Making a chamomile tea.

So I got an email ...

And I've ditched the rants, so it's either delete, reply, or do something else with it.

Here's the question:

"Chamomile is said to have soothing properties and my children tend to be very active.  I am looking for recipes that I can use for my children. For example, how do you brew your tea with chamomile? Can you eat chamomile?"

First, overactive children need less sugar and less artificial colors in their food intake. Best to ditch the lot, along with other sweets, except for the occasional treat ... over here, "candy day" is usually Saturday, which makes sense: Sat morning, here's your candies, Sat midday, whoa, lookitem go go go, Sat afternoon, whew, glad to have that over with. For this week.

Second, you make a tea by

• either taking a teabag with the herb, putting that into hot water (called "boiling", although of course it's stopped boiling by the time you're pouring it over your teabag), and letting the teabag sit in the hot water for a short time (3-6 minutes or so) (called "steeping")
• or putting 1-2 teaspoons of dried (or 2-3 teaspoons of fresh) herb into a sieve, putting that into a mug, and pouring said hot water over it, again letting it steep for a short while
• or putting a teapot sieve into a teapot, adding 1-2 tablespoons of dried (or 2-3 tablespoons of fresh) herb to that, adding 1-1,5 liter of hot water, and letting that steep for quite a bit longer (I keep mine on a teapot warmer all day long, or until it's empty, at which time I make more)
• or putting your herb straight into your teapot, straining it when you pour your tea into your mug.

There's no need to get fancy really. No need to get teapots or paper filters for teapots, or teapot warmers ... but I like tea, which means I have a few teapots, teapot strainers, and teapot warmers.

So to brew your tea with chamomile, put 1-2 teaspoons of chamomile into a mug, pour boiling water over that, let sit for a while, and strain with your lips. Or pour through a strainer into another mug.

And yes, you can eat chamomile, but it's not all that tasty in large amounts, and the texture also leaves something to be desired.

Hope that helps.