As anyone who follows along on my meandering journey can tell you, I love resale shops. Jeremy and I recently did another round of the "Thrift Shop Tour," as we affectionately call our traipsing through the many locations Ann Arbor has to offer. And, as always, there was a stellar find at The Re-Use Center: These fabulous cups and saucers, featuring adjectives describing two of the critical ingredients for my morning coffee - "aroma" and "flavour."

There is much to be said for the first sip of coffee in the morning, isn't there? No matter what stresses there might be in my life (and there are sometimes many), and no matter how little sleep this infamous insomniac has found, my morning coffee is restorative on many levels. Aside from it being a comfort, my brain does not function properly until it is caffeinated.

I'm not a connoisseur or much of a pretentious snob - you'll never hear me describing coffee in wine-like terms, referring to hints of cherry or a spicy finish or whatever. But I do have a few standards. No Folgers, no Maxwell House, no instant or freeze-dried, thankyouverymuch. I don't like light or even medium roasts, as they have virtually no flavor; give me espresso beans or a gorgeous French roast, and I can make a mean cup of coffee. And if I have beans bearing the Fair Trade symbol, my conscience is as happy as my taste buds.

Admittedly, after I've made my nice strong coffee I add a fair amount of sugar and cream ... rather than just having a single "sweet tooth," I have 28 of 'em. (My wisdom teeth were pulled half my lifetime ago.) Yeah, I know it seems as though I'm slumming and that I'm desecrating my beloved coffee. I rather liken it to drinking melted coffee ice cream, though oddly enough I don't like iced coffee ... hmmm. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So, tell me - what's your favorite brew? How do you take your coffee? Are you a dunker, or would you rather not have doughnut or biscotti crumbs in your cup? Share with me ... preferably over a nice hot cup of coffee, and maybe a cupcake ... :)

(With thanks to The Tragically Hip and their song "Coffee Girl" for the title of this post.)

Mary Bilyeu has won or placed in more than 60 cooking contests and writes about her adventures in the kitchen. The phrase "You Should Only Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured next to the blog's title) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15 and is a wish for all her readers as they cook along with her ... may you always be happy here. Check out her blog -- Food Floozie -- in which she cooks, reviews restaurants, and generally enthuses and effuses over all things food-related. Or send an email to yentamary@gmail.com.