Back to "Normal" - more tea and veggies

School is almost over and I have my weekends back. I've been spending them well so far, even though I still have two exams left. Yesterday was my friend Sarah's 30th birthday party, and I helped her decorate her backyard for the dinner party. I'll post pictures soon. There have actually been a lot of birthdays this month, my friend Casey had a tea/B-Day party a few weeks ago:



Amanda brought green princess cake (marzipan "icing" and yellow cake with layers of raspberry jam, mmmmmm). We also had blooming jasmine tea which I've been really wanting to get for myself, but I can't justify the expense. The tea leaves and jasmine flowers are hand tied into little balls, which "bloom" when you pour the boiling water over them.

Here's the latest CSA box:





I bought the corn at the farmer's market (5 ears for $1!) but the CSA box had beets, basil, zucchini, carrots, cabbage, and beans. I put most of it into a huge fried rice dish, which I'm still eating. But I had something special in mind for the cabbage. I'm making sauerkraut!



That's right, you heard me. It's really easy, actually. All I did was shred the cabbage and sprinkle it with lots of salt to draw out the water and create a brine. A while ago I bought a crock for this very purpose, and I took the shredded cabbage and shoved it into the crock, pressing down and crushing the cabbage to draw more water out of it. I put a tupperware and water-filled glass jar "weight" on it, and the brine should rise above the cabbage in 24 hours. I'll let you know how it goes.