Generally, I'm not a coffee drinker. It's far too bitter when it's alone. But I do love the smell and certain trace aspects of the taste. I wanted to share with you guys a simple recipe I love to use whenever I need one of those expensive-coffee-place fixes for cheaper at home. I know that a lot of my regular blog readers probably won't care much for this entry, but maybe some of you others will.

This recipe will be for a caramel/mocha flavor. I'll list other flavor varieties at the bottom.

Ingredients:

5 fluid ounces of chilled coffee (For non-coffee drinkers, maybe you could replace this with milk? I haven't tried yet.)

Ice cubes

1 tablespoon (2 ounces) of hot caramel/fudge

5 ounces (weight) of vanilla ice cream

Instructions:

First, you need a blender (if you use one of those "Magic Bullets" it works too. Just make sure you have a big enough one of those ... cup-thingies). After you pour in the chilled coffee start adding ice cubes/pieces/howeveryourscome one at a time. The ice is the only thing I haven't an exact measurement for so you have to eyeball it. Generally what I go for is adding ice cubes until it gets to the point where the ice reaches from the bottom of the blender to the brim of the coffee level. If the ice is floating above the bottom, add more. If the ice is standing on its own above the coffee level or the ice doesn't shift a little without more than a little poke you have too much. You might have to experiment a little to get it the consistency you like if this isn't clear enough.

Next, add your hot caramel/fudge and then your vanilla ice cream. Place the lid on the blender and use the "pulse" button to blend. Hold it for a while, pull up the cup and shake the ice chunks down to where the blade is, rinse and repeat. For those last couple stubborn cubes just pulse it a couple times to break 'em up. Of course, it's not gonna kill anyone to have a chunk or two floating around (unless they just inhale it).

Once it's blended, pour into a cup, top with whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel/fudge and serve! (Or just grab the blender and chug it straight from like a SLOB MAN! B) )

Flavor Variants:

Of course you shouldn't be stuck with just straight up caramel or fudge flavors! Experiment with different flavors of ice creams or syrups! A couple of my favorites are...

French Vanilla Blueberry: Instead of caramel or fudge, use 2 ounces of blueberry topping and 3 or 4 of those little french vanilla coffee creamers! Whipped cream and blueberry topping finish it off nicely.

Strawberry Bon Bon: Replace the vanilla ice cream with strawberry ice cream. Then use a tablespoon of chocolate flakes (milk, dark, white, doesn't matter) and a tablespoon of marshmallow cream. Top with whipped cream and strawberry syrup. If you like, you can also throw some strawberry topping into the fray for extra kick!

So, there you have it! Lemme know if you try this and/or like/dislike it. I'd also be welcome to any other flavors you might try or even just think might sound good.