I am a morning person. I am typically up and starting my day somewhere between 4:30 and 5:30 a.m. Partly this happens because I am NOT a night person and am usually in bed between 8 and 9:00 p.m.!

I like a big breakfast and I like my coffee but as I’ve gotten older, I found that I’m not ready for breakfast right away and even coffee I prefer after a cup of lemon water or herbal tea.

In September, I saw a blog post for a homemade tea blend: Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks, Turmeric Tea

Turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory herb and I like the taste. I typically add it to fish, I buy a curcumin-salmon oil capsule that both Bear and I take and I like turmeric, cayenne and black pepper on a hard boiled egg.

Heidi’s tea blend appealed.

I experimented off and on.

Then, I saw Martha Rose Shulman of the New York Times’ Tonic and Teas article

Ms. Shulman ran with Heidi’s honey-turmeric paste idea as well as additional blends, particularly a Meyer Lemon-Ginger-Turmeric-Cayenne and a Ginger-Lime-Coconut-Honey-Turmeric blend.

As Heidi notes in a second tea post (Ginger-Mint tea), blending and making your own herbal tea vs using tea bags is a bit akin to making homemade soup vs canned soup – you control the flavor and blend and can change it up however you like.

And as a person who enjoys puttering in the kitchen, I am finding this early morning ritual of making my own blend of tea to be a relaxing and almost meditative start to my day.

My current favorite takes a little from several recipes.

I knew I wanted lemon, honey and turmeric. Black pepper is added with turmeric as it makes the turmeric bio-available to the body. And after seeing Ms. Shulman’s addition of cayenne, I added that also. Cayenne is another spice with many reputed health benefits – particularly for the heart, blood pressure, circulation and digestive health. Plus, I LIKE it!

While the water is heating to just below a boil, I fix a paste of a spoonful of honey, 1/4 tsp of turmeric and 1/4 tsp of cayenne.

I juice a small Meyer Lemon and get the pepper mill ready.

When the water is hot, put the honey spice paste spoon in the cup, pour in the hot water, then the lemon juice. Add some fresh ground pepper, stir well.

This morning I sat in the sunroom with the light of the nearly full moon reflecting on the snow and ice in the yard, sipped my tea and enjoyed the quiet comfort of Bear and Auggie near.

Perfect.

The cayenne has heat but with the lemon, honey, turmeric, black pepper and water – it is not the kind of heat you think of when you add cayenne or other hot peppers to food. It is a warming heat – more like a shot of brandy kind of heat, but without the head spinning effects of alcohol. It is a comforting heat, to me.

Now, the other thing that turmeric needs to help the body get the most benefit, is some fat. Some people commented that they took a spoonful of coconut oil. My choice is a spoonful of peanut butter: fat AND some protein. This works for me as that bit of protein is plenty to keep me going until I’m ready for my actual breakfast. And I like it.

Martha Rose Shulman’s blend of Ginger-Coconut-Lime-Turmeric and honey is wonderful as well, but takes a bit longer as the coconut has to brew. I liked the coconut water, though, so when I cut the lemon for my morning tea, I cut a few slices, add the slices to coconut and water and let that steep in the refrigerator.

I’ve been using the coconut-lemon water as a base for a small smoothie later in the day if I need a picker-upper between meals. I blend the contents of the jar, a little yogurt, flax or chia, kale or spinach – more spices and the result is a mini-green smoothie.

Another great way to combine the fat, pepper, turmeric and cayenne is on a hard boiled egg.

One morning this week, with a perfectly ripe avocado in my fruit bowl… I mashed it, added the hard boiled egg with spices, sweet grape tomatoes, a slice of toast – and I called it breakfast.

***Edit 1/29/2014 I’ve had some wonderful fresh organic mint lately and have been adding some mint leaves to the brew – even better. Also, I’ve noticed a decrease in some shoulder and hip discomfort. But even more – I often have some rapid heartbeats when I lie down at night…Dr. says not abnormal. In any case, since increasing turmeric and cayenne, those have gone away.

Soup assembly line!

I’ve continued making soup 1 bowl at a time (Zuppa for One)

It works for me to use whatever is available and have a wonderful bowl of fresh soup.

I found I preferred having 1 bowl of soup with what sounded good vs making a giant pot of something that I had to eat again and again or freeze.

Today, I started with some beef and lentil meatballs in a tomato chipotle sauce***, chicken broth, corn and…

…sautéed kale. I added just a splash of white balsamic vinegar to the kale before adding to the soup.

Let it all simmer just a bit…

Then the chunky croutons with cheddar under the broiler until brown and bubbly…

And a dollop of greek yogurt to cool it all. (my beverage is Hibiscus Blueberry refrigerator tea – so pretty!)

Soup for lunch.

The additional bonus – for me, since I LOVE to cook! – is that the process of doing this is a wonderful and relaxing break in my day.

So.

Yep, it is cold here. The high today was 6F at my house. The morning started at -1F. The good news – for me, Bear and Auggie – is that we are shadowed from the NNE wind by the Jewell Basin wrap of mountains. I can sometimes hear and see the wind high in the treetops but it is calm on the ground and little wind chill effect. Other places the wind chill has been in the -20 to -30 range and forecast to maybe be in the -40 range tonight. By noon tomorrow, although we will stay very cold, the winds are to be done.

By late next week, we will hopefully be at normal December temperatures of 20’s daytime, low teens overnight. And maybe some snow.

The good news is, this prolonged cold SHOULD put the kibosh on a LOT of bugs and things like yellow jackets and wasps. I’ll still put pheromone traps out this Spring, but I think/hope we will NOT have a repeat of last Summer.

Bear is LOVING the cold and it is a joy to see him enjoying. I have all necessary clothing for going out and about and I’m enjoying also…maybe a little less than Bear :) !!

Auggie went out yesterday when it was 7F. I set my phone alarm for 5 minutes and then got him in. He wanted to go out today when it was about 2. I took him in my arms to the front porch. He gasped slightly and hung to my arm. We came in and he seemed resigned to play inside! It was blue sky and sunny so I expect difficult to reconcile that it WAS indeed VERY cold outside.

It is after 6:30 p.m. as I write.

I’m done with work for the day.

A fire in the woodstove.

Time for supper for all of us and then some time in front of the fire.

I have things to read.

Bear and Auggie will find their spots near me.

All is well in my home tonight and I am grateful.

I pray that livestock and wildlife will find places to survive this very cold night.

*** Homesick Texan’s Tex-Mex Meatballs in Chipotle Tomato Sauce is the inspiration for the meatballs and sauce. The sauce I make exactly to the linked recipe. The meatballs, I subbed 1/2 lentils (1 cup cooked) for 1/2 of the ground beef, did not use any zucchini and I used 1/8 cup of Masa Harina and 1/8 cup of my own saved bread crumbs in place of cracker crumbs for a binder.