When the weather in Miami starts behaving like a moody young lady and no fortuneteller can predict its spasmodic changes, everyone knows it’s That time of the year – it’s fall. We got no yellow foliage here, no swishing falling leaves, no cozy sweaters and scarves – none of that sentimental garnish of fall. We’ve got the cake, but no cherry on it. Our palms stay green and our shorts stay short. What we do get is the weather’s mood swings: rainy, windy, sunny, cold, hot, totally unpredictable. I am not complaining! Not at all! I love when Miami gets gloomy and I don’t sweat all over a second past stepping outside; when it’s actually chilly and grey grumpy clouds let my imagination fly.

It’s also time for making hot drinks to stay warm! Today I’d like to share a recipe of one of my favorite drinks as a child  - a traditional Russian kompot. Kompot is a non-alcoholic drink made from fruit (dried, fresh, or frozen) simmered with water and sugar. You can drink it hot or cold (I prefer hot kompot) and it is both so very delicious and nutritious.

Kompot Recipe:

Basic proportions are 1 pound of fruit + 4 quarts of water + 1 cup of sugar, though this is not a must follow rule. If you make an excessively concentrated drink, you can always add some boiled water to dilute it.

As for the ingredients, almost any varieties of fruit will make a tasty drink. I like preparing kompot from dried fruits, for one reason mostly – the taste evokes nostalgic memories, as that’s how my parents used to make it in Russia when I was a child.

Kompot Ingredients:

Dried Fruits (can be purchased at any Eastern European Store)

Fresh Apples

Fresh Lemon (a few slices)

Sugar 

Whenever I have on hand – some frozen cranberries and a cinnamon stick

Bring all ingredients to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Let stand for another 15 minutes and enjoy!

The taste is sour sweet and delicious and the smell is so fantastic - you won't want to leave the house ever!

Being a tea addict and always searching for new recipes (especially the ones with outstanding health benefits) suddenly paid off in an unexpected way!

I’ve always known that ice cube therapy can do wonders on the skin and it is a very popular skin treatment among women in many cultures (including never aging Korean and Chinese women!J)

However, until my recent hunt for new tea recipes, it never occurred to me that ice cubes could be made with herbal and tea infusions! I was hooked instantly and made several trays of different herbal/tea infused ice cubes to give them a try.

I am adding a new obsession series to the blog – my tea obsession!

I’ve been drinking and loving tea for as long as I can remember, but that’s no surprise, really – Russians are fond of tea. That’s a cultural thingJ. Yet, only recently I’ve started collecting different kinds of tea, trying new recipes, researching benefits of various tea types and herbs…so it became an obsession beloved enough to get its place on the blog! Yay, I feel excited and can’t wait to share ALL my tea collection with you!

Today, I am drinking Rosehip Tea.