Liquid Sanctuary:

Is it possible to not enjoy a moment of relaxation? The brief flutter of calm in the midst of a chaotic day, when you sit back, close your eyes and take a deep breath while telling yourself "4:30 is only an hour away, you will be sane again soon." Hmm okay, maybe thats just my growing annoyance with my current job, because this is a daily occurrence for me and it happens to be my saving grace. I had a two-year old throw a pencil at me the other day and I promptly retreated to my desk, grasped my hot cup of tea, took a deep breath and let it all just melt away (which had to have been a better reaction than any other possibility, all of which would have ended with me being fired). So I am here today to praise the wonder of a hot cup of tea and it's ability to be my daily saving grace, the liquid sanctuary that helps me maintain my sanity.

I stumbled upon this tea recipe while flipping through an old cookbook by Chef Michel Guérard. His book, Cuisine Minceur, happens to be filled to the brim with healthy French recipes (two things that rarely go together). As a lover of all things French and all things healthy I found his cookbook to be full of tasty surprises. One of which is the following recipe for herbal tea. While I tend to turn to store bought Constant Comment to relieve the stresses of the day, I love the idea of having a loose leaf, herbal equivalent on hand. Now, if only I could actually track down all of these ingredients, I'd be able to make that dream come true:

Tisane Minceur d'Eugénie
Dried Heather flowers
Corn silk
Horsetail (shave grass)
Bearberry
Cherry stems
Fresh lemon
Fresh mint
1. Combine equal parts of the first five ingredients, store in an air tight container.
2. Use one tbsp of tea mixture for every one cup of boiling water.
3. Proceed as with any herbal tea. While steeping, add slices of lemon and sprigs of fresh mint.
4. Strain the tea and drink.

Enjoy.

(Note: This tea can also be served cold. Serve tea with minimal sugar and toss in a few seasonal fruits if available, i.e. cherries, strawberries, slivers of apples, etc.)

"O light! This is the cry of all the characters of ancient drama brought face to face with their fate. This last resort was ours, too, and I knew it now. In the middle of winter I at last discovered that there was in me an invincible summer."
Albert Camus.