Slow Food and Slow Tea

This is a picture that was all cut out with scissors.  It is only about a foot square. It is an Old World  craft, although I am sure it is also practised here in the USA.

It’s another beautiful day in the neighborhood; warm, sunny, bright blue sky, great day to be out and about. My jaw no longer hurts from the tooth extraction and I can have hot tea today! The only real question is which?

Another flavored tea. I am trying to get through them and I am sorry I got whimsical and ordered so many. I really prefer plain teas, they have enough different flavors and are generally better teas. This one is Morning Meadow, from Blue Raven Teas. It is a green tea, with nice big leaves and it does indeed smell like all outdoors, with lots of additions, the clearest being dried apple pieces. It smells a bit of anise, pine, floral, apple - too much to clearly identify.



I brewed it up for about 2 minutes with 180 degree water. The resulting liquor is kind of an olive gold and smells like jasmine! And that is just what it tastes like - jasmine that is on the sweet side. No anise, pine or apple. Quel Surprise!



Alex Zorach’s blog - see at right - has a good article today on the Slow Food Movement, which I heartily endorse. Even when I was working and had kids we felt home cooked meals, together, were important. There is so much help these days from people like Rachel Ray and many others on the Food Channel and in magazines, so we can cook fast, but good and take the time to appreciate the food and each other.



As Alex said, this can apply to tea as well: taking the time to appreciate what we are drinking. Most of the time, I do that, savoring the dry leaves, the aroma, the pots and cups, the taste. I like knowing where my tea comes from, how it is made, who makes it (if possible). Sometimes, my brain is too full of other things and I just don’t care. There is room for both, but I am in trouble if the latter is always the case. Speaking from a life that is closer to the end, rather than the beginning - life isn’t worth much unless you appreciate its components. Tea time can be a brief time in your day that allows you to do just that.



If you are into herbal teas, there is a good article on the Herb Gardener’s Blog http://theherbgardener.blogspot.com/ .  It is about harvesting the herbs, but I am sure you could look them up on the blog and find a wealth of information. Be prepared, the top logo is a large snail.