Sunday, October 18, 2009

Let's Start at the Very Beginning: A Very Good Place to Start!

Welcome to my kingdom!

We are the King.  Not that you'd know it; We are a Sneaky King.  A Sly King.  A King on the Side.  A Surreptitious King. 

Like most Kings, We like to make and do.  We are a busy person.  Busy, busy, busy in the Sneaky Kingdom!  So many things.  We make something pretty much every day.  All play and no work makes for a Lazy King, and that's no good.  A Lazy King is an Obvious King, a King everyone can see and hear coming.  No stealth at all.  No one wants that. 

In this kingdom, We start Our day with tea.  Since that's the first thing We make every day, that's the first thing We'll make here.  Behold, the Royal Tea!



Try to ignore the Royal Mess behind.

Without tea, We find that not only do We tend to fall asleep when We should be thinking big thoughts, but also that the moving parts--the joints, the vocal folds, the eyeballs--don't really operate the way they should.  Stiffness.  Roughness.  A catch in the works.

Tea is most important in the Sneaky Kingdom.  There can never be enough tea.

Here's how to make this tea, which We like to drink in midafternoon--a bit of a pick-me-up, but not so much as to disturb bedtimes.  The King is very sensitive to bedtime disturbances! (And innuendo, apparently.)  The King makes the tea thicker (more matcha) when it's further away from bedtime. 

1 tsp. matcha
1/2 to 2/3 c. water, hot but not quite boiling (alternatively, boiling with a tablespoon of cold water added in)

Put the powder in the tea bowl.  Pour in the water.  Mix with a tea whisk.  The thicker the tea, the foamier it will be when you whisk it.

Tomorrow We'll make something else!  (And more tea.  Always more tea.)