Cheapening a Cheap Date (Ode to a Mason Jar)

At first I hesitated to write this post: I didn't want to be sending out the impression to our friends/family that we have one small bag of rice to live off of for the month, and that we are currently accepting donations. I just think there's a lot to be said for doing things frugally...and since we've decided to be ultra frugal this month, I've been enjoying the challenge of trying to be more creative in doing things.
One of our favourite cheap dates has been the cafe date. It is exactly what it sounds like: visiting a cafe. Inexpensive, entertaining, and often productive (since Brian brings work). But in this month of austerity, we have even suspended cafe dates. As such, I wanted to find a way to recreate the cafe date at home. Yesterday was my first attempt at it. In preparation the day before, I baked healthy cookies, procured a Putumayo album by the name of "French Cafe" and collected some espresso drink recipes.
One useful frugal tidbit I picked up in my research was that there isn't much of a point in buying coffee that is specially labelled as "espresso." Any high quality, dark roast bean will do. Espresso refers strictly to the way in which it is brewed. Typically, one uses a dark roast, very finely ground, but that's not what makes it espresso. It's all in the brewing. We use one of these stovetop espresso makers:

Now, just a couple of days before Cafe Date, my milk frothing gadget bit the dust. And even though I was going to Ikea with a friend shortly after, and even though a new frother was only $3, it was simply not permissible during the month of austerity. Consequently, I ended up preparing flattes (flat lattes), but Brian didn't seem to mind. He was great about playing along with the indoor cafe. He did complain about the French music, and I explained that I thought lousy music was realistic since we often dislike the music we hear at the cafes we frequent. He countered that this was one advantage of the home cafe date, and since he made such a compelling point, I consented to change the station. We weren't even allowed to "go home" if we forgot something "at the apartment." Despite that Brian missed the people watching aspect of a real cafe, I think we had fun with it. But I can't leave well enough alone...
In trying to find a frugal way to froth milk, I came across the idea of using a mason jar. It almost sounded too good to be true: fill the jar with whatever amount of milk you desire (but don't exceed half the capacity of the jar), cover it tightly, and shake it for a full thirty seconds. Then microwave it for 30-45 seconds to stabilize the foam. And you know what? It works. (As a side note, I should mention that some fancy brands of milk will not froth for anything, like the Smart Balance milks. I should also mention that I tried the food processor to no avail. It's all about the mason jar).
So of course we had to repeat cafe date so I could attempt this. I ended up with so much foam that a regular coffee mug wouldn't hold it all. So of course I served our drinks in a mason jar. Thus, the mason jar was twice useful to this cause. Here are today's not so flat vanilla lattes:

Latte Recipe (for one serving)
2 oz brewed espresso
3 tbsp vanilla syrup
8 oz milk, frothed and heated (skim works much better than 2% or whole milk)

Vanilla Syrup Recipe
3/4 cup sugar
3/8 cup water
1/4 - 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
(This made enough syrup for 4-5 drinks)






I like the cross-section view that the jars give as well. We needed spoons to get all the foam out! So, all in all, I was pleased. Of course, I will keep tweaking Cafe Date. Perhaps next time I'll aim for something along these lines:

But for now, the dining table will have to do...