Books and Tea

Post holiday yuckiness. It is 20 degrees here in SE PA and there has been at least one sick person in our household since Thanksgiving weekend. Help.

This is some powerfully yummy tea filled with spicey, peppery goodness. Very pleasant to stand over it and huff if you have a cold. It a great mystery where this recipe came from. More about mysteries in a minute.

Yogi Tea (I think it tastes like Chai)

20 cloves

20 peppercorns

20 cardamom pods (crushed, if you have the strength)

4 (or so) slices of fresh ginger

3 (or so) cinnamon sticks

3 quarts of water

Bring to a boil and simmer about one hour. You can let it stand for another hour (or more if you fell asleep and forgot it). Strain and add some honey. I just keep it in the fridge, mix 3:1 with milk and heat it up. If I weren't such a piss-poor photographer I'd show you the pic of the tea. Alas.

Which reminds me, murder mysteries go very well with a hot cuppa. Currently reading: Heavenly Pleasures was a perfect chaser to Earthly Delight. Kerry Greenwood's main character is a baker named Corinna who lives in Australia with an eccentric and eclectic group of folks. Wickedly funny and delectable.

On the much-more serious side, Carry Me Down; MJ Hyland, was my Book Group pick this month. While I wouldn't have chosen this book to read on my own (isn't that the purpose of book group?), it was brilliantly written. Let's just say that it was a very Irish novel. Though my favorite Irish novel of all times is Eureka Street; Robert Mclaim Wilson. The subtitle is A Novel of Ireland Like No Other and that is the best subtitle I've ever seen. You'll chortle, you'll guffaw, you'll sob, you'll scratch your head and wonder. I loved this book. Best read of the year as far as I was concerned.