I enjoyed a cup of tea long before I knew it could help me in my quest to become a healthier person. Upon discovering that something I enjoyed doing on a daily basis could actually help improve my health, I decided it was time to do some research.
Filtering by Author: Peggy Alaniz
Tea Time with Peggy
Last year for Christmas I got a surprise—orange tea. It was a gift from one of my relatives who always tries to find a unique tea for me to try. While I have added citrus to traditional tea, I never had one that was all citrus. It had a pleasant refreshing taste—one that I could pair with a cinnamon stick to give a little bit of warmth and holiday feel in the cold of winter. The whole house smells amazing when you brew orange peel with cinnamon on top of the stove. It made me realize that I can make a type of tisane (an herbal infusion) out of just about anything that will infuse into water.
Tea With Peggy: Summer Hibiscus Tea
There is nothing better than reading an enjoyable book while sitting outside soaking up the sun. I delight in sitting on the back patio overlooking the lake, listening to the boats go by, and hearing kids laugh as they tube across the water. It is also a fun time to drink a glass of iced tea which can help keep you hydrated in the warm weather.
Tea with Peggy: Mindfulness and Tea
Try the following experiment with me. Shut off your TV, silence your phone, grab your tea kettle, and go over to the sink. Fill it with cold water. Listen to the sound of the water falling into the pot. How does the sound change as it fills? Place the kettle on the stove. Listen to the sound the kettle makes as the water gently heats to a boil. Pour the hot water in a clear mug. Place your tea in the water. Observe as the color slowly swirls and filters through the cup until it turns the water a rich brown. Take a moment and breathe in the tea’s aroma. Take a small sip. Sit for a moment and just breathe.
Tea with Peggy, Mystical Pu'erh Tea
As fall and winter fast approach, night arrives earlier, and the once lush fields and gardens filled with flora and fauna are dying. The magic of fall and winter is different than that of spring. Earth emits a darker unknown quality. It’s a mystery to be explored. A time of year to tell a good ghost tale while shipping on something warm, dark, and inviting—like Pu’erh tea.
Ann Arbor Farm and Garden: Flower Therapy and Community Beautification
Do you like playing in the dirt? Maybe you’re a bit of a novice when it comes to plants, but you enjoy taking walks in neighborhoods that have been enhanced with beautiful flowers, or even learning more about them from an expert. Do you think of ways that plants and flowers can create beauty in a public place in need of some love and care? What about arranging flowers? Are flowers your go to for a loved one suffering from an illness? Would you like to help students who have a passion for botany or in improving the natural environment? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then read on to learn more about Ann Arbor Farm and Garden, an organization that has been giving back to the community for more than 75 years.
Tea Time with Peggy: Cold Brew Tea
By Peggy A. Alaniz
With the high heat and humidity of a summer day in Michigan, the last thing I want to do is boil water for tea. It’s summer! I want to take life easy, maybe play in my garden or go out on the lake. While boiling water is not hard, I don’t want to waste time waiting for the tea to chill. While I could let the sun brew some tea, I could just as easily cold brew it in the refrigerator overnight.
Tea Time with Peggy--Home Grown Tea
weekly fertilizing. Early fall is the best time to receive the earth’s bounty. Pumpkins, squash, and assorted herbs are plentiful. Depending upon the richness of the soil, and the amount of water the garden received over the summer months, the taste of the plants grown each year will be unique to that season. These distinctive flavors should be savored. I can think of no better way to show thankfulness for the harvest than to enjoy a cup of tea made from plants and herbs found in my own garden.
Tea Time with Peggy-- Chai Tea - Spice for Health!
In the early spring of 2010, I took a trip out to Boulder, Colorado. While talking to the concierge, my love of tea came up. He suggested that I check out the Dushanbe tea house and to make sure that I drank the house Chai. At the time I was a bit of a novice when it came to tea and knew little about chai. However, one sip of the hot, sweet, spicy concoction and I was hooked. There is just something about cinnamon and ginger that makes a person smile.
Tea Time With Peggy-- Tea--More than a drink!
Spring and summer happen to be my two favorite seasons. I enjoy spending time playing in the dirt. My herb and flower gardens are my happy places and I have been known to spend hours out in my garden rearranging plants to a better location and even mowing the lawn. Unfortunately, too much time in the sun results in a nice sunburn. I know of nothing more miserable in the summer than being burnt to a crisp. While sipping a nice, iced glass of sun tea doesn’t help you cool down the sting, the wet tea bags will.
Tea Time With Peggy-- Kombucha Tea
Good Bacteria! Many of us are aware that there is such a thing as good bacteria, however it tends to be killed daily along with the bad bacteria. In a Covid-19 world most products talk about how they kill viruses and bacteria. The overuse of germ, virus, and bacterial fighting products kind of makes me cringe with fear.
Tea Time With Peggy-- Tea for Energy
To say that it is an interesting year would be an understatement. At best it feels like a surreal dream has covered the landscape of Michigan. Never in my life did I think that toilet paper would be worth more than gold, that I would long for more than just an intimate gathering of a few family members, that I would be sharing internet time with children going to school—let alone have the energy to keep up with them! Some days my brain is so foggy that I would need a better jump start than what a good strong cup of black or Oolong tea could offer. So, as an alternative to true tea, I have turned to tea combined with yerba mate.
Tea Time With Peggy-- Cold Noses, Warm Teas: Comfort Tea for Winter
The 2019 Farmer’s Almanac has predicted another cold, snow-filled winter for the state of Michigan. Big Surprise! Having lived in Michigan most of my life the prediction seems average at best. A mild winter is more of a rarity than one with consistent below zero weather and a foot of snow every two days. I say embrace winter! It’s a good time for winter sports such as skating, hockey, skiing, and sledding. Wintertime is tea time. After all, there is no better way to warm up from being outside in all the cold and yuck, than a warm, flavorful drink. Winter is a playground for various hot tea combinations. Some of the herbal teas, such as peppermint, can even spice up your coffee or cocoa.
