Delicious teas to warm...

This past weekend, while doing a walking tour of the wonderful & beautiful Historic Inns of St. Augustine, I stopped into the Old Drug Store at the corner of Orange Street & Cordova Street to visit Old City Remedies. I had visited their shop in the past just prior to moving here & purchased some soap, but this time decided to purchase an ounce or two of Tea they have available (in addition to other handmade bath & body products)! They have a huge selection of teas... black, red, green, white, rooibos, organic herbal, oriental... you name it, they have it!

First I tried their sample tea, I think it was Red Berries Fruit Melange, which was a melange of different fruits including blueberries (great antioxidant). I was very VERY surprised at how deliciously thick this tea was and enjoyed it's naturally sweet flavor which was not overpowering!

After drinking the sample, I got busy sniffing all the samples of tea, and decided on two: Cocoa Cardamom: black tea, cocoa chips, cardamom, & cinnamon. Smells like cocoa tea! :-D Lemon Chiffon Rooibos: South African rooibos, lemongrass, marigold flowers. This truly smells like lemon chiffon, but the rooibos & a hint of lemon shows through when enjoying the tea!

I'm looking forward to trying some of their organic herbal teas as well. They have a website that includes a large selection of their popular teas in a variety of areas and all their handmade products as well, but it doesn't include the flavors I mentioned above! Be sure to ask them for those flavors or... you'll just have to visit St. Augustine to find them! '-D

Visit: Old City Remedies

Where do we go to Eat?

Being an organic food lover, it's difficult at times to find a place to eat with healthy food choices... and make choices amongst the many non-organic food items. Living here in the Keys though tends to open up some of the food choices because of the wealthy abundance of fresh fish! Just yesterday one of the fishing charters (where I work) came in with a Swordfish!! It weighed 228 lbs.! I've never seen a swordfish, so it was a delightful treat to actually see one in person... it was a bit shorter than I thought it would be, with a small tail but a rather long sword. I've been told that they're THE BEST fish to eat... maybe the charter boat captain left us some samples! :-D

But besides the fish... we do have a few places in the Upper & Middle Keys for organic/vegan eating choices, although some are far & few between. One great place in Key Largo is Eco Eats. They create really delicious wraps full of chicken, fish, veggies that are large but not overly filling. I enjoy going to this small restaurant whenever I'm up in that area. I believe they're opening another (smaller) location at Froggy's, the local gym, in Tavernier.

On Big Pine Key, there's the Good Food Conspiracy! Wish we had one of these up in the Upper Keys! They combine health & organic food, organic products, good-for-you products, and a snack bar with awesome smoothies and cookies made by Deer Run (a Green Lodging B&B nearby-link is to the right). This is a definite stop on your way to Key West, and be sure to make time to visit The Crystal Loft next door for beautiful crystal gifts for yourself! :-D

There's a new health food store in Marathon, Food for Thought... I'll touch on this at a later date (after I've had a chance to visit & sample)! Sure wish a health food store w/organic snack bar would open in Islamorada! It would make eating so much easier & healthful!! :-D

If you're looking for a location somewhere else in the U.S., a great online source of vegan/organic restaurants is Happy Cow. I've tried some of the restaurants recommended while travelling and it's been an enjoyable eating experience!

Growin' Some Herbs...

In the late Spring, I took a class about growing herbs. It was given by a woman who owns Redlands Herb Farm with her husband and son. It was a very interesting class and she brought lots of herbs for us to grow in either pots or gardens. She said the herbs were very hard to grow in the heat of the Summer, not only in So. Florida but especially in the Keys. I remember reading that the Community Garden down in Key West had been harvested in late Spring/early Summer, and all will be replanting again in the Fall. But undaunted by this "impossibility", I purchased two herbs and two veggie plants, and repotted them in pretty clay pots and set them out on my front porch, which gets a bit of sun in the morning, then mostly shade by the afternoon.

What did I buy? Mint -- which has been doing rather well, believe it or not; I'll make some mint tea soon with those leaves. Another plant which is a cross between Parsley and Celery, but smells like Celery. I was fortunate to have some of this in my chicken salad one day... but that one has (just recently) unfortunately bit the dust. :-/ I thought it was "Borage", but I guess I got the name mixed up with another, 'cause borage tastes more like cucumber.

I also have some mini carrots -- they have to be the SWEETEST little carrots I have EVER tasted!! It's too bad their so tiny!! Perfect for a tiny person the size of an ant!! :-D LOL She said they should be potted in a deep pot so that they'd grow deep & long, but that hasn't happened. Maybe I'm supposed to do something else, I don't know. Maybe you know? :-)

...and English Lavender... she said this one was especially difficult to grow because of the Summer heat, but so far so good! It smells SO NICE when I run my hands through it! And believe it or not, it's holding up rather well!! I'm looking forward to drying & using in sachets maybe, or in my bath... or maybe in my food! '-D The woman who hosted the class made some sugar cookies with lavender sprinkled on top... how simple and how fun! :-D When I lived in IL back in the 90's, I had a HUGE garden full of lavender, right out in front of the house! It was wonderful... did I do anything with it, not then... just enjoyed the flowers and the scent mostly. NOW, I wish I had a garden full of lavender since I use it so much.

So, I've made it through a good part of this hot Summer with most of the plants! I'll take a picture to show... so you have a better idea! Coming real soon... '-)

Somebody recently gave me some pole bean seeds... but I'm not a bean person, so some lucky person may be receiving those from me. If you're interested, let me know! '-D