Am I the only one around here who's totally fed up with all the cold weather? I don't need it to be hot, mind you, but the daffodils are decidedly less enjoyable in jeans and sweaters than in sundresses and tee shirts. Meeting with Dave Chapman from Bean Traders gave me hope, though: talking about the recipe that he's contributing to the Starting Fresh cookbook for chocolate habanero iced coffee was almost enough to make me feel the warm sun on my face. Almost.

But! I had so much fun riding around in the Bean Traders VW Bus ("Garcie," short for Garcia), meeting Dave's lovely family (if you don't know the story of how he and his wife Christy met, you should read about it here), and making his portrait that the cold weather didn't matter. If you've never been to his Durham coffee institution, put it on your list.

Oh, and I hear they have homemade waffles every Sunday.

xox,

annemie