Toasted Nut Brûlée Oolong Tea

19 Dec 2011 6 Comments

by alightningbug in Herbal, Oolong Tags:

I was checking out Teavana’s latest offerings when Toasted Nut Brûlée Oolong got my attention. It isn’t a new tea, but it is one I’d wanted to try but never did.

After the yummy sounding name, the aroma is what attracted me enough to make a purchase. It smells of an amazing lightly spiced nutty praline or beautifully caramelized brûlée with cinnamon.

The taste is a sweet comfort food in a cup. We’re talkin’ warm oatmeal cookie with raisins and a few chopped nuts. There are no raisins in it, but the ample amounts of dried apples, candied pineapple and papaya meld for a bounty of dried fruit flavor. I was kind of sad to find so much less nutty flavor in the brew than there is nutty smell. But the cinnamon & spice comes through nicely much as it would in an oatmeal cookie or a freshly baked rock cake. So, truly, if you love oatmeal cookies, but don’t care for the calories then pull up a chair and I’ll get you a plate er cup. With a little sugar or honey along with the tea’s own natural sweetness you can almost feel the chewy goodness of a few raisins getting stuck in your teeth and the light, sweet crunch of a nut or two. Not an everyday cup for me, but with a book on a chilly day — yum!

Of note, i love that it contains oolong, but oolong is only a small portion of the total mix and I notice virtually no oolong fragrance or flavor. Rooibos is in there too and if I close my eyes I think it adds a smooth cookie dough like sweetness. Hopefully a few health benefits from the mix.

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Cleaning through old stuff and I found …

03 Dec 2011 Leave a comment

by alightningbug in Mom Stuff, Uncategorized

I found I had a box of The Matrix action figures that I’d forgotten about. They’re pretty cool! And I’m trying to figure out if I should take them out of their original packaging and set them up or just leave them for now. I’ll probably leave them for now. I also found my Darth Vader head filled full of original Star Wars action figures. (So THAT’s where I put them.)

I found the onesie my daughter was wearing when she first learned to crawl. It has been so long since she was so small and yet it seems like just yesterday. Sigh. In her case she’d been mobile long before she could crawl by rolling virtually EVERYWHERE. Her only snag was that she would get stuck in corners and that would made her scream. So she didn’t crawl particularly early because she was already fairly mobile via roll power. But I vividly remember her learning to crawl as she had to navigate through a door to get to a bright yellow Tupperware toy. Rolling through doorways was a little tricky too. Ah, the power of necessity. She rocked! (Literally.) And, finally, she crawled. We cheered loudly! Is there anything better for a parent? On the planet? Her crawling quickly transitioned to walking at about 10 months old. Crawling so quickly passé. And low to the floor. All the big people walk! Cute. Smart. Coordinated girl. Getting everywhere possible. Nothing would stop her. Our floodline of child-proof zone moved higher. And I don’t really think that’s ever stopped.

Also found today — our cat’s, perhaps, all time favorite toy. It’s a piece of denim tied to a sturdy string which is then tied to a wee section of fishing pole. Our beefy, handsome kitty is a rescued cat and his original foster family sent him to us with this little toy. He loves it! I handed it to my daughter and said, “here, you might like this. It’s a cat toy.” As she LOVES our kitties. She quickly played. Our cat, Fletcher, played and there was much joy. For Fletcher it was much like finding an old toy from one’s childhood. (That feeling alone is why my Dearth Vader Head full o’ action figures is so … ) Fletchie played and played and played. He’s had more kitten play in him in the past hour than he’s probably had in the past 8+ years combined. (Maybe.) Truly, there’s a look in his eyes like a crazed teen. Oh, to be young.