The snow from my last post is long, long gone. I'm quite happy that spring is here. The full, riotous plant growth and showy display of fertility* hasn't quite hit the city, but the season's harbingers are all here. The magnolia tree is heavy with buds, the daffodils and crocuses are unfurling, and Jeff and I started craving cold-brewed ice tea.
* not limited to plants. We'll soon see shirtless men consciously flexing as they casually toss their frisbees, and miniskirts are just around the corner.
Paperwhite daffodils on our fire escape
I guess bulbs and succulents are the plants for us because they thrive with minimal attention.
I think these are crocuses.
Feel free to correct me, I'm only familiar with plants in Hawaii.
Cold-brewing iced tea in our fridge.
Cold-brewed tea is a great way to enjoy iced tea since there is no heat to turn flavors bitter. We've been making a great deal of iced oolong and Twinings Gunpowder Green tea. In the large jug, formerly some apple juice, you can see some oolong hanging in a bag that I sewed from some scrap muslin and a little twine.* I drape the bag string over the lip of the jar and tuck it into a rubber band to hold it in place. In the other jars, we just dumped loose leaf tea into the jars, filled them with filtered water and left them to sit in the fridge for a minimum of four hours. Ideally, the tea will steep and infuse overnight and be ready in the morning for a small spoonful of agave nectar--just enough to highlight the floral qualities of your tea. It's a terrific start to a spring morning.
* The tea bag pattern is available here. I would recommend making your rectangles wider than called for here. It makes inverting the bag and removing the used tea leaves much easier.
0 comments:
Post a Comment