Mini Milk

I'm a little persnickety when it comes to coffee.  It can't be too strong, I prefer Splenda (no pink or blue packets for me, thanks), and an above ordinary creamer.  My husband jokes that I like to drink a little coffee with my milk, as he's a plain cup of Joe kind of guy.

My favorite creamer of choice is chai tea latte but I also enjoy french vanilla and caramel macchiato.  Really, I'll experiment with any flavor at least once.  Using decadent creamers makes me feel like I'm savoring a speciality cup of coffee...without the hefty price tag.  The problem with liking flavored creamer is that when we're out at a restaurant, I can't order coffee. 

I'm really bad about leaving my creamer out and forgetting to put it back in the fridge.  In the summertime, this is a big no-no as milk and heat do not mix.  There's no telling how many bottles of creamer I've thrown out due to my forgetfulness.  Spoiled milk makes for a sad me so you can imagine my delight when I happened upon mini flavored creamers at the store.

A few weeks ago, I was road trip shopping for the snack bag to be used for our lake vacation.  Heading down the coffee aisle, my intentions were to buy powdered creamer (much to my dismay) as I knew it would hold up to travel.  I'll settle for powdered creamer for vacations and camping trips, and knowing I planned to enjoy coffee on the deck overlooking Kentucky Lake each morning, I was willing to settle.  As I was reaching for the best of the worst among the selections, I happily spied flavored mini liquid creamers.  And....they had caramel macchiato - one of my faves!

I must say it was glorious each morning, holding a steaming cup of Heather's speciality coffee, while watching the lake come to life.  Our last day, we decided to have breakfast at a diner in town.  Tim laughed when I pocketed half a dozen creamers to bring in with me.  Sitting in the restaurant, pouring the creamy liquid into my white ceramic mug, I flashed back to my childhood.

Until that moment, I hadn't realized what those little creamers reminded me of...my Grandpa Coons.  When we were little and visiting our grandparents' house on the weekends, Grandpa would treat us to lunch out after church.  He'd always order coffee with extra creamers so that my sister and I could share a few.  We'd gingerly open the the mini milk containers (or so that's what we thought they were) and take a sip.  The sweet drink would make us feel special and grown up, we'd giggle, and Grandpa would smile at us.  As long as we ate our meals, he'd keep the creamers coming our way. 

It was a tradition we continued all the way into teens, even though we felt a little silly sipping creamer at that age.  Now, each morning as I add a couple to my coffee, I smile remembering those moments with Grandpa.