St Patrick's Day

     Erin Go Bragh! If you are Irish you may hear this many times this weekend as St. Patrick's Day rolls around on Sunday. When you think about St Patrick's Day, what images do you conger up in your mind? Maybe it's corned beef, cabbage and potatoes. Maybe you think about parties and Guinness beer. Perhaps, you think about those mischievous little Leprechauns that like to make a mess of things, such as a classroom. For some reason, they always left a really big mess in my classroom after recess. Hmm, can't figure that one out... :-) Sometimes, we could even hear them in the Parish Hall, giggling and laughing. The students would get very excited. Hmm... ;-) Maybe, you and your family even review the story of St. Patrick. However you celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I've found that it always goes well with a nice cup of tea. 

     Now we are not Irish, but it is fun to enjoying the festivities. We'll probably enjoy some nice Earl Grey tea with scones for breakfast. For dinner, it will be easy, corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes. This is super easy because I've already prepared the corned beef. There's not much left to do, just heat and eat.

So watch out for those little Leprechauns looking for gold. They can be tricky little creatures. Who knows, maybe you'll even see one this St. Patrick's Day. Good Luck!  May the luck of the Irish be with you.

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Darjeeling in San Francisco

Earlier this week we were in San Francisco, attending the 2^nd Annual San Francisco International Tea Festival. There were many wonderful exhibitors with their wares at this festival. It took us a two hours to check out the exhibits. Unfortunately, there were items downstairs that we never got to see as we ran out of time. However, we felt very fortunate to have met so many wonderful people at this event.

We had signed up for a Darjeeling tea tasting and were not only very eager to taste these teas, but also to meet with the Glenburn Tea Estate people themselves, and to learn more about the Glenburn Darjeeling teas. Sidhant Prakash was one of the two speakers for this tasting. Both speakers were very knowledgeable and a joy to talk too.

Before we started tasting eight teas, we were given a little background information that was fun to absorb. First of all it takes 1,000 leaves to make a pound of ready to steep tea. Sixty percent of all of the work is done by hand, of which all of their tea is handpicked. When it comes to picking tea by hand, it is not as easy as it looks. Tea requires an exact plucking technique. The plucker wants of course to only get the first two leaves and a bud, not the stem. 

Tea is effected by soil and climate. Tea from the Glenburn estate is grown on the western slopes of the Darjeeling mountains between 1,000 and 5,000 feet.

One tidbit of knowledge that I learned was that teas harvested during Monsoon season (July-September) have a much mellower taste due to the over abundance of water. When the plant gets less water, it stresses out a bit and has a stronger tea taste. This occurs during the harvest; March to June and October thru November.

The winter months are used to prune the tea plants and perform many other tasks that cannot be done during the harvest season, one of which will be working on an irrigation system.

Of the eight teas that we tasted with Glen burn Tea Estates, there were three that really stood out for us. First, was a lovely white tea called Moonshine, which had a lovely citrusy taste, a light liquor, and finished well on the tongue. It was very tasty. This tea is harvested in March at the beginning of the tea season. Our second favorite tea was a white tea, Silver Needle. Silver Needle is harvested during the Monsoon season and therefore has a much more mellow taste. I found the aroma to be wonderfully intoxicating. The tea liquor had a lovely light appearance and finish on the tongue was smooth and buttery. The other tea which we both favored was the Autumn Oolong, which is harvested in November. The Autumn Oolong had a wonderful aroma and a coloury liquor. It had a wonderful crisp sensation in the mouth and left a nice lingering taste. 

It was sad to leave the San Francisco International Tea Festival and the Bay Area, but hopefully we will return sooner rather than later. There is always joy in hoping of a return trip. I'm already planning what we would do the next time we visit. Of course, tea is always in the plan. How could it not be?

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Off the Beaten Path

When people go to tea while traveling, there will be those who head for the lavish settings, some go to known tea rooms in large cities, while still others head off the beaten track and find a small local place along a country road.

Many years ago, while my mom and I were traveling in Ireland, I can't tell you how many times we would pull off the road when it would start to rain and quickly scamper into a tea room in a little village. We always felt that hot tea went very well with the rain. At least, that was our excuse.

Besides the great tea and yummy scones, we always found the people to be so warm and personable. One woman spoke to us for over two hours. It is amazing how much you can learn from speaking with the locals over tea. As mom and I drank our tea and ate the wonderful snacks, we learned the ins and outs of the area along with the ideas people had proposed that would greatly effect the local economy. Let's say that at that point in time small business owners in this particular area of Ireland were not too happy. We never did find out the outcome of the proposals and others things that the many people spoke to us about.

I always felt that it was better going to the small off the beaten path places for tea. It's just a personal preference as I feel that you really get to know people much better than you would in a big city. For me, the road less traveled always had a hostess that reminded me of a grandma. You know the type, the ingratiating grandma that always makes you feel right at home. These tea room hostesses and owners would make you feel as though they had known you for years. I guess that's why I like going off the beaten path for tea when I traveling.

Of course we had tea at many different times during the day. Tea was always great with the Irish Breakfast. Then we worked tea into our schedule both before and after the Waterford Crystal Factory tour. Neither one of us would ever forget the tea served on a short 8 mile river cruise to Passage East. It wasn't fancy, but rather, plain simple, and very good. At 4:15 sharp we were served brown bread, scones, tea, brown bread, scones, tea, and yet still more tea. Of course there were so many other times where we had tea. Throughout this entire time we were always talking with the locals, whether it was the servers on the boat, the hosts at the bed and breakfasts, workers in cafe's, or purveyors of tea rooms. Having tea off the beaten path is just such a great way of getting to know the locals. That being said, we always had a great tea times in Ireland.

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Studytime

Isn't it just amazing how one little piece of information can pique our curiosity in wanting to learn so much more? Maybe, it's a delicious fruit you discovered on a trip, a part of history that you knew nothing about, or yet still a new piece of technology that could make a great difference in your life. So whatever it is, you just want to learn more about that subject.

Over the last several weeks, I have been doing a great deal of research on a particular tea subject. What started out as a little nugget of knowledge from reading, turned into the “Oh, wow that's really cool.” and then blossomed into the “I need to know more” phase. From here, things just sort of snowballed into lots and lots of reading.

Eventually, all of this studying will be put together in a future blog. The topic won't given ahead of time, as I want it to be a surprise when it is posted. 

Let us just say that the information is being gathered so that you too can enjoy this wonderful form of tea.

As for the research, yes, it takes time and is thoroughly enjoyable. Hopefully, many of you will take time out to learn something new too. Your learning doesn't need to be in depth or complicated. Maybe you can try to learn at least one new thing a day. However, whatever kind of learning takes place, just remember it always goes well with a nice cup of tea.

Cheers!

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Staying Cozy with Tea Cozies

The tea cozy has quiet beginnings as we are not sure who exactly invented it. People have debated that it could have been invented by anyone of four European countries. But of regardless of whom ever invented the tea cozy, one thing is certain, it has become a welcome addition to having tea.

We do know a few things about tea cozies though. First, cozies keep tea hot longer than without a tea cozy. Of course, I would think that keeping the tea at a hot temperature would depend upon the thickness of your tea cozy. A thickly batted cozy I think would keep the tea warmer longer than a double thickness of fabric.

Second, there are many different kinds of cozies. They can be as simple or as fanciful as the user wants them to be. It all depends upon the users taste. Cozies can be knitted, crocheted, quilted, batted, or just fabric that has been doubled. As far as style, that too varies greatly from prim and proper to cute to hilarious. Be sure to take a look at Pinterest to see all of the many different types of tea cozies that people have.

When you use your tea cozy, you may even have a great story to tell about it which then makes it great a conversation piece. Remember, there is usually a story that goes with any piece. 

My very first tea cozy was a gift that my father brought back from a business trip to Russia. At the time he had to explain that it was not a toy, even though it looked like one. He then went on the explain what it was and how it was to be used. It wasn't until a few years ago that I actually used it. The batting is really thick and varies from 1 to 11/2 inches.  As a result, it kept my tea warm for a very long time.

So pull out your tea cozy (or invest in one) and keep your tea warm and cozy.  You'll be glad you did.

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Try it, You May Like it.

On a recent blog I discussed a tea that celebrated the 100^th anniversary of the Ladies Aid at our church. We had skits, stories, fun, food, singing, and a history lesson. All of the stories were extremely funny and even more so when we found out they were all true.

One story in particular struck a chord with me. We were probably all taught to never judge a book by its cover. But how many times have we been somewhere and have either seen an odd offering of food on a menu or have been presented some food which we consider to be different at an individuals home? Do you politely decline? Do you become an adventurous explorer and go for it?

Growing up, we were always encouraged to try different foods. That help this last Sunday at the Ladies Aid tea. There was a cute story about an elderly woman who would just make do with what she had. You know, necessity is the mother of invention. When this woman would run out of regular bread (and she didn't drive either) she would substitute Stollen for her sandwich bread. Stollen, is a German bread that contains dried fruits and can also contain marzipan. Sometimes it has powdered sugar or icing sprinkled or drizzled on top of the bread, while other times it is plain. 

Now there is nothing wrong with having Stollen as sandwich bread, as long as it has something like Nutella or peanut butter on the bread. But the woman in one story took it to a whole new level. This woman would take a ground bologna spread and spread it on her Stollen to make a yummy sandwich. Personally, I was trying to keep an open mind to this combination, but....

To our surprise, the tea committee had put together open faced sandwiches of ground bologna spread on Stollen and gave everyone a taste. You know, it was quite tasty. In thinking about it, the sweetness of the dried fruits went very well with the saltiness of the bologna spread. 

Since Sunday, I've tried different Stollens with different types of bologna spread.  Essentially, you have to mix and match until you kind your favorite combination that is suitable to your palette.

In the end though, all of the Stollen went well with English Breakfast tea. Because of the different fruits in the Stollen and paired with the saltiness and meat flavors of the bologna spread, a straight unflavored black tea works best.

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Chickens and Tea?!?

Tea can be used to celebrate so many different days and accomplishments. Maybe you know of people who have a tea party to celebrate a birthday, a promotion, a bridal shower, baby shower, or even to remember a historic event.

Last year, there were people that held tea parties commemorating the sinking of the Titanic. I'm sure these tea parties were very lavish. I also read about a tea party commemorating the 50^th anniversary of James Band. I wonder if when he had tea, if it was shaken, stirred or none of the above.

This last weekend the Ladies Aid at our church had a Valentine's Tea to commemorate the 100^th anniversary this particular group. Women of the congregation were asked to host a table and supply a centerpiece that was old, as the theme was, “Those Were the Days”. At my table, was my grandmother's teapot from the 1950s, a pair of sugar tongs from my other grandmother, along with an old tea strainer. 

The history of the Ladies Aid provided a fun afternoon with singing, skits, stories, historical information, and of course wonderful treats.

Of all of the information that was given, my favorite was about the chicken dinners that the women prepared. Someone had an old list of ingredients that dated back to the chicken dinner of 1938. Keep in mind, you couldn't just go down to your local grocery store and pick up precooked chickens.

Everything was done from scratch. The person in charge of the committee would start the fires (Yes, you did read this correctly, fires.) well before 5a.m. when the rest of the ladies to arrive and start work on the meal. The bread was also freshly baked in a brick oven. It took all day to make this meal that would be served from noon to 7:00p.m.

As you can probably imagine, this was a huge undertaking. Many women helped make this chicken dinner successful. As you can also imagine the list of ingredients was also very long. Hold onto your hats as you read this list; 1,000 chickens,10 bushels potatoes, 4 bushels tomatoes. 12 dozen noodles???, 24 dozen eggs, 64 heads of cabbage, 16 quarts cream, 32 dozen doughnuts, 24 quarts strained tomatoes, 4 gallons lard, 12 quarts salad dressing, 48 cakes, 25 pounds coffee, 30 pounds of butter, 75 pounds flour, 25 pounds sugar, 2 dozens lemons, 60 loaves of stale bread (most likely for their famous stuffing), 40 pounds pork, 30 gallons milk, onions, peppers, 15 pounds of salt, and finally, 30 more gallons of milk.

It's to bad that they don't have tea listed instead of coffee. Can you imagine 25 pounds of tea?

Anyway, the point is, you can celebrate anything with tea. Did we celebrate Valentine's Day? Yes. Did we celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the Ladies Aid? Yes, and we had a great time celebrating too.

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