Cloudy mornings

Storms passing through mean cloudy mornings with chill breezes through the windows and hiding under the covers for longer than is justifiable. Epic sleep-ins happen when Zach stays on his days off instead of going to his parent’s house. He complains of the cold while I put on a sweater and open the windows further to let in more air. It’s cold and I shiver, but I like the smell coming through the windows. That rainy spring smell. I also know the days of this kind of happy-melancholy weather are numbered and the harsh hot breezes of summer will soon be around the corner. I try to enjoy my cool rainy days while I can.

Full breakfasts with pots of tea and honey make relishing these days all the better.

His breakfasts are usually minimal. A bowl of granola or sometimes only a glass of orange juice. He tends to eat his in bed while I have mine arranged precariously around the keyboard on my desk, hoping I don’t have one of my “klutzy” days and spill tea everywhere. He had the last cinnamon roll from a batch I made from scratch.

Tea time

My family knows how much I love good tea. Over the years they’ve helped me amass quite a collection of teapots, tea cups, saucers, strainers, teas, and everything else in between. The last time my sister and her Scotch hubby hopped the pond to visit his family they came back with some tea gifts, and so for Christmas I was given a lovely new glass teapot, a box of lovely flowering teas, and some delicious heather honey made in a town on the northern border of the UK and Scotland.

I don’t have too much time to make and enjoy big pots of tea often these days, so the times I do break out the pretty flowering teas I received will be relished. The tea is green with jasmine and despite leaving the leaves and flowers in the pot, the flavor doesn’t get too strong. The honey is so incredibly smooth and wonderfully light in flavor.

My brother-in-law made mince pies for the holiday, which is a family tradition with him.

Jar of heather honey on top of my new Cook’s Illustrated cookbook.

The tea I had this time was Lily of the Valley.