Although this is not really a ‘recipe’ I thought I would share how I start every single day right now.  And I’m not stopping.  Nope.  Never.  It’s heavenly liquid, I’ll tell ya.  Don’t you just want to dive into this?

Everyone has certain things in life they can’t live without.  Ok, well, let’s not get overly dramatic with ‘can’t live without’ – that would mainly be water and food.  I’m talking about certain things people have or do each day that has become a ritual.  A habit.  For me, it’s this latte first thing in the morning.

It all started four years ago in Paris.  Yup, Paris did it to me.  They truly excel in the casual sidewalk cafe arena.  I went to a different cafe every morning and had myself a latte, the thing to do in Paris.  I loved lazily watching the Parisians pass by while sipping this hot, frothy concoction.   So, when I returned to NY I thought why not make it for myself at home?  Being Italian, I already had a stove top espresso maker.  So that’s exactly what I did, every Saturday and Sunday morning.  It was my weekend treat.  I yearned for Saturday to come each week!

It was about six months into this new ritual of mine that I thought to myself….why am I limiting this special treat to only on the weekends?!  Why on earth am I not having this every single day?!  What am I nuts??  So, I started making it every day.  And it’s been about 4 years and still going strong.  There are mornings that just thinking of having this latte is what gets me out of bed in the morning.  There are nights that as I go to bed I am looking forward to waking up to have this latte.  Hmmm…good thing I’m not talking about Scotch.

I use either Lavazza or Kimbo espresso coffee.  And although I started with regular lowfat milk, I now primarily use Soymilk.  Sometimes I throw in a splash of half and half if I’m feeling particularly wild that day!  But it’s not really needed, the Soymilk frothes wonderfully.  And for a little extra somethin-somethin I always…always…add into my milk, before frothing, a pinch of cinnamon and a touch of freshly grated nutmeg.  That’s just how I roll.

My ritual is this…I either sit on my living room couch and sip my latte while looking out the window at the trees in front of my apartment.  My cat Billy likes to cuddle up to me during this time, so I pet him and we just hang out.  Or, I sit in my comfy ‘romantic’ chair (an antique slipper chair I had re-upholstered) in my bedroom and look out my window at the trees in the back and listen to the birds and watch the squirrels chase each other up and down the trees.  They are very active and quite funny to watch.  Basically, it’s just a relaxing, quiet, comforting time before the day starts.  Before the craziness of the day ahead.  And I love starting my day this way.

It truly is a simple pleasure that I treasure.  And after all, it’s all about the simple things in life, right?