The silly things you forget after 16 months

My brother asked me a simple question this morning: "Do you have any coffee?"

"Um, yes, but it's a year old." I replied. (Yeah, I know. I don't know why I have year old coffee either).

My brother said that it was probably still okay. Trying to be helpful, I said it had been in the freezer the whole time. He repeated it was probably okay, but not to make it if it was going to be a hassle; he would just wait until we got to the restaurant. This is where I should have taken the out and made him wait. But, no. I decided to be a good big sister and hostess and make him coffee.

I drink coffee in the form of mocha frappucinos at Starbucks. I drink these because I can't stand the taste of coffee and the wonderful barista at the Starbucks by my work knows this and has perfected making them for me so they don't taste like coffee. I would try other coffeeshops, but I am afraid they would (understandably) taste like coffee. So, while I have a coffeemaker, I don't actually use it. In 2007, I bought James one of the Cuisinart coffeemakers that grinds the beans right before it brews the coffee for Christmas. It only got used for a little over a month before he died. So, it's still pretty new which is a big reason why I still have it.

I got the coffee beans out of the freezer and realized that at this point, I don't even know what flavor they are. The flavor James really liked, the Kahlua Vanilla, was discontinued at my little ghetto Safeway right after the holidays so I had to buy him a new flavor. I do know it isn't hazelnut because he didn't like that. I put the filter in the basket, dumped the water in and realized I couldn't remember where the beans go. So, I went to the recipe book shelf to get the instruction manual. I found the manuals for every kitchen appliance except the coffeemaker. Greatly annoyed, I started to put the books back and found the maunal on top of the pile. I hate when that happens. I thumbed through it and found where the beans go.

Satifsfied that the coffee brewing was underway, I started to make a grocery list. I turned around and saw coffee and the grounds were flooding the counter. When the coffeemaker finally finished, I had quite a mess, which Charlie was "helping" me clean off the floor. Because who doesn't need a hyper-active dog with a caffeine buzz?

It took about 10 minutes to clean up the mess. The basket where the filter and grounds go was filled with coffee; the pot had about a cup's worth of sludge. So, not only did my brother still end up having to wait for coffee, he had to spend about 3o minutes smelling it. I guess I wasn't supposed to leave the lid off the pot. I probably should have refreshed my memory on that part too. (It's the iced tea maker I am supposed to leave the lid off of). I think I'll just throw out the coffee beans and the next time I have an overnight guest, I'll just run to Starbucks.