The fragrant spices reminded me of a warm, generous friend, Roberta. She and her husband paid us a recent surprise visit. They managed to steal time away from their business in Oklahoma City. We gave them a tour of Canada's capital. We ate and laughed, talked politics and travel, traded tales about our children.
Roberta is a finance executive-cum-art history expert. She herself is an artist who specialises in portraits and still life paintings. She has an eye for finding exquisite things and unique gifts. For example:
That's Shakespeare taking a bath in my tea cup. The cup and saucer were from the Van Gogh exhibition at the National Gallery. The Shakespeare cut out came with Voltaire, Dante and Goethe in a set called "Tea Poetics" which Roberta picked up from another gallery in her neck of the woods.
A little chuckle with my herbal tea.
Roberta's artful gifts were the inspiration for my Indian Spiced Iced Tea.
Indian Spiced Iced Tea
3 tea bags
2 cardamom pods, bruised
2 pieces of star anise
1 cinnamon stick
honey (optional)
Brew the tea and let it steep with the spices for four minutes.
Make sure you put your timer on because a minute longer might make your tea bitter.
Once the tea is ready, pour it into a pitcher full of ice.
Add honey to taste.
Enjoy!
If you like Indian flavours, here's a quick rundown on essential Indian spices.
Oh yum! Once I found star anise (I had too drive across town--and this is a BIG town) I have enjoyed this hot and cold. I have made it cold with a goodly splash of unsweetened vanilla almond milk and basically have an ice chai to die for. So good and refreshing and virtually calorie free! Bring on the hot weather!
ReplyDeleteCardamom may be my new favorite spice. I had forgotten how fabulous it smells. I think I am going to draw some cardamom pods today.....