hot lemon honey tea

I work in a radio newsroom.

But for the last four days, I've only heard silence.

I've been at home, recovering from the flu. Listening to the radio and following the news seemed like too much for my weakened state.

This afternoon, I thought I should check what's happening, as I get ready to plunge back into the newsroom next week.

And suddenly all I could see and hear was this – the school shooting in Connecticut.

While I am safe and warm in my little home, feeling sorry for myself because I have the flu, this unimaginable horror is tearing through lives in Connecticut.

I wanted to give you this – my simple family recipe for lemon honey tea, in case you're not feeling well, either.

one year ago: cheesy grapes
two years ago: tipsy rum balls

hot lemon honey tea

juice from 1 regular lemon
a good dollop of honey (about 3 tbsp?)
a splash of rum

Fill the kettle with cold water and turn it on. While it's coming to a boil, juice the lemon and pour the juice into the bottom of the teapot. Add a good dollop of honey and a splash of rum (whisky would also work). Pour over the boiling water to almost fill the teapot. Stir everything together. Taste and add more lemon or honey, as you like. Don't be afraid to add more honey – you want to enjoy this drink, not be making puckery faces.

 

sun tea

If you are a tea fanatic and you simply must drink tea every day, summer can pose a problem.

Specifically, do you want to drink a hot cup of tea when your little third-floor flat is already crammed full of hot air and your legs actually stick together when they accidentally touch?

Possibly not.

What you want is a cold cup of tea.

I have just the thing, which does not even involve plugging in a kettle to brew it.

My old friend Elizabeth taught me this on an especially humid day in Halifax a few summers ago. Elizabeth comes from the south – Virginia? Maryland? They run together in my expiring brain – and she knows how to deal with the heat.

Her sun tea is so easy and mellow, you can  manage it on even the hottest of days.

Here are the step-by-step instructions, because I can tell you aren’t thinking very clearly in this heat.

Fill a jug of water with cold water.

Take it outside and plop in a couple of tea bags or tea balls.

Now, this is very important. Do not touch those tea bags. Do not stir them. Do not poke them to see if a bit of brown tea will brew out. Step back from the jug.

I repeat: step back from the jug.

Wait a while. (Maybe an hour, longer if you get distracted and forget you put that jug out on the porch.)

Return. 

The tea has now brewed and is a lovely tea colour. Because you didn’t mess with those tea bags before, it is also extremely mellow and smooth. (Yes, I believe those adjectives can apply to both whisky and tea.)

Take it inside and carefully lift out the tea bags. Discard said tea bags.

Doctor it with lemon and honey or sugar, as you please. 

Serve immediately with ice. If you have such a small freezer that you cannot afford to keep ice in it, refrigerate until cold.

Drink. Rest. Try not let any parts of your body accidentally touch each other.

last july: chocolate raspberry horse turds

My dears, I am off to Germany for a few weeks! We are visiting Berlin, Osnabrück and Lübeck (marzipan capital of the world!). I have been looking forward to this for ages – as you might have guessed by the plethora of German recipes suddenly appearing here.

My mother is German and I went often as a child to visit relatives and family friends. I haven’t been back for eight years and my husband has never been (besides a three-hour train stopover, which really doesn’t count). I can hardly wait to show him the Germany I remember and eat all that wunderbar German baking: käse brötchen and torte and Berliner jelly doughnuts . . .

Since I won’t be back for a few weeks, I’ll leave you with this: a photo of me and my new German friends back when I first visited Germany. I am the stylish one in the coordinating red turtleneck and sweater.

 Happy summer!

black & blue scotch berries

Sometimes, at the end of a long summer day, I think I want a cocktail.

But what I actually want is a snack.

Yes, I want that kick of alcohol, but I also want to eat the little bits of fruit that have been used to make my fruit cocktail. (It’s almost dinnertime. Aren’t you hungry?)

Sadly, there have never been enough little bits of fruit swirling around my cocktail glass . . . Until now.

Presenting: black and blue scotch berries.

Blackberries and blueberries drizzled with honeyed whisky and topped with a dollop of cream. A cocktail and a snack. A snacktail.

The keys here are to use your freshest and best ingredients, like plump blueberries and blackberries, fireweed honey, and good, 12-year-old Scotch whisky.

Slainte!

black and blue scotch berries

creates 4 snacktails

2 c. blackberries

2 c. blueberries

1 tbsp. good whisky

1 tbsp. honey

1/2 c. whip cream

1 tsp. vanilla

Place blackberries in glasses with wide rims. Pour blueberries on top.

Measure honey in a small bowl. Heat in the microwave for 10 seconds to liquefy. Whisk in the whisky. Drizzle over berries.

Whip cream with vanilla. Put a dollop of cream on each snack cocktail.