BFA’s Top Teas for Health

How do I love tea? Let me count the ways… I won’t go to the bother of counting all the different varieties I own but it’s safe to say I have between 55 and 65 different flavours and types. Each tea has its own unique purpose, whether nutritional or medicinal or purely as a delight for the tastebuds. I often drink tea for sickness because the body is much more able to absorb nutrients from food or drink than from pills or capsules.

Without further adieu, a few of my favourite teas:

Ginger Tea. A spicy tea for nausea, morning sickness, and upset stomachs, ginger tea also fights infection in the body. It increases digestion and promotes healthy circulation within the body. It can also stimulate the body’s metabolism and appetite. I drink a delicious ginger-peach tea with the sweetness of the peach moderating the inherent zing of the ginger.

Peppermint Tea. Mint is great after a big, greasy dinner as it helps ease indigestion, gas and bloating. Also great for mild headaches, nausea and poor appetite. I have a Moroccan Mint-Green Tea that not only tastes delicious, but also packs digestive properties along with the high antixiodant quotient of green tea. Other digestive helpers are burdock, licorice, and anise.

Playing Catch Up

I had the most unexpected, unbelievable craving for Bánh mì yesterday. You would be correct in guessing that Bánh mì refers to the popular Vietnamese sandwich stuffed with pork, paté, and chicken meats, pickled carrots, daikon, cilantro, s&p, mayo, a sweet-and-sour dressing, and hot peppers (for the daring!) on a crusty, baguette-type bread.

I’ve only had it on one other occasion with Lee so that made the craving all the more stranger. But biting into the tasty sandwich reminded me why as I savoured its contrasts of sweet and sour zest, moist and crunchy textures. It’s also so convenient, only a hop, skip and a jump from my place and you can’t beat the price at 6 for $10.00.

Shake Your BonBon Strawberry Shake

One of my favourite, in-a-hurry breakfasts is a fruity milkshake. Throw a cup or more of vanilla soy milk (or 2% dairy, if you are so inclined), 1/2 cup of vanilla or fruit-bottomed yogourt, 2 or 3 tablespoons of GROUND flaxseed (grind it up for a few beats in a coffee grinder to get the full punch of this powerhouse of essential fatty acids), and a handful of frozen strawberries or other fruit into a blender cup and pulse it with a hand blender. You could also toss it all into a blender but then you have to wash the whole thing before you jet off to work!

For an extra treat, toss in a generous helping of dessert tofu! YUM YUM! 

 

Shake Your BonBon Strawberry Shake

Home on the Range

Home to my parents’ and David’s for Thanksgiving last weekend; a blog in pictures. None of these pictures is particularly stunning or even interesting, but it gives you something to look at.

First up…  Gently now. David laying on his back with the first of two of my parents’ cats, Lucy. She’s an absolute sweetheart; look at that pretty, pretty face. Hers is nice too

 

Desiderata ["Things to be desired"]

I first read this inspirational poem framed in a calligraphy poster on the wall in a friend’s parents’ home in Newmarket, back when I was still attending York University. I read it as a positive credo for life and it spoke to the eternal optimist in me, without being naïve or condescending as some popular poems are wont to do. More importantly, it also espoused the importance of keeping a level head in times of stress or turmoil.

Casting Call

Sometimes it feels as if you have set yourself the contest of trying to solve a complex, time-limited mathematical equation in trying to come up with a new cast of characters to tell a story. In this case, I’m working on a longer piece for my 101 things list that uniquely deals with issues of an embarrassing medical condition; a love that is honest but misguided; the importance of the father-daughter relationship; and a young woman’s journey toward self-confidence and self-discovery. Friendship, self-sufficiency, and good deeds will be themes.

The naming of characters is the initial, key process in developing any story because of the elaborate interplay of personalities that might normally represent and lay claim to these names. Creating characters with personalities that balance redemptive qualities with others in need of improvement is one challenge that the author must confront with the simple baptism by pen.

411 on RSS Feeds

I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around this newfangled ‘RSS’ business for awhile now. RSS stands for ”Really Simple Syndication”, “Rich Site Summary”, and/or “RDF Site Summary” (even its name is up for debate, depending on your source) and it’s basically a standardized format used to subscribe to websites and blogs to read or receive content. I read about 15 – 20 blogs on a daily basis and about 25 to 40 food and/or food-related blogs weekly, if not every other day depending on time contraints, so this is a technology that really appeals to me.

Sundown

A narrow rectangle opens up the sky—a shy, brief hole in the clouds where the rosy fire of the sun like a polished ruby at dusk appears—criss-crossed by sturdy bands of cloud.

It stays to say its final goodbyes before sinking, sinking, so quickly—like a stone to the bottom of the river.

And the sky closes up behind it, stitching itself shut like an open, clotted wound.