We got covid

This post is more for my own records than anything else. I just feel like...I don't know, it feels important to document it, or something.

Three years almost to the day that we were sent home from spring break and told we should expect not to return, Matt and I came down with covid.

The moment we learned Matt had gotten a place in Seattle FD, we defaulted back to being extremely cautious. We'd been a little more lenient with our masks and such, but we knew that covid could set him back and we wanted to do everything in our power to ensure he got through drill school unscathed.

Despite our best efforts, a recruit came down with covid and spread it to three others in the cohort. Matt was one of them.

2021 in Review

Well, it's that time of year again. The time to reflect back on the previous 12 months and try to see some patterns, or make some sense of how things went. The truth is, this post is really hard to write because this year just feels so huge in many ways. I had some of my deepest lows this year, but I'm finishing it on one of my highest highs.

There's so much to explore here that I think I may need a second post to really focus on just the last few months because something has truly seemed to shift for me for the first time in a long time, and August–December deserve a little more depth.

I went back and read my recap of 2020, and it's amazing how just last year COVID was new and unexpected and unknown, and now it just feels like part of life. These last two years have been simply indescribable, but I need to try.

So, for now, here's a "brief" rundown of my 2021.

January

I started the year strong. I was in the midst of the Zooma Run Winter Warrior Challenge, so being active every day was an expectation that was becoming a habit. I enjoyed marking off each day on the calendar, and this realization — that checking a box gives me a sense of accomplishment — eventually led me to get a dry erase fridge calendar that has made a huge difference for me this year.

It's funny, but I've been running now for over a decade and I'm still discovering things about myself and what works for me. This year I also realized that I'd forgotten a lot of basics. I'm thankful for this blog because, although I use it less frequently these days, it's nice to go back and see where I've been and how far I've come.

Those lessons were especially necessary over the summer, but let's not skip spring.

February

After an extensive interview process, I finally started a new job (and my new career)! Finding work in a new field after over a decade in education felt weird and amazing. Liberating. I feel like...wow, I finally got out! 

For awhile balancing my new schedule with running wasn't too difficult, but when the Winter Challenge ended on Valentine's Day, I found myself slowing down. Early mornings and full days took a lot out of me, and after seven months of basically making my own schedule, it was quite an adjustment.

My birthday weekend brought heavy snow and I got to enjoy a snow day for the first time since childhood. The snow delayed my birthday plans (cake and a birthday run) but it ended up being a pretty good day after all.

Distance can't stop us from celebrating together!

March/April

I learned to become a morning runner and to actually enjoy running before work. I was waking up naturally with the sun anyway! Between February and April, I averaged 2-3 miles about three times a week, and I was going over to Scott and Robby's to use the Peloton weekly.

My calendar started very basic and got more detailed as my mindset progressed this year.

In March I began keeping a magnetic monthly calendar to help track my workouts and it made a big difference...but it also went through some evolution between March and December. It's a silly, basic thing, but I need to make note of it because it made the single most impactful change to my fitness this year. The impact didn't happen right away, but it made a big difference in the long-term.

I also got my first Pfizer COVID vaccines in March and April and hosted Passover, which was really pretty wonderful to experience for the first time in our new state.

May

Then in May — really in mid-April — the wheels fell off. I found myself swept up in a depressive episode, uninterested in waking up early or leaving the house after work. 

I absolutely know what caused this episode, but it's not something I want to post here on the blog. The important thing here is to know that I began looking for a therapist. Although at the time everyone had waiting lists a month long, I did eventually find and click with someone who really helped me sort out all the stuff going on in my head. But in May, I struggled.

Despite lacking motivation, I tried to get outside and get some natural movement in. Easy hikes and walks were key.

I ran a grand total of three times and completed three Peloton rides in May. But I wasn't hard on myself. In the past, time off has always made me feel guilty and worthless; this time, it was like I knew my body just needed a break, and I let myself wallow a bit.

June

Then, in June, Scott and Robby had houseguests all month, and I didn't want to bother them. That meant no Peloton usage, but it also meant that my desire to move, which began to resurface, had to be satisfied by running. I put my shoes back on and got to work.

The runs were slow and short, most under two miles, but moving again felt good. 

Two big things led me to a bit of an epiphany in June. First, my friend Kim passed away. Then, I finally found a therapist. These two events helped shift my perspective on things, and I realized that I've kept this blog for years and all my social media supports it — everything is running-related. I began to feel I'd lost the joy, the purpose behind running, that I was running to post about it for others, rather than because it was something for me. 

I took a hard step back from Instagram and suddenly the joy flooded back in. 

July

Even before I moved to Seattle, I began following local running Facebook groups. For months, I watched the Seattle Green Lake Runners Group and wished I had the guts to join them. In July, with the encouragement of my therapist (and Matt's handholding) I finally made myself join a Saturday morning run. I didn't meet anyone that day, but the fear subsided, and I finally began to make an effort to make some friends here.

My first time joining the group by myself.

I joined the group twice more by myself before I met a mini group of regulars who ran at my pace and were aiming for similar distances as I was. Soon, Saturdays with the SGLRG became an expectation, solving two problems I was having: accountability and loneliness.

August

By August, I felt back at it. I was consistently meeting some of the women from my mini group on Thursday mornings for a pre-work run, as well as joining the larger group for long runs on Saturdays. I began building my mileage for the first time in a year.

The Saturday group is so big, it basically feels like running a race.

In July, Scott and Robby finally moved into their new house, and that meant I could start using the Peloton again without feeling like a nuisance. I staked out Tuesday evenings as my riding day, and the rest of my schedule fell into place.

September

In August a friend invited me to a Facebook group focused on doing Peloton strength workouts, and in September I finally began doing those workouts. Incorporating the strength calendar provided in the group rounded out my weeks.

For the first time in my life, I began to enjoy strength workouts and cross-training. I've never been more consistent than I am now, not even when I was training for marathons! Who am I?!

At first I was only tracking that activities had been completed; when I felt ready for it, I began tracking mileage and Peloton ride durations, too.

Back on track and feeling stronger than ever, Tall Sarah from my Thursday running group raised the idea of running a 10k on Halloween. That got me thinking about preparing for such a race, and I went ahead and signed up for the Run Scared 10k and then, wanting a chance to prepare, the Where's Wenda 5k on October 10.

In the midst of that, I found myself scrolling back through the blog and reading my race recaps, in an effort to remember how to prepare for race day. Soon I was simply clicking "next", reading through old entries at random, remembering that I used to actually know some stuff about running. What a strange feeling, to become aware of how much you've forgotten.

October

Anyway, October rolled around. Tall Sarah had a groin injury but Standard-Sized Sarah ran both races with me. She and I shocked ourselves with our race results for the 5k. Note to self: consistency and running hills pays off.

This was also the first time Sarah and I hung out after a run!

The 10k proved more difficult, but it still felt great to be incorporating long runs back into my schedule.

November

From October to December, my months just kept improving. I was incredibly consistent in all of my workouts, sticking to my schedule and feeling so proud and fulfilled every time I added a workout to my calendar.

I missed only two of my planned workouts in November and raced a 5k on Thanksgiving with Matt and Sarah, shaving 9 seconds off my average pace since October.

Also in October, got my COVID booster (Moderna) and enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving and Hanukkah at Scott and Robby's. 

As for my vaccines, I never had any side effects from any of them, which I'm hopeful is a good sign that my body doesn't feel much impact from COVID. As time goes on, I am losing hope that we'll ever be out of this pandemic, and I wonder what the future will look like in a country closing in on a million deaths and millions more impacted by long COVID.

December

So here I am in December, feeling determined, committed, strong, and hopeful...and actually enjoying adding variety to my workouts (again, who am I?!) and working out six days a week. This is the strongest month I've had all year, with the highest running mileage and strongest commitment to being happy and balanced.

My favorite holiday tradition, year three.

I have been working to shift my mentality when it comes to "fitness" and all that, but maybe that's best left for another post.

This month we got some major, record-breaking snowfall and for the first time I actually tried running in sub-freezing temperatures on icy roads, and it really wasn't so bad. In fact, it's kind of fun!

Not pictured: the screws in the bottom of my shoes to give me traction on the ice!

Work-wise, things feel good. I'm enjoying working remotely, I like my colleagues, and I'm constantly learning new skills. I've already put in PTO requests for 2022 so I can brave COVID-era travel and visit family this spring.

Washington really does feel like home, now, and there are some things I hope to see in our future here, but I refuse to jinx 2022 so all I'll say is that I'm looking forward to another year in Seattle.

ABK

Next Year In Person

Passover is a holiday centered around a few key themes: sacrifice, preparedness, and liberation.

It is a story that features a hero with a disability who finds his courage with the help of his family and his faith, perseveres, and ultimately prevails against tyranny.

It is a story that teaches us to fight oppression with every means we have; it calls upon us to identify personally with the subjugation of others and fight theirs as we would our own.

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Last year, we skipped Passover. It was out of an abundance of caution (remember those days?), when Covid hadn't really come to our corner of the US yet but was enough of a threat that we wanted to adhere to that very Jewish-feeling aphorism: better safe than sorry.

We told each other that in 2021, we'd have Passover together.

While that didn't come to pass, the spring of 2021 is starting to look hopeful. As I prepped and planned to host Passover at Scott and Robby's (it would be the first year they'd joined us for this particular holiday), I received a notification that I was eligible to sign up for available appointments for my Covid vaccine.

The vaccination date was Saturday, March 27, the same day I was planning to host our Seder.

I couldn't say no, of course. I booked a morning appointment, and that was how it came to pass that my first step toward liberation from Covid-induced fear, anxiety, isolation, and uncertainty coincided with a holiday that pretty much beats you over the head with the significance of liberation in all forms.

Our Seder went over well. There were only four of us, but I didn't skimp on the cooking. We had all the usual: matzo ball soup, charoset, brisket, and — of course — my flourless chocolate cake.

Scott and Robby were good sports about reading from the Haggadah. They even picked up Manishewitz! Alas, I was unable to find gluten free gefilte fish, so they were spared that particular aspect of Ashkenazi cuisine.

Note to self: whip this batter less intensely next year!

Over all, it was a perfect day, and now I can start to believe that next year things will be back to normal enough that I'll be able to make a trip to Florida to celebrate with my parents and siblings, my nephew, my aunt and uncle, and maybe even my cousins. 

I've got my fingers crossed and a sore arm to give me hope.

ABK

Trying Morning Runs Again

Years ago, I forced myself to be a morning runner. I'm not a morning person and tackling that training plan went against every natural instinct I had. Still, three or four days a week I met with a friend at 4:30am and ran four miles before work. Those runs, plus my weekend long runs, led me to my first successful half marathon.

Eight years ago, I tried my hand at pre-work workouts. They paid off.

But honestly, waking up that early just wasn't sustainable for me. As soon as I finished that half marathon, I switched back to being an evening runner.

Working at a school calls for an early wakeup. One perk I was looking forward to in starting a new career was a later start time; paired with my current situation working from home, I'm finally reaping that benefit.

My alarm for work is set for 7:30am, but I've been waking up naturally around sunrise at 6:30am. Every night last week (my first full week of training), I really struggled to get out to run. I've been too tired to use the Peloton. This evening exhaustion, along with this apparently new, natural wakeup time, is what put the idea in my head that I should try morning runs again.

I've been consistent and dedicated in my workouts since November and I don't want to lose progress, so this week I've set "morning run" alarms for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Yesterday was my first day trying it; I woke up naturally well before my running alarm even went off. I lay in bed for awhile, recalling that my reluctance to run in the morning is also due to temperatures when I saw it was only 34°, but ended up dressed and out the door right on time. I had committed myself to it, so I got it done.

I had forgotten how sluggish I feel at the start of a morning run. My pace was noticeably slower than I've been running lately, but still faster than what I consider my normal pace. I ran two miles and had plenty of time to get ready for the workday.

I felt the effects of the run all day: I was in a good mood, I was more focused, and my energy levels didn't crash in the afternoon. After work, I was able to relax without feeling guilty for missing a workout.

So, I'm going to keep at this. I'll see if I'm in a place now where morning runs make sense for me. If I continue to wake up easily before my alarm, great; in theory, if I get up as soon as my eyes open at 6:30, I could easily run three or four miles before work. 

Things may change when we go back to the office, which could happen in the next few months if this vaccine rollout continues to go smoothly, but for now I'm taking advantage of an early sunrise, a later start-time, and a 10-second commute.

I have high hopes for this new habit, and I hope the foundation of dedication I've built for myself in the last few months pays off.

ABK

A Year Like No Other

Well, this certainly isn't a year we'll easily forget. 

For one thing, it was the longest year on record; I'm pretty sure that's science. 

I Googled "the longest year on record" as a joke and this came up, so TIL I guess!

There were a lot of lows in 2020, but it's worth looking back and summing up the year, perhaps even more than usual because of its historical significance. I haven't written much about the pandemic and how it's affected me, but I can't help thinking I'll be thankful for a post like this when 2030 rolls around and I want to look back and remember what 2020 was really like.

This Year in Review post is going to be pretty different from those I've written in the past, but I guess that's to be expected!

January: 2020 started off like most years do. I was glad to see 2019 end and was feeling hopeful. I started the year with an emotionally charged first run and a plan to race again in 2020.

Then, I had a bad flu and struggled with getting back to running after it resolved, but friends helped me through. Kristina sent me her husband's A1A 5k medal to get me moving, and my desire to see Jessie kicked my Gasparilla training into gear.

I don't think I had COVID in January, as some have suggested, but this was the first time I've had the flu in years and I had forgotten how bad it is for my asthma. When COVID rolled around in March, my experience in January fed into how seriously I took it.

February: I managed to cobble together a training plan for Gasparilla and celebrated a wonderful birthday with friends. I had clued them in to the likelihood of our move, swearing them to secrecy, and knowing it might be my last chance to celebrate with them in person made it extra meaningful.

My last run with Elizabeth.

When Gasparilla came around, I felt ready, and so glad I hadn't backed out. I had a blast hanging out with Jessie and surprised myself on race day! It was a great weekend.

Early February was also when I finally I broke the news that I may be moving to my principal; I promised to keep her in the loop as far as that decision went. This was the scariest professional conversation I've ever had to have, but it went well and I left the meeting feeling relieved and excited for the future.

At the time, our LAC team was still scheduled for the ASCD conference in LA; it hadn't yet been canceled despite COVID in the area. My parents voiced their concerns about me going. A week later, our team canceled our plans to attend, and then the conference itself canceled as well. COVID was very much in the news, but felt far away.

March: March 2020 was...a lot.

This month, concerns about COVID began to mount; it no longer felt abstract or far away.

Just before things got serious, we listed our house. I remember we met with our real estate agent without masks on, but by the time showings began, we were asking potential buyers to use Clorox wipes. Details about how COVID spread were still unclear.

On March 13th, we left school for spring break with notice that we would not be returning to campus the following week. We thought we'd be out until April 15, but we ended up never returning that school year.

Rather than spend the week off relaxing, my teachers and I spent a lot of time prepping for a sudden shift to virtual learning. Things were absolutely hectic and stressful, but if I'm entirely honest, the chance to work from home was welcome. Having been on the fence about leaving my job and feeling burnt out, this gave me a bit of a reprieve and a way to refocus my mindset. The adjustment was hard, but there were perks.

On the house-selling front, we had an offer on the table a week after spring break ended, after our second showing. (I spent some "working from home" time working in my car in a parking lot during showings!) After some back-and-forth, we accepted an offer; knowing we wouldn't be ready to leave Florida until summer, we began the desperate search for a short-term rental we could get into before we closed on the sale, which would have been incredibly stressful even without the added unknown of COVID. Still, we made it work and somehow took that next big step toward Seattle.

At the time, our plans weren't set in stone. Pretty much every night between March and July, Matt and I discussed waiting one more year (because, COVID) or just taking the leap and making the move.

Running became all about unwinding.

During this time, stores were facing a toilet paper shortage. The previous week, I'd bought a pack because we needed it; it was funny to feel really secure in knowing I was all set on paper products and Clorox wipes. At this point we still believed we'd be in a two-week lockdown and then things would return to normal. I was sure we were prepared for two weeks of solitude. The innocence, seriously!

I canceled my trip to see Stephanie, Gordon, and Wyatt, thinking it would be safer to see them in the summer before we left. Of course, this didn't happen, and I regret not seeing them when it was still relatively safe to do so. 

Also in March, I took over the Skirt Sports Instagram and my interview aired on Nicole DeBoom's podcast. I got a ton of positive feedback from people who felt impacted by my story; it was definitely kind of nerve-wracking but I enjoyed the outcome. 

So basically March can be summed up by that old saying: growth is what happens when you step outside your comfort zone.

April: Lockdown continued. Working from home continued. I came to terms with the fact that my relationship with running was in a different place now, and that I was kind of over building distance and doing races. When I look at my stats for April-September, I see a drastic decrease in mileage. I was pretty much running two miles a few times a week to unwind, but that was all.

Despite this huge dip, I never felt like I was slacking off. Priorities and needs shifted a lot this year.

With closing looming, we got rid of tons of things, downsizing all our furniture and various things that just seem to collect when you have the space to store it all. On the day we closed and moved out, I sat in Zoom meetings in the morning while Matt dealt with the movers, then helped schlep a few carloads of things to the condo.

At 3:00pm on April 31st, we said goodbye to our first home.

May: More lockdown, now in our rented two-bedroom condo. Our quest to downsize continued as the school year drew to a close.

I was getting Zoom fatigue from hour-long meetings four or five times a day, and running continued to be an outlet. Matt and I did well in our new tiny space, and spent lots of time looking for places to rent in Seattle while watching Bones reruns. I never got into baking sourdough, but I did make a couple loaves of banana bread.

My biggest personal stressor was deciding if Seattle was happening or not. I just wanted a plan. I couldn't deal with the uncertainty anymore. Finally, I pulled the trigger; I told Matt we had sold the house and were renting this condo until the end of July, and that meant we were moving. We had to find a place and make it work.

I let my principal know and she planned for my last official day to be July 31st. After 11 years at BSCS, I was moving on; telling her made it real. I told my closest friends and my parents that the decision had been made. Seattle was underway, but was mostly still a secret.

June: I came clean (mostly via social media) about leaving my school and Florida, and finished out the end of a very weird school year. I was spending hours of my days job searching in Seattle, but decided in June that it was time to take a breather. After months of constant worry and anxiety, it was time to just go with the flow.

Now that the decision had been made, whether or not I had a job waiting for me, I felt like a burden had been lifted.

July: July was a whirlwind! After months of online searches and FaceTime tours, Matt and I got lucky and found a place we wanted to rent; Scott and Robby vetted it for us and we made our deposit via Venmo to secure it that same day. Knowing we had a teeny tiny studio waiting for us, the move felt more real.

We began decluttering in earnest, planning the logistics of moving, and preparing to say goodbye. Looking forward to an uncertain future, I found myself constantly soul-searching. Who was I, if not a teacher? What would be next?

All the while, COVID was spreading like wildfire. The idea of driving across the country really freaked me out, but we researched how to travel safely during COVID and felt we could make it work.

Matt and I had been talking for years about having a big 10th anniversary party, and in early 2020 we thought an anniversary/goodbye bash would be a great idea. Obviously that was scrapped. (We celebrated our anniversary with a homemade cake, nice wine, and Hamilton on Disney+.)

I had a couple masked/outdoor/distanced goodbye parties, gave away the last of our big furniture, then packed our cars and our cube and hit the road for Sarasota. I made so many little trips to bring things to Elizabeth, it almost felt like I was forgetting them on purpose to have an excuse to see her. After one final trip to give her a coat and some purses, we broke down and hugged each other before I left for good.

Here's a detail I don't want to forget: when throwing things out that final night, I was wearing Matt's wedding band on my forefinger. I realized, after throwing the last bag of garbage into the dumpster, that the ring was missing. I retraced my steps in the dark, but couldn't find it. I went to Matt, sobbing, apologizing for losing his ring.

I hadn't heard the ring make a sound when it came off, so I assumed it had landed gently in one of the garbage bags I had been stuffing, particularly one with old bedding in it. We decided to check the garbage bags I'd put in the dumpster, starting with the most recent. Pretty much the moment we tore open the bag, Matt spotted it. It had slipped off my finger into the bag and was sitting neatly on top. That's good luck!

It's also ten years since he last lost it on a beach on St. Augustine at dusk, and miraculously found it. I guess we have this to look forward to every ten years.

August: We spent a little more than a week in Sarasota, staying with my parents. It was hard to spend time with family and see people to say goodbye with the concern about COVID. Our plan to have a ten year anniversary/goodbye party was squashed.

Leaving Sarasota was bittersweet. After so much time at my parents', I felt ready to leave, but my mind was kind of in denial that we'd be going so far away. I was excited for my adventure, but leaving Sarasota felt less final than leaving Fort Myers.

Matt and I drove separately, which wasn't as tough as everyone expected it to be. I listened to music and my audiobook and annoyed him over the walkie-talkie. It was great!

After an eight-day cross-country trip that included visits to national parks and seeing an old friend, Matt and I arrived in Seattle. We were lucky that all the things that can go wrong on a 3000 mile road trip...didn't.

The process of moving in was a lot — we spent the first few nights on an inflatable mattress from Scott and Robby — but eventually we got things in order. There were some moments that we really worried we wouldn't fit everything in the studio, but finally things were in their places and we were so relieved and happy to be home.

Within days of arriving we experienced some of this summer's protests, as a small but vocal group of protestors were escorted down our residential street by SPD, who were clearing a vigil.

With COVID restrictions in place, we didn't get to explore the city or anything, but we checked out local parks (where one of the first things we saw was naked people playing Ultimate Frisbee) and immediately took advantage of the nice weather to start fulfilling all our hiking dreams.

September: We experienced our first fire season, staying cooped up inside for days on end because of the smoke. September also brought more job searching, the decision to freelance more seriously, and a return to running.

The rest of fall and winter passed uneventfully. I finally found some places to run and my legs and lungs acclimated to the hills and cooler weather. Matt has been paddling constantly and meeting new people through his paddling groups — always at least six feet apart.

I spent most of September and October completely wowed by the changing leaves. I was still in awe that we had actually made this move and live here now!

We had our first holiday season here, which was welcome in a way. Rather than interrupting the process of settling in with a visit to Florida, it gave us a chance to do things our way in our new city.

In the best of times, we had hoped moving to Seattle would mean a chance to immediately indulge in life in the city, exploring local bars and restaurants, finding live music, etc. Instead, we've been very isolated. We see Scott and Robby and no one else. There hasn't been a chance for me to make friends in local running groups or anything yet. I'm not lonely, but I feel like I'm back in a holding-pattern, which is frustrating.

But hopefully in 2021, that will change.

We are hopeful that we'll get our vaccines soon and that life can return to some semblance of normal, and that we'll finally be able to take advantage of our new state. Being in lockdown has made time simultaneously slow down and speed up; it's hard to believe we've been here almost five months!

As for 2021, I'm unwilling to make any plans or set any goals. One thing I appreciated about 2020 was that it gave me an opportunity to finally chill out for a bit. Being unemployed and stuck inside forced me to finally unwind after an exhausting decade and a mentally traumatizing last four years.

This New Year, we sat on the front porch and kept our eyes peeled for fireworks while drinking Prosecco. We stayed out for nearly an hour, just enjoying the night and taking it all in. We're starting the new year in Seattle after years of wishful thinking. Whatever 2021 brings, I know it will be different from anything we've experienced before.

I wrote a little while ago about feeling like I'm finally rediscovering myself, and I know that's definitely true. I feel like a different person from who I've been, but in a more authentic way. It's like waking up.

I'm taking this mindset of embracing freedom and going with the flow into the new year. 

We'll see what 2021 has in store, but I'm not really thinking about it too much. For now, I'm just living in the present.

ABK

Making that Dalgona Coffee Stuff with Drip Coffee

Isolation really brings out the domesticity in people, doesn't it? I guess there's something to be said for boredom and creativity.

I've been seeing Dalgona Coffee all over the internet, as I'm sure you all have as well. Given that we're taking isolation really seriously, I refuse to go out and buy instant coffee when I usually make drip. It seems like a waste of money just to experiment with a coffee I'll rarely drink - I prefer mine black.

But Matt likes cold, sweet coffee and after seeing my friend Kim post her results, I was intrigued. She sent me an article that covers making this frothy coffee with regular drip, so I figured I'd test this method.

I whipped this for about 13 minutes at the highest speed.

From the article, I knew the whipping process would take twice as long and the coffee wouldn't get nearly as stiff as with instant. The first round I tried, I used 2 tbsp each coffee and sugar. The volume wasn't quite enough in the stand mixer and the result was thick but runny.

As you can see, frothy but not thick. I'm using oat milk here.

I made a second batch using 3 tbsp coffee and sugar, and this batch aerated much better; the whisk attachment on the stand mixer had a little more to work with!

You can tell this one clung to the sides of the bowl and the whisk more.

Second batch (left) vs. first batch (rested)

The result was the texture of thick cream - like a melted ice cream instead of a mousse. Think melty marshmallow. It definitely wasn't runny anymore and stuck to the spoon, especially after some refrigeration. The flavor was incredibly sweet and not very coffee-y because I hadn't bothered to make my coffee stronger than usual. Next time I want to play with this recipe, I'll make a small pot of very concentrated coffee and go from there.

The second batch was still pourable, but left a thick layer behind on the spoon. I think melted marshmallow is the best texture comparison.

This was yummy, simple, and fun. It makes plenty of leftovers, which I've refrigerated for use over the next couple days. I also stuck some in the freezer to see if would make a coffee granita of sorts. (The outcome was more like a super soft and sweet ice cream.)

Frozen Dalgona

If you're bored and looking for something fun to make at home, this is a treat, but I'll stick to my black coffee in the morning.

ABK