Weekend Breakfast

This morning when I woke up, in addition to my daily cup of coffee I decided it was tea time. I had recently been fortunate enough to find my absolute favorite tea, Lapsang Souchong, by chance and of course snatched it up. I have a deep reverent love for anything that smells smokey, like a wonderful fire without actually having a fire, and this tea is the epitome of that.

 My favorite candle scent is firewood, specifically Henri Bendels' and will seek them out in any season. Next to peonies and lavender it may be my favorite smell ever. Lapsang Souchong is just that scent too, the smokey firewood-y smell in a cup of tea. The story behind the tea is that in the Qing Dynasty, the last dynasty in China, the passage of armies would delay the drying of the tea leaves. In order to dry the leaves faster to satisfy demand, tea producers would dry the leaves over fires made from pine, resulting in a lovely, woody smell to the black tea.

Appliance Love

I have a ton of kitchen stuff. And for the people who are aware of exactly what I have tend to ask my advice on occasion. I promise to be completely honest about really liking something or absolutely despising it to the point where I don't even bother to move it from one apartment to the next. And I'm always looking for good recommendations for things to add to my collection in return. Being appliances I know they won't last forever and the one I love may be discontinued, or I may want to upgrade to a better model, who knows.

So appliance love of the week goes to my Oxo tea kettle. I use this, no joke, every day. In the morning to heat water for my French Press coffee and at night for my tea.  I received it as a gift a few years back from my dear friend Marcus and his lovely wife Laura and while it may seem a little pricey for a tea kettle ($60-70) it's great. The handle never gets too hot, it comes in lots of lovely shades, and it's a snap to clean. Oh, and it also boils water pretty quickly. All pretty solid qualities that a kettle should have.

If you are in the market, I can't say enough good things about mine. And look how pretty and cream colored it is, after over 3 years. Just a steel wool scrub and some soap every few months. That's it. One of the best things I own.

Paximathakia Portokaliou

Try saying that 10 times fast. Or even pronouncing it at all. Bear with me though, this is a great recipe, especially if you love sesame seeds, adore biscotti and/or are vegan. It was the former 2 reasons that drew me to this recipe though.
In college, being on a very strict budget and also still having that lingering teenage metabolism that allowed me to eat and drink whatever I liked, one of my greatest pleasures was stopping by the coffee shop, grabbing a mocha and a vanilla biscotti and plunking down to study, all the while slowly dunking the crunchy cookie into the coffee and nibbling away. It was a luxury, a treat and something I knew I couldn't indulge in every day, or even every week but when I did it was wonderful. Sesame seeds I just plain enjoy. They're tasty, and versatile. Can be added to both savory or sweet items and are just that finishing touch that can make a dish stand out. Also excellent on bagels, as a shout out to my adopted city.