Move Over, Mr. Coffee

We finally broke down and decided to try Gevalia for their free coffee maker offer (pictured at left along with a groovy Dave's Garden coffee mug - they're great!). It's so nice having our coffee brew directly into a thermal carafe, y'all. Vikki told me she has one and it works great, so we thought we'd give it a shot. Of course, it helps that Mr. Coffee, may he rest in peace, died. The first pot I made overflowed the filter basket and poured onto the counter; in my haste to try it out (and thanks to my math-shunning brain), I put in twice as much coffee as I should have. The water couldn't make it through the resulting coffee-ground sludge. So far, there's been a bit of a plastic taste to the coffee, this despite my running vinegar water through as directed, but it's getting better.

While I'm on the subject of coffee, I must mention The Mug of Honor, not to be confused with the DG mug pictured above, LOL.

The mug was given to me by Dad (my stepdad, Bob). He thought it was really something. And it is. It's become a family joke (or a family institution, if you want to be positive). It's a truly repugnant mug depicting an angry-looking, surly cat. It's not just his face that is disconcerting, no. His tail curves around the handle of the mug, and even then the handle is uncomfortable. Every time Dad visits, his coffee is served in The Mug of Honor. It's only fitting that he should enjoy this fine piece of ceramic artistry since he is the one who hand-selected it.