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Sarah Gumgumji is the Program Manager for CREATE. Sarah will post a new topic each Wednesday. You are encouraged to join in the conversation! Please note that disrespectful content will not be tolerated. This page will be monitored to ensure we uphold the standards of the ART YARD community.
Inspiration for this week: Rollercoaster of Emotions
I like getting up early in the morning. Starting my day with yoga, for 10 minutes to breathe and set my intentions for the day, then I make my coffee using Moka pot "old Italian way." Morning coffee is a must for me, as I am sure it is for others.
Do you love coffee? What does your cup look like? What is your must-have drink in the morning or at any time of the day?
Good Morning Sarah! Thanks so much for starting this weeks CREATE thread!
I have a similar morning ritual. I too start with yoga and soon after am making coffee in my Moka!
This is a painting I did last year in Italy:
I love this watercolor painting
And another from London the year before:
And from 2010, one panel from my site specific installation in Rome. This large-scale piece is done in pan and ink and watercolor.
That is a fantastic watercolor installation, I love it!
Thanks Sarah. It was for my friends Andrea and Fabio Santi for the vitrines in from of their shop in Rome, Italy.
I had to glue together many papers to get the pieces to fit exactly. There were several paintings all of them featured items front their shop in my studio at The American Academy in Rome.
@sarah.a.g That is a perfect cup of coffee!
Coffee is a big deal in our house. We have a few 😜 moka machines and an espresso machine - we order our coffee from an artisanal roaster in Sicily. I go walking in the morning and come home to find breakfast served, coffee ready and cups have been warmed! this is definitely my favorite time of day
I love all your mocha pots especially the purple one, mine is blue ;)
@catherinedezagon I love the purple pot! Although it looks to be on the small side for my taste!
In 2016 I took a pottery course in NYC for 2 months. I made so many plates and cups. Now I love to drink my coffee with my handmade mug that I also added a surprise in the base of the mug, so I still enjoy it when it is empty.
SURPRISE!!
What a beautiful mug!!
Ed Rath sends this comment and photo in for this thread:
”My go-to beverage all day long. Keeps me steady.”
Nice mug Ed!
Felix Plaza sends in this photo of his very favorite go-to cure-all beverage:
My morning ritual is to clean and feed the Animals, then have my coffee and newspapers.
I’ve managed to train Rik and Lola to wait until my coffee pot is bubbling on the stove. But as soon as that happens it is a chorus of meows (“breakfast!! We want breakfast!!”).
Growing up, coffee was a big deal in our house. We drank coffee as little kids. When we visited friends, we had coffee with their parents - we always sat in the kitchen. Family stories say that our grandmother gave us coffee in our baby bottles. My mother used a Pyrex glass coffee pot for decades. I'm pretty sure she said it was a wedding gift (1946). I remember her always saying" "Let me put the pot up". That was lingo for making coffee and putting out cakes and cookies. When my father passed away, my mother 'modernized' and started using an electric percolator (it was fine ... but nothing like the stovetop glass pot). I protested (of course) and she said that the glass pot required too much cleaning and care (she was retired and had a dishwasher - really?). So, I rescued the pot and carried it home on the subway - and we now
use it every day. Of course, my mother was right - it DOES require a lot of cleaning and care to avoid chipping or breaking. We carefully wash it and store it in the cupboard after each use. We like and sometimes use a French Press but somehow the coffee seems to stay hot longer when made in the stovetop pot. Now, I complain about having to wash that pot too - I guess we eventually do become our mothers.
Dennis, that is a terrific story and very well told! I am impressed you use your mothers coffee pot every day. My mother had a dented tin stove top percolator. It looked like something one would take camping. But she swore it kept the coffee hotter than any other pot.
And I love your Roz Chast mug!
Yup. First sip of coffee in front of Nathan’s from my father’s cup. My regular drink from childhood. Put the pot on, put the kettle on, want a cup of coffee. Fabric of life.
I love how your mother's pot looks like, very chic!!
When I was back home, I drank tea instead of coffee; we have so many mints and herbs that we use for tea, so we have different mint tea in the morning, evening, and at night. Now I drink coffee in the morning and mint green tea in the afternoon as my mom did after we finish lunch or dinner.
My tea collection.
Agreed. The coffe perculator theyhad since 1929 bit the dust around 2004.
My morning today was a little bit French, included French press coffee and waffles.
That look delicious!!
Thank you!
Oh Sarah - you’re soooo continental.
The feeling of tasting different food from around the world gives me the filling that I am in a distinct area ;)
If you’ve ever travelled to Greece, you’ve most likely had a Greek frappe. For some reason, frappes here in the US never taste the same. While there are no special ingredients like gourmet roasted coffee beans or anything, the frappes in Greece simply taste better. Maybe the water?
If you ask a Greek-American what the secret is, he or she will just smile. They won’t give it away. I had the same issue with those delicious orange cakes (portokalapita) found in restaurants and pastry shops in Greece. I’ve made them dozens of times here at home – a million different recipes – but they are just not the same. My friend Sophia is from Greece – she’ll tell me SOME of the secrets but not all. Then she makes the portokalapita and has an impish look on her face while watching me eat it – and dissect it to find the secret ingredients. Hers cakes are flawless every time. Mine are fl-awful!
The frappe is very simple. I have sort of perfected it, finally! I’ve been to Greece many times and have been making them at home for about 25 years. Thank goodness for the internet – I can now order the Greek coffee online and have it delivered. I used to have to go to Greek neighborhoods and ask for the coffee in a grocery store. Once the owner realized that an American was trying to crack their code, they’d play dumb and say “there is no special Greek coffee”.
We have a standing zoom get together with friends on Thursday nights. We all travelled to Greece together in 2018 but now we live far apart. Every week, we make a different cocktail for our online meet. For tonight, I suggested the Greek frappe. Aside from the coffee, water, milk, sugar, and ice – a big MUST is a good electric hand frother which makes the right amount of froth. I bought a frother in Greece last visit – of course that same frother can be bought here in NY or, of course, ordered online, but somehow knowing I carried it home from Greece makes the frappe seem more authentic. Side note: those are grass straws!
I love cold brew for a hot summer. Now I can make those when I feel I need something refreshing and cold.
That looks DELICIOUS!! When we can see people again, I am coming over so you can make me one!
Ohhhh I have one of those (inherited from my mother!)...