Published by Linda on 14 Jul 2008 at 09:16 pm
Maybe The Cutest Thing I’ve Ever Made
In one of my new cobalt blue glasses (on sale for seven dollars at Target for a set of sixteen!), this is iced coffee I pressed and chilled myself, with star-shaped frozen-coffee cubes, made in a silicon star-shaped ice tray from Ikea that I could not resist when I saw it. I was really unduly proud of this preposterously twee concoction, but I’m going to tell you: I hate it when I make iced coffee for myself and it gets all watery, and this is much, much better. The stars, though, are just me amusing myself.
Bo on 14 Jul 2008 at 10:06 pm #
That’s the danger of Ikea. There’s always something really cute, and not budget busting, that you decide you just have to have. Be careful. Your big kitchen can become really small very quickly!
Jay on 14 Jul 2008 at 10:12 pm #
That’s seriously cute. It’s like Independence Day in a Cup!
Rinaldo on 14 Jul 2008 at 10:50 pm #
So, tell all…
What else did you get at Ikea? Give us the full list!
Katie L. on 14 Jul 2008 at 11:32 pm #
Ha! I got that same ice cube tray at the Bloomington, MN IKEA because I couldn’t resist it, either. I also got the one that makes puzzle-piece-shaped cubes (a geometric impossibility, I realize–or a recipe for one boring puzzle), but it’s just not as infallibly delightful.
Julie on 14 Jul 2008 at 11:33 pm #
Coffee cubes are a brilliant idea! Why didn’t I think of that?
Jessica S. on 14 Jul 2008 at 11:57 pm #
I don’t have the star tray but do have the triangle one and the bottle-shaped one; one’s hot pink and one’s blue. Both really cute. My 4 year old loves making orange juice ice cubes in them.
jzygayle on 15 Jul 2008 at 7:03 am #
I love Ikea!! I was just there Sunday to buy “just a chair ($99). And maybe a spatula.” $200 later (at least I got the chair) I realized that Ikea is just as dangerous to my ATM card as Target is.
I really like that chair; I want another one, but I don’t know if I can afford all the accessories.
Diablevert on 15 Jul 2008 at 9:18 am #
Have you tired cold-brewing it? Often I’m too lazy — though I can see you’re not — unless I have a real craving. But is about 10 times better. If you have a French press, you just dump the normal amount of grounds in the carafe, fill with cold water, and leave it in the fridge overnight. Press as normal. If you don’t have a french press, you can just throw it in a pitcher and strain it either through coffee filters or paper towels.
Coffee’s so temperamental — if you don’t hit the right temp you burn all the flavor out and often times even good coffee loses something when you chill it. The cold brewing, because of the slow steeping, seems to bring out something rather complex and caramel-y. It’s pretty damn delicious. The NY Times did paean to it a while back…ah, here we go: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/dining/27coff.html
theorigdialectic on 15 Jul 2008 at 10:01 am #
Woo! That’s adorable.
Elizabeth on 15 Jul 2008 at 10:12 am #
Coffee ice cubes. You are so, so much smarter than me.
JennB on 15 Jul 2008 at 10:32 am #
This belongs on Cute Overload!
dchmello on 15 Jul 2008 at 12:42 pm #
My mom used to make iced tea cubes with the tea we didn’t drink for dinner. Not only do they not dilute the drink, but they are a nice cold hit of caffeine to just pop in your mouth (if you are an ice chewer). I was going to look up “twee” in the Urban Dictionary, but I totally get it from context!
liz on 15 Jul 2008 at 5:36 pm #
Oh my god, my mom & I were just at the Ikea (near you, I think, off rte 1 in College Park) & my mom couldn’t resist 2 trays of each of the star & puzzle shapes. I think she got another shape, too, but I can’t remember. I bought the bottle shapes. I might have to make vino cubes with them for summertime sangria!
Bo on 15 Jul 2008 at 7:17 pm #
What did you do to become inaccessible at my office? You don’t look unsafe for work to me. But I was unable to show your cute star cubes to the office neighbors.
Agnes on 16 Jul 2008 at 12:16 pm #
@Diablevert: I am so jazzed to try the cold-brewing method. I loves me some iced coffee in the dreaded Wisconsin summer.
DonJ on 17 Jul 2008 at 1:11 pm #
I’ve found that every time I’ve made a big move, the threshold for what’s exciting gets ridiculously low
Embrace it, it’s a wonderful way to offset all the pre-move stress.