May I recommend
A cozy mug of tea
But before that, let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room — Happy Christmas Eve to those who celebrate! May it be warm and cozy and filled with loved ones and/or contemplative walks and/or nice smelling candles and/or crunchy snow and/or snuggly pets and/or some kind of satisfying comfort meal because they days are short and the nights are long.
Back to tea.
Am I one of those people who takes a weird smug pride in a stupid quirk that absolutely no one cares about? Of course, I am a human being! One of the MANY times I do this ( I am SO quirky!) is over the fact that I hate coffee and don’t drink it. I will tell anyone who will listen (e.g.: what is currently happening) that even when we lived in Belgium, where they make some (I am told) amazing coffee and they literally spit in your face when you order tea, I persisted in only drinking my hot leaf water.
Coffee tastes gross to me. Like liquified burnt tires. Non merci!
I am not writing about coffee, however, but about tea. Wonderful, weird, indescribably flavourerd, caffeine-filled tea. For my American readers, I am not talking about Iced Tea or Sweet Tea. Those things are confusing and definitely not tea. I am also not talking about herbal tea or any tisane bullshit. I am talking about black tea. It is delicious and comforting and MUST be served with milk.
Every committed tea drinker has their own weird quirks about how to get the perfect cup. How freshly boiled the water has to be; whether the milk goes in first or after; mug or porcelain cup; specific brand… I am not saying that everyone else is wrong, but I will say that the correct approach is: poured into the cup whilst the water is still boiling; after; mug - capacious, but not too ENORMOUS; Tetley’s Orange Pekoe .
One time I went to a friend’s (Christa!) house and she offered to make me a cup of tea. She then proceeded to put a cup of water in the MICROWAVE. This is a friend who is a really good cook, passionate about doing things well. She had a kettle RIGHT there. I was gobsmacked. This happened a decade ago and I STILL tell this story (I am quite the conversationalist…)
Okay, while I HATED the First Marigold Hotel movie with the fiery passion of 11 burning suns, I have stumbled across this clip of Maggie Smith schooling someone in how to make tea in the Second Best Marigold Hotel, and it is intensely satisfying.
Anyway, I really like black tea with milk. You should give it a try if you haven’t. RECOMMEND.
Tell me about your cozy drink preferences in the comments below!
Article Roundup!
The Best Movies of 2023 - I have to up my game… I’ve only seen Barbie!
The Sauna Secret : why Finland is the happiest country in the world
What Happens to Babies Born on Planes
How do you reduce a national dish to a powder? the weird, secretive. world of crisp flavours
Multitasking makes you less productive
This is Why You Wake Up at the Same Time Every Single Night
The Best Advice for Coping with Existential Dread and Grief
Just How Rich Were the McAllisters in Home Alone? - we watched this Thursday night and all of us noted the wallpaper, and that was BEFORE I read this article.
You Know it’s a Placebo, So Why Does It Still Work?
Book Stuff
Snowdrop Kisses my serialised Advent love story ends tomorrow! If you’re a regular Méli-Mélo, but didn’t want the daily updates, you can read the whole thing, by readingPart One and then clicking on the “next instalment” button at the bottom of that post.
2024 will see me publish the third in my Dominion Archives Mystery series. I am super excited about HONOR THE DEAD. It’s set in my beloved Eastern Townships of Quebec and centers on a folk hero I heard about growing up — The Megantic Outlaw. There’s murder and secrets, and the return of Cate Spencer, my hot mess of a medical coroner. Honestly I think it also has the best ending of any book I’ve ever written. I think I *nailed* it. I also introduce a dog character (nothing bad happens or ever will happen to the dog, I promise).
If you’re interested in the book, or like my writing or want to support me in any way, it’s massively helpful to engage with it online. If you’re on Goodreads, leaving me a review (or even just rating) any of my books that you’ve read is HUGE. If you haven’t read anything, hitting that “Want to Read” button is also helpful.
Amazon reviews or ratings are also greatly helpful as is posting about my books on social media or just telling your friends about them!
Of course, buying my books or borrowing them from the library is also fantastic. If your library doesn’t have it, ask them to order it in — they WILL.
Buy my books!
TikTok
There was a TikTok Error in the last newsletter — SO SORRY. I’ve reposted all of the TikToks from last time + more from this week. Sink into that couch, stuff another gingerbread cookie into your maw and enjoy!
Linguistics is (are?) fascinating
I have done my share of bullying like this back in the day
Apropos to this week’s topic (Last time’s topic - Les Miz)
This is extremely helpful
My daughter heard me listening to this and became angry at this guy
Support Breast Cancer
I have also been this parent
I’m doing a rewatch and this is good
This was a good moment - can’t believe it was 11 years ago!
Think I’ve posted this before…
Well, that is correct, I guess.
Kind of adorable
Pancake trauma
These girls get it
So you wanna pay full price?
I love this lady and I love everyone’s reactions
Making mayonnaise your personality (ha ha, just like me with Tea)
Gentle Parenting Aunt Sandy
A nice twist on this meme
This did not go in the direction I thought it would … B is the answer
The Great Cousin Decline
Ha ha, more and more this becoming me!
Freida nails it at the end
This is a classic
This is not optimum
Oh my god. This is very problematic
Are pets called pets because we pet them?
Baby with glasses alert!
Grammar fun
Another quirky fact about me: I’ve never seen the Kardashians, but I feel like I have…
Helping a friend move
Cat content
This is EPIC
Margarita chat
Oh come on!
Give her my number, so I can help her
I couldn’t figure this out in the time
This hurt
In case the holidays trap you with THAT relative
We can do mock interviews!
Thanks for reading my weekly newsletter.
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The link for "The Best Advice for Coping with Existential Dread and Grief" goes to "This is Why You Wake Up at the Same Time Every Single Night"
Happy Christmas eve Amy. I like Tetley tea. Boil water ,pour over tea bag in a mug add a bit of half and half let sit because forget about it. Reheat in microwave more then once lol🤣🤣