Free Range Friday Saturday ~ Culebra

Since my online capability left the building Friday and there is still pernil and gravy and stuffing wafting through the air, we'll just remake time, as we do here on occasion.

There were wonderful meals served and shared around and about the island Thursday - the about part was out on the water, because we can do that here - families and friends gathered in thanks for the gamut of the much we have to be thankful for, and that includes groaning tables.

This groaning table was at Molly's where we all gave thanks for good friends and some really awesome cooks!

John brought pineapple upside down cake...and was damn proud of it

Greg's shrimp are always a welcome addition

A beautiful fruit salad, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy...mucho yum

And turkey. Did I mention turkey?

Some of the usual suspects and some new faces too

And music! Thanks, musical people!

Stolen photo of some of our boaty turkeys friends celebrating the day with thanks

Going back a bit. Remember when I wrote recently about tea? Well, I wrote to a few companies and got some responses, but the one that stood out was from Numi tea. I had written asking about the tea and the tea bags, as in, what are they made of, since I'd read the article about something else to wonder about. I got a nice note back explaining that there might be a trace of bad stuff in them and that they were looking for alternatives. Then, unexpectedly, I got this:

Hi MJ,

I wanted to follow up with you about your original question about our tea bags. I have to apologize for my previous inaccurate response about whether our teabags contained epichlorohydrin or not.

I didn't fully understand the process, but my colleague from our Quality Assurance team did an in-depth look at the process and also requested a chemical test. We are happy to let you know that our tea bags do not in fact contain epichlorohydrin!

In order to create tea bags that will stay intact when immersed in boiling water, our manufacturers achieve wet strength by cross-linking epichlorohydrin with a polyamide polymer, which when linked, causes a reaction that uses up all of the epichlorohydrin chemical. We have had our suppliers perform tests to make sure that no epichlorohydrin remains in our tea bags and they have provided us with verification that our tea bags contain no traces of this agent. 

I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Best regards,

Margie

The Numi Tea’M

SAVORY TEA

Nourishing vegetable, spice and tea infusions

That's what I consider over and above customer relations.  As consumers, we have the responsibility to pay attention to what we willingly purchase and put into our bodies. As suppliers, there is a responsibility to be open about our concerns and requests, but that often isn't the case. One response I got suggested I simply stop worrying about tea bags and buy loose tea. Another, saying they got their products from 'many sources' answered my follow up questions with 'no, we don't know.' I guess they figured that I wasn't going to be a customer. They're right. But as for Numi, I'm not only going to be a customer, I'm going to suggest them to friends and family and you, gentle readers, because I like their philosophy, they use fair trade teas, they support sustainable practices and because hey Margie, you rock!

Now I just need to figure out where to buy it.

To everyone who did thoughtfully and intentionally NOT participate in Black Friday (or Blacker Thursday)? Good on you!  If we simply ask ourselves, how much do we really need, and then answer it honestly, this world - yes, the world, or at least our corner of it - could be a better place. We have much to be thankful for, the best of that is not counted in things. Thus endeth the lesson. Oh, except for the 'when you do buy, buy local' part!

Have a supportable Saturday. Do something soothing.