Fare Well Friday: What Fills My Cup
Things that have nourished me this week (+ a mini recipe)
This week I’m beginning a new feature I’m calling “Fare Well Fridays”, puns fully intended. First: “fare” is both a word for food (“I enjoy simple fare”) and for a state of being or achievement (“How did you fare on your journey?”) In one sense, “Fare Well” could simply mean to partake in delicious food - something I always encourage - and it is also, of course, an expression of leave-taking. I’ve found that I benefit greatly from logging off social media completely for the weekend, as both a contributor and a consumer, and so: “Fare Well Fridays” a deliberate send-off, an expression of gratitude for what has nourished me through the week and a goodbye-for-now to the digital world until Monday. With some recipes thrown in.
This week has been particularly abundant in so many ways. In my “chaos garden”, seeded in neat little rows before a massive rainstorm and now an untamed wildland of tomatoes, zinnias, cowpeas, buckwheat, sunn hemp, and watermelon, one solitary sunflower plant (an earthwalker, I believe), is putting out a profusion of late blooms. In my “organized” garden (I use this term very loosely), the odd late-summer weather has yielded a surprise of very sweet little strawberries and one late but lovely nasturtium, vivid red. We seem to be easing into late-summer visiting season, with the pace of casual drop-bys from friends and last-minute social engagements escalating, and I’m feeling delighted, over and over again, by the amazing humans who have made their way into my life in one way or another.
In my kitchen, we’re back to bread-baking and cookie-making season, turning a cozy corner. My small-town library turned up a book I’d been meaning to read but forgetting to buy, just sitting casually on the end of a shelf, waiting for me. And, perhaps best of all for this morning mouse, the sun is beginning to rise just late enough to allow me a full cup of pre-dawn tea and a full page or two of early writing before sheep and chickens and other daylight tasks demand my attention.
About that tea: here’s the recipe I promised, although it’s really more of a serving suggestion. Here’s what’s been filling my literal cup this week (as my metaphorical one indeed does run over):
Lapsang Souchong “Latte”
1-2 T Lapsang Souchong tea.
2 T nonfat dry milk powder
Sweetener of choice (monkfruit, honey, and raw sugar are all delicious, depending on your nutritional preferences)
(Optional) collagen powder
Brew a large cup of strong tea. (I actually like to oversteep it just a little. I blame Eastern European ancestry.) Add a couple tablespoons of nonfat dry milk. (Hear me out - this adds a delightful creaminess without watering or cooling down the tea - plus it’s shelf stable, great if the power goes out or you’re camping!) Sweeten as desired (I usually desire a few drops of liquid monkfruit, but you may prefer honey - also delicious.) If you’re feeling like a little protein boost, you can add a scoop of a good-tasting collagen powder - I like this vanilla one. Stir, whisk, or use one of those fancy frother gadgets. Drink slowly while waiting for the rest of the world to wake.
That’s all for this week, friends. I’ll be back Monday with a little movement practice - until then, fare well.
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