First Cup Meditation — Weekend Meditation

First Cup Meditation

It’s early on a summer’s morning and I’m sitting out back with my first cup of tea. The air is cool, my tea is hot and bracing, and the birds are outdoing themselves with delight over the sun’s arrival. An old friend, The List of Things to Do, is rather large today and persistent, too, like a scruffy sheep dog that wants to be walked and is nagging for attention by consistently and methodically placing one of its saucer-sized paws in my lap.

But I’m strong (who is in charge here?) and I resist. I’m on my first cup of tea and my rule is that there’s no planning, scheming, list making or worrying while drinking my first cup. This is my meandering, creative, daydreamy time, when I can indulge in crazy thoughts and ideas with no self-censoring. Just let it all unravel and follow wherever it wants to go.

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Orwell’s Perfect Cup of Tea, a Beer Bottling Party, Summer Slow Cooker Recipes, One-Minute Omelets, Whipped Cream in a Jar — Most Popular Posts Published June 23 – 29

Orwell's Perfect Cup of Tea, One-Minute Microwave Omelet, Slow Cooker Recipes for Hot Days, and Whipped Cream in a Jar

Happy Saturday! Popular posts this week on The Kitchn include a George Orwell essay on the perfect cup of tea, 10 meals you can make straight from the farmers market, an All-American beer bottling party, a lovely tour of a Seattle kitchen, and more. Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

15. What Happens When Monsanto Buys the Patent To Your Favorite Tomato
14. 5 Summer Breakfasts to Beat the Heat
13. Why Having a Toddler Made Me Eat More (and Not Better)
12. Summer Treat: Vanilla Milk with Chocolate Ice Cubes
11. Essential Recipe: Italian Salad Dressing
10. George Orwell’s 11 Golden Rules for Making the Perfect Cup of Tea

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What’s Cooking This Weekend? — Weekend of June 29-30, 2013

 An All-American Beer Bottling Party | Gatherings from The Kitchn 

It’s been a summery sort of week around here, as our kitchens heated up and we plotted our menus for Independence Day. What are you planning this weekend in your kitchen? Is grill heated and ready? Are you planning front-stoop picnics? What are you cooking? (If you’re making any recipes from The Kitchn, tag them @thekitchn on Instagram! We’d love to see!) Happy cooking, and happy weekend! 

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Switch Your RSS Feeds from Google Reader to Feedly in 3 Easy Steps

Happy trails, Google Reader! You were much beloved and sure to be missed by many. Google is shuttering its Reader RSS feed service on Monday, and many users are scrambling to migrate to an alternative RSS solution, most notably Feedly. Feedly is our pick for the simplest, nicest-looking alternative to Google Reader. Here’s how to make the switch, in three easy steps. 

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Honey & Chili Chicken Thighs, Arugula Pesto Pasta, Italian Salad Dressing, Summer Berry Pavlovas, & Sparkling Sweet Tea Cocktail — New Recipes from The Kitchn

This week, it felt like summer finally arrived — both with temperature creeping up and in our kitchens. Don’t these chicken thighs glazed in honey and chili sound like the perfect dinner to take out on the porch? Especially if you have a few berry pavlovas to finish the meal? I think so! And you won’t want to miss this recipe for sparkling sweet tea cocktail, our nutty arugula pesto with penne, or any of the other great recipes from this past week. Take a look and plan your weekend meals!

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Emma’s 5 Do-Ahead Tips for Planning a Stress-Free Dinner Party — Gatherings from The Kitchn

Emma's 5 Do-Ahead Tips for Planning a Stress-Free Dinner Party

To cap off this week’s series on my All-American Beer Bottling Party, I wanted to share some of my best do-ahead tips to — hopefully! — reduce the stress many of us often feel in the days leading up to, and the day of, a big dinner party. I have not always been the world’s most calm and collected hostess (…ahem…), and these tips have been hard-earned. But they’re easy! More like habits, really. Once I got used to thinking about a dinner party in terms of doing things ahead, the amount of anxiety I felt in anticipation of the party itself disappeared.

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My Trip on The Whiskey Trail, Plus Recipe: Sparkling Sweet Tea Pitcher Cocktail — 10-Minute Happy Hour

My Ultimate Whiskey Lovers' Vacation, Plus Recipe: Sparkling Sweet Tea Cocktail

Does your dream vacation include a mix of history, American whiskey, rye and bourbon, all while indulging in southern BBQ, country music, and maybe a horse race or two? Break out your pitcher, brew up some iced tea, and I’ll tell you how to make it a reality as we kick off happy hour with a toast to some of the finest commerce coming from America’s heartland. Here’s my cocktail spin on the southern staple of sweet tea.

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