Before lunch, the free parking space had seemed fortuitous. After lunch — on a street-cleaning Wednesday — the tab came to free plus an $11 Uber ride, $60 parking ticket and $170 “relocation” fee.
As I directed the driver to spiral under Wacker Drive, we descended from plaza, to parking, to purgatory, to pound. One of my lunch companions, the one who doubles as daughter, mused: “It’s like you’ve been here before.”
Later, I showed my girl how to swirl coffee cubes and coffee beans into thick, sweet reprieve. The crunchy drink restored my mood, though not, I suspect, my street cred.
Crunchy Coffee
Prep: 5 minutes, plus time to freeze
Makes: 1 refreshing drink
Cold coffee
Half-and-half
Sugar
Vanilla
Chocolate-covered coffee beans
Freeze: Pour cold coffee into ice cube trays. Freeze solid. Pop out cubes. Store in a plastic bag in the freezer.
Measure: Choose a serving glass. Fill with coffee cubes. Half fill with half-and-half.
Swirl: Empty contents of the glass into blender. (If your blender has a single-serve carafe, use that.) Add 1-2 teaspoons sugar and a drop of vanilla. Swirl smooth.
Pulse: Drop in a handful of coffee beans. Pulse a few times to break up (but not pulverize) beans.
Serve: Scrape into serving glass. Enjoy.
About the Author