A New Discovery

There are a lot of things that I love in life.

Books.

Food.

A well spun ball of yarn.

And also, Starbucks. Back in America, my mom went there on occasion. We loved Starbucks.  But then we moved to Europe and although there are Starbucks in major cities like Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris, we don't get to Starbucks very often.

For our summer vacation, we went to Austria. We lived on bread, fruit, and other fresh food. We adored it and almost started crying when we had to leave. But we stopped in Munich, Germany on the way home and there was was a Starbucks!  And it was at this particular Starbucks, that I fell in love.  Never in my life had I conceived of such a delicious and comforting beverage . . .a steamed milk with almond flavoring.

Wow! I spent the next week, while my dearly beloved grandparents were here, dreaming of that wonderful drink.  Eventually the gears clicked in my head and I realized that we already had in our possession an espresso machine capable of steaming milk and therefore all I needed was almond flavoring.

I was, meanwhile, coming to appreciate tea as well.  While out birthday shopping with Grandma, we stumbled into a lovely tea shop and there on the shelf I saw it: almond flavoring.  I nearly cried with joy. and we studied our options.

For 20 Euros, there was a large bottle which probably would be unable to fit in any of our cupboards. For 6 Euros I found a delightful little bottle which we ended up buying.  I went home with my treasure, delighted, and willingly shared it with my family and friends.  However, I had forgotten that sharing one's syrup freely also causes the bottle to drain quickly, and I found myself with enough for one more cup, which I have been saving for my birthday.

However, I found an amazing recipe for the syrup, and I can say with certainty that it works. I love it.

Recipe:

1 cup sugar (brown, white, or half n half) 

1/2 cup water

 almond extract 

Directions: 

1 In a saucepan, combine the sugar and water and bring to a rolling boil. Stir to prevent scorching. 

2 Remove from heat. Cool slightly and stir in extract to desired strength, starting with 1/2 teaspoons 

3 Store in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

(This recipe belongs to this website. I do NOT claim ownership!!!!)