Books, tea, and fruity heaven

With April fast approaching, the women's book study I started back in November is coming to an end. We've enjoyed each other's company immensely over the past 5 months, and have explored a wealth of perspectives on problems facing modern women. We've read books of great polarity and extremism, engaged in great dialogue and conversation, and enjoyed delicious treats along the way. :)

A book club member graciously offered to bring blooming tea this last time, and treated us all to quite the delightful visual experience:

Blooming Tea kit comes with a glass tea jar and lid,
and several flavors of tea bulbs.

Simply pour hot water over the bulbs and steep. We
used one bulb of jasmine and one bulb of pomegranate
flavor to get a delicious blend!

Then we watched as the tea bulbs blossomed!

The bulb will drop to the bottom as it blossoms,
exposing a flower that floats to the top like a lilypad.

I started the book club primarily as a venue for empowering women through discussion. Not surprisingly, I got to combine many of my other interests as well: deep conversation, reading, and finger foods! I am always looking for yummy appetizers and finger foods for parties, and the book club was a wonderful outlet to test run small batches! I recently made cheesecake-stuffed strawberries (which a friend of mine had made for an in-home jewelry party she hosted a while back) and they were heavenly! I simply blended an 8 oz package of softened cream cheese with a heaping 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, a splash of milk, and 1 T of vanilla extract. Then I put the filling in a cake decorating bag so I could easily squeeze it into the berries. I cut off the tips of the strawberries (so they sit flat on a plate) and the tops, making sure to core out the middle. Squeeze in the filling and sprinkle crushed graham crackers on top and there you go! Simple. I used the same filling to decorate a kiwi slice with a blackberry just to see what it would taste like and angels sang.

Cheesecake-stuffed Strawberries and Kiwi-Blackberry Tarts

About to have a flavor
explosion in her mouth!

Very happy book club member!

21st Century Politics and Women

Google "binders full of women" and you'll get nearly 16 million hits already. The facebook group with this title had over 120,000 likes in just over an hour. There are celebrity photos (like Patrick Swayze from Dirty Dancing) with binder-related remarks strewn all over the internet. This phrase, taken out of context, is another silly attempt at slandering the Romney ticket.

When asked about the equal pay issue facing women in our workforce today, Romney thought he was tackling the question quite solidly with his anecdote about hiring women on his state cabinet. Unfortunately, he phrased his request for female applicants poorly and the public went viral with his "binders full of women" comment in a matter of minutes. Not to mention the rest of his anecdote was condescending and patronizing.

I am not here to defend Romney or ignorantly continue the slander. What I want to point out is that this election is CRUCIAL for so many women, for so many families, for the future of our country and our global presence... and WE'RE CONCERNING OURSELVES WITH A BINDER COMMENT.

Women, please pay attention. Your vote matters. This comment will forever remain symbolic of Romney's overall response to women's rights and issues that were finally brought to light during this presidential debate. He had an opportunity to shine, and he biffed it. Majorly. We need to take this debate seriously and look into the facts. Whose voting record supports women and their health (financial health, physical health, reproductive health, etc.)?

If you are one of those people who says you don't like politics, or you don't care about politics, PLEASE WAKE UP and attend to your civil duty of voting. No, it's not fun. No, most of us don't like it, but it was a hard-earned right for many of us to even have the ability to vote, and the direction of our country is suffering because of apathetic, uninvolved citizens.