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#WeekendCoffeeShare, Yuletide Edition

December 24, 2016 — 8 Comments

Inn of Gingerbread

Arizona Inn Dining Room

If we were having coffee today I would invite you to quench your thirst with some fresh grapefruit juice. Our ruby-red grapefruit tree is yielding fruit that we will harvest from now until March. It is bright red in the spirit of Christmas, and delightfully tart. Citrus season is generous, bright and cheerful. We have a calamondin tree which bears heavily all winter too. It is a very tart lime flavored small fruit. I am going to town by scenting the air with mandarin and lime oils in the gingerbread house diffuser. I am serving a selection hot teas and coffee for your drinking pleasure. I am even on a citrus jag with tea, loving the roiboos lemon cloud flavor. It does make me feel like I am on a cloud for a few minutes when I drink it. Help yourself to your favorite beverage, and you can feel free to add a splash of alcohol if you are arriving at happy hour in your time zone.

Here in Tucson it is 7:45 am and 46 degrees F. It will be warm and sunny all day, so soak up some rays and the beauty of the desert before you leave. We are going to the Arizona Inn, very close to home, for our Christmas Eve lunch. Our 1:30 reservation for the main dining room is the perfect plan for this couple. I am vegetarian and Bob is not. At home he has to keep kosher, which means no meat in the house. When he dines out he likes to have super excellent carnivore cuts. The Arizona Inn has fabulous selections for me, and outstanding dishes for him. He might eat a duck today, and that is fine with me. We are going there for the elegance, the service, and the superb cuisine. They will prepare and serve our dinner in a highly sophisticated style we just can’t replicate at home in our condo. We have no chef at home, and more importantly, no dishwashers. They never disappoint. They go over the top so we don’t have to make such an effort. I look forward to this traditional lazy holiday.

They will have a glorious flower arrangement in the center of the room, and a fire in the adobe fireplace. The Inn has all the trimmings for a fancy over the top holiday experience. All we have to do is Uber on over and enjoy the day. We take Uber when we want to cocktail, and we do plan to cocktail this afternoon. The car service adds an element of luxury our daily lives do not normally include, and that is fun too. Our driver will deliver us to the front door of the Inn, where the doormen (plural) will welcome us. We will take our traditional photos next to the decorated tree in the library before taking our table in the dining room. For me it is the best no fuss no muss way to celebrate this holiday weekend.

I have plenty of time this morning to hear about your holiday (or not) plans. What kind of celebration will happen where you live? Drop in on Diana to share your comments or a post of your own. Diana keeps the party going from New Orleans, but this is a world wide event. Share coffee with some very cool writers from all over the world. Cheers, all!

Inn of Gingerbread

Grapefruit Magic

July 3, 2014 — 3 Comments

Citrus pardisii

My grapefruit tree is healthy and bears very well for months each winter. We enjoy fresh juice daily from January until about the end of March. The intoxicating aroma of the blossoms fills the air for about a month in March. The plant is ruled by the sun, like all citrus fruits. It has zingy, cooling and cleansing properties that are prized by health lovers. The fruit and the juice are delightful, but the essential oil of grapefruit has very useful qualities. Buy pure unadulterated oil and store it in the dark because it oxidizes quickly, therefore has short shelf life. Using it with a carrier oil, like jojoba, it can be very helpful to warm up and boost circulation. The benefits of using grapefruit in a massage oil include:

ease join pain by stimulating muscles and joints
treat congested skin disorders like clogged pores and oily skin
diminish water retention and cellulite in specific areas

To use the oil for aromatherapy delivered by inhalation you can use a diffuser or use a few drops straight up on a handkerchief. The subtle and immediate effects of the inhalation include:

headache relief
calm nervous tension and stress
uplifts the mood in depressing situations

I never get tired of the smell and the flavor of grapefruit. It makes me happy and nourishes me. Cocktails made with grapefruit juice are very high on my favorites list as well. What is your favorite way to experience grapefruit?