Tea Time Treat.

Tea adds a distinct, yet mellow flavor to these truffles.

I will tell you that this seems like a lot of work, BUT they are good and once you get the idea and have done these a time or two it won't be that big of a deal. The time consuming part is the waiting for the centers to cool and chill.

Get a makeshift double boiler, a candy thermometer and have fun!

I sit down at the table when dipping the centers because of my back. I keep the tempered chocolate loose by wrapping a heating pad around the bowl on medium heat.

Note: You could, if you really wanted to, use coating chocolate and bypass the tempered chocolate...but I wouldn't.

Tea Truffles
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups of whipping cream
3 tablespoons loose Oolong or green tea
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
3-4 tablespoons of cocoa powder
1 ½ bittersweet chocolate, that has been tempered. See bottom of post.

In a 1 quart saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a boil. Turn off the heat, add the loose tea, cover the pan and allow steeping for 5 minutes. Strain the cream to remove the tea, then keep the cream warm in covered saucepan.

Melt the chopped chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot water, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula to ensure even melting. Remove the top of the double boiler and wipe dry, pour the cream into the melted chocolate and stir together until blended. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, cover, let it cool to room temperature, chill in fridge until thick but not stiff. (2-3 hours)

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper. Fit a 12 inch pastry bag (or nipped Ziploc) with a #5 large plain round tip and fill partway with the truffle cream. Holding the pastry bag above the paper, pipe out mounds about 1” diameter. Cover the mounds with plastic wrap and chill in freezer for 2 hours or in the fridge for 6 hours.

Dust your hands with cocoa powder and roll the mounds into balls. These will be the truffle centers. Cover and chill the centers for another 2 hours in the freezer.

Melt and temper the 1 ½ pounds of chocolate. Line 2 more baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper. Remove the truffle centers from the freezer one tray at a time. Place a truffle center into the tempered chocolate, coating it completely. With a dipper or a fork remove the center from the chocolate, carefully shake off the excess and turn the truffle out onto the paper. Repeat with the remaining sheet of truffle centers. After dipping the chocolate, place 2 tablespoons of the tempered chocolate in a paper pastry cone and snip off a tiny opening at the pointed end. Pipe the letter “T” on top of each truffle.

Let the truffles set at room temperature or chill them in the fridge for 10 – 15 minutes, when the truffles are set place them in a paper candy cups. In a tightly covered container wrapped in several layers of foil, the truffles will keep for 1 month in the fridge or 2 months in the freezer. The truffles are best served at room temperature.

Variation: Use white chocolate for the bittersweet chocolate in the centers and for the coating, and use ¾ cup of whipping cream. (Remember, "white" chocolate isn't really chocolate)

Tempering:
Unless you work with chocolate all of the time I will tell you about tempering.
All chocolate comes from the store tempered; it is in the reheating of the chocolate that it loses its tempering. Tempering is the act of heating the chocolate in a way to control the crystalline structure of the chocolate. Chocolate that hasn’t been tempered will have a grainy texture with possible grey and white streaks in its appearance. This is known in the industry as a “Chocolate bloom” Tempered chocolate sets up quickly and has a clean sharp snap when it breaks and releases easily from molds because it shrinks as it cools.
There is a quick way to temper and a classic way. I will leave the classic way to the chocolatiers of the world and describe the quick way.

Quick Tempering Method:
Chop 1 pound of chocolate into very small pieces and set aside 1/3 of them. Melt the remaining 2/3 in the tops of a double boiler over hot, not simmering, water, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula to ensure even melting. The chocolate should not exceed 120F (white chocolate 110F) or it will burn.

Remove the double boiler from the heat, then remove the top pan of the double boiler and wipe dry. Stir in the remaining 1/3 chocolate in 3 batches, making sure each batch is completely melted before adding the next. When all the chocolate has been added, the chocolate will be tempered.

Top 10 reasons tea is good for you.

No, this isn’t a David Letterman list

There are lots of reasons why I enjoy a hot cup of tea: I love the aroma of various flavors of tea; holding onto a hot tea mug warms my hands on a cold winter morning; sipping tea in front of the fireplace is a great way to relax. And those are just the feel-good reasons. If you're not drinking tea yet, read up on these 10 ways tea does your body good and then see if you're ready to change your Starbucks order!

1. Tea contains antioxidants. Like the Rust-Oleum paint that keeps your outdoor furniture from rusting, tea's antioxidants protect your body from the ravages of aging and the effects of pollution.

2. Tea has less caffeine than coffee. Coffee usually has two to three times the caffeine of tea (unless you're a fan of Morning Thunder, which combines caffeine with mate, an herb that acts like caffeine in our body). An eight-ounce cup of coffee contains around 135 mg caffeine; tea contains only 30 to 40 mg per cup. If drinking coffee gives you the jitters, causes indigestion or headaches or interferes with sleep -- switch to tea.

3. Tea may reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke. Unwanted blood clots formed from cholesterol and blood platelets cause heart attack and stroke. Drinking tea may help keep your arteries smooth and clog-free, the same way a drain keeps your bathroom pipes clear. A 5.6-year study from the Netherlands found a 70 percent lower risk of fatal heart attack in people who drank at least two to three cups of black tea daily compared to non-tea drinkers.

4. Tea protects your bones. It's not just the milk added to tea that builds strong bones. One study that compared tea drinkers with non-drinkers, found that people who drank tea for 10 or more years had the strongest bones, even after adjusting for age, body weight, exercise, smoking and other risk factors. The authors suggest that this may be the work of tea's many beneficial phytochemicals.

5. Tea gives you a sweet smile. One look at the grimy grin of Austin Powers and you may not think drinking tea is good for your teeth, but think again. It's the sugar added to it that's likely to blame for England's bad dental record. Tea itself actually contains fluoride and tannins that may keep plaque at bay. So add unsweetened tea drinking to your daily dental routine of brushing and flossing for healthier teeth and gums.

6. Tea bolsters your immune defenses. Drinking tea may help your body's
fight off infection. When 21 volunteers drank either five cups of tea or coffee each day for four weeks, researchers saw higher immune system activity in the blood of the tea drinkers.

7. Tea protects against cancer. Thank the polyphenols, the antioxidants found in tea, once again for their cancer-fighting effects. While the overall research is inconclusive, there are enough studies that show the potential protective effects of drinking tea to make adding tea to your list of daily beverages.

8. Tea helps keep you hydrated. Caffeinated beverages, including tea, used to be on the list of beverages that didn't contribute to our daily fluid needs. Since caffeine is a diuretic and makes us pee more, the thought was that caffeinated beverages couldn't contribute to our overall fluid requirement. However, recent research has shown that the caffeine really doesn't matter -- tea and other caffeinated beverages definitely contribute to our fluid needs. The only time the caffeine becomes a problem as far as fluid is concerned is when you drink more than five or six cups of a caffeinated beverage at one time.

9. Tea is calorie-free. Tea doesn't have any calories, unless you add sweetener or milk. Consuming even 250 fewer calories per day can result in losing one pound per week. If you're looking for a satisfying, calorie-free beverage, tea is a top choice.

10. Tea increases your metabolism. Lots of people complain about a slow metabolic rate and their inability to lose weight. Green tea has been shown to actually increase metabolic rate so that you can burn 70 to 80 additional calories by drinking just five cups of green tea per day. Over a year's time you could lose eight pounds just by drinking green tea. Of course, taking a 15-minute walk every day will also burn calories.

Which tea is better -- green, black, white? There really isn't enough difference to get overly excited about. All teas generally contain the same amount of flavonoids. As we have discussed before, Green and black teas come from the same plants, but green tea is dried for a shorter time and doesn't go through a fermenting process used for black tea.

Are decaffeinated teas just as good for you? Some companies use chemicals to decaffeinate tea; others use a water process. The chemical process removes more of the beneficial polyphenols, so read labels carefully when choosing decaf.

This list idea came from MSN's helath page. It is nice to see that others are jumping on the tea bandwagon.

Brightest Tea Blessings!

To my friends...

"Teapot is on, the cups are waiting,
Favorite chairs anticipating,
No matter what I have to do,
My friend there's always time for you."
Anonymous

Garden Party!

This recipe was sent to me by a friend who loves her afternoon tea 'ritual'. A time for medittion and relaxation. When it gets hot in the south, the herbs become a frozen treat!

Garden Party Punch
2 cups water
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons snipped fresh mint
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cups strong brewed tea
1 1-liter bottle club soda, chilled
1 large stem lavender or borage (optional)
Rose, calendula, or pansy petals (optional)
Flower ice cubes or ring (optional)
Place water, sugar, mint, and lavender or borage, if desired, in a large stainless-steel or nonreactive pan.
Bring to boiling; remove from heat and let steep for 20 minutes.
Strain mixture through 100%-cotton cheesecloth-lined colander.
Add orange juice, lemon juice, and tea to flavored water; chill.
Just before serving, add chilled club soda.
If desired, sprinkle punch with flower petals and serve with flower ice cubes or ring.
Makes about 3 quarts or 16 (6-ounce) servings.

Flower Ice Cubes: Fill ice-cube trays half full with water and place an edible blossom or petal on water in each cube. Freeze until firm, then fill the tray with water and freeze again.

Flower Ice Ring: Fill ring mold half full with water and place edible blossoms or petals on water in ring. Freeze until firm, then fill the mold with water and freeze again.

Make-Ahead Tip: Prepare punch except do not add club soda. Cover and chill up to 24 hours. Prepare Flower Ice Cubes or Flower Ice Ring and freeze.

Brightest Tea Blessings!

A recipe for potpourri...tea!

This is a great tea. It has a bit of spice to the flavor and after you taste this herbal tisane you may want to add a few ounces of china black to the mixture to make it an herbal blend tea.
Very good either way!

Potpourri Tea
1/2 cup dried rose petals
2 tablespoons dried orange blossom
1 tablespoon dried orange peel, freshly grated
1 tablespoon cassia bark, crumbled or cracked into small pieces. Use your rolling pin.
4 whole star anise
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon whole cloves, freshly pounded
If wanted 2 ounces of china black tea
Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl with your hands. Store in airtight tins. Use one heaped tablespoon per pot.

Want a variation? This is a very good and tested in my kitchen recipe.
Sweeten with clover honey or Lavender honey if you can get it!
2 cups dried orange mint or orange geranium leaves
8 teaspoons china tea
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup dried calendula petals
1 tablespoon dried orange rind
1 tablespoon dried lemon rind

Note about Cassia bark. Cassia is what is sold in most stores as cinnamon sticks. A true cinnamon bark stick would be over a foot long and too expensive to be in a regular household kitchen.

Brightest Tea Blessings!

Flavored Sugars...

I know 2 posts in ONE day! WOW!

My favorite additive in the world and believe me I have tried every one I could get my hands on, is sugar.
You are going to say it is just a sweetener. OH, how wrong you would be! Sugar can be a flavor enhancer and a flavor carrier.
With a few simple additions, I can make flavored sugars that not only make a great addition to your tea drinks, but to your baking as well.

Recently, I made my family Vanilla egg custard. I use vanilla beans for this dish. While the bean is split and some of the seeds scrapped out into the milk while it is heating, there will be a lot of flavor left in the bean.
After tempering the eggs and then straining the custard through a sieve, I got the bean out and left it on the counter to dry a bit. after dishing the custard for a rest in the fridge, I split the bean again and scrapped out as much seeds as I could and put the bean and the seeds into a quart jar I keep full of white granulated sugar with other remnants of vanilla beans gone by.
This will add to the flavor and aroma of this particular sugar. As I use the sugar I add more to the jar as it loses its volume. Because I keep adding beans to it, I have a ready supple of vanilla sugar whenever I need it. Granted the oils from the beans make the sugar lump, but a vigorous shake will get the sugar flowing again.
If you are going to make this sugar from scratch, I would suggest that you put the bean into your sugar and then let sit for a few weeks, shake it every day or so to distribute the flavor that is leaking out of the bean into the sugar.

Another flavored sugar around here is mint sugar. It is the oldest sugar on my shelf as it has been added to and freshened with more mint for the last 2 years.
I took a quart jar and I filled it half way with raw sugar. I then put a bunch or fresh spearmint leaves in the jar and then covered the mint with a mix of 50/50 white sugar and raw sugar. In the beginning, I left the jar alone for about a month and then checked the mint. It needed to be dry in the sugar, if it got damp or the lid of the jar allowed in too much air, it would rot, but it didn't it dessicated the leaves down to a dried form. I took the mint out and added a few pinches of freshly dried mint leaves to the jar. I lidded the jar tightly and then shook it every day for another month. It was ready to be used after that. The leaves in the mint sugar doesn't bother me because it just becomes part of the dregs of tea leaves in my cup.
Over the years I have added a drop or two of mint candy oil to the jar whenever I couldn't get mint leaves. The jar has turned itself over several times. I have given out the sugar as gifts to friends and would use it in mint juleps.

There are other combinations as well. Lemon rind in a jar of sugar would take a bit longer to leech the oils from the rind, but it would taste lovely.
The next trip to the market I will be purchasing yet another coconut, I think I will see how cocnut meat reacts with sugar. Yum, coconut sugar! Oh, Boy!
Add some of that to Scent By Spirit's Super Coconut Tea and I will think I have died and gone to the Summerlands!
Let's not get me started on the other sugars I have on hand! Lavender, Violet I could go on!!!

Brightest Tea Blessings!

Teapots...what is up with these sizes?

I am looking to buy a nice cast iron teapot. The kind that is coated with enamel to prevent rusting on the inside.
I look around and see the sizes! A 20 oz pot is what I call a single setting serving. It will make 2 nice mugs of tea and although this is suppose to be for 2 people, it would be for one around here!
Think about the size of 20 oz. That is one of today's vending machine sized Pepsi bottles.

The next size up is 40 oz, that is a little too big and then there is the 85 oz. WAY too big.

So I guess if I do purchase a iron pot, which is what I want, not a kettle. I will have to go with the 20 oz pot and then fill it up for the next "sitting". The fortunate thing about cast iron is once you proof the pot, it will have enough residual heat to keep the tea warm for quite a bit.

I have several pots, stoneware, china, even a metal one that I don't care to use but keep because of its beauty. I have infuser pots, french presses, etc. etc.

The one I use for when I come into my office here (when I get caught up in my computer and forget I have a pot of hot tea next to me!) isn't even a teapot. It is a thermal dairy carafe.
If you have ever been in Starbuck's you have seen these carafes, they hold the cream, half & half and milk near the sugars in that store. I bought mine in a restaurant supply store. It holds a quart. Perfect for a morning or afternoon at the computer. They are stainless steel and if you proof them well, they will stay hot for hours.

Well, I am off to look for my pot on ebay. Wish me luck!

Brightest Tea Blessings!

Bottled tea

I am a known tea drinker. That much is obvious from the very fact I run a tea blog to the 3 gallon tea dispenser in my fridge.
When out on the road, I still enjoy tea. I mean really, I drank Pepsi when I was in college, the backseat of my AMC Javelin was a testiment to the fact as there was bottles (anyone remember glass bottles?) to the aluminum cans (anyone remember pull tabs?), my floors was littered with those and my books.
However if tea was bottled way back in the late 70's I would have had those in there instead.
I live in the South, (Thank the Goddess) were sweet tea rules. You don't have to ASK for it in restaurants, it is just given. I have seen snooty Yankees send their tea back asking for plain (GASP!).
There are many sweeteners in todays markets, I use Stevia or just plain sugar when out. (I keep a tiny bottle of stevia in my purse for the RARE occasions a restaurant has only plain tea.

If any of you have read my other blog (see the Saphyre Rose on the left) you would know I have a disease that I do not need to speak about on this blog as well, but the medicine that I take to control it makes me have a very dry mouth. Couple that with my love of tea and you could say I may drink a lot of bottled tea when travelling.
Normally, I stick to Lipton bottled tea and drink Nestea only when I have to. I don't always care for lemon in my tea. Lipton gives you lots of flavor options.

This past weekend we were at my favorite organic grocery store, "Earth Fare". My hubbers think they should call it "Witch Fare" because so many of my lot hang there! It was there that I was tempted to try a new bottled tea. (It could have been the 85 degrees we had that day as well).
The tea is called "Sweet Leaf, The Original Sweet Tea". This stuff is MY homemade tea in a bottle (Though mine is a bit stronger). It tastes like tea without the taste of preservatives because there are NO preservatives in the tea.
It states right on the bottle that is sweetened with real cane sugar and tastes like homemade...it DOES! A true southern tea.

YUM!
What makes me laugh at these prepackaged drinks are serving sizes. This 16oz bottle supposedly holds 2 servings! I walk around my apartment with a 20oz glass in my hand most of the time! Where do they get these "servings"?
I had a bottle of SO-BE Liz-Blizz last week and as I was draining the last dregs from the bottle I happened to notice (upside down) that there were 2.5 serving in this bottle. When I added the calories per serving together I nearly fainted. WHOA! I guess we will stay away from Liz-Blizz for a while!

Back to Sweet Leaf...I think if you can get a bottle to try you should do it. On their website is a map of the states and the maps say exactly where they sell the bottles of tea. I clicked on SC and found the exact store where I bought my bottle!
In fact, the website shows them to have 6 different flavors and varieties of tea. I guess I am going to have to go back to Earth Fare and do more investigating.
Oh, the things I have to do for my blog!

Brightest Tea Blessings!

I am going to take you on a TEA CRUISE!!!!

Yes, a tea cruise! Put on by Lavender Rose Gardens, this is going to be huge!
Unfortunately, I cannot go on it, but it does leave my hometown of Charleston, I wonder if I could stow away?!
See the info here.
All I can say to those who are going...I hate you! Just kidding...not. OK, enough sour grapes.

Why was I NOT born a Rothschilde?!!!!

7 days at sea with 3 ports of call. I would go JUST for the tea crafts, then there is the parties and on and on. I have been to Key West been there, done that, but Cozumel, that would be cool. I am not sure I could get my hubbers to come back with me once we hit the Grand Caymans. He would definitely go native. I wonder if CSC has a branch down there. Hmmmm.

Oh well, practicle Virgo wants a house and car to keep the money coming in, so this cruise is waaaay out of her league, but I can dream, can't I?

Brightest Tea Blessings!

Teaware - Volume one

Here we go again! Doing a post in volumes! There is just so much information to share!
Today is Teapots!
When you think about it, all we really need to drink or serve tea is a container large enough to hold the leaves and the water. That could be anything from a tin can (when you are camping) to a Gorham silver service complete with waste bowl.
Well, let's try to think outside of those lines and get a service that will enhance our tea experience.
What you really need is a pot with a weighted bottom to keep it steady, a spout large enough for pouring and not dribbling, a means of straining out the tea leaves and a cup.
It is from these tea essentials that a grand host of teaware have evolved. Some range from useless pieces of cross contaminating strainers to 'too cute to use' tea cups.


Let's explore...
Yixing teapots: This is a pottery pot that had been made near Yixing, China since 2500BC. It is a distinctive, humble yet beautiful pottery made from a purple sand clay that is porous yet able to withstand cracking. Because it is porous, it will absorb some of the teas flavor.
As the pot is used, it becomes "seasoned" with the tea's flavor allowing each succesive brew to be a little better than the last. It is said that if you use a Yixing teapot for many years, you can brew tea simply by pouring boiling water into it!

Gaiwan: this refers to a small, handleless tea bowl made of porcelain with a matching saucer and lid. It serves the function as both cup and personal teapot. To use, you place the amount of leaves necessary in the bowl which is sitting on its saucer, and the boiling water, you then place on the lid and let steep the amount of time required. When done, you hold the Gaiwan by the saucer so as not to burn your fingers and push back the lid of the bowl to strain the leaves back. Doing this operation correctly with one hand requires some practice, like using chopsticks!

Japanese Ironware: called Tetsubin, these heavy iron kettles have been used for centuries to heat water over open fires. The pots are typically wider than they are tall and may be embossed with designs inspired by nature.
Modern Ironware is glazed with enamel making for better cleaning.

Samovar: The Russian invention is a large vessel, usuall y in copper in which water is heated by a means of charcoal in a pipe that extends down through the center. A small teapot sits atop the urn so that brewed tea can be kept hot. Tea (often with lemon added) is then served in glasses with metal holders. (I cannot find any that isn't under $100 a pair!)

There are many more like infusers, but I do not consider them a pot or the french press for that matter. So since it is my blog, I will disreguard them (Although I own 2!)

And just for fun I will throw this word into the tea blog.
Teapoy. Know what it is? Teapot, the word comes from the Indian word meaning "three feet". Tea caddies, mixing bowls and other tea paraphernalia were stored in a teapoy. A small three-legged pedestal.

No this isn't a picture of a teapoy, just a curious picture I found of teapots! I thought it fit.

Brightest tea blessings!

Late Night Tea Crafts

The tea craft I had promised you yesterday I waited too long to post and blogger went down for maintenance...so this post is late, sorry bout that y'all.

I had been wanting for some time to put a few tea related crafts up but I couldn't decide on the best or easiest way to do it. Let's face it, everyone needs a tea cozy for their pot, but how many of you want to sit here and read a pattern for crochet? "ch st 45 across. Make a dbl in the 3rd ch from hook and follow pattern from *" That doesn't sound like m,uch fun to anyone who can't read a crochet pattern. It sounds like alien speak in the words of my hubby and he speaks a few different languages on his own!

I thought up something a little different, but something I am sure you have seen before in another context.
I am sure you have seen the latest fad at parties and that is the wine charms. Everyone has a different wine charm on their glass to identify their own glass.
Well, I do not go to many wine parties. I am more of a Guinness drinker if I am going alcohol drinking.
Nope, I thought why don't we steal the pretentious crowd's idea and make sense of it. We get the kits for the wine charms from any craft store, and instead of putting grapes or cheese or cork screw charms on the rings, we will put tea related charms and then put the rings on our tea cups.
Tha way at a tea party you will know what tea cup is yours.
In the craft set, there is a larger ring that is suppose to go around the neck of the wine bottle, we will use that one to keep track of our little ones and store in the meantime on the handle of the teapot.
Cute, huh?

I get my sterling silver charms from bluemud.com. They have quite a selection of charms. I had thought of the different teapots they have, or cups, tea tags, ladies hats and spoons would all be great charms for the tea cup rings!
I have a military charm bracelet and my hubbers bought me a chef's charm bracelet complete with a tiny chef's hat and saucier pans. BUT the bracelet I want is on Scent by Spirit web site and it is a tea cup and teapot charm bracelet.
No tea Mistress should be without her own tea charm bracelet! (Hint hint, hubby, hint, hint!)

Oh, bother! The sprites have been busy as well this evening. I see my book on how to tea dye has disappeared. It was right here a minute ago! This book shows how to dye with tea and how to make sure the color stays true. Since I am a witch, I make my own "spell" paper. Teas of all kinds play a roll in the color of these papers.
I guess, thanks to the sprites, I will have to tell you about it on another post.
I guess I better quit while I am still somewhat ahead!

Brightest tea blessings!
Saphyre

Cooking with Tea - Volume One

I have so many uses and recipes for cooking with tea that I thought I would seperate the recipes into volumes like I did with my puppy's antics at Sun and Moon called "Puppy Pursuits".
I know you are thinking she is going to write recipes for accompanying tea. Well, I do have a great recipe for Lemon Mousse Gateau' but I was thinking more along the lines of cooking WITH tea.

I would just like to say here I had this all typed up and then there was a power spike! It is 88 degrees as I type this, I am guessing the power grids couldn't handle all of the A/C's coming on at once!

Let us start this volume with adding tea to recipes.
Using tea in this way brewing must be done differently to stop any bitterness caused by additional cooking at a later time. I make a tea liquor and I will give a few recipes for that and the brewing instructions, to add to different foods such as soups, rice, risotto, gravies anything that could use a bit of jazzing up.
I use Guinness to give stew a different taste and bite, I feel that certain teas can do the same to what some consider bland food.
First, the brewing. The trick for cooking with tea is to let the tea brew naturally in room temperature water for a longer period of time.
Recipe for Liquors: Black Tea - 2 heaping teaspoons of black teain a cup of water and allow to brew for 20 to 30 minutes. Strain and reserve the liquor.
Oolong Tea - 2 level teaspoons of tea in a cup of water and let brew for 20 - 30 minutes. Strain and reserve the liquor.
Green Tea - 2 level teaspoons of tea in a cup of water, again allow to brew 20 - 30 minutes, strain and reserve liquor.


I find using sometimes as little as 1-2 tablespoons of liquor in a dish will greatly enhance the flavor. Replace 3 tablespoons of your water for cooking rice with the green tea liquor and enjoy!
Here in the south we have a dish called Shrimp and Grits. I wonder how much tea would improve the grits for this dish?


How about eggs shown above? Pretty different, huh?
They are called Chinese Marbled Eggs and they are very easy to make.
You will need 4 large eggs
1 cup of brewed black tea with leaves left in cup, your choice.

1. Fill a medium sized pot with water enough to cover the eggs, lid the pot. Bring the water to a full rolling boil. Turn off the heat and allow the eggs to hardboil, about 15 minutes. This will prevent the premature cracking of the shell.
2. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon. Using the bowl of a teaspoon, gently crack the shells all around, but do not remove the shell. Using the slotted spoon put the eggs back into the water. Add the black tea with tea leaves, and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
3. Remove the eggs again, and allow them to cool. Shell them carefully. The result will be a "marbled" look on the egg whites. Serve whole or sliced in half lengthwise, placing them yolk down.

These eggs make "eggs-cellent" deviled eggs. I call them "Raven's Eggs"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I want to make one point about the liquors...if you have any left over, you can freeze them in ice cube trays. This way they will be available for use at another time. This gives you the added advantage of having "tea cubes" available for Iced Tea...but that is another post!

Tomorrow - Tea Crafts!

Brightest Tea Blessings, my friends!

Tea Plants

I found a site that actually sells tea plants! I am so excited. Fortunately I live in the south and the weather conditions described for the care of these plants are pretty much the weather patterns here. HOT, humid, I have partial sun, mostly shade on my walkway into my apartment, which as it is is filled with plants and flowers...I MUST HAVE a tea plant.
Even if I never harvest a single leaf, it will be enough to know I have a tea plant growing in my own living area. How much more can a "Tea Mistress" ask for?
I must put the bulletin out to all of the male members of my family so I can give them a chance at getting me something when they are always saying they never know what to get me for a gift!
Then, I start budgeting for it myself...just in case!

In case any of you other tea fiends are interested in a purchasing a plant, the site is Barrow's.
If you don't know your hardiness zone, you can find it here at the National Arboretum site.

Oooooooooh, my own tea plant...I can't stand it!

Free Trade?

Someone timidly asked me, "What is Free trade?"
Free trade is the exchange of goods and services between countries with few or no government-imposed rules of restrictions.
It helps the indigenous peoples keep more money or services for what is theirs.
For more information you can read about the free trade agreements here at the FTAA.
Tomorrow, answers for whirled peas, er, world peace.

Brightest Tea Blessings!

More about bags...

My soon to be Tea Fairy...I got the color right, but I still have to work on her background...right now she looks like a mushroom fairy!

I know tea bags are easy and convenient. BUT, they are made up of the dust or sweepings make for bad tea.
Tea Houses have size categories for their leaves.
There is the whole leaf called OP or Orange Pekoe, which is the best if done correctly, by that I mean allow it enough room to open and move around. As many Tea Mistresses know, there are even better variances of OP. Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (TGFOP) is the top grade. During harvesting the top two leaves and bud are plucked by hand. The bud is actually the immature leaf tip which is not yet fully opened. When harvested during the slow growth periods, these young buds have a golden tip, hence the grade 'Flowery'. When these tips are in abundance the terms 'Tippy and Golden' are also attached. Occasionally the number "1" or "2" may be placed at the end of the letters to designate better grades among similar teas. Similarly the letter "F" may appear before the TGFOP to designate a "finer" grade and the letters "SF" designates a grade of "super fine".Thus a tea graded as "SFTGFOP1" is a Super Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe
There is the BOP or Broken Orange Pekoe leaves which are good, as they have more surface area exposed to the water, but and this is my opinion only, that the steeping time must be cut down because bitterness can occur.
Then you get to the F or Fannings, they are smaller than the BOP in that the pieces are no bigger than the heads of pins.
That having been said, D is the lowest grade of tea available if produced by CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl, but that is another post) method of manufacturing and Dust if produced by the Orthodox Method. This size is literally the smallest broken pieces left after siftings, sometimes called the "sweepings".
If you want to know if your tea bag is dust or not, look in the bottom of your teacup when you are drinking the last sip, there is usually a residue or dust in the bottom of the cup.

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Someone emailed me and asked how much tea is drank around here. Well, I will use that as a segue into this story and answer it as well.
Recently my favorite Iced Tea maker gave up its tenacious grip on the world of tea and I had to purchase a new one. Imagine my horror when I found that GE no longer makes the Iced Tea Maker. I had to get a Mr. Coffee brand tea maker. The problem with this maker is the 3qt pitchers. Once I get them filled with tea and water, they become very heavy for someone with FM to handle. After watching my struggle with the pitchers, my beloved hubbers came to my rescue. On his lunch break one day he asked me if I wanted to go to my favorite restaurant supply store. That is like asking a kid if he would like to go to the candy store!
While there I picked up my third silicone baking mat, (I now have an exopat, a silpat and a teflon baking mat!) my husband walked over to the restaurant dispensers and picked up the Iced Tea Dispenser shown below. This thing holds 3 gallons of iced tea and it has a slim design to fit into my fridge. It takes up less space than the huge pitchers did. The great thing is, my hubby helps me make the big 3qt pitchers and then dumps them into the dispenser! No lifting for me! I have not put 3 gallons in, just 6 quarts. I like the idea of fresh tea.

Now to answer your question, I hope you are sitting down, I put the 6 quarts of tea in the dispenser Tuesday...I will be making more tomorrow. The thing has enough for this evening.
Please remember my hubby doesn't drink this tea, he has to drink decaf tea, so all of this tea is going in me! Plus the hot teas I test for this site.



Like I said I love my tea!
I can't wait until someone gets me a shirt that says "Tea Mistress", I may actually get my favorite table at my favorite tea room without having to tip someone!

Brightest Tea Blessings!
Saphyre