Pink Chalcedony

Chalcedony taking over my coffee table

We went to Tonopah, Arizona to hunt chalcedony, fire agate and druzy quartz.

One of my favorite pieces

We made a flag with a metal pole, rubber band and a scarf. We planted it atop a hill near where we parked the car. Then the three of us descended upon the desert for five hours, searching.

We picked up many many rocks on two tours of the area. I found a cobalt blue glass soda bottle. We saw a couple baby tarantulas. We heard someone on a dirt bike in the distance. We drove out at dusk, following our own tire tracks back to the road through the creosote.

Spoils of the first tour
Baby tarantula
Bowl of chalcedony

Fuk It Soup

Fuk it. At 8 pm last night I finally decide to make fuk soup and it turns out it’s Fuk-ing amazing! This recipe is from 90 Day Fiance’s Annie and David. When I see glass noodles in the meatballs, I know this soup is going to be fun!

Squash Soup

This soup is made with winter melon aka chayote. Fuk is Thai for any squash or gourd-like vegetable.

Chayote
Meatballs
Soup over rice with Daikon slice

Spill the Tea

Gongfu tea table

I have been a little obsessed with learning new styles of tea making. I am practicing a style from China called Gongfu, which means right effort.

The brewing vessel is called a gaiwan. It is designed to brew leaves in many small infusions. To start, give the tea a 10 second wash and discard by pouring over your tea creature (and into the tea tray.) Then infuse using progressively longer times and hotter water.

I really enjoy the complexity of oolong (a hybrid of green and black tea) and Pu’reh (fermented.) I’ve been trying different varieties from The Tea Spot and Yunnan Sourcing. Check out this four year old fermented Pu’reh tea in a tangerine peel (below!)

Tea shelf
4 year Pu’reh