Kitchen God's Wife

Thanks to Etta for floral mugs & journal

Thanks to Igor for sending
"What are you waiting for my darling?"

This lovely video reminds me of my favorite passage
from Amy Tan's novel The Kitchen God's Wife
-- when Winnie offers her daughter Pearl
a cup of tea after Grand Aunti Du's funeral:

"I take a few quick sips. 'This is really good.' And I mean it. I have never tasted tea like this. It is smooth, pungent, and instantly addicting.

'This is from Grand Auntie,' my mother explains.

'A few years ago she bought it for herself. One hundred dollars a pound.'

'You're kidding.' I take another sip. It tastes even better.

'She told me, '"If I buy myself the cheap tea, then I am saying my whole life has not been worth something better." So she decided to buy herself the best tea, so she could drink it and feel like a rich person inside.'

I laugh.

My mother looks encouraged by my laughter. 'But then she thought, If I buy just a little, then I am saying my lifetime is almost over. So she bought enough tea for another lifetime. Three pounds! Can you imagine?'

'That's three hundred dollars!' I exclaim. Grand Auntie was the most frugal person I knew. . . . 'So she left you the tea in her will?' I say.

'Already gave it to me a few months ago . . . she told me . . you take this tea now so I can see how happy you are to receive it while I am still alive.'" (56 - 57)

Best Quality Tea Set
For Ellie from Auntie Etta