Welcome to 2017

[izmeina]

It's been a quiet start to the New Year.
New Year's Eve was spent on a coffee crawl catching up on the papers and not yet written Christmas cards followed by a slink down to the beach to watch the last sunset of the year.
For the very first time I tried a very strange and popular concoction often to be found in the paleo /hipster hang outs - Turmeric latte which is a coffee substitute made with almond or coconut milk, turmeric and an assortment of spices.

There were lots of folks down at the beach and it was spooky to be within earshot of a party playing David Bowie as a soundtrack to the end of the year.

I spent most of the day at the Dursleys before slinking off to the annual ritual of a local fireworks display by the river which is always held on the evening of 1st January rather than the expected 31st December. I missed it the last two years one due to laziness and the other due to being in Amsterdam.
Their budget must have been cut because the show lasted only 10 minutes as opposed to the usual 20 that it has been for at least the last 10 times that I have attended.

New Year's celebrations in the rest of the world have not been so quiet and peaceful. It was like the Orlando night club all over again in Turkey.

The week of amazingly gorgeous and mild weather is now over. It's forecast to be a sizzling 38 for two days in a row as of tomorrow. So the serpent will have to slink about just after sunrise watering the weeds and putting up umbrellas to keep them shaded.

Comments

[purple_rain]

Happy New Year Izzie <3

What did you think of the turmeric latte? I haven't tried one yet. But I have been enjoying the odd dirty chai - quite delicious, but just a little too sweet for me to enjoy more regularly.

[izmeina]

Greenest Greetings your Royal Purpleness.

I hope you've had a good start to the new year. You could make it a New Year's resolution to try at least one turmeric latte. Because it's a hipster/ paleo concoction, it is very likely that there is no added sugar. The brew I had contained a bit of honey but not enough to be too obvious. It was a little bit chalky but otherwise quite nice and definitely a good alternative to coffee.
I suspect that the ones made with almond milk probably taste the best.

I have seen packets of turmeric latte mix in health food shops at a ridiculous price of $20 for about only 200g. Since turmeric is dirt cheap if you buy it in Indian grocery stores as well as all the other spices they have in the mix - then this is a right little racket.

I wouldn't be caught dead drinking dirty chai or chai latte or any of those ghastly concoctions with chai in the title. With one exception of course - and that's chai masala made with proper loose leaf black tea, spices and milk served with honey on the side and none of those nasty little packets or sachets filled with sugar or other equally sickly sweet stuff.
Nerada do both chai tea bags and loose leaf tea which you can get in your average supermarket. It's twice as good as the other brands and half the price. It is especially delicious when made with all milk.

[purple_rain]

It's mortifying isn't it, the lengths retailers will go to for an extra $$.

I so wish you would try chais! Or have you tried them and not liked the taste? My personal favourite, at home, is Chai Rooibos from Planet Organic - great with or without milk, doesn't need sugar, and uses Rooibos (Red) tea which is caffeine free. (Love Nerada range of teas, too)

xx