Last night I stayed up late playing around in the kitchen cooking up this and that while having a cup of tea. I was sipping away, pinkies out and thinking about how tea has replaced wine in my life. Instead of popping a cork I just drop a bag. They have many similarities, honestly. There’s a wide variety of tea and wine from all over the world. Both are consumed ceremoniously and will stain the hell out of your carpet. One could discuss their flavor profiles and aromas at length if you wanted to sound pretentious and or just clear a room. I’m mostly kidding about that. I have definitely been guilty of swirling my glass and spouting off fruity adjectives without anybody leaving. Finally, you can cook with either of them. We’re all familiar with how to incorporate wine into your meals. A quarter cup is for the pan and the rest is for staining your teeth and telling people how you really feel. On the other hand tea can be made into a compound butter or added to short bread cookies or batters and doughs and frostings. Oh my! It works pretty well as a rub too. You could also swap out your stock for tea and cook your grains in it. Last night I set out to make a compote out of some waning blueberries that were hiding in the back of the fridge. I added some ginger, cinnamon, lemon and jaggery then topped it off with the tea I was sipping on and set it to simmer. The results were a win. Full bodied, fruit forward, tart, spicy and just a whisper of herbs in the back. Like a note passed in class. It got a little sweeter in fridge over night. As if I had put it in time out and by breakfast it was on its best behavior. I’m happy these days to have a cabinet full of tea rather than a recycling bin full of empty wine bottles. The clean up is easier, both physically and emotionally. Tea has never made me slurry or caused a scene or woken me up with a headache (or a stranger). So yeah, tea is the new wine. Cheers!
Day 174: Overnight oats with leftover quinoa, Greek yogurt, almond butter, coconut butter and blueberry compote. Garnished with fresh blueberries and seeds. The compote was made with an Ayurvedic tea. Rooibos, peppermint, sprearmint, ginger, rose, osmanthus, hibiscus, almond, apple and rosehips.