Tea, Tea and Then Tea

Ah, patriotism!  It rings out every fourth of July, as it should.  It often is overly sentimental, and for me, a bit much.  I am patriotic, just quietly.  But I did go to a July 4th concert of choral music in a small town near us.  It was excellent.  Spirited, changeable and just plain fun.  Many fitting reminders of those who have held this land dear for the nearly 300 years the white man has been here. Except for the Civil War, close enough relatives have fought in every one from King Phillip's to Vietnam.  I wish we would get out of the business of war and that our future history would be written about great achievements, not on the bodies and minds of young men and women.

I have been savoring the Twining's Early Grey decaf ice tea I wrote about last time.  It really is lovely.  Everything about it just comes together perfectly.  I like that it is decaf - I can drink more of it and in the summer, one needs to drink a lot.

I had a thought about making a slush or sorbet or granita, whichever you might like.  If you made a strong lemon scented tea or a lemon tisane and combined that with some sugar syrup and watermelon, wouldn't that be good and refreshing?  How about a jasmine tea with some candied ginger?  Rose Congou and rosewater?  You could make them as ice pops, too.  I think the black tea as ice pops would be more appealing.  At least to me.

I made a pound cake and flavored it with some Czar Nikolas Green tea, finely ground.  It is a large recipe, so I used 3 tablespoons and added a very little lemon flavoring.  It is excellent!  It has a somewhat mysterious flavor, with the citruses coming through and just a hint of the green.

I have a lot of old tea that is just too past its prime to use.  I am saving it in a canister and when it is cooler and rainy, I am again going to mix it with clover seed and try again to do something more about my lawn's bare patches.  It really works to help mulch the seed.  My very worst patch, which was all bare scree last year, has almost totally filled in and I am very proud of myself.  A great deal of the lawn is now clover and it smells wonderful for weeks..  I have allysum around the lavender bed and in a window box, plus some scented day lilies, so the front door opens on loveliness.

The pillars of Ischia.  Looks old and historic at first glance, but it is really just concrete supports for a car park..