Cooling Off With a Glass of Lemongrass Tea

It's hotter than a two dollar pistol.  This morning driving to work at 5:18 AM, the temperature was already 85 degrees.  At the end of another summer day, we are all exhausted - animals and humans alike.  We feed the chickens, gather the eggs, feed the goats, and get ready to milk the cows.  We have a little more than two more weeks of milking and then we will "dry the cows off."  There will be no more milk for several months until they start calving.  We've been milking twice a day for a year and a half.  It is past time to take a break!

Summertime is hard on us all.  At the end of the day, the cows gather around the water trough.  It is their sacred time.  They dip their mouths in the cool water and draw deeply.  You can watch as the gulps of water glides down their long esophagus.  It is a peaceful time.  The breeze gently blows, signaling a respite from the sun and heat for at least the evening.

Even Belle has found a cool spot underneath the pecan tree.  Unfortunately she's made some sort of a nest in the foliage of Tricia's lillies, destroying them in the process.  She doesn't know any better.  The leaves must be cool, I'm not sure.

Cows love drinking water in the shade.  Dogs like lying in a cool spot.  Humans have come up with a multitude of ways to cool off and refresh.  I'll show you one of the things we do.  A couple of years ago I purchased some Lemongrass Seeds.  There weren't many seeds in the package.  They were small, and light.  I was not impressed.  I didn't think that they would grow.  I planted them in our raised bed for herbs and lo and behold - they grew.  They proliferated and prospered.  I cut them back in the winter.  The Lemongrass survived over the winter and here it is in its second year:

It smells so good!  Even walking past it, you can shake the leaves and smell the refreshing fragrance of lemons.  On Sunday I cut off a handful right at ground level.  I washed it up in the kitchen and then began to cut the stems and leaves into little pieces. 

I filled a pot with water and began to boil the water.

When it started to boil, I turned the heat down, put a cover on it and let it simmer for a while.  After a while, I just let it steep.

I poured it through a colander to separate out the stem and leaves and put the lemongrass tea in a glass pickle jar we use for tea.  Once completely cool, I placed it in the fridge.

After coming in from a hot day working outside, I like to put some crushed ice in a glass and fill it up with homemade lemongrass tea.

So refreshing to drink with a lemony taste and fragrance.  It can be served hot or cold, but on a hot day like today - I like it COLD!