QOL: Tea

I love tea, especially green tea, which is good for you and doesn't need sweeteners or cream. In Western culture, we tend to focus on food when we gather together in large or small groups. We can't seem to socialize without a large caloric intake. Why not try serving a really good, satisfying tea instead, when company comes to visit? At our house we always have coffee going in the winter, but year round when somebody comes by after noon, the first thing I (usually) do is put the kettle on.

My green tea brewing habits have been pretty slapdash in the past, often not even waiting for the boiled water to cool for five minutes before infusing (I know, I'm barbarian), but after discovering the Chan Tea site via a tweet by Tula Teas, I think I may have to change my ways. I can already smell the perfume of properly brewed green tea!

Absinthe Update

I was going to ad this to my earlier post, but I decided I wanted to bump my rant on drugs and suicide down a notch. At any rate, an alert reader over at my Second Life blog has thrown in her two groats on the topic, and offered a great link, which reveals the shocking truth about currently produced so called "absinthe" in the US of A! Turns out it's all a travesty, due to the 'fraidy-pants FDA's bias against little ole' thujone (the "active ingredient" in wormwood). Turns out any "absinthe" product you buy in this country has, supposedly, been scrubbed of the offending essential oil. Why a little thujone is any worse than the actual super-concentrated alcohol alone is beyond me. If somebody wants to chug this stuff and then, say, get behind the wheel, the herbal content is the least of their worries, in my opinion. Oh, well. C'est la guerre.

Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder

Apparently absinthe is no longer illegal...in some countries. Have to look into that, not that I'm much of an imbiber, but there's just something cool and mysterious about absinthe. And it's green!

Update: Looks like this distillery in CA is on the wagon (scroll down the page 'till you see it). They're sold out at the moment, apparently, but that doesn't matter since the price is out of my range at the moment. Here's hoping that it catches on, more folks produce their own versions, and the price comes down a bit!

Green eggs (no ham)!

This won't be a big deal to anybody but me, but I just collected a green egg from my henhouse. Lobelia, my fluffyheaded Auracana, is laying again! All of my "older" birds stopped laying months ago, for some reason. Except Emma the crabby Gold Sebright (banty). She's been laying right along...until she went broody on me a couple of weeks ago. Now she just sits on everybody else's eggs and screams at me when I take them away. She's a little goofy.

Anyhoo, right now I'm getting 5-6 eggs a day at least, what with the new Rhode Is. Red, Sophie, in the mix. I have 3 dozen in the fridge because I can't seem to find takers for my extras. Methinks it's time for pickled eggs: yum.

Coffee obsession

First of all: yes, I'm still chasing that cold down. I almost have it licked. Horrible, unspeakable, squamous things are draining from my sinuses. Out, out...begone! Almost there...

Now then: today's Wondermark has prompted a little editorial piece!

I don't buy coffee drinks for the same reason I don't drink in bars. 1) Too expensive! 2) too fattening, and 3) I avoid trends. (Not that drinking in bars is exactly a late-breaking trend.) I mean, seriously, can't we all just drink our coffee at home where it costs .3 cents per cup vs. $3? The alcohol scenario has always boggled my mind. The money people would save by having a drink at home with a couple of friends would buy them a car after one year! Not only that, you can actually hear what your friend is saying in the comfort of your own home, rather than a noisy bar. Oh, and don't get me started about the ubiquitous TV sets droning on. At least at home I can choose to turn the thing off when company comes over. But I digress.

If you want your fancy-schmancy coffee cocktails, just pick up a few Italian syrups from your local grocery store; I have a chocolate one for foo-foo coffee drink moments. That plus some soy or rice milk, or actual dairy products for visitors who must have their nasal congestion, and what more do you need?