My mornings are getting expensive

I'm really picky about my coffee: I won't even let Cliff put the creamer in for me; it has to be just right. When we're on the road, we get coffee at McDonald's. I hated it when they started adding the creamer for me, rather than just giving me a couple packets of coffee-creamer.

For years, I enjoyed real cream in my coffee, thanks to my cow-keeping. I'm talking about cream so thick it stood up on my spoon, and half a teaspoon was plenty, it was so rich. It took awhile, but I finally adjusted to powdered Coffee-mate after I gave up my cows.

In the process, I found out the real cream in my coffee had been giving me heartburn. But I digress.

We went to Georgia to visit our son and his family, Thanksgiving. The daughter-in-law kept liquid, fat-free Coffee-mate and, having no other choice, I used it. Although I was sure the "fat-free" part would ruin it.

Dear Lord, that stuff had me from hello! I felt like a cat in catnip, it was that good. Since then it's the only coffee creamer I've bought; my old, much cheaper powdered standby sits unused on a shelf.

This week I was surfing the Internet and read somewhere (probably in a blog) where someone said to grind your own coffee just before you make it, if you want the best possible cup of joe.

So yesterday I bought a coffee grinder. It cost over $20. Then I went to the grocery section of Wal Mart and found the coffee beans, and practically fainted when I saw the price was over $8 per pound! Oh well, only the best for us, right? After filling my sack with the expensive stuff, I noticed the Eight-o'clock beans on a higher shelf, about half the price of the Millstone brand. Cliff suggested we buy both, so we could see if there was any appreciable difference.

So there's my morning java experience: high-priced though it is, I have to say I'm drinking a good cup of coffee right now.

My coffee consumption seems to be increasing. Is that a bad thing?

I'm editing this to add that I see no big difference in the brands of coffee, now that I've tried both. And my husband says he can't even tell a lot of difference between the fancy-schmancy stuff and our usual Folgers. This is good news, because from now on, he gets Folgers. I'll be the only one using freshly-ground coffee beans.