The Perfect Latte

Okay, so first I'll apologize for not blogging in a while. I'll claim Gabe's excuse and just say that work has been very busy. Anyways, on to the perfect latte. Over the past year and a half, I've become more and more obcessive about making my own latte at home. I'm sure it stemmed from multiple causes. For one, the burning sensation that I would get in my back pocket (where I keep my wallet) whenever we would even drive near a Starbucks. Second, we were increasing our intake of lattes exponentially at one point last year at work. Third, I was able to get my hands on an espresso maker for my house from a friend's garage sale a couple years ago. So, ever since, I've been perfecting my art. one of the greatest advancements that has come along, came in the form of a birthday gift that someone gave me...it's called, [musical background for effect]"The AEROLATTE". It is a little hand-held, battery operated milk wisk. Just heat the milk in the microwave and then use the Aerolatte to wisk it into a wonderfully delightful foam, whatever thickness your heart desires. My focus recently has turned toward FLAVOR. Many good ones are out there in the store. And I realized one great trick...flavored creamers are a terrific shortcut (and cheaper than syrups) to get a great taste. Well, last Sunday, I finally stepped it up a notch. I made the best latte, bar none, that I've ever had, including from any of the many coffee shops around. And the flavor...Pralines and Cream. That's it. And it goes oh-so-well with the bold coffee flavor of the espresso. I feel alright with letting you in on how i made the latte, because I know that the perfection comes not just in knowing what to put in it, but in how much of each to put in it. The creamer was Nestle's Coffee-Mate pralines and creme. Just make the espresso, sweeten it and flavor it with the creamer, heat up some milk, whip the top of the milk, pour the milk into the espresso and scoop the froth on top. If you want to get all fancy, you can do a machiatto where you prepare the milk first and then pour the espresso through the foam on top to "mark it" with the distinctive brown espresso color. By the way, caution is in order, as Tarah and I found out that night. About 2:00am that night, we finally realized that the other was still awake as well. So don't load up on one of these at 9:30 at night. Savannah, luckily was alright. I don't think she got past the foam!

Well, maybe it did affect her a little! I think she was wanting to do some karyoke. Matt, you can help teach her that skill.