Detox and Kumquats

A few years ago, a handful of people at my church were doing the master cleanse. I really wanted to try it, but Wyatt talked me out of it. The master cleanse is a detox diet where you only drink a concoction of lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper for roughly two weeks. I can't remember why it was so compelling, but I have had it in the back of my mind for a while.

Several months ago I started receiving this design magazine Ready Made in the mail out of the blue. I have really enjoyed its innovative design ideas and ways to recycle items in the home. An article a few months back featured a detox tea with lemon, agave, cayenne pepper, and ginger. At Last, I thought, I can give this a try. I would never replace honey with agave as the norm, but it is a perfect natural organic sweetener for tea.

The mag recommended drinking this tea every morning before eating anything else for an hour. I like to drink it as a pick me up in the afternoon, since coffee past noon tends to make me a little crazy. The tea varies every time for me since I like to experiment and don't like to measure. I add Earl Grey or English breakfast tea if I want a caffeine boost.

Typically, this would be the recipe...

4 cups water
1/2 lemon
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbs agave
1 thumb size piece of ginger

1. Boil water
2. Grate ginger with a microplane into french press.
3. Add lemon, cayenne, agave to ginger.
4. Pour boiling water over and stir. Let steep for 4 minutes and enjoy!

Continuing the tea theme, I had the most intoxicating tea at Facing East Taiwanese restaurant. Kumquats are one of my favorite fruits. You must try them if you haven't. The beauty of them is that they intensely sour and sweet with a bonus of eating the skin. No waste, you know how I love being green. I have tried to replicate this tea at home, but haven't nailed down a recipe.

So far I crushed the kumquats, mixed in agave, much like the recipe above. It hasn't had the potency of the restaurant thus far. A lovely Taiwanese lady at the park gave me a great tip for making the tea (she was also a Facing East fan). She said I should create a slurry like soup of the kumquat to extract the flavor for the tea. Kumquats aren't in season, so I haven't tested it to perfection. Stay tuned....

I must also mention PORK BELLY "burgers". I beg you, if you are in the Seattle area, and haven't tried these, you must. Its sheer genius. Facing East was my first time to experience distinctively Taiwanese food and wow! They were a fraction of the cost of my pork belly appetizer at the Barking Frog and ten times more delicious. Go, now...well, wait till they reopen after the renovation because they needed more space due to their ridiculous popularity.

Thought for the Day: I got nasty habits; I take tea at three. ~Mick Jagger