Happy National Coffee Day!

In honor of National Coffee Day, you can enjoy some of these great deals at your favorite coffee retailer.

Dunkin' Dounuts: Get a free medium cup of Dunkin' Donuts hot or iced dark roast coffee. Limit one per guest, and is available at participating locations.

Peet's Coffee and Tea: Get a free small cup of Peet's Major Dickason Blend with any purchase of a baked good, oatmeal or fresh food item.

Krispy Kreme: Get a free small coffee and an original glazed donut!

Tim Hortons: Get any size coffee in Regular or Dark Roast for just $1 at participating U.S. restaurants.

Whole Foods: The grocery store is celebrating all month long with 25 cent cups of 12-ounce coffee.

Caribou Coffee: Coffee with a cause. Instead of giving people free coffee, for every cup of Amy's Blend purchased on Sept. 29th, Caribou will donate a cup of coffee to nurses and families in cancer centers throughout the country.

Enjoy your day with a good cup of coffee! I love Caribou's tagline....Life is short. Stay awake for it.

FOODBUZZ: Tastemaster with Peet's Coffee

A few weeks ago I received two bags of Peet's Coffee and a travel tumbler from Foodbuzz.com. These gifts were received as part of their Tastemaster program with Peet's Coffee. All participants were asked to pair the coffee with a brunch or dessert item and post about it in our blog.

I decided to create a Pecan Coffee Cake. I paired the coffee cake with Peet's Cafe Domingo Coffee. The coffee is smooth, balanced and medium-bodied. I thought it would pair well with the coffee cake. I decided to add a tablespoon of the ground coffee to the coffee cake mixture to give it a slight coffee taste. The coffee cake is quite delicious and it goes well with Peet's Cafe Domingo coffee.

Peet's Coffee would like me to pass along a coupon worth up to $3.00 when shared with three friends. Click here to take advantage of this great offer!

Here is the recipe to my Pecan Coffee Cake:

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon Peet's Cafe Domingo Coffee grounds
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract                
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 9x13 inch pan with aluminum foil, and lightly grease with vegetable oil or cooking spray. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sour cream, then beat in sugar and Peet's Cafe Domingo Coffee grounds. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. By hand, fold in the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. To make the Pecan Topping: In a medium bowl, mix together brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over cake batter in pan.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, and remove foil.

FOODBUZZ: Tastemakers with Peet's Coffee

Today I received this great package in the mail from Foodbuzz.com! As part of their Tastemakers program, I received a bag of Peet's Café Domingo coffee and a bag of Café Solano coffee. Both are medium roast blends. Café Domingo is described as "a blend of Central and South American coffees that is smooth, balanced and medium-bodied with more pure coffee taste."  Café Solano is described as "a blend of African, Indo-Pacific and South American coffees that is lively and aromatic." Peet's experts describe it as a world blend with floral notes and a subtle fruit essence for a lively, yet rounded cup.

I also received a coffee tumbler! Now I need to come up with a good brunch or dessert pairing for the coffees to post to the blog. I'll probably lean more towards a dessert, as I already have a few good ideas. This package arrived just in time for National Coffee Day which is this Thursday, September 29th!