teakkurim

21 tamuz 5782 it is summer here in the PNW and although the season started off cool and   cloudy, the sunny hot days are finally here. this means i am trying to spend as much time outside as i possibly can. Part of doing that is by going camping on all my weekends and i finally got to do my first camping trip of the summer. i have weird days off so i wasn’t able to go with anyone on such short notice but going by myself is just as good (and sometimes even better… i like my alone time). this time of year is when i also like to connect with all of the beautiful plants that are around me. something i always do when i go camping is to start my mornings with an herbal tea made with the plants around me. it gives me something fun to keep in the back of my head while i am exploring and getting to know the area where i am. it feels like a good way for me to get in touch with the place and to start to build a relationship with the land. when picking wild plants, a rule that i like to follow

6 tammuz, 5782 over the past 4 months, my life has been consumed by work and school. it felt like all i was doing was working, reading research articles, and going to classes. thankfully, that is no longer my life. to my exuberant surprise, i dont have school during the summer, yay!!! this means i am going to try and do as much camping as i can. i still have work to think about, but that is manageable. with some normalcy returning to my life, i am trying to rebuild the habits of doing what make me happy. one of those things is writing (and not just blog writing). another of those things is praying which, like exercising, is z hard habit to pick back up after tucking it into the part of my mind labelled "things i will do when im not doing school and work at the same time anymore." speaking of exercise as a metaphor, i am rebuilding my habit of going to the gym. i still did it during classes but not as often as i liked. time to get buff... as if. even as i write this post, this

 Cool and informative video from a cool person about Chinese tea by region with a large focus on Puer and different regions in Yunnan.  https://watch.screencastify.com/v/E7Ot0E9cMMDSe7mbbg8h

5 iyar 5782 i have not been posting regularly on here because...drum roll...i started graduate school. ta dah. i am on my way towards getting a teaching degree. not only that but i am working while doing graduate school, so all of my free time is taken up by homework.  in addition to spending my time on homework, i will probably continue to post even less as...another drum roll...the weather starts to get nicer, yay! that means more time outside, less time indoors, and way less time with screens (no offense computer). more time outdoors means more tea outside. i am blessed enough to live with a patch of woods behind my trailer. i spend a lot of time in those woods; walking around, singing, doing tai qi, praying, and now, drinking tea. i pack up my bag loaded with; drinking vessel, tea, lighter, kindling, wood fired camp stove, and water. then i trudge on down to nestle myself between cedars, ferns, and a tiny lil creek. i love working with fire, tending fires, and cooking with fires. t

recently, i have been experimenting with making some non-traditional kugels. i didn’t grow up eating many kugels (some, but not many) and i haven’t made any until recently. they’ve been great to add into my weird diet that tries not to eat too many grains, is gf, dairy free, and legume free. it’s nice to make a big ol’ kugel and have it to easily heat up and add to my meals throughout the week when i don’t have as much time or energy to cook. this recipe i made up takes inspiration from one of my favorite dim dum dishes (which is the reason i feel it is reasonable to post on this tea blog). i love those crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside daikon cakes served with many dim sum meals. the real daikon cake, Luo Bo Gao , is a lil too complicated for my daily meal prep, so i made this rip-off kugel version that’s a lot quicker. *i don’t measure when i cook, so these measurements are approximations, but i think it’s still pretty spot on ingredients: -one large russet pota