Oh no! I just realized that something went wrong with last Sunday’s auto-publishing, and my third Lazy Sunday post never went up! Quelle horreur! I’ve posted it now, so take a gander if you feel so inclined. (There’s a photo of a cat!)

On this particular Lazy Sunday, I am sitting at our kitchen island drinking coffee mixed with that pumpkin coconut caramel sauce I blogged about last week. My breakfast was half a grapefruit and half of the pumpkin creme doughnut we picked up yesterday. I’ll probably eat the rest of the grapefruit before embarking on my plans for the day, which are as follows:

1. Finish drafting an email of recommendations for things to do in Ireland for a friend who will be there for two weeks in October. (Lucky lady!)
2. Check out some thrift stores because my business casual wardrobe needs some autumnal augmentation.
3. Read! I’m behind on my Goodreads book goal for the year and need to catch up. :) (On that note, add me on Goodreads!)

Aaanyway. Time to answer some prompts for my final (!) MoFo installment of Lazy Sunday!

A food/ingredient you didn’t used to like but now you do; how did the transition happen?

I used to hate sweet potatoes. I know! It was that whole savory/sweet issue. I actually only started liking them in college—I blogged about the transition (complete with a craptastic photo taken on my dorm room bed) at my old blog. Basically, I think my tastebuds just grew up. :)

What’s your killer dish when you’re cooking for non-vegans?

Usually it’s a dessert of some kind. I’ve made (and blogged about) the raspberry chocolate chip blondie bars from VWaV a few times, and they’re always a crowd-pleaser. The stuffed mushrooms we served at our harvest party were a HUGE hit—I can’t wait to make them again.

What’s your newest foodie discovery and how did you discover it?

This is only a partially new discovery, but: Dave’s Coffee Syrup. Now, if you’re not from New England, you probably aren’t familiar with coffee syrup. It’s exactly what it sounds like, though—the coffee version of chocolate syrup. It’s a HUGE deal in Rhode Island; I grew up drinking coffee milk (milk + coffee syrup… heh), even though I was never its biggest fan (I preferred chocolate milk). The mass-produced brands (which are made in RI!) are typically heavy on the sugar and light on the caffeine.

Recently, though, a new coffee syrup started taking the coffee-milk world by storm. It’s free of corn syrup, and cold-brewed coffee is the second ingredient. My dad raved about it, so when we visited Dave’s Coffee last weekend (which I blogged about here—it’s where I had a fantastic soy latte), I picked up a jar of the mocha coffee syrup (it also comes in regular coffee, decaf, and vanilla). How could I resist when it has such killer packaging? I’m a sucker for quality design and branding.

S had never heard of coffee milk and was intrigued by my purchase. He tried it the other day, made with almond milk, and fell in love. And for good reason—this is quality syrup, much better than the sugary crap produced by the other brands. It has a price tag to match, but I think it’s worth it. I can’t wait to try it in other applications; the tag on the bottle suggests using it in a dirty espresso martini, drizzling it over ice cream, and many more mouth-watering ideas. And when I run out, I don’t have to wait till I’m back in RI to restock—you can order online. ;) (Bonus: Look at that great bottle it comes in! I can’t wait to use that for a homemade extract or liqueur.)

What are your answers to any of these questions? Have you had coffee milk? How should I use my coffee syrup? What are you doing this Sunday?