Necessary extravagance

Are there certain things in your life that you'd pay just about any price for?  I think we all have a short list of things that we absolutely have to have - and are willing to pay top dollar for. Some people might be willing to buy wine in a box but would never compromise on toothpaste. They'll settle for a store brand for canned tomatoes but would never accept a generic breakfast cereal.  Like many (most?) guys, I will pay full price for stuff that my wife would never in a hundred years buy, if it weren't 'on sale'.  Over the course of nearly 30 years of marriage we're probably even.  I've paid full price for some things, but she's bought quite a few more things - on sale.

As we age our tastes and preferences change.  We hopefully eat a bit less (because we are less active), and we will have a glass or two of wine with dinner, but not a bottle or two - with a companion - as we might have thirty years ago. Having quit drinking coffee a few years ago, I am no longer in the market for the premium products associated with the caffeine habit.  No more five dollar 'cups' of coffee, all kinds of brewing paraphernalia and mugs of a dizzying variety.  Nowadays, my only real extravagance is tea and specifically South African rooibos 'tea' (herbal) and Chinese white tea.  My rooibos comes mostly in tea bag form, purchased at a highly inflated price from a local deli started by a South African couple back in the late 1970's.  If they increased the price of the rooibos by another 30% or so I would likely still buy it.  It just seems like too much trouble to try to find an online supplier for something as mundane as tea bags.  Likewise the Silver Needle white tea, which I purchase in bulk (2 lb bag) from Teavana at the Galleria. At about $18 per 2 ounces, the stuff is definitely pricey but worth it.  It is very low in caffeine and famous for its slightly sweet, subtle taste and pale infusion.  Fortunately the same leaves can be used several times over and I often make 4 or 5 infusions.  The recommended water temperature for white tea is 180F.  Don't scald it!

Last night I made a really nice bean salad (Smoked Paprika Corn salad with butter beans & cherry tomatoes) - found the recipe on the 'No-meat Athlete' blog.

A few days ago I tried a recipe (found it on the internet) for a Quick Lo-Mein with tofu; I think it is from 'Vegan on the Cheap'.