petercat

Hello, friends! It's about to be December again, and you know what that means: the fact I am posting this actually before December 1 means

karzilla reminded me about the existence of linear time again. Wait, no -- well, yes, but also -- okay, look, let me back up and start again: it's almost December, and that means it's time for our annual December holiday points bonus.

The standard explanation: For the entire month of December, all orders made in the Shop of points and paid time, either for you or as a gift for a friend, will have 10% of your completed cart total sent to you in points when you finish the transaction. For instance, if you buy an order of 12 months of paid time for $35 (350 points), you'll get 35 points when the order is complete, to use on a future purchase.

( The fine print and much more behind this cut! )

Thank you, in short, for being the best possible users any social media site could possibly ever hope for. I'm probably in danger of crossing the Sappiness Line if I haven't already, but you all make everything worth it.

On behalf of Mark, Jen, Robby, and our team of awesome volunteers, and to each and every one of you, whether you've been with us on this wild ride since the beginning or just signed up last week, I'm wishing you all a very happy set of end-of-year holidays, whichever ones you celebrate, and hoping for all of you that your 2026 is full of kindness, determination, empathy, and a hell of a lot more luck than we've all had lately. Let's go.

While spelled like the island country, jamaica is pronounced in the Spanish style.

This recipe will produce 2 quarts of the drink.

Ingredients

50 grams flores de jamaica (flores de jamaica = hibiscus flowers)
- These can be fresh flowers or dried. Dried results in a stronger flavor.
- Fresh flowers are best-sourced from a local Mexican grocer. Stores such as Natural Grocer have the dried.
2/3 cups sugar (you can use 1/2 cup for a less-sweet experience).
8 cups of water.
- 3 cups will need to be measured, the rest does not if you have tap water available
Additional unmeasured water for rinsing

Directions

Add the flowers a medium-to-large bowl that can be sealed, or a pot with a lid, and cover with water.
Seal the bowl or pot, then shake to rinse dirt and similar from the flowers.
Strain the flowers. This water will not be used.
- It is recommended that you do this no more than twice, as the potential flavor is rinsed away with the contaminants.
In another pot capable of holding at least 4 cups (1 quart), bring the 3 cups of water to boil, then reduce to simmer.
Dissolve the sugar in the water.
Add the flowers to the sugar water and just barely bring to a boil, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes.
Remove the mixture from the heat and allow the flowers to steep for 25-30 minutes.
Strain the liquid into a 2 quart pitcher, then add water to get to 2 quarts.

Notes:

This is generally enjoyed chilled, but can be consumed warm.
If your household regularly has some sort of sugary (or fake sugary) grape-flavored fruit drink available such as Kool-Aid or Crystal Light, this can be easily mistaken for it - label if needed.

Thank you to Geist for sharing his family's recipe with me.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

Navigation

Reading

Look! I remembered to post before December started this year!

Recipe: Agua de Jamaica (Mexican Hibiscus Tea, sometimes simply referred to as Jamaica)

Profile

May 2012

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags