Greetings Treat-A-Weekers,

Sometimes I feel guilty for writing this blog.  Why? Well, unless you are a Red Sox fan (which apparently Mindy Kaling [above] is and many in my new home city are), life today in this country and (in many others, incidentally) feels heretofore inconceivably messed up.  I won’t go through the litany of problems/divisions/destruction (of people, things, ideals, securities, environments) we are forced to confront on an almost daily basis now.  Most of you are well aware of them and aren’t reading my blog for a heaping dose of gloom and doom.  That said, I often feel these days that I have no business adding frivolity and froth as my contribution to the public social media space when there is so much work to be done to make the world a better place for everyone.

Truth be told, like most people I know, I often feel exhausted. Sometimes I get plain worn out of learning about, trying to process and address in whatever way I can the  bad news, endless toil, conflict, devastation and despair.  Recently, I had a conversation with  my daughters’ school principal that stuck with me. We’d been in a meeting for a school group that I participate in and I was explaining/apologizing for having taken an uncharacteristically rigid stance on a topic that was opposed to another member’s equally stongly held viewpoint.  I also brought up how surprised I was at how difficult it felt right now to get more people to engage in volunteerism, to take on tasks for the community.  At that point, the principal commented that in many of the groups he is involved in these days he is observing an inward retreat, a movement towards self-care, a desire not to focus externally but more to look inwards on how we can improve our own lives and those of the members of our own households since we seem to have so little control on all of the havoc going on around us.  He noted an increasing tendency in different meetings he attends for people to just show up “raw” — spinning and hurting from the turmoil around us and therefore, I surmised, less able to contribute in measured, filtered, impactful, tangible, collaborative and positive ways.  His observations resonated with me.  Had that been happening to me? Our conversation made me recognize that one impact of the internal hurt and discord so many of us are feeling as a result of external forces beyond our control is that it is affecting communities in which we don’t all share the same views with less participation, less hope, less harmony, less synchronicity.  And because of that, now more than ever, we have to take some time to take mini-retreats on the regular where we relax, recharge our batteries and go back into the world to actively participate and help change things for the better.  Mini-retreats do not have to involve leaving your home or going anywhere. On the contrary, the best mini-retreat in my view, is just giving yourself a full hour in your own home to do nothing except something your enjoy — reading, watching a funny show, sipping tea, listening to great music, going for a walk in your neighborhood — all of those are great options.  And during this time period, don’t multitask. Don’t respond to emails or texts, don’t surf the net, just engage in your one, relaxing, get-back-to-yourself thing.  You’ll feel better, I promise.  This blog is my thing – thanks for indulging me.

So my thought for the week is don’t give in to the temptation to opt out of the extracurricular work that you are involved with away from professional work and home-work; rather, take restorative time outs on the regular so that you have the energy and space to help be a part of the solutions that will make our children’s and the next generations’ lives better.  And so, in the spirit of helping you take these relaxing and enjoyable time outs that will allow you to feel rested enough to head out again into the morass, I give you two treasured offerings: chai tea and The Mindy Project.

Chai Tea – Two Ways

So, I was surprised by the level of interest people had in my making-Indian-food-for-beginners post last week.  After it, I felt motivated to provide a couple more recipes even though my husband says my food-related posts are the ones he reads the least. Oh well…:)

Like most of my food/beverage related posts, this one starts with my parents. Growing up, they drank cups of black tea with milk and sugar once, twice, sometimes three times a day.  And when we visited India or family friends’ homes growing up, what was the most frequently offered drink? This form of tea AKA chai, of course.  I remember thinking, why on earth do they love that stuff so much? (My favorite drinks at the time were Dr. Pepper and Coke).  But when I started practicing law, I realized, I needed some caffeine to start my day and even I couldn’t drink soda on an empty stomach.  That’s where my cup of tea in the morning and once in the late afternoon habit started.  This habit was transformed into a requirement when we lived in England for almost 3 years as tea became a true balm for the very common rainy, dreary and/or cold day.  Having “a cuppa” on the regular (usually with some sort of biscuit or chocolate treat), sometimes with friend, around 4 pm or 5 pm when I gave my 2-4 year old her dinner became something I genuinely looked forward to regularly.  Most people in England drank tea exactly the way my parents did — with milk, sometimes warmed up, with various forms of sweeteners.  My husband and I drink our tea with a teaspoon of raw honey (my favorite is buckwheat honey or natural propolis honey available from NutraBee https://nutrab.com/), but any raw (unpasteurized) honey will do.  When most people think of chai, they think of it as a spiced tea.  I myself only incorporate the spice on special occasions when I have the luxury of time. Also, please keep in mind there are more versions of chai than I can count — the two are just a couple.  Hope you will try and enjoy one or both of them.

Quickie Microwave Chai Tea (No spices)

Ingredients:

-1 teabag of black tea (I use British Blend Tetley or PG Tips; for the tea purist, try Akbar Brothers Gold sold at Phoenicia if in Houston or online at retailers including amazon https://www.amazon.com/Akbar-Premium-Quality-Ceylon-Single/dp/B00XNSZ5EM)

-l cup of water

-some whole milk or 2% milk

-1 tsp. raw honey

Directions:

Boil water in kettle and steep teabag for 2 minutes; OR put tea bag in microwaveable cup and microwave until it boils (about two minutes); Remove tea bag, add milk and teaspoon of honey. Enjoy

Stovetop Made Chai Tea With Spices (Afroz’s recipe – thanks Afroz, been using it for 16 years!) – Recipe makes four cups.

Ingredients:

-4-5 teabags of black tea

-2 cups water

-2 cups whole or two percent milk

-4 tsps honey

-2 cardamom pods crushed

-1 cinnamon stick

Directions:

Pour two cups water and two cups milk into a small pot.  Add 4-5 tea bags (depending on how strong you want your tea); Add crushed cardamom pods and cinnamon stick.  Brew on low heat until the tea boils. Stand nearby because the milk sometimes reaches a height where it boils over the pot and onto the stovetop and it can be hard to clean.  You don’t want that.  You will lose some of the volume of the tea liquid in this process so be prepared to know that these will not be brimming mugs of tea but probably filled 3/4 of the way. Strain out cardamom pods and cinnamon stick.  Add 1 teaspoon of honey to each cup as per your or your guests taste. Enjoy

 

The Mindy Project (starring Mindy Kaling, Chris Messina & Ike Barinholtz, 2012-2017)

This post is getting too long, so I will make it snappy. I know this show has been around for a while and I loved it when it aired on Fox years ago, but then after 3 seasons it moved to Hulu and I kind of lost track of it because, alas, I didn’t have Hulu.  Flash to a few weeks ago when I decided had to start watching season 2 of The Handmaid’s Tale (which is arguably the highest caliber television on today but that’s for another post) caved and signed up for Hulu and suddenly, The Mindy Project, Seasons 4, 5 & 6) were available to me! Yippee! I am currently only a few episodes into Season 4, but the show, to me, is as funny and appealing as ever.

If you haven’t heard of The Mindy Project, (1) I am surprised; and (2) it is a comedy following American of Indian descent OB/GYN Mindy Lahiri who lives in NYC and works with a hysterical cast of oddball characters (my fave is Morgan played by Ike Barinholtz) and who, for the first few seasons has a different adorable or funny love interest every few weeks.  Mindy also has the loudest personality and wardrobe in town, a love of pop culture, a shockingly funny lack of knowledge/know-how in a few areas of her life, a job she loves, and fab chemistry with one of her colleagues.  Add those things to the fact that she reminds me of one of my closest friends from law school and the show has become my renewed “go to”  for a half hour of pure fun.  Check it out if you are looking for a short, funny break from your routine.

And then after your tea and Mindy, forge back in to real life like I do.  Enjoy –  and until next week, I remain,

Very truly yours,

M

p.s. I do not get paid to endorse any particular products — just letting you know what I like!