Tag: Iced Coffee

Summertime Nomz

Man, I have been seriously lacking in the blogosphere lately, haven’t I? My sincerest apologies! This whole going back to school while still working full time and simultaneously trying to plan a wedding and somehow still have a life is quite time consuming.

I have to admit, I haven’t done much exciting cooking recently. My time has been spent at a LOT of BBQ’s, and it isn’t even officially summer yet! So, I figured this post could be about two of my favorite things: summer and eating. These are two very broad topics, but I’m referring to their relationship to one another. I mean BBQ’s, ice cream, iced coffee, eating outside and all that other goodness.

In the past two weeks I’ve devoured enough BBQ-style food to last me a lifetime. Hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers, grilled chicken, grilled veggies, ribs, and more. There’s just something so wonderful about the smell of a grill, no matter what’s on it cooking. I relish the days where you’re driving with the windows down, and you can smell someone’s grill off in the distance. I think I’ve been craving BBQ food more and more simply because my fiancé and I don’t have a grill. We’re in the process of procuring one from my parents (they’re getting a new one), but we haven’t gotten it yet and are chomping at the bit to use it. I suppose we better pick something phenomenal to grill first!

In addition to summertime food, there’s also summertime drinks. This means lots of iced coffees, teas, lemonades, frozen concoctions, and everyone’s favorite, booze! I myself am a big fan of mojito’s, Patron and pineapple, and margaritas! Other than that, you can probably find me sucking down iced coffee throughout the day. Now, I’m going to have to agree with Shelby from eat, drink, run that iced coffees are a waste of money; how can some frozen water jack up the price nearly a dollar?! Because of that I find myself making iced coffee on most occasions, which is actually pretty easy. I just double brew (so if I need three scoops for hot coffee, I’ll do six instead), and if I have the time, I throw it in the refrigerator for a bit. That way, I don’t need to use as much ice. Delicious!

While I haven’t explored the veggie BBQing world too much, I think I’m going to try it a little more this summer. I’m a big fan of Morningstar Farm’s spicy black bean burgers, and Dr. Praeger’s california burgers, but I think I want to branch out some more. I know Morningstar makes a mean “grillers” version that is apparently pretty close to an actual burger. I’m a little “meh” about veggie hot dogs, mainly because I’m not a huge fan of regular hot dogs either. I’m also looking forward to just grilling a ton of veggies; eggplant, zucchini, squash, corn… yum! Oh, and I’m totally grilling a pizza and getting my salad on. I’m not talking about boring lettuce thrown together. I mean bean salads, pasta salads, and crispy veggie salads. I’ve been lucky enough to stumble upon some really good side and main dish salad recipes that are pretty easy and straight forward, so I’m definitely looking forward to those, too.

As you can tell, I have big plans for myself in terms of cooking this summer. There’s just something so wonderful about sitting outside (sans bugs, of course) enjoying some good food and drink. Sure, living in New Jersey means probably a lot of bugs, and serious humidity. But every once in awhile we get ourselves the perfect day, and I can’t wait to make good use of it. So feel free to send any good grilling recipes my way, I’m going to be a grill master by the end of the summer – you just wait and see!

An open letter (of dissapointment) to Dunkin Donuts

My dearest Dunkin Donuts,

I’m writing to you as one of your biggest fans to let you know I’m dissapointed. How am I one of your biggest fans? You can look right here, where I defended your awesomeness versus Starbucks. Yesterday, May 11th, was advertised as “Free Iced Coffee Day.” Sure, you said “at participating locations” which ususally means most. I’ve gotten myself an iced coffee on this day for years.

This year, though, New Jersey locations were not participating. Matter of fact, according to the Huffington Post, only fourteen locations were. Not states. Locations. Do you have any idea how many Dunkin Donuts there are around here?! Of course you do, you own them. So imagine the chagrin of your loyal customers who were looking forward to a little pay back for supporting you so whole-heartedly.

Take my own family, for example. My mom LOVES Dunkin Donuts coffee. Swears by it. Getting it is a treat, but one she indulges in often. As my sister and I cultivated a love for coffee over the years, we got in on her weekend routine of Dunkin. I continued the tradition in college, and once I got into the “real world” often treat myself on Friday mornings. We also excitedly give (and receive) numerous gift cards for various occassions. Even my office loves Dunkin Donuts. People often bring in munchkins or boxes of donuts, and whenever possible, they buy the Dunkin coffee for our own coffeemaker.

That being said, I find it rather dissapointing that the free iced coffee day that I’ve grown to know and love was publicized per the ususal, but not followed through on. Later yesterday I saw a tweet from Dunkin Donuts appologizing for the miscommuncation. That’s it? Really? How many people do you think actually went to a franchise location excited to get a small iced coffee, only to be dissapointed?! I know both my mom and sister were upset about it. In the case of New Jersey, you lucked out. It’s been cold and rainy the past few days, so I don’t think people were on the hunt for iced coffee to the degree they would have been if we had temperatures from a week ago. Regardless, you made a promise you didn’t keep.

So, next time I’m ready and willing to bat for your team versus the Starbucks team, I might think twice. I mean, at least Starbucks is offering frappucino happy hour until the 16th. And they aren’t making promises they can’t keep. At this point, you’d almost be better off going back to Rachael Ray as your spokesperson. And we all know how much America loves her.

Honestly, I love your coffee, and could never break up with it. But know I’m like a mother dissapointed in their child. I hope you can right the wrong, and give back to the Dunkin Donuts coffee lovers who support you. We’re all crabby we didn’t get our dose of coffee yesterday – you yourselves say us Americans run on it. So don’t deprive us!