28.9.06

Thermos therapy: Moroccan tea



I´m not so frantically busy these days. Everyone is shifting gears in September, and they let me alone, mostly. Maybe a couple of calls to say "be ready in october", but by and large I´m only doing magazine work, and that´s quick stuff.
Perfect, you´d say, for sleeping in, watching lots of dvds, and catching up with tomato preserving.
No way. Peace and quiet are out of the picture. They´re tearing the walls of my building to pieces. Ostensibly to install a lift, but mostly to drive me insane, I think.
Two builders start blasting away with a jackhammer at 8 in the morning. At 9 they stop, and spend the day randomly dissappearing for hours and hitting the walls with heavy bludgeons thatmake the building shake. After lunch they get the hardware out again, and drill away to their heart´s content, while you start to mutter darkly and wish bad things. This has gone on for a week now, and by the time a picture fell off the wall today, I´d had enough. I had to leave the house before it crashed about me, or I went on the rampage with a baseball bat.

This is the recipe for a calming yet slightly energetic afternoon.
First, make moroccan tea. Shredding the mint will soothe you enough to stop the murderous thoughts, and pay attention to the proportions.
500 ml. water, 3 tsp green gunpowder tea, a fistful of mint leaves, and 2 tsp sugar, which is less sweet than the usual. Make the tea first, don´t leave it more than 4 minutes or it´ll go bitter. Then mix everything inside a thermos that fits snugly inside your handbag.
Step two, walk briskly. The Retiro is a lovely park, and just thirty minutes away.
Step three, sit down on the grass, and enjoy the sunlight filtered through the trees. Sip your tea.
Step four, a good book. Today I had "Right ho, Jeeves!", by the great inmortal P.G.Wodehouse. All P.G. is the best thing ever, but this particular novel features Anatole the chef, a.k.a. God´s gift to the gastric juices, and is a neat tie-in for a food blog.
Within five sips of this treatment, you should be grinning like a Cheshire cat. Five minutes into the book, you´ll be laughing out loud.
By the time you´re back, the builders will have left, leaving only a trail of dust and debris, and you can enjoy silence until 8.01 a.m.

11 comentarios:

Raquel dijo...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarj! you have my deepest sympathy!!!

I´m not a big fan of moroccan tea but like the smell.

Anónimo dijo...

Every summer is the same old story for me, because I live in an old quarter...

Qué harta estoy de las obras!!!

Pepper dijo...

Simple and gorgeous tea recipe; I will be sure to try it this week.

Anónimo dijo...

I love my thermos...have never been successful in making moroccan mint tea...will have to give yours a go

LE BLOG dijo...

I haven't even read the text yet; I am so fascinated by the drawing that I am keep on looking at it since yesterday!

xps dijo...

moroccan tea, jeeves, el retiro........9 points.

your future elevator, for your big compra........ 10 points with shiny star!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anónimo dijo...

Your drawing and description of your tea-and-reading getaway look and sound so tranquil. I feel peaceful just looking at the picture.

Your building construction work however sounds like a stressful nightmare. I hope that it's over soon.

Julie dijo...

I agree, P.G. Woodhouse is great fun! I'm glad you got out of the chaos at your building. Even with annoyances like that, I wish I had the freedom to work from home and set my own schedule. Someday soon, I hope!

Anónimo dijo...

ugh, I've been there! They've been constructing new "luxury lofts" within a half block of my apartment for the past two years
I've finally gotten to the point where I can block out almost everything, except the garbage monsther, the ginormous garbage dumpster that for some reason they need to empty only at 4:47am once a week
it takes nearly an hour for the whole emptying action to complete
it makes me murderous!
have fun in the country!!

Anónimo dijo...

Sounds like a truely lovely afternoon! I love Wodehouse - and if you are up for a modern version try Lawrence Sanders (the Archy McNally books) - the older ones are fine food laden stuff......

Anónimo dijo...

I have used your watercolour as my screensaver - its so cool and pretty and evocative of mint tea!
I love your drawings Thank you

Share