Pixie Espresso

I am an admitted food snob. However, when it comes to coffee, I am so not picky, I just like it with a little half and half. I switched hotels once traveling with a volleyball team because they only had powdered creamer in the breakfast room. Blech! I have never been much of an espresso or cappuccino drinker. I have tried it at Starbucks, in Italy, after a nice meal, but it never really did it for me. Then I found Nespresso. This is a cool, European company that makes various espresso machines that are sleek and small and you can only use their coffee capsules. At 3 o'clock when I am at work, I am warming up one of the demo machines at work and making a decaf.

This is not a sales pitch, but let me tell you about this. I bought the newest machine called the Nespresso Pixie, it is exclusive to WS. Yes, I get an employee discount, and I make a small hourly wage, but no one pays me or asks me to endorse the WS product line here. I just love this, okay? The price was right at $250, I have sold machines at 10X that price. The machine has 19 bars of pressure which means that coffee is pressed out at such high pressure, it makes a natural crema on top of the coffee. It is so smooooth. This is not fill a mug kind of coffee, this is a shot of great coffee. It will never replace my morning pot, but it has replaced my instant decaf I like after dinner, I mean it came in a bag and was brewed like tea, and frankly, it stinks. So let's just say this is a major improvement! The machine comes in some really hot colors. Orange, cobalt blue, steel blue, Bright green and others. I was a little boring and went steel blue, but it is pretty and goes with everything. The capsules are ordered online and they are at my door in 48 hours. No flavors, but different blends, roasts and robustness. The very best decaf to ever have crossed my lips.

So I have it all set up and ready to go. But no espresso cups. I have been using my coffee mugs, but my pretty little shot was sort of lost in the depths of the mug. At the store we have the Apilco French porcelain, but I really didn't want plain white, although that is all you see in the Italian coffee houses. I thought about where I would find cool cups, and then I remembered a box my sister brought me a while back. Wrapped up in tissue was a coffee set. The copper pot looks like a Turkish coffee maker. The cups are copper with white porcelain inserts and there is also a creamer and sugar. I took down a couple of cups and saucers and polished them up. Imagine my surprise as I am rubbing the copper clean and the bottom says they are quadruple silverplate. ??? Okay, so it isn't solid copper, but they cleaned up okay and are the perfect size for a shot of espresso. I called my mom and she told me these were a wedding gift to my Grandma and Granpa Petitti from my Aunt Molly and Uncle Mike Carioselli. I never met my grandparents, but I remember my Aunt Molly and Uncle Mike quite well. I just have to tell you, my coffee is that much tastier thinking my little cups are almost 100 years old and were a treasured gift to my immigrant grandparents. So, when you get in there and bake, think of a little shot of great coffee as the perfect accompaniment!