Cooking is something that truly grounds me, no matter how crazy my schedule gets. It’s a ritual that brings me back to myself with its meditative qualities.

For the world’s working majority, utility is a high value, the merely decorative seems trivial, and their greatest creations blend the aesthetic with the useful, just as a good meal blends flavor and nutrition.

- Henry Glassie, The Potter’s Art.

When gardening and studying herbalism, Hibiscus Roselle (hibiscus sabdariffa) quickly became a hot weather Malvaceae plant I was mesmerized by.

The structure of the plant, familiar to okra (also a malvaceae), has such a beautiful pop of color and are such cheerful abundant stalks. The taste is sour and fruity like cranberry - such a treat just to snack on.