In Which We Make French Press Coffee

After supper the other evening, I was feeling in a coffee mood. I decided to use the Ghiradelli Caffe Gourmet Coffee I had rescued from the trash stack when white glove hit the girls’ dorm. But because I’m neither a coffee connoisseur nor the daughter of a coffee connoisseur, making coffee meant dragging the coffee maker up from the basement where it is stored when there is no company around to drink coffee. And I didn’t feel like doing that. So instead, I decided to make coffee in a French press. Now, nobody in my house has a French press, either, but we did have a sauce pan and a coffee filter. So, the following is a recipe for making French press coffee without a French press in 9 easy steps.

Step 1: Put 1 ½ cups of water in the saucepan and turn the burner on hi.

Step2: Text Graham and ask how long to “soak” the coffee grounds in the water.

Step 3: Remove boiling water from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Step 4: Receive a text from Graham saying to be sure and not boil the water.

Step 5: Drop 1 tablespoon of coffee grounds into the hot water and put the lid on the saucepan. Brew 3 minutes.

Step 6: While the coffee is brewing, put 4 tablespoons of real, raw, cow’s milk cream into a mug and heat it in the microwave.

Step 7: Place a coffee filter inside a small strainer and place the strainer on top of the mug. Pour the coffee from the pot, through the strainer, and into the mug.

Step 8: Add a 1 ½ shots of English Toffee syrup.

Step 9: Stir and enjoy!

So, the next time you crave coffee and don’t have a coffee maker, you can make French press on the stove in a saucepan. When you do, please comment on this post and tell me about your experience. Together, we can make this blog a gold mind of stove top French press experiences that will benefit later generations.

The Divine Will

“O Lord,

I hang on thee; I see, believe, live when thy will, not mine, is done;

I can plead nothing in myself in regard of any worthiness and grace, in regard of thy providence and promises, but only thy good pleasure.

If thy mercy make me poor and vile, blessed be thou!

Prayers arising from my need are preparations for future mercies;

Help me honor thee by believing before I feel, for great is the sin if I make feeling a cause of faith.

Show me what sins hide me from thee and eclipse thy love;

Help me to humble myself for past evils, to be resolved to walk with more care,

For if I do not walk holily before thee, how can I be assured of my salvation?

It is the meek and humble who are shown thy covenant, know thy will, are pardoned and healed, who by faith depend and rest upon grace, who are sanctified and quickened, who evidence thy love.

Help me to pray in faith and so find thy will, by leaning hard on thy rich free mercy, by believing that thou wilt give what thou hast promised;

Strengthen me to pray with the conviction that whatever I receive is thy gift, so that I may pray until prayer be granted;

Teach me to believe that all degrees of mercy arise from several degrees of prayer, that when faith is begun it is imperfect and must grow, as chapped ground opens wider and wider until rain comes.

So shall I wait thy will, pray for it to be done, and by thy grace become fully obedient.”

-Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions