Day 126: A Great Prank

In the package my mother sent me for my birthday was a bag of Vermont Coffee Company dark roast whole bean coffee. I was so excited! I love good coffee. As I went to put it away with our coffee stash, I glanced in the bag and saw that it was not coffee at all, but a bag of pearl tapioca my mom had put in there! So tricky! I laughed quite a lot over that one. She's wily, that Kathy Clarke. You've gotta watch yourself around her. 

The tapioca wasn't quite as random a gift as it sounds. The year after college, I lived at home with the aforementioned trickster and worked for Parker Restoration. For some reason, we got on a tapioca-making binge, and we would make it regularly, playing around with the ingredients. Vanilla bean? Yes, please! Maple syrup instead of sugar? How much is too much/not enough? It was a fun cooking challenge to try to create the perfect tapioca. 

Since I became lactose intolerant, I've started making it with almond milk and coconut milk (not as good as with real dairy, but close enough). Unfortunately, my family doesn't share my love for this oddly-textured pudding and I'm basically the only one in my house who will eat it. So I don't bother to make it often. But, since birthdays are a time for self-indulgence, I whipped up a batch of the delicious treat Sunday night. Thanks, Mom! 

I love how this looks like the moon.