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YOU GUYS, it’s pumpkin season again aka my favorite season. Summer? Pft, too hot & also bugs. Spring? The melting snow becomes black mush & it’s gross. The blooming cherry blossoms hang out for like 2 weeks & then they die. Also, bugs are back with vengeance. My point is that it’s pumpkin season – the most important season because pumpkins????. Look, there are a lot of pressing issues in the world, so I’m going to make it clear that I’m being facetious, but I must emphasize with hyperbole how much I love pumpkin season.
This Tea Time Thursdays will not be with a pumpkin tea because it’s embarrassing that the time before my last TTT was on pumpkin tea, so…here’s my attempt to mix it up. But just so you know, DAVIDsTEA has 4 new pumpkin teas. Yep. Get PUMPED y’all! Okay let’s actually talk about what’s in my picture right now.
Jumpy Monkey
This week, I’m featuring this wonderful Brazilian maté blend called Jumpy Monkey, which is a marvelous bridge for chocolate, tea, & coffee lovers alike. I love tea more than coffee, but I still enjoy coffee every once & a while. This tea is one of Josh’s top 3 from David’s & it also makes my top 3 maté list. It combines 3 different coffee beans, roasted maté, white chocolate, almonds, & chicory. It’s great iced, hot, & as a latte. Since it’s a maté & it’s blended with 3 different coffee beans, it’s considered a stimulant with a caffeine level equivalent to a cup of coffee. Jumpy Monkey is the perfect tea for those coffee drinkers in your life who aren’t enamored with tea yet. But trust me, when you introduce this to them, they might change their mind about how diverse tea can really be!
So why did I choose this tea to be featured instead of one of our many summer teas that are no longer available? Well, that’s easy.
Lemony Sardines on Toast with Cambozola, Dill, Greek Yogurt, & Red Onions
I love eating lox on a bagel in the morning with a cup of coffee, but bagels aren’t exactly the healthiest. Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon a recipe in Clean Slate that was a play on the typical lox bagel, switching out the carb intensive bread with just a slice of rye. It doesn’t stop there though! Rather than using smoked salmon, sardines were used in place & the cream cheese was substituted with Neufchâtel, which is similar in taste, but is made up of less fat. Unfortunately for me, Trader Joe’s discontinued their Neufchâtel, but you can still find it in Whole Foods or other large grocery stores–specifically the ones targeting a health conscience consumer aka not 7-Eleven. I used Cambozola because I’m on a blue cheese kick, but if you’re not a fan of blue cheese, you can use Brie or Camembert.
But…Tiff…sardines? Ew.
You shut your ignorant mouth, you. Sardines are one of the world’s healthiest fishes to eat. They’re a great source for Vitamin B12–that energy booster that you need; also found in Red Bull–& omega-3 fats. If you’re unfamiliar with what omega-3 fats do, lemme ‘splain: essential for growth, development, & brain function, consuming an adequate diet with omega-3 fats can lower your LDL cholesterol thus lowering your risk for heart disease, reduces your high blood pressure & risk for osteoporosis. Sardines are also low in mercury because they’re tiny & at the bottom of the fishy food chain. They’re sustainable & affordable. If you love fish & you tend to like salty food, take a risk & try these tiny fish out. I’m not going to lie to you, they’re stinky, so I wouldn’t recommend taking them to work or school, so enjoy these in the morning in your eggs or on toast.
The perfect pairing of tea & a breakfast food: Lemony Sardines on Toast & DavidsTea’s Jumpy Monkey.
What, new stuff, really??
^^^^^^^ Check out the photos from my first day in Bangkok, y’all!!!!!
Oooh. This looks like something I should make for my parents because they like fish way better than me. Even better that it’s lemony, which my mum likes!
Jumpy Monkey is a cute name for a tea. 😀 I never heard of mate before, so thanks for introducing that to me! Tea can certainly be diverse!
Pumpkin season FTW! I’m just happy it’s COOLER. I hate summer and hot weather and bugs, so I’m just happy that fall has come to Korea. Just, YAY.
Super simple to make, too! If your parents just prefer smoked salmon, just use smoked salmon haha.
Yerba maté is a wonderful herbal tea from South America, mainly in Argentina, Brazil, & Ecuador. It’s not technically a tea because tea refers to Camellia sinensis aka what white, green, oolong, black, & pu’erh are made of! However, maté has lots of caffeine equivalent to coffee, so it is considered a stimulant. It’s a pretty great alternative to coffee.
I’m also happy it’s getting cooler. When I can leave the house at night without needing a light jacket because it’s too hot … well that bothers me haha.
I’m not a fan of pumpkin, but I do love the autumn season! I like the idea of doing something similar to lox on a bagel but healthier. Plus, I like sardines more! I wish people didn’t have such a bad view of it. I think they’re great.
Also, I’m finally drinking tea! I kept saying for months that I’d get into it, and now I’m actually drinking it daily. I’m currently using tea bags, but I’m eyeing this shark and manatee infuser set, so I will probably switch to loose leaf soon XD I’m not sure if I’d like something like Jumpy Monkey though since I don’t like the taste of coffee.
The food looks good in your Bangkok photos! I’m also amazed at all the flower decorations there. So pretty!
I’m convinced people who say they’re not a fan of pumpkin are lying to themselves or haven’t had it in a context in which they’d enjoy it. It’s a squash so if you like squash, it’s not too difficult to prepare it in a way you’d like. Plus, the upside of a higher uptake of pumpkin is all its health properties you’d be ingesting! Think about it, Cat. Give it a chance. 🙂 You should order DavidsTea’s pumpkin matcha. Actually you know what? I’ll just send you some hahaha. I MUST TRY TO CONVERT ALL TO PUMPKIN.
You like sardines more than smoked salmon? Well, then this recipe would be perfect for you! I recently tried it with smoked trout & it’s my new favorite. I like sardines a lot though, it is indeed too bad it gets a bad rap!
Yay for finally drinking tea. Talk to me about tea if you ever have any questions. If you really want to immerse yourself in the lovely world, you gotta get some loose leaf tea on hand. I know the infusers you speak of!! They’re really cute. I have the whale infuser which is adorable, but it’s not that great for loose leaf tea in general. It doesn’t give it enough room for the tea to expand, so I’d recommend getting a cup with an infuser in it (like the one from DavidsTea or any other brand; we sell them for $20-23). There are also $20 steepers which are fantastic too, but if you’re super anti-plastic, don’t get them & stick to one of the stainless steel infusers. That ceramic cup you see in the picture comes with an infuser (pictured). But anyway, I’d absolutely recommend getting loose leaf tea from DT or TeaChaiTe.com! They’re both so great & with DT, you get 3 free samples of tea (I think you can choose them too!). Those small infusers, however, are fine for herbal teas that don’t expand the way tea (C. sinensis) does. Also, loose leaf tea is more expensive, but it’s healthier & of course, of finer quality. You’ll get the best bang for your buck & you will really taste the difference.
The mall we went to was hosting the orchid festival so that’s why there were so many flowers up in there haha.
Wow, you take really beautiful photos of food! Looks like your sidebar description is pretty spot on. :3 Everything looks so good especially that mate (I am a tea lover), and you seem to be an expert on eating healthy, which is hard to do for young people due to our lifestyle. I kinda wanna go buy myself some sardines to try. 😀
Thank you, Liv! 🙂 I’m not an expert on eating healthy, but I’m definitely learning a lot & sharing what I learn. 🙂 I’ve seen a mix thing with young people & food. I have a lot of friends who eat unhealthily & don’t cook at all. A lot of them have incredibly fast metabolisms, so they look really healthy. Then there are others who are very into eating healthier, so they’ll cook or look to services like Blue Apron for great options (not always super healthy though). My boyfriend is one of the busiest people I know, but he actively tries to cook his own food in a healthy manner, even though he’s the sloooowwweessttt cooker I’ve ever seen. I think it’s changing though, at least I see a huge shift in our attitude towards food. College students could save more money if they cooked themselves & a lot of them figured that out. I have a friend who became a vegetarian because it was too expensive to buy meat & she just stayed vegetarian. You only live once, right? So you might as well improve the quality of your life via healthy food & an active lifestyle!! 🙂
Anyway, thanks for stopping by & I hope you start up some new recipe adventures. Let me know if you ever need any help or resources on where to start. 🙂
I’m so excited for fall! Finally it’s getting cooler, although spring remains my favorite season even with the slush! I get so miserable in the winter that the moment I see flowers, I’m ecstatic. 😀
Who doesn’t love sardines?? I think they’re delicious. I remember my grandma would always open a can for me after school with some hot rice. Mmmm.