that live on your body
were actually
stars
and the scars
were the muddy
and milky
imprints of galaxies
that our eyes
just can’t quite
focus on?
What if the
universe
was your skin
and your flesh
and the tiny
bits of color
spilled out
over the curves
of your body?

By: Tyler Knott Gregson

Words For Those That Remain

There will come a time, a day, a moment
when words are not enough.  When the letters
hooking to other letters and tying themselves
to each other, the trains of vowels and
consonants chasing each other out of my mouth
just won’t do justice to the avalanche
that you’re struggling through.  If
this is that day, if these are those moments
I will not speak, but I have no choice
but to leave you with these attempts,
as futile as they might be, for words
are all I have to offer and the only
currency I believe in:

This is not, and never will be, a goodbye.
You should not, and never can hold onto
the should haves or could haves or why
didn’t I’s.  The time will come, I promise
you, for us all to stop wearing these
bodies atop these souls.  The time of taking
one long, full and deep breath in through
these lungs only to exhale it out
through brand new lips.  The last light
we will ever see through these perfect
and beautiful eyes will be the first light,
the exact same and blindingly beautiful
first light that filters through new irises
and shocks our tiny pupils before we blink.
What a gift every single day in between
has always been.  What a hauntingly painful
and sublimely joyous gift to live, truly live
every single day in between these firsts and
yes, these lasts.  Do not carry the weight
of all you did not say, the times you did not
make the time or the excuses you made, because
there is a secret you must know: Those that leave
us, never do. They see us how we never could
and how we were always so scared to. When
they go, bravely stepping into the first day
of their new lives, all they pack into
the bags they choose to carry, are the memories
that soothe their longing and and settle
their aching bones.  It is we, always we
that carries the luggage of regret and
burdens of doubt, and why?  Somewhere, right
this very instant, the first wobbly steps
in their search has begun again.  Somewhere,
right this very second, they are beginning
their journey back into love.  Somewhere,
the only person that truly makes sense to them,
the only person to ever exist and exist exactly
for them, is waiting. 

You will hurt.  You will cry and you will be scared.
You will miss and long and ache and look for
their fingerprints on the life you’re going to lead
without them.  You will swear you heard, if only
for an instant, the sound of their laughter
or the timbre of their voice.  This is ok, and more
than that, this is beautiful.  Hold onto the
sadness you feel like a trophy.  Hoist it high
above your head and shout to the photo that is not
being taken of you that you loved them, you will always
love them and you are proud of the tears that roll
down your face.  They live inside the memories that
give shape to those tears and you must never apologize
for your sorrow, nor your joy when it too returns to your
days. 

These are the words for those that remain; for all
of us and all of you that are left scrambling
and shaking and weeping tears of compassion and
joy and confusion.  These are words when words
are not enough.  I say them because I must say them,
because words are all I have to offer besides my
shoulder and my hands and my belief that this
is not and never will be goodbye.  Today is
and always has been such a perfect day
to say goodbye and to once again, say Hello.

By: Tyler Knott Gregson

Coffee Ice Cream with Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans

I was (pleasantly) surprised to hear so many votes for coffee ice cream when we asked what your favorite flavor was. So, I figured I’d better include it in the recipes this month. This was my first time making coffee ice cream, and it seemed a bit boring with just the coffee flavor, so I decided to add in some chopped up chocolate covered espresso beans. It was a great idea, if I do say so myself. But just be warned that it has a definite caffeine kick!
Coffee Ice Cream with Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans
makes 1 quart
Ingredients:
2 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
4 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
a pinch of kosher salt
1/4 cup coffee beans
1/4 cup chocolate covered espresso beans, chopped
Directions:
- Measure out 2 cups of whole milk, and reserve 2 tablespoons of the milk in a smaller prep bowl. Combine the rest of the milk, heavy cream, and sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring just to a boil, then remove from heat.
- Grind the coffee beans coarsely. (You want to be able to strain them out easily.) Add the ground beans to the milk mixture once you’ve removed it from the heat.  Cover and let steep for 25 minutes.
- Strain out the coffee grounds using a fine mesh sieve lined with cheese cloth or a coffee filter. (It might take more than one round of straining to remove all the grounds.) Return the milk mixture to the saucepan.
- Take the 2 tablespoons of milk you set aside originally, and whisk in the cornstarch to create a slurry. Then slowly whisk the slurry into the milk mixture.
- Return saucepan to the heat and bring to a boil. Let boil for approximately 1 minute, until the cornstarch begins to thicken the mixture. Remove from heat.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and salt until incorporated. Pour the hot milk mixture into the bowl with the cream cheese. Whisk together until fully combined. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until completely cool.
- While the milk mixture is chilling, chop the espresso beans, then store in the freezer.
- Once chilled, freeze the base in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. About 5 minutes before the ice cream maker is done, add in the chopped espresso beans.  You will still want to stir the ice cream to make sure the pieces are fully mixed before freezing. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for an additional 2 hours.
Okay, now the best part: photos! I’ve left out the photos for combining the cream cheese, etc. since those are similar to photos from other posts.

You can use any kind of coffee you like. I had French Roast from Whole Foods, so that’s what I used.

Bringing it all to a boil.

Add the coffee grounds.

Stir the coffee grounds to incorporate them, then cover and let them steep in the milk.
I don’t have photos of the straining—it was a messy process and I wanted to keep the camera far away.

Here’s what it should look like after you’ve strained out the coffee. You’ll want to whisk in the cornstarch slurry, reheat, and whisk into the cream cheese. Then put it in the fridge to chill.

The espresso beans don’t need to be uniform pieces. And chopping room temperature beans is much easier than chopping frozen beans. Store them in the freezer after you’ve chopped them up.

And here it is once it’s been through the ice cream maker and chilled in the freezer.
I chose espresso beans, but the potential for mix-ins are endless. What would you add to your coffee ice cream?

 (via: https://plus.google.com/sparks/interests/coffee) by:  Kristin Appenbrink

I love Jazz Music

Just a little bit introduction of me :)

Hi readers! this is not my first blog! I'm here for almost 3 times! I mean I've made my blog for 3 times! Lol. its kinda funny! you know when 3 years ago I never open my blog and now I've forgot the password Haha and the second one was deleted! but its okay coz I've made this one for sharing anything in my mind!
I am just a simple man! I was born in the small town in south east of Moluccas (I hope you have ever heard about that place) yeah and it is Tual city! but now I am living in Yogyakarta. Get to know me deeper!! I'll answer your every questions as soon as I can! I love coffee so much, and that is the reason why I make my url as : iamcoffeeholic(dot)blogspot(dot)com! I will maybe posting anything about coffee here! and alright I guess this is enough! thank you anyway for reading! :')

Hi there!