Featured today: Cultural coffee trivia and original poem about the transformation of us and summer into the next season.
From Denny: There sure is some serious coffee studying going on out in the online world. People record the minutest trivia and craziest history about the substance we affectionately call coffee!
What I enjoyed reading was how people in various cultures take their coffee. Want to know? Of course, it's common knowledge to any coffeehouse lover that the Italians take their expresso with granulated sugar. Why? Because it dissolves faster than a cool looking sugar cube. White sugar dissolves better than brown sugar or candy too as it is more refined. Who puts artificial sweeteners in their coffee? It alters the taste - horribly in my coffee book.
The Germans and the Swiss like to drink their coffee in equal parts coffee and hot chocolate (remind me to get dual citizenship!). The Mexicans like their coffee with cinnamon. (I do too in the fall and winter, yum! And Mexican cinnamon is out of this world for flavor.)
How do you think they drink their coffee over in North Africa? The Moroccans like their coffee with peppercorns! Spicy bunch those guys; bet they could handle Cajun food. The Ethiopians like to take down the acid in their coffee and drink it with a pinch of salt. If you have coffee you find too acidic, take a tip from the Ethiopians and place a pinch of salt in with your ground coffee in the filter right before you brew it. I've done it many times and it's really good, especially if you have a sensitive stomach like many people who don't drink coffee because of the acidity.
How do they take their coffee in the Middle East? With spices, of course! They favor cardamon in addition to other spices but cardamon is the most common.
The Austrians love their version of cream in their coffee to the tune of good ol' fattening whipped cream. It's a damp climate in Austria, especially Vienna as it's on the Danube River. Hot coffee with soothing whipped cream is just the ticket when it's bone chilling cold. They don't heat their 800 year old churches like St. Stephans in downtown Vienna and the stone is so cold that you are cold from your feet up past your knees. They don't turn on the heat in public buildings or apartment houses until December! So, yeah, whipped cream starts sounding really good! :) Can you tell I lived there for a while? Wonderful place, Vienna, Austria; met lots of interesting people too.
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On to the poem section of today's feature! For several weeks now I've been pondering how to write a summer poem. You want to talk about the weather without sounding dull. You want to set the mood for place without wearing out the subject. The summer heat reminded me of a child with a hot temper and the rest is simile history! :) If nothing else this poem gave another way to employ the excessively used word "like."
Simile definition: a figure of speech that draws a comparison between two different things, especially a phrase containing the word "like" or "as."
Louisiana Summer Sigh
The July summer heat
Puffed its cheeks out
Like a pouting stubborn child
Told, “Go to bed, now!”
The hundred degree scorching
Soared as hot as that child’s temper
Weighing down the droopy moist air
Like that child’s protruding lower lip.
The scent of change wafted near
Fluttering sweetly on dragonfly wings
Ghostly mid-July presence announced
“Fall approaches; change is coming.”
The heat slowed from fever pitch
Like the child’s temper calming a bit
Then mid-August Perseid meteor showers
Chased high across the sky, amused our inner child.
The heavy August moon, huge eyes hung low
Pointed the way, “Look up! Change is coming!”
The night sky’s face moved different in one instant
Like the child’s, transformed new starred wonder.
The breezes stirred more often late summer
Growing stronger, more bold in their invite
Cooler weather calmed stormy tempers
Like the hugging arms of a patient mother.
The hurricane season of stormy tempers passed
The child’s once fuming countenance restored
Fall lovingly dried the moist air’s heavy tears
Like the child’s face lifted up to his mother’s
All smiles and joy. Breathe.
Denny Lyon
Copyright 14 August 2009
All Rights Reserved
Have a great weekend, everyone! Thanks for visiting!
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Photo Credits:
11th commandment Photo by allygirl520 @ flickr
Angry child photo by JustinLowery.com @ flickr
Screaming child photo by mdanys @ flickr
Lake Martin Swamp, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana photo by onealchristopher @ flickr
River Road Plantation, Louisiana photo by New Orleans Lady @ flickr
Smiling little boy photo by OakleyOriginals @ flickr
Blowing bubbles photo by Pink Sherbet Photography @ flickr
Smiling child photo by Pink Sherbet Photography @ flickr
Coffee, coffee trivia, Kids and Teens, denny lyon, poetry, Libations Friday, poems, the social poets, Vienna, Middle East, Hot chocolate, Beverages, Austria, parenting, seasons, summer poem, Home, Cooking, Whipped cream
