Tea Ceremony

Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, and for many, it is comfort in liquid form. Britain’s romanticized afternoon hour may come to mind when we think of tea, but there are deeply uncomfortable issues related to that common, milk-doused form of PG Tips or Twinings, ahem, like clashing empires and imperial rivalries that stimulated ruthless colonialism, sparked drug wars and fueled the human slave trade (especially the case in the desire for tea with sugar). And while in 2020 tea belongs to everyone, and tribes everywhere have put their own stamp, style, taste and methods of development on the art of tea drinking; tea was for thousands of years, strictly Chinese…

The Kitchen, Shoppe Online, EditorialHillaryOctober 7, 20203

In Good Taste

Offer thanks, slow down and really relish every sensation that comes along with chewing, with rolling flavors upon a taste bud-laden tongue, smelling a myriad of aromatics, noticing the heft of your flatware and the glazes on your plates, and the satisfying feeling of swallowing those nutrients. And hey, since we’re in a global pandemic trying to find joy where we can, if you want to lie down while eating supper like the ancient Greeks and Romans did – go right ahead, we won’t tell a soul.

The Kitchen, Shoppe Online, EditorialHillaryOctober 6, 20203

Places Everyone

Cooking is it right now – not only because there are fewer restaurants, but because once-harried meals squeezed into busy days have become deliberate markers of the passing time. We are all putting more care and thought into how we prepare our food, how we enjoy it, and how we appreciate it. There is no better place to count our blessings, again and again, than at the table.