tea party

We've been meaning to put together a batch of Sop * Sop Tea for a while now.  Long enough that some favorite pregnant mamas have become mothers to toddlers.  Luckily, this tea works for them still.  Do you know this tea?  Sop * Sop means "To Nurse" in Tagalog.  And I happen to think that if anything can save the world, it's nursing babies + healthy mamas.  So this is a bit of a missionary gift, I suppose.

Actually this tea is a "partus preparator," for preparing for birth.  It's full of milk-producing vitamins & trace minerals, plus tons of iron & calcium.  It's actually a food, more than a supplement.  After my first 2 pregnancies with hyperemesis gravidarum, I needed all the nutrition I could get during #3, so I drank a full quart-size Mason jar a day (!) from 7 months along until 6 weeks post-partum.  

Let me just say that Real was almost 3 lbs. more than his brothers at birth.  At 13 weeks, he weighed as much as they did at 4 months!  I had tons of energy + an unfamiliarly sweet post-partum disposition.  I think it was the tea!

They had so much fun putting this batch together that they've asked if this could be their "family business."  (Although they were barefoot from beginning to end, please know that I did subject them to my usual obsessive hygiene for young chefs.)  

We've been discussing what kind of business they could create for a few years, now.  There was always going to be something, but I wanted to make sure it was something that they could really own, without us parents taking over as head chefs, managers & accountants.  They wanted to do embroidered pillows for a bit, but it took so long to finish each one, & they wanted to charge $5-13 for pillows that cost me $15 in supplies.  So I think they're on to something here.  

Luckily we live in a "green community," where everyone rides bikes as their main form of transportation, half the folks are "academics" & there's a large number of natural families who use the natural-foods co-op.  The farmer's market is also insanely special, while our beloved midwives have been serving this area for over 30 years.  So there's a nice market for these guys.  

But first we'll send these on their way...

Sop * Sop Tea

Do try to find 100% Organic Herbs

2 1/2 C nettle

2 C red raspberry leaves

1 1/2 C oatstraw

3/4 C alfalfa

3/4 C rose hips

1/2 C red clover

1/2 C spearmint leaves

Place a handful into a strainer that fits into a quart jar.  Pour boiling water over the top & let seep a couple of hours.  

Our friend & doula Sarah Rees would just add a cup to a large stock pot & boil it together, then let steep.  She would then put the empty strainer over a jar & ladle the tea in.  This let her make a week's worth at a time, then just bring them over stock the fridge.  It was VERY convenient for me.  Which is what we want post-partum, right? Happy mamas = happy babies.

Comments

[stefani]

Oh! Oh oh oh! This is really too neat, Maya! I love it! Now you just need to have yourself a tea ceremony!
And I now just what you mean, my oldest is quite the entrepreneur and forever coming up with business. It sounds like this one has some real potential for your guys!

[stefani]

Wait... it's good for NON nurshing mamas and her boys too right?
It's just so pretty!

[maya]

Thanks Stefani. Yeah, the whole family drinks it. They really like the taste, kind of like mint tea, but more complex. They get to keep all those vitamins for themselves. :) Any hints on how one might do a tea ceremony? Something you saw in Japan, perhaps?