A day to remember

Look what I found! An old blog post never posted. Reading it over, it was a good thing I forgot to post it. I was truly down during that couple months and I had no qualms grumbling about it in writing. The only thing that I will share (besides the recipes), in retrospect it is the funny crème de la crème eyebrow raising, wanna-jump-off-a-bridge experience of my late spring, is this:

My day off turned me into emergency dental crisis assistant. I drove a friend to her oral surgeon in the far west suburbs. I took care of all the paperwork, payment and scheduling. After all these good little deeds, the middle aged dental assistant told me, "Your daughter is ready to leave". Excuse me? I have been mistaken as my 30-year old friend's mother!

My jaw dropped and my friend's jaw would have dropped had she been able to move hers. Granted, I am old enough to be someone's mother, maybe a teenage-someone's mother if I really wanted to be a young mom. After a long pause and both my friend and me changing hues between white, pink and red, I stated "I am not anyone's mother."

But, everything that got me down then is in the past. And these were some of the drinks (no, not wine) that obviously got me through it.

Blueberry Honey Chai

1 container Knudsen's Blueberry Juice

Same amount of water

5 Scoops of Metropolis Chai (chunky combination of aromatic spices and black tea)

Lemon Honey (from my Italy vacation)

Heat the water. Steep chai in heated water. Mix in a little honey, let cool and pour equal amounts of tea and blueberry nectar into containers and refrigerate.

Rose LemonLimeade

Tried and true -
helped me rise above and re-center my energy and focus

Juice of 4 lemons and 4 limes

2 quarts of hot water

A handful of rosebuds (can get in the bulk spice/herb section at natural food store)

Agave nectar to sweeten

Combine all ingredients into containers. I just keep the rose petals in the drink – looks great in the bottle.

Hibiscus pomegranate orange made the cloudy days just a little brighter.

A handful of dried hibiscus flowers (I order from ranchgordo)

1 quart of hot water

1.5 liters of pomegranate juice (POM is rich and tasty; but I have neighborhood Middle Eastern groceries to support)

Juice of 4 large juice oranges

Steep hibiscus in hot water, can remove flowers or retain. Cool. Combine equal portions hibiscus tisane, orange and pomegranate juices.

Jasmine Rose Nutmeg Green Tea

I am loving nutmeg right now and both jasmine and rose gently nudge the body's qi to keep on movin'

For one nightly cup:

1 tsp jasmine green tea

2 rosebuds

A scraping of nutmeg (or a pinch of powder)

Steep in a mug of hot water and enjoy