Pinterest FAIL.

Yesterday I decided to try something new. Being a ridiculous coffee addict has created something of a Monster Mommy here in the Monster house. I don't function well without my coffee, and yesterday I used the last drop of coffee creamer that was available in my refrigerator. Now normal people would just use milk and sugar when they run out of creamer. Yeah, I used to do that. But Husband, being the delightful creature of habit that he is, will only use a flavored coffee creamer. This was ok for a long time, because Husband only drank coffee MAYBE once a week. Until his parents bought a Keurig.

Now don't get me wrong, those are some nifty coffee makers. But you stick a man, any man, in front of a gadget and of course he wants to see how it works. So gradually as the appeal of using that sneaky little machine grew, Husband was hooked. We'd be sitting at our own home, where we NEVER had coffee, and suddenly he would look up and say "I want some coffee." Out came the fancy (but normal) coffee pot I bought him last year for Christmas, the last time he went through a coffee drinking phase. 

Long story short, we both became coffee addicts, and of course it was just easier to pour some yummy chocolate flavored creamer in my cup instead of messing with milk and sugar.

Until I was the one who was hooked.

So yesterday, here I was savoring my half full cup of coffee, having used every bit of the Cinnabon creamer that I could shake into the cup, when I remembered a pin I pinned on my Pinterest board (try saying that ten times fast!). DIY Coffee creamer! Of course this would be cheaper than going out and buying $6.50 worth of creamer! Yes, $6.50, because we drink so much coffee that we go through two bottles of creamer in ONE WEEK. It's serious business. Anyhow, I'm reading the pin, and I'm thinking to myself, 

"What this is easy, mix some milk, some sweetened condensed milk...wait, shit I don't have that. Ok, google...How to make your own sweetened condensed milk. Awesome. All you need is some evaporated milk...well shykies, I gave all that to the food pantry at church because I NEVER USE IT!. Curse you evaporated milk. OK, Google. How to make your own sweetened condensed milk WITHOUT evaporated milk. Alright, water. Check. Sugar. Check. Butter. Check. Powdered milk, double check!"

So I set to work, diligently following the instructions. I wish I had pictures, because if you knew how many reviews said they burnt their SCM in the process of cooking it, well let's just say I'd love to be able to show you how I got it right on the first try.

Alright, SCM cooling in the fridge, back to the computer to check out that pin again. From there I had all the ingredients.So I'm checking out with flavors I want to do, and I decide on the strudel flavor. Now, this required cinnamon. Since the Cinnabon flavor is my current favorite creamer, I of course wanted THIS CREAMER. As I'm reading the comments I notice people talking about how they couldn't get the cinnamon to dissolve, and the author suggested heating it. Now, I've been cooking for my family for awhile so I know that it is always easier to get something to dissolve in a hot liquid. So it makes sense to me that I should just put the cinnamon in the sweetened condensed milk before it cools. I'm running like a crazy person, measuring my cinnamon grabbing the SCM and mixing. And mixing. AND MIXING. Because gosh darn it, I want some freaking coffee.
Well apparently, I have never seen cinnamon when it is dissolved. To me it looked pretty dissolved. I thought I was a freaking genius.

This is where things get dicey. See, I probably should have left the SCM in the fridge a little longer so that it would cool COMPLETELY like the directions said. But it was like, decently cool, so of course in my impatient, irrational mind that meant it was ready to use. I grabbed my 2 cups of measured out milk, my tsps of vanilla extract and almond extract, and my super cinnamon-y SCM, and I combined. Then I shook the living hell out of that creamer. I shook and shook and shook that creamer until it was combined to perfection.
Then I did a happy dance at my clever craftiness. I grabbed my pot of coffee (which had been sitting there with one more full happy cup, waiting and taunting me through this proccess) and my favorite coffee mug, and I poured a nice full cup of coffee. Then I added my homemade coffee creamer, and settled down in front of the computer to enjoy it while I perused the message boards.

Then, I took a sip.

Then I took Another Sip.

Then I got up and brushed my teeth and downed some water Just In Case I had the funky tastes in my mouth from sampling during the preparation process.

I took Yet Another Sip.

And my coffee cup sat there for the rest of the night as I sat in denial, telling myself I didn't really want that coffee anyway and THAT was the reason I couldn't finish it.

It couldn't possibly have been because all I could taste was Cinnamon. All I could feel in my mouth was Cinnamon. Lots and Lots of cinnamon.

So I guess, I'm not as genius as I thought, because friends, not following the "heating" instructions for the cinnamon was a big mistake. and I now have a bottle of homemade coffee creamer in my fridge that, while tasting better than milk and sugar, will sit there, probably until the end of time. 

And that concludes the story of my Pinterest Fail.