Ten Weeks, Ten Dollars a Day

Smoothies with peaches, jasmine green tea, homemade yogurt, jasmine simple syrup, and blackberries (or not)

Second on my list of addicting smells (the first being truffle oil, synthetic chemicals be damned) are jasmine flowers. Especially the ones in overheated southern Thailand where I stayed up nights staring at the sky, amazed that I could see the Milky Way. I listened to frogs peeping from the grass, dogs barking in the neighborhood, and karaoke from a house down the road and wondered what the hell I was doing there. I had left home weeks before to explore a little piece of a new continent and I still felt a mixture of excitement and dread, like that feeling you get on the first day of school, but I felt rudderless, too. A little lost. Then, after a while, the Milky Way and fresh jasmine blossoms were reason enough to be there on their own.

The first flowers I smelled were a gift from a friend, and the garland of the small, waxy, white blossoms I hung in my guesthouse room had a fragrance that went on for days, literally. Although the smell did change over time, even the completely wilted flowers exuded some of their initial warmth and sweetness. Right then I knew that if things this beautiful, strong and persistent existed in Southeast Asia, the next couple of months were going to be great. (And they were.)

When I got back from Thailand, the East Coast winter was ready and waiting with a jealous slap. New York felt grim and cold. Everything looked the color of the dirty snow packed against the curbs. Then, in the grocery store one day, I saw a jar of orange-yellow clingstone peaches levitating in heavy syrup and I thought of one thing: summer. Summer would come back to New York and everything would be okay again. But, it needed to hurry up. Which brings us to peach and jasmine smoothies. The sweet warmth of jasmine combined with the tartness of peach brings me back to warmer days, whether in New York or Thailand. Additional inspiration came from Aroma: The Magic of Essential Oils in Foods and Fragrance, a collaboration between natural perfumer Mandy Aftel and chef Daniel Patterson. Click on for the recipe.

Summer Peach and Jasmine Tea Smoothies

These smoothies make the perfect light breakfast or a cooling afternoon pick-me-up in summer. The floral note in jasmine tea is echoed in the perfume of a ripe peach. Look for jasmine tea in any high-end tea shop or your local international grocery store and use either canned or fresh peaches depending on the season.

Yields: Six cups

Ingredients:

For Jasmine Syrup:
1 bag jasmine tea
1 cup sugar

For Smoothies:
1 bag jasmine tea
One 15-ounce can peaches, strained; or two ripe medium peaches, sliced
1 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
Jasmine syrup

To make the syrup:

1. In a medium sauce pot, bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil, uncovered. Steep 1 bag of jasmine tea in the water for 3-5 minutes. Remove the tea bag and add 1 cup of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Bring the sugar and water to a boil, uncovered, and then remove from heat. Let stand for 10 minutes and then pour into a container to store until needed.

To make the smoothies:

1. In a separate sauce pot or teapot, brew 1 bag of jasmine tea in 1.5 cups water until strong, but not bitter, about 5 minutes. Let cool and pour into ice cube trays. Freeze until needed.
2. In a blender, combine the jasmine tea ice cubes, yogurt, peaches and jasmine syrup to taste. Blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and serve.