The Idea of Tea

As I sit and gingerly stretch my wrist back and forth, trying to coax motion out of very reluctant tendons, I am reflecting on my yen for tea. What is it about tea that makes me feel so comforted, soothed, and grounded?
I'm not talking about any caffeine-related scientific stimulation or suppression effects. I just mean that feeling you get when you have two hands wrapped around a warm, steaming mug of steeped liquid, whether it's white, black, green, or rooibos.

What is it?

I had an ex-boyfriend who was always annoyed when I put two hands around my cup. He thought it was weird or funny, and would tease me that one of my hands must not have been strong enough to hold the cup. What a thing to mock, right?
Here's a poem from a long-gone Bigelow tea box I keep taped to my cupboard that hints at the essence:

When your day seems topsy-turvy
And as stormy as can be
There’s nothing quite as tranquil
As a nice hot cup of tea.

While you savor this ambrosia
Your problems fade away
Its warmth will bring you comfort
And brighten up your day.

So take a private moment
There’s calmness, as you’ll see
All because you briefly stopped
To sip a cup of tea.

The reason I've held on to this poem for so long (years. several moves.) is that it holds a clue to the sanity we're all seeking in this modern age: Time Out! Stop the World- I'd like to get off! How about a moment to myself, for a change?

With all the digital connectedness we have now, it seems important to take time for our selves-- not internet-surfing, not blog-reading, and not chore-performing. Just thinking about where you are, where you're going, and how you're feeling. A cup of tea facilitates this, and the habit of tea promotes regular introspection, which is a great balance to all the demands on our time from work and social responsibilities.

Do you use tea in this way? Do you have a different tool for your reflective times? Do you feel like you need something like this? Let me know in the comments... current brew as I write: Lemon Basil Oolong from Capital Teas.

Creative Endeavor Year

 What a delicious last couple of days.

Beet greens rescued from limpness, crisped up with bacon goodness

With New Year's Eve on a Saturday and New Year's Day on a Sunday this year, some may have groused about losing days off work, but I made the most of the celebrations not being smooshed into a few tired late-night hours, only to be confronted with the office coffeemaker the next morning. Ha!

I successfully kick-started my Creative Endeavor Year! I've stated lately what I'm interested in, and how differently I want to orient myself, so you maybe have an idea what I'm talking about. No? Ok, then I'll go first with activities from the last few days, and then would you please chime in?

Lists. Yes, I made lists, in different places, on different-sized scraps of paper, and with overlapping topics. Maybe a little overzealous, but now I get to synthesize! Places I want to travel, places I might want to move, key areas of focus for my new work, my annual review, and goals. Totally exciting, right? Well it is for an introverted organizer.

Slowly Scrambled Eggs (you're allowed to zone out while scrambling!)

Writing. Yep- as the new tagline indicates, I'm going to let writing take up a lot more space in my life this year. The focus will be on this blog, as I navigate the transition, and on the novel, which will give me a product and some experience in creative process (little out of practice).

Outdoors. A long run, several moderate-length walks in the cool air- clearing the clutter that tends to clump onto my brain if I spend too much time inside. You know what I mean: meant-to-do's, errands, shoulda-coulda-woulda's. Unless these get out and on a list, they just hover over my shoulder and make me unproductive or regretful. For me, moving at some speed outdoors tends to banish these thoughts. I return refreshed, like my brain had been through a permanent press and spin-cycle!

Apple, cinnamon-sugar, and perhaps a little butter was involved

Back-to-Basics. Return-to-Roots. (I like alliteration, OK?) On NYE, I made my first loaf of bread in the bread machine I received for Christmas, and have been finding ways to appreciate the simple white slice since then. Today, I tried out my first batch of plain yogurt in the new yogurt-maker, and await the results tomorrow morning. While there are a lot of blogging cooks out there who know how to combine many beautiful exotic ingredients for amazing dishes, I like to take the more minimalist approach. Because really, life is what you make of it. So if you don't have pimenton de vera or spelt flour or fresh cilantro when the urge to create in the kitchen strikes, don't fret. Take what you've got, and figure out how to honor that. In fact, I think that'll be the philosophy for this Creative Endeavor Year.

Stale croissant, melted chocolate = uncomplicated souffle

I've been cooking pretty simply in the past month, both because of the desire for wintry comfort food and the need for something simply being enough. Call it an overworked metaphor if you like, but here are a few photos to inspire you to take a stab at this philosophy. Whatever you've got, honor that.

You may see several of the items listed in my Favorites List, which is no accident. What's on your List?

Launchpad

So, do you notice a few changes? Yes, the blog's got a new name, a new design and layout, even a new address. Welcome to the new-and-improved blog formerly-known-as-Ma-Vie-en-Rose, now known as:

Taste-Life-Twice 

from the quote by Anais Nin: "We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection." It was on an inspiring woodblock-print card on my wall, and struck me as much more in tune with what I want this blog to be: a focused, creative, inspiring, and self-challenging launchpad for many talents and projects to come.

Ma Vie En Rose, and ma vie en general, was sort of drifting along aimlessly. Food, food, travel, observation, food. Well, I'd like to do a little better by you, my audience, and by me, La Créatrice, so I am rededicating this blog not only to tasting food but also to tasting life.

First item of business is showing you what I've got on that go-to list I've been promising you. First thing you notice is that it's pretty plain. No whipping up of cordon bleu or turducken here. The easiest go-to meal is minimal on ingredients and requires little or only contemplative surveillance. These here are my favorite recipes so far, for both taste and comfort.

raw kale salad (originally from Inspire Nutrition but can be found here, minus red onion and carrot)
roasted sweet potato with miso and pork (from WaPo here, connected to a great article)
braised seasoned pork shoulder (season, sear, and forget in the oven)
chinese cabbage salad (like this recipe, only no butter and using chow mein, not ramen noodles)
mini-souffles/ custards (gotta make use of those cute ramekins! everything from eggs to chocolate)
spaghetti sauce (Mom's secret recipe)
banana ginger chocolate bread (famous Orangette recipe, posted by Wednesday Chef)
cocoa lime cookies (from Simply Recipes, SUCH a crowd-pleasing comfort food)
panzanella (torn bread, ripe far-mar domates, brightly colored other produce, oil, and season)
chocolate clusters (melt chocolate, insert anything, chill)
curried parsnip soup (one of my earliest recipes tried, and easiest)
peach cardamom pie (a proud moment, Bon Appetit success!, repeated til peaches retire)
yaki soba stirfry (handy frozen packs come with seasoning packets, enhanced by fresh veggies)
braised cabbage with bacon, etc (use the hot grease to wilt and flavor the stiff greens)
roast cauliflower (oil + salt, 'nuff said)
steamed greens and an egg (Judith Jones' ever-so-simple, ever-so-wholesome approach)
roast eggplant and garlic (classic, inspired by Turkey)
ratatouille (um, not for drudge-like surveillance, but for when you want to get your mind off things)

That is my first cut at a list, and I wonder if you all have similar lists. Is yours meatier? Got more chicken? Use more Asian recipes? Takes advantage of spices more? I hope it gives you the sense of your own home, the way this one does for me.
Why don't you let me know in the comments what you think would balance out this list. I'm all ears!

Someone with a sense of his purpose in life!

I'm happy to have a repertoire at last, something to launch from into the unknown land of cookery, and into the untold wonders of life.

Stay tuned!

I Painted Something!

While I am working on that List of Favorites in my Repertoire, I wanted to give you a peep at the home improvements I've been working on... Namely, the Painting Weekend That Was!

Let me lay a little background. I've been in my current apartment for about two years. I moved in a snowstorm, which leaves no doubt as to the mettle of my fine friends who helped me move. I had a lot more stuff than I thought I did, as per the rule of the universe that dictates that things multiply when you don't mean them to. And when I settled here, 2 blocks away from the last place, I really liked the situation: 4th floor, high ceilings, open kitchen to living room, big bedroom, heat that works- I was very pleased and content.

But.

As anyone who has lived in rental units for a long time knows, white (correction: cheapest possible off-white available) paint can get old, even with lots of prints, cards, and decorations. I had picked up a couple paint samples while helping 2 friends move (turnabout is fair play!) about a year ago, but the little 2x2 squares had stayed taped to the walls, with little to show for their persuasive power.

Until.

Until the week of November 8, when not only was I itching to rearrange my furniture again (normal), I was also staring at those walls, thinking, 

'how hard could it be?'

I called on the same friends again (Kim and Juan recently became homeowners, so I know they'd been through just about every paint procedure on a wall; plus, Juan is a painter. And he'd already painted my wall once, with red wine, so he sort of owed me on this one.) Kim was stuck out of the country for work, but Juan was free on Saturday. And thus, once I had involved someone else's schedule, my half-baked idea suddenly became a lot more concrete.

We started at about 10, we waited way too long to break for lunch, so that by the time we found a place nearby, their 30 minute wait time nearly made us pass out. (Don't go there) Finally revived and very full, we started up again and finished at about 7. It was a long day, and Juan was a huge help. Besides the making-me-commit-to-the-idea part, he also did most of the tricky detail painting around the corners. I concentrated on the wide, open expanses, and redid them when Juan pointed the drips (only twice).
So it was a long day, but as I woke up the whole next week faced with my California Poppy, and reading next to my Deep Blue Sea, I was positively glowing. When it comes to repainting when I move, I know it will be a pain with timing the drying period with the packing madness, but for only $170 and a couple sandwiches, it was sure worth it.