I know what you’re saying. “Kat, you’re blogging again? It’s only been, like, months. You stink at blogging.”

Patience, people! If I’m not here, just check my Writing page or Twitter feed. It’s not that I haven’t been writing – I just have been writing a lot for others.

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I have become a bit of a kitchen barista. Since I was a teenager, a part of me has wanted to spend a spell behind an espresso machine. This dream was fueled by my (infrequent) teenage visits with my friends to Moonbeans, a coffee shop on the corner of University and Atlantic Avenues in my hometown of Rochester, NY. (The awesome Starry Nights Cafe is now in its place.)

The dream was reborn by my visit last week to Southern California, where I became enamored with The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf – aka, the official coffee shop of Olympic Gold Medalist gymnast Nastia Liukin, who loves to Instagram every single time she visits. There was one within two blocks of my hotel, so while my husband was working (we were out there for his work) and I was left to my own devices, I wandered over there thinking, “Well, if it’s good enough for a famous gymnast, it’s good enough for me.”

Holy smokes. The Coffee Bean is absolutely addicting. It makes my past addiction to Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee look tame.

My first Iced Blended Coffee from the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Screw the calories – this thing is worth it.

No wonder a gymnast loves it. It’s straight caffeine with sugar. Down one of their lattes and you don’t need any food or drink for the rest of the day. You’re ready to vault for hours on end.

The Coffee Bean’s trademark is their vanilla powder. It’s blended into many of their lattes and is one of two key ingredients in their well-known ice blended coffees. Luckily, you can buy their vanilla powder in cans, and I was able to bring some back to Salem with me.

Don’t mind the dent – that’s what happens when you put the can in your checked luggage.

I have been experimenting with my Keurig machine and the powder, and I’ve stumbled upon the best homemade latte recipe ever. I take two and a half tablespoons of the powder (I know that seems like a lot, but the packaging on the powder recommends to use more and I’m trying to conserve it), 2 ounces of warm milk, and a small brew of coffee from my Keurig machine (this morning I used Dunkin’ Donuts Pumpkin Spice, because that’s all I have right now.) I dump everything in my blender, run for 20 seconds on blend and another 20 seconds on liquify (with the lid on very tight so I don’t splatter and burn myself.)

Volia! A addicting homemade latte that tastes almost as good as the ones I had at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in Huntington Beach, CA.

(But if anyone would like to bring a franchise here to Massachusetts, I would be forever grateful. Across from the Herald, please.)

(Until then, if you want to buy me more vanilla powder, pure coffee extract or winter dream tea, their online store is here. You think I’m lying. Those are the only thing on my holiday gift list.)