Zen and Green Tea Shortbread Leaves

We celebrated my birthday weekend, by taking a minibreak, roadtripping in search of zen. We found our peace (and quiet) in Rockford, IL at Anderson Japanese Gardens. (When you visit the website, make sure to have the sound turned on, especially while viewing the numerous gallery pages). Designed by Hoichi Kurisu, these fourteen acres of serenity and remarkable beauty contain, 'the finest Japenese garden in North America,' as declared by the Journal of Japanese Gardening, in 2004. The gardens are designed in the traditional strolling pond style, with an additional, more contemporary Garden of Reflection also included. Unfortunately, the complete experience cannot be properly described; it is a personal experience that is truly appreciated, only in the midst of a personal journey through these special, healing gardens.

Once back at home, I sought a similar serenity in my kitchen. I revisited the peaceful scenes of the gardens in full screen mode on my laptop, complete with sound, courtesy of the Anderson Japanese Gardens online galleries. Inspired, I baked these lovely little Green Tea Shortbread Leaves from Martha Stewart. While I didn't have any Matcha, I simply used finely ground green tea leaves (taken from my Tazo bags and then reground in my mini food processor). The shortbread dough blended with the Tazo still worked very well. Warm leaves perfumed my kitchen as they baked. Once finished, they tasted fresh and wonderful. A calm returned and again, there was zen.

Green Tea Shortbread Leaves
(recipe courtesy www.marthastewart.com)

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling
2 tablespoons green tea powder (Matcha)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners or granulated sugar

Green Tea Shortbread Leaves

Credit: julie streckert

Copyright: julie streckert