Thursday, September 22, 2011

False Alarm

This is the pulpit in a small but exquisite German church in which my many greats grandfather was christened. 

Hello again.  I do not have a detached retina, so no operation, hooray.  I do have a problem, but the eye doctor says it will cure itself.

I was having some chutney with a chicken dish for lunch today.  It's very good, but doesn't sell at the farmers market any longer, so I looked on line and there it is.  It's called Chutney Fever and is made right here in Trumansburg, NY, about 10 miles north of Cornell University.  It comes in 6 flavors, but I have only had 2 - Apricot Ginger and Peach Tamarind.  They are delicious and organic and make wonderful tea sandwiches, either alone or with cheese or peanut butter or chicken, ham, etc.  They are also very nice with scones.  The online address is http://chutneyfever-store.stores.yahoo.net/  They are a little expensive, but a small amount has big results.  I am a great fan of cheese and chutney sandwiches, myself, and these chutneys are a lot better than Major Grey's.

I am so glad to have our own water back and not have to mess with either bottled or overboiled water for my tea.  And... we can now shower and wash our clothes safely.  Owego continues to struggle with the devastation, but we are determined to bounce back.

Silver Leaf Tea Company, http://www.silverleaftea.com/ is the source for today's Evening Blend.  it is a mix of Indian and Chinese teas and is billed as having lower caffeine.  The dry leaves are huge, twisted and an interesting mix of brown and silver or pale green.  The aroma is interesting, as well.giving off a gentle but definite mix of tree bark accented with peach and tamarind.  I brewed it for 3.5 minutes with boiling water, as there were no guidelines with it. 

The resulting brew is very pale and doesn't smell like much other than fresh wash or milking parlor soap..  Even before tasting it, I wonder if I used too little.  I probably should have weighed it instead of spooning and eye-balling it.  Yup, it is just plain weak.  I may make more today, if so, I'll write about it.

Well, I made it the right strength and I have to say it's hardly worth the effort.  It's OK.  It has a bit of tamarind taste, over a bit of earthiness, but it is really nothing special, although as I finish my very large mug of it, it seems to gain more depth.

2 comments:

Steph said...

I'm glad your eye issue will heal and that your water is back! I became extremely aware of the cruciality of clean, drinkable water on my trip.

Alex Zorach said...

That's very good news about your eye! It's always a huge relief when you learn that your body is able to heal itself without any extra intervention.

This large-leaf, low-caffeine tea does sound intriguing, and it's sad that it is disappointing. I tend to like teas made out of mature leaves, but high-quality ones can be tough to find on the market. I think a lot of the specialty tea market caters to people who really want more caffeine, and who want more delicate teas, so you get a lot of high-quality tippy teas but not as many good ones made of mature leaves.