Have a Brewlicious Friday! Life is a lively effort. Have some coffee and get to it!
With love and xox, Boots the Badass Coffee Babe
And while you’re jubilating, check out these awesome Old Gringo Leopardito Western Boots & Texas Longhorn 16-pt Jingle Bob Spurs & some darling belts to accessorize for a kick-up-your-heels yee-haw Friday!
What you need for this twist on a campfire classic: A good fire? Check. Dutch oven? Check. Campfire coals? Perfect. S’mores ingredients? Check. Time to make some Dutch Oven S’mores!
This is a whole different take on making S’mores. I know that 1) poking the fire with a stick is a whole lot of fun and 2) tempting the flames with a marshmallow at the end of a stick is even more fun. Will it toast up buckskin tan or will it incinerate into a lump of carbon?
This Dutch oven recipe takes the wondering out of the equation. And everyone can enjoy their S’mores at the same time once you lift the oven’s lid. Also, making the S’mores this way eliminates that marshmallow-eating Chubby Bunny contest (a campfire game for amateurs, at best) that has a tendency to heat up between competitive cousins and liquored-up uncles. [Spoken by the wrangler who has seen too many campfire scenes that cannot be unseen.]
This way, while your treats are baking away in the Dutch oven, you all can turn your attention to telling ghost stories or to playing a rousing game of Shoeking! instead and see who just might end up hiking back down the trail the next day in his stocking feet. [Note: Now this game of balancing your boot on your toes and flipping it back over your head and not into the fire actually is more fun with liquored-up uncles.]
I’ll never forget the summer I watched a whole troop of good ol’ boys — all of whom looked to be bearing the Divine Punishment — leaving camp The Morning After with most of them missing at least one shoe. All I could think was Those damned fools were playing Shoeking! There was something about seeing their hangdog expressions and the dust cloud that followed their shuffling sock-footed procession that still makes me bust a gut.
This shoe-less band of travelers, clearly having partaken in a goodly portion of Hooch the night before, was in such rough shape when they doddered past the cabin that they hired me on the spot to saddle up Eagle to carry the heavier items from their camp down the hill. I sympathized. Of course I did. But there was a part of me that was thinking that there was going to be a whole lot of footsore at the end of the trail along with all of the blame and cussing that I was sure to bear witness to. One buckaroo kept saying over and over, “My Gawd, my Gawd.” Whether he was intervening for his sole-less foot or for his soul-less quaff from the night before, I couldn’t tell. The other guys kept telling him to Zip It, Chet! — knowing that maintaining low morale wasn’t going to help a single one of them get down the trail any sooner.
Chet couldn’t refrain from his mantra of misery, so the rest of the boys started to call Chet “Mr. Tenderfoot” and other such insulting monikers with additional colorful embroideries. I tried not to crack up and just kept Eagle steered down the trail ahead of the shoe-less pack, thinking that there are some stories in life that you just can’t make up. This was one of those stories.
I just don’t know. Life is funny and it is strange. And thank God for stories that entertain the Disbelieving Parts that dwell within. I can’t really say that participating in this experience enriched my life in any way, but I did file it away in my mental folder labeled “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up.” You know the stories. The Fact-is-stranger-than-Fiction stuff. The stories that cling to our memories’ heels through time for no apparent reason. I would like to think that the things I carry with me have some edifying value from time past, but this particular tale? It simply makes me laugh my ass off when I think back to that day.
Truth: laughter is its own medicine and these boys had given me a goodly dose as a result of their misguided and high-spirited Shoeking! folly.
But sorry stories aside, let’s get back to stuff that really matters like coffee, chocolate, and campfires . . . My coffee pairing recommendation for the sweet side of S’mores? I am thinking a Guatemalan coffee for this particular sweet. There is nothing like Guatemalan coffee paired with chocolate . . . although Arabian mocha beans are pretty great, too. Check out this single origin Guatemalan coffee after you have stocked up on the S’more goodies. You deserve good coffee with your campfire treat. And what a cute bag that comes with it!
Or how about this certified organic, whole bean, single-country-origin bean from Guatemala?
It really is worth buying a Dutch oven. You can make so many different recipes that benefit from its even heat. You can use it hanging above the fire, in the coals, and in your oven at home. I love this homely old cast iron pot that eloquently says, “Good Cooking!” You won’t be sorry that you made the investment in something that is so versatile.
Boots, signing off and keeping my bootlaces tight! xox
Happy trails, good people!
Boots here. Looking at the best in camp coffee cups and picking out inventory for the Cabin Door Store. I guess I have become one of those gear junkies that likes to have the best when I head out on the trail. Long gone are the days when I used to wear wool knickers for alpine skiing on my humble, waxed, wooden cross country skis. I used to be a purist. Wool gloves, wool hat, wool socks, wool sweater. I carried wooden matches, a nice piece of pitch, and a Buck knife that was razor sharp. My cook box had Granite-ware plates, bowls, and cups. Allllll natural. Now? As much as I enjoy seeing those Janoy skis hanging up in the wood shed, I now have good gear that keeps me dry, warm, and safe and gets me places in the back country.
And as for my blue granite camp cup that kept me company around all of those fires? I still bring it along, but I now use it for my morning Bircher muesli. Some old favorites I’m just not ready to quite give up yet. And speaking of Bircher muesli, I am thinking that I will share my favorite recipe with you tomorrow. It is perfect for the trail, for camping, for glamping, and for home. You can make it the night before and have it ready to go in the morning if you are running late.
I digress! Get me started on camp gear and one thing leads to another! Have fun checking out these most-excellent options for keeping your coffee hot. Oh, and don’t think that you have to be sitting around a smokey campfire to enjoy these fantastic options. I can think of a time or two in recent history when I was running for a city bus in Seattle and my fancy die-hard camp cup was the perfect commuter cup as well. Nothing says coffee like a great cup! And in these colors? Lime, plum, teal, burgundy, red, orange, stainless . . . these colors put the fun in functional out on the trail and on the city bus.
Click on the links or the images below and peruse these cups that are some of the best in camp gear. It really is the littlest things that make for the best experiences. Enjoy this fun stuff!
Signing off. xox Boots xox
I can’t even think of the word thermos without thinking about this one couple who used to go out with us on the annual pack trip into the high country each August. Bill and Doreen Banks were regulars, and they were always toting the same damned banged-up green thermos each year.
Now this thermos had to be one of the most trail-worn thermoses I have even seen. It was one of those tall green Stanley models that looked like it had been handed down through the ages since the dawn of Manifest Destiny. You couldn’t help but think of all the lunch hours and picnics that this thermos must have poured its way through to get that mean looking. It was scarred up, dented, and ugly, and it truly was a testimony to the quality of the Stanley company’s product line. It was still keeping the Banks’ family coffee hot through all of the abuse it had been subjected to.
This couple, Bill and Doreen, would prepare their coffee together each morning before we saddled up and headed out for the day. They liked to have a little coffee break with their lunch, and experience had taught them that we didn’t build a fire for just a quick lunch along the trail. Hence, the necessity for the beloved Stanley.
One of them would pull the coffee boiler from the fire while the other readied the Sacred Stanley to receive its daily sacrament of Joe. Usually Bill poured and Doreen steadied. Doreen would cluck about the importance of being careful while Bill filled the Stanley to the very brim.
The funny thing was that these two were so proud of their Stanley. Like it was a badge of honor that they were still toting the same crappy-looking thermos that Bill’s dad had used when he was alive and working for Boeing.
Maybe it was a lesson in equating age-worn with beautiful. Maybe the Stanley was a testimony to their marriage and a symbol of the trust that they shared. Or maybe it was a lesson in forgiveness the way that Doreen didn’t cuss Bill out when he splashed her hands with hot coffee as she steadied the Stanley. Or maybe they were just super cheap people and weren’t about to replace function with shiny new.
I don’t know. It was way out of my ken. Other campers would comment on the Stanley’s condition, and Bill would launch into the story about how his dad, Bill the Second, carried it with him to work each day for 20 odd years — all while Doreen would talk over Bill’s tale, adding minor and odd details as to how old Bill’s dad was when he was forced to retire or how many years ago it had been when the two of them had laid claim to the Stanley after Bill Senior’s funeral.
The year came when Bill and Doreen arrived in camp, still with their beloved Stanley. The first morning in camp, I couldn’t help but notice that the thermos was missing its lid. A small part of me wanted to laugh — thinking that there must have been some lulu of a story to explain the carelessness or forgetfulness that led to the decapitated Stanley. I assumed that we would hear, in full Technicolor, the chain of events that would explain why their Stanley was missing its salutatory cap.
I imagined that Bill had left the cup on the hood of the car after a roadside coffee break, or Doreen had forgotten it on some boulder alongside a creek while picnicking. It wasn’t until the next morning, when I overheard Doreen fussing over Bill and insisting that he let her pour the coffee, that I knew something wasn’t quite right. Bill’s hands shook as he tried to steady the thermos for Doreen’s inexpert pouring.
I came to find out later that night over campfire coffee nudges that the Missing Stanley Cup incident was a result of Bill having been hospitalized for several weeks in the months prior. Doreen dutifully brought him his daily coffee in the trusty Stanley during his stay, and it was believed that one of the nurses on shift had thrown the cup/lid out, mistaking it for garbage. The outcome of Bill’s hospitalization was still uncertain and they weren’t sure what would allow for Bill in the coming year, but they were grateful that they were able to make one more trip together into the high country before things had the opportunity to go south.
Well, you could have knocked me over with a flicker feather the next year when Doreen showed up. Alone. What surprised me wasn’t that Doreen was toting that damned Stanley . . . it was that it had taken on another function as Urn. Doreen was carrying Bill’s ashes in it and was wanting to bury Bill up in the meadow at Emerald Camp.
We made camp late that afternoon at Emerald Camp and, after dinner, Doreen asked me if I would grab a camp shovel and walk with her. She stopped at a spot that Bill used to called Turtle Pie Rock. I never knew why he called it that, but Doreen was clear that that was the spot for Bill. What surprised me was that Doreen wasn’t planning to scatter Bill’s ashes; the Stanley was going to be buried in the hole right along with Bill.
I dug for a spell until Doreen told me to stop. She laid Bill and the Stanley to rest, and I can’t tell you how enormous that moment felt. I have been to funerals before, and have shed my share of tears. But this. Seeing someone being laid to rest in one of his favorite spots on the planet in a damned thermos gave me pause. I could see how our physical selves all truly return to the ash from whence we came. The Cycle of Life is enormously dizzying and, if we are lucky, we have someone special in our life who we can hold on to to ease the spin.
We paused before I was instructed to fill the hole. We looked at each other briefly, and I had tears in my eyes. Doreen looked away and started to laugh. A sad laugh filled with stories, tears, fears, and thanks. Maybe a few regrets. Regrets that Bill wasn’t there to appreciate the irony about being buried in their Stanley thermos in the middle of the wilderness. A laugh that spoke of years that had been marked by the zeniths that spiked their days with their unexpected nature of the good, the bad, and the ugly. And the breathtakingly simple and beautiful.
And it just goes to show. Maybe thermoses, like some marriages, are age-worn on the outside while they still keep the brew nice and hot on the inside. I really had to hand it to those two. And to Doreen in her commitment to lay Bill to rest in such a beautiful way. In spite of Doreen’s shaky year of loss and grief, she was still out doing what she and Bill loved to do, and she arrived toting that same damned Stanley one last time to prove that some things just don’t change. Won’t change.
Call this some kind of tribute to Bill and Doreen . . . or to Stanley products . . . or to marriage . . . or to fulfilling final wishes . . . or to high standards to quality . . . or to . . . I’m not really sure. Sometimes things just are.
Regardless, I think that this thermos has to be the best one on the market! Just call this Cabin Door Store post “Ode to Stanley and Bill.”
Happy fulfilling trails to you from the bottom of my heart,
xox Boots the Badass Coffee Babe
Today . . . have some coffee and outdream yourself!
Have a GREAT Monday!
Red, blue, tan, black, bone, taupe, brown, gray, and white! Fringe, straps, buckles, perforated, and lace! Leather, vegan, eco-friendly!
Aren’t these booties darling?
Take a few minutes on this busy Monday morning at your desk to check out this splash of cuteness!
Your boot expert, xox Boots the Badass Coffee Babe
For a seriously fun fashion statement , , , these red boots are guaranteed to turn some heads. Great with jeans, mini-skirts, and sundresses:
For that darling floral sundress in your closet:
For that flirty linen skirt that you haven’t worn for a while:
These? For anything and everything? Love the look and the straps!
For those summer colors that need a punch of bisque:
Love this combination of lace and vegan-friendly materials in taupe-nubuck:
These are just plain cute for a night on the dance floor doing the Boot Scootin’ Boogie:
Cute, casual, simple:
These are adorable! The colors are just perfect for so many outfits. And the style? So classy . . . guaranteed to catch a compliment!
Love this look with the Western toe, accented straps, and chunky heel:
Just plain cute and darline with a floral sundress:
These are so cute and feminine and love the heel:
And here are some cute sundresses!
Have a GREAT Monday! Treat yourself to a new pair of summer boots and sundress!
Coffee. Just the prescription for a Saturday morning of smiling and dreaming.
Have fun today, Saturday Joe drinkers!
Love, xox Boots
What a great way to start a Friday morning — enjoying a cuppa Joe and listening to the fire crackling in the cookstove while the coffee boiler sweetens the air with caffeine molecules. My kind of morning.
There is nothing like a rainy morning with a fire in the stove and a pot of coffee steaming its richness into the toasty cabin air. The only thing that could make it more idyllic is a few loaves of bread baking in the oven. These unassuming, humble pleasures. They truly are what make for a full present moment.
I love the sound of rain on a tin roof. The smell of wet wool sweaters. Heck, I even like the smell of wet dog. There is something just so comforting about being tucked inside on an unseasonably-cool, late spring morning. The kind of morning that gives me the inspiration to pause and to appreciate life at its simplest.
After this crazy-wet week of wind, rain, and bluster, I made hay and created my own sunshine. I painted and read and wrote and washed windows on the inside of the cabin. I made a really good dinner that required more than one pot, and I folded some laundry. I mucked out the barn, and I replaced the salt lick with a brand-spankin’ new one. Yes, some days, it just feels good to attend to the quiet things.
If it is raining where you are today — or if you feel a little dreary on the inside — create your own sunshine. Do something out of the ordinary. Take one step closer to completing that project you have been dreaming about. Turn off your computer and call a friend. Pour yourself another cup of coffee and curl up with your journal. Go for a walk with a giant umbrella. Rescue a few stranded worms. Stomp happily and deliberately through a puddle. When was the last time you intentionally got your pretty boots dirty? What’s stopping you?
What’s stopping you? The question that sounds so innocent and easy and, actually, involves a lot more than a one-word answer. Today, I am pulling on my favorite pair of Wellys and I am going to go hunt some puddles. Nothing stopping me today!
I couldn’t resist adding these fun and fanciful Wellys for your Friday (below). Be it raining or shining, these boots are just the ones to have at the ready for some puddle-stomping fun. And if you do encounter a puddle, do some serious damage! What’s stopping you?
And are you missing the sound of the rain? Do you now live in the desert and hearing raindrops? Click on the video below. Listen to the rain and relax. Even better . . . go boot shopping while you listen. [Yes, I am aiding and abetting.] Rain boot shopping! There are so many great styles that combine cuteness with function. I finally broke down and bought a pair (the pink polka dot pair below) for going into town. I feel pretty darned fancy and fun when I wear them, too!
Click on the images or the links below and do some daydreaming about what it would feel like to just let loose and have some spontaneous fun. I am thinking that these boots are the perfect inspiration. So cute!
http://amzn.to/1WVMZGJ
http://amzn.to/1sI6XrV
Oh, and attention all Seattle-ites!
Check out these nifty rain-boot socks! I never cease to be amazed at how clever people are when it comes to thinking things up!
Fashion, function, and FUN!
Happy muddy, puddle-stompin’ trails! xox
Boots the Badass Coffee Babe
Be a cool cat and check out this short video that shows you 6 unique ways to drink coffee and some cool items that are perfect for creating that new and interesting iced Toddy beverage.
I think sometimes we forget to try different. We get into our ruts and feel too busy to try new options.
Life is short. Try something new. Your experiment into the unknown might become your new favorite. Watch the video and see if these aren’t some fun ways for you to shake up your morning coffee routine! There’s nothing like adding a little bit of difference into the morning brew.
Click on some of the fun ideas below that will kickstart your iced-coffee enjoyment for the summer. What about try making some mocha, caramel, coconut milk, coffee popsicles for your sunshine-y coffee break out on the deck?
And how about making some caffe mocha popsicles on a hot summer afternoon?
Cabin Door Coffee 