Half-Baked & Fully Brewed

Great name for a breakfast joint :) This is in Lincoln, NH, near Loon Mountain. They have really good baked goods, breakfast sandwiches, and fun fancy coffee drinks. They alse have a delicious-sounding lunch sandwich menu. And, in case that wasn't enough, they also have freezers full of family-sized ready-to-be-put-in-the-oven entrees (you can see one of the freezers behind Brian). Great idea, since this is in a vacation area where people rent condos. You can have a home-cooked meal without actually having to cook, unless you count pre-heating the oven as cooking. Next time we're up there, we'll definitely be trying them.

Caffeine Buzz

Brian and I just discovered a new (to us) coffee shop that is mostly on the way to work: Java Mama (129 Littleton Rd, Westford, MA 01886 978.692.0083). We've actually been meaning to go for quite a while, but we only remember on Sundays, when they're closed. Finally, we stopped on the way to work a few weeks ago. It was a procrastination tactic after digging ourselves out of the driveway after a snowstorm--we just weren't ready to go to work yet (although it was probably after 10:00 am!) Sometimes you just need to go in to work late, I think ;). Anyway, it totally made my week because they have coffee tabs!!! If you don't know what those are, they are tiny hard plastic sticker things that go over the drink opening in a take-out coffee cup. They're great because you keep them on the cup until you can safely drink your coffee (and don't end up spilling your coffee all over the car). Plus, they're fun since they come in all different colors and shapes--even holiday-themed ones (so far I have two valentine hearts and a monkey). And who can argue with fun? Especially on the way to work when you really just want to go back home and curl up on the couch, drinking hot chocolate and watching old movies. I had only ever seen coffee tabs at a tiny drive-up coffee place in Corvallis, OR (with the happiest coffee girl I have ever seen at 5:00 am), when my sister was in grad school at Oregon State University (Go Beavs!) I had recently been wondering if any other place in the world had them. Well, they have them at Java Mama's--hooray!!

Besides the joy of coffee tabs, they have several varieties of coffee brewed daily (which they may roast themselves, but that hasn't been confirmed) and fantastic scones. I am a total scone snob, and I really like the ones they make. They have a bunch of other pastries, but so far haven't been able to make myself order anything but their scones. The women who work behind the counter (and who I assume are responsible for the baked goods) are really friendly and nice, which is good to experience in the morning. They open at 6:30 am, so they're probably hyper-caffeinated by the time I stroll in after 9:00 am for my coffee and scone.

The one thing about this coffee shop that I don't like is their creepy sign--it's a hand-painted sign of a face with coffee bean eyes and big red lips and giant pearly whites. It's the teeth that get me, although I'm not sure why. I'll have to take a picture and add it to this post later in the week. If you can get past the sign (and it's probably just me who finds it creepy) the food and service are great.