Candy Cane Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha

That sounds like an awesome idea for a marshmallow treat.

It’s sort of like a peppermint bark marshmallow treat mash-up. ;)

YES.

I’m glad that you had someone you could offer the Foggy Coconut tea to!

I’m so sorry about your kitty buddy. It’s not an easy decision with any animal. What helped me with my cat years ago, was my aunt saying ’it’s time’ and that really made it easier having that ‘second opinion’ sort of thing. It wasn’t just my decision. I was basically a teenager though, but my aunt had many cats, so I trusted her opinion. Keep listening to that music and drinking that tea though.

@Anne, my mom doesn’t really drink “hot tea” at all, so I was kind of surprised that she actually tried it. she sent me a text saying she took Foggy Coconut to work with her and later in the day sent me a picture and gushing about how much she loved it :)

@tea-sippper, it’s both an easy and hard decision. it’s easy because 1) he has chronic kidney disease, which has no cure 2) his body is at a point where it cannot fight infections and he is having a harder time bouncing back from those infections. in the last couple of months he’s had four infections, 2 urinary tract infections (one of which was some kind of awful bacterial infection that was resistant to most antibiotics. ugh. he had to take a hardcore antibiotic for 2 weeks, every 12 hours and it was a lot), an infection in his arm, and most recently a yeast infection in his ear. these infections also come with the side effect of him not feeling good and not eating. not eating/losing weight rapidly can cause some nasty liver problems. it’s hard because he’s been my best friend for 15 years and I can’t imagine what life will be like when he’s not here. but I also know that living a life full of illness isn’t fair to him. I cried at the vet’s office while discussing this with his doctor, I cried driving him back home, I cried when telling my mom about my decision, and I cried some more yesterday while he was sleeping by my feet. it’s a lot and I wish I were a lil bit stronger.

@annie – I’m so sorry about your cat. The cat that I had when I was younger had chronic kidney disease also – and it broke my heart to have to put him down but there was also a sense of relief that he was no longer suffering. He too was my best friend through my teens when I was going through lots of stuff – it was so hard to say goodbye and that’s a pain I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I’m so sorry.

I basically was going to say everything Anne just said. My cat in my teens also had kidney failure. You ARE strong and it ain’t easy. He has had a long life with the most caring of owners.

<3 We also lost a cat to kidney failure. He was only 12 and it broke my heart. My parents made the decision after we tried basically all heroic measures aside from a kidney transplant (that’s probably not an option but I was looking for anything). I cried for days. What I had to realize was that his quality of life was more important than my desire not to lose him. We probably waited longer than we should have; his back legs stopped functioning near the end so he basically couldn’t do anything anymore. :’(

Sending hugs and strength as you go through this rough time.

I’m imagining chocolate pineapple mint and I don’t know whether it would be really good or awful. :) This sounds like a nice holiday tea.

Yes, and it’s the Pineapple Mint that’s the clear troublemaker of the group.Constantly in “time out,” that one. :P

LOL. It sounds like it would be really good, though, when it isn’t causing trouble. Pineapple mint is now on my list of things to try if I can find it.

I don’t think it’s the tastiest of mints (chocolate mint wins), but it is unique smelling and showy – with fancy variegated leaves :)

It’s the prettiest and it knows it.

All plants and trees are happy there. Everything looks like it has been pumped full of steroids. Twelve times the size of the same thing in the East.

Also, your mom sounds so lovely.

Leafhopper, we do have all these mints here too.

I’ve had similar experience with homegrown mint, even when they didn’t tentacle their way into the other pots. I had high hopes for orange mint and pineapple mint one year and didn’t even get much “mint,” let alone the appropriate citrus. So I’m back to one at a time, and for me, it’s apple mint. Grows and performs as expected.

gmathis – any seeds that might find their way here?

CrowKettle, yes, I’m sure chocolate mint is tasty. It’s another one I want to try.

Evol Ving Ness, I’d have to grow that mint on my windowsill, as I don’t have a yard. It’s too bad those varieties of mint don’t find their way into tea shops.

Mint’s a pretty hardy, shade-tolerant, water-loving plant – it’d should take to windowsill/small planters. Oregon and Washington are the first regions that come to mind when I think big mint production but the Great Lakes are fertile spots too! We can all grow some kind of mint :)

My happiest, most compliant mint was a peppermint, but it died in a drought one year. I haven’t been able to grow as nice a peppermint since, and haven’t figured out how to coax a good leaf yield vs rhizome tentacle productions. No matter where I put it, the pineapple mint does both though. And flowers. XD

I’d love to see different mint types in tea blends or as a plain herbal. I guess I could experiment with my own..

CrowKettle, so not only is pineapple mint very pretty, but it’s also hard to kill. Sounds like a winner if you don’t have other mints nearby to be infiltrated/contaminated!

And you should definitely experiment with making your various mints into tisanes. :)

We always seem to have all the mint varieties growing. I think we even have an orange mint plant. I think the class Spearmint is still my favorite though.

Spearmint is fantastic. It, along with peppermint, are popular for a reason! :)

Ashmanra, just now seeing this…I don’t have any seeds at the moment—sent derk the ones I salvaged a while back. But you can have dibs on this year’s!

Migraines are no fun, even when they are short-lived. I hope yours breaks soon!

Thank you!

Ugh. Days of migraines suck. Hope you kick it soon.

My dad has yet to forward me these teas but I am very much enjoying hearing what I am in for. This sounds awesome!

Sounds very delicious!

sounds great!

I really love this one. @VariaTEA – I’m sorry for the delay in getting them out. for the first time, I was actually AHEAD of schedule before my unexpected 10 day stay at the hospital – ugh!

No need to apologize. It is NEVER your fault. My Dad just likes to take forever to pass things on haha.