what do I know about coffee?

wild black raspberries and tame red raspberries  - they made a delicious pie and I served it with coffee

Its aroma is better than it tastes I always tell Ellis, now that he has quit drinking coffee. It's no fun drinking coffee by myself so now our Mr. Coffee sits on the counter, rarely used.

Mom had a tall, stainless steel percolator with three pieces that went inside. A basket with holes in the bottom, a lid with holes in it and a tube that went up through the basket and lid to hold everything in place. Fill the pot with cold water to the fill line. Measure coffee into the basket then line up the tube, basket ensemble inside the pot and put the stainless steel lid in place. Plug the cord into the plug in and wait. As the water heated it went up the tube, splashed into the glass lid then fell back down over the coffee grounds inside the metal basket. 

When we raced downstairs in the morning we could hear the water gurgling and get the first whiff of coffee. When it stopped making noises Mom unplugged the pot and sat it in the center of the table. My sisters and I made faces at ourselves as we ate our oatmeal - we could see our reflections in the shiny sides of that tall, slender coffee pot. 

There's been quite an assortment of coffee equipment made since then. I'll admit, coffee shops are wonderful places to meet up with friends or to go there and be alone with a book or a computer or even a notebook and a pen.

Recently my sister put her hand on my forehead when I told her I don't drink coffee first thing in the morning.

"I'm just checking to see if you have a fever."

I'm not being a true Norwegian since I drink tea more often than coffee these days. I still have many conversations with friends and family when there is a tea pot in the center of the table. Pull up a chair and join us. 

 

"Good communication is just as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after."

- Anne Morrow Lindbergh