Springtime

Blooming Tea

I remember falling in love with the concept of blooming tea when Matt and I were strolling through stores registering for our wedding and we ran across the Tea Posy line. My aunt bought the pot and tea for us and we tried it out that first year together. I remember distracting myself from my homework by pouring the hot water over the small green balls and watching them unfold into the most bizarre yet delicate "flowers". Recently a package arrived in the mail from my grandmother, who had run across flowering tea at a friend's house and thought I'd love it. She immediately packaged one up and shipped it off to me. They had come out with new flavors since I'd tried it five years ago, with vanilla, pomegranate and acai berry beside the standard jasmine. I do like the vanilla quite a bit and this morning I was in the mood for some flowering inspiration as I worked on yet another draft of my dissertation proposal. Without my tea pot I used a tall blue glass and I loved the underwater feel this gave the whole scene.

Mint-Mango Zucchini

I scrolled to this recipe and I had to try it. I'm not a huge fan of "raw" food, but it looked intriguing and I just had to know how mint, mango, and zucchini could possibly all exist in the same recipe. I rushed into Freehling Pots & Pans right as they were locking the door and bought a pretty green juli peeler and then dashed home to try it out. I have to say, it was much better than expected. Not particularly filling but it served as dinner two nights in a row. I loved the mint and mango sauce with the spice of ginger thrown in, and the julienned zucchini was actually pretty fun. I don't know that I would make it again but it gets points for creativity and a very healthy meal.

Sweet potato with roasted grapes and goat cheese

I was fascinated by the concept of this twice-baked sweet potato recipe that I found. Instead of regular cheese it called for fresh goat cheese stirred in, along with cinnamon and nutmeg, and then topped off with more fresh goat cheese and roasted grapes. What??? Roasted grapes??? The blogger went on in delirium about the amazing taste of roasted grapes and I had to make it. I originally wanted to try this for my birthday dinner, but the thought of it turning out very badly kept me from trying it on a crowd at my mercy. So Friday night I made potato-for-one. It turned out okay, actually. I forgot about the grapes and only the keener smell and hearing of my roommates saved the grapes from certain charcoal-y oblivion (which some had already achieved). Some of my goat cheese (from three weeks ago?) was turning weird colors and so I only had a small chunk on the inside that I could use. So no fresh goat cheese sprinkled on top. And I didn't drizzle the honey. In the end, it didn't look much like the picture at all, but the taste was there, I believe. And while it wasn't sublime or "luscious", it was pretty tasty. I think it definitely needs the fresh goat cheese on top to balance out all the sweet, however.

Buttermilk Leftover Pancakes

I started with this basic buttermilk pancake recipe (had buttermilk leftover from biscuits last weekend!) and then added leftover homemade from-last-Thanksgiving cranberry sauce and dried out peanut butter on top. Made a delicious, though slightly overwhelming for one person, breakfast. :)

Moroccan Quinoa Salad

Our own humble attempt at this delicious recipe - didn't turn out too bad! Almost the bee's knees on both parts!

Moroccan salad