Happy Hump Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj9_yW8tZxs

Turkish Coffee

If there's one thing I love, it's a good strong coffee. Turkish coffee is your favorite black coffee with a twist. Cardamom takes the stage for a nice minty flavor in this unfiltered concoction. After a few sips, you'll be belly dancing in no time.

You will need:

1 tbsp of finely ground coffee (powder consistency, Turkish if you can find it)
1/8 tsp of cardamom or cardamom pod
1 cup of water
sugar optional

1. Boil water and sugar in an ibrik (pictured here). Don't have one? No worries, I used a tiny regular saucepan.
2. Add cardamom and coffee. Stir gently.
Some experts recommend removing from heat for a few seconds when it foams and returning to heat a few times. This keeps the coffee from boiling over.
3. Pour into demitasse/espresso cup. It doesn't take much. This isn't your average cup of joe.

For an extra afternoon pick-me-up, serve with turkish delights or baklava.

Bonus if you have your fortune told by the grounds left in the bottom of the cup!

Pumpkin Pie Greek Yogurt

I invented a recipe! Ok, so someone thought of it before me. But I didn't know that when I made it! I didn't follow a recipe. I have since found others. Here's mine:

6 oz (3/4 cup) of Greek Yogurt
2 tbsp of canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
2 tsp of brown sugar
few dashes of pumpkin pie spice (which I did not have, so I mixed my spices individually)*

*Mini BONUS recipe: Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 part cloves
1 part nutmeg
2 parts ground ginger
4 parts cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. This velvety mixture can be eaten alone or used as a guiltless pumpkin cheesecake filling. I topped it off with granola! I'll be eating this for breakfast very often!

Donating during Domestic Violence Awareness month

Everyone is familiar with the Pink Ribbon through the month of October. What you may not know is that October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month. 

According to Safe Horizon, one in 4 women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. Every year, 1 in 3 women who is a victim of homicide is murdered by her current or former partner. I am sad to say that in a recent study,  my home state of Tennessee ranks in the top 10 for these cases.

If you or anyone you know is in this dangerous situation, contact local authorities or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-SAFE. 

An organization that has made great strides to empower women and their families is the YWCA. A major player in race relations and labor unions, the YWCA started as Ladies Christian Association in 1858. Now in over 125 countries and reaching 25 million women, the organization has programs for women of all ages, including sexual health programs. Many of the 1,300 US sites are looking for volunteers, matching jobs with your talents and interests. For more information on programs, volunteering or a location near you, visit ywca.org.

To support the foundation and its services, B In Your Bonnet will donate a portion of its profits to YWCA for the month of October. You never know, a mug can change a life. Find yours at my shop.

No thank you, I didn't need sleep anyway

Oh my goodness. I feel like tonight's sleep is more like a nap. I woke up at 2:30 am and I've done everything I can think of to put myself back to sleep. It's almost time to give up.

What do you do when you can't sleep?

Rainy Days and Netflix picks

I don't know about you, but I LOOOOVE Fall, especially when it rains. I like being holed up on the couch watching marathons of movies and catching up on seasons worth of TV shows. Lately (confession time), I've been catching up on Gossip Girl. I got into the show earlier this year and I'm trying to watch all of the fifth season before the sixth starts. (It can be done. I promise.)

What are you watching these days? What should I add in my queue?

Case of the Mondays?

To ease into the work week, a few posts from the web:

Do you talk to your pets?

Lovely illustrations. Makes me want to stop what I'm doing and draw. right. now.

What's for dinner? ...or dessert?

Business cards of fictional characters

So true