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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Snowfest Iced Tea Sculpture

This week in Frankenmuth is the annual Snowfest which is a snow and ice carving competition sponsored by Zehnder's of Frankenmuth. Each year many teams come to town to exhibit their talents and skills in both snow and ice. These teams are groups from high schools all the way through international groups all vying to be the winners of their category.

While drinking some Masala Chai the other morning, I decided why couldn't I try this in my own way? The first item on the agenda was to find ice cube trays that make miniature ice cubes. It's actually a difficult thing to find in Michigan during winter months, but I did find them at Bed, Bath and Beyond in Saginaw, MI. They are true life savers!

The next item on the agenda was to decide which teas to use. The list was whittled down to the nice and bold Earl Grey, Moroccan Mint, Silver Needle, and finally Masala Chai with milk. With an idea of what I was going to built in mind, it really didn't take long to decide on which teas I was going to use.

Next, I brewed the tea, let it cool a little, finally poured it into the ice cube trays, and popped the ice cube trays into the freezer. While the tea was freezing into its cube form, I set to work on sketching out my design. Hopefully, this will work. But as they say, “You never know until you try.”

After making mini tea ice cubes and having my sketches in hand, I set to work. Neatly, I set the ice cubes in bowls on TV tables, on our back deck. The weather was a perfect 12 degrees and I was bundled up perfectly to go along with the weather. Now all I had to do was get to work.

In looking at my designs, I thought that the teacup design would be the easiest to start with. Then once I accomplished the teacup I would move on to the teapot.

Unfortunately, my iced tea art did not go as planned. As hard as I tried, none of my ideas worked, even with the constant refinement of theories. But then I decided that what I was trying to do would take a lot more practice. Therefore the plan was simply to simplify things. The concept went from being a 3D work of art to something simple in 2D. Success at last! 

The bottom 2 layers are a wonderful Earl Grey, while the next two layers up are made from our Moroccan Mint. The top two layers are made of Silver Needle tea, The handle is made from a Masala Chai with milk.

In looking back, I think it would have been easier to start with the teapot design. But as they say, “Live and learn”.

Finally, I have no intention of giving up on the iced tea sculpture. I just figure that if I keep practicing, I should be able to figure out how to do this by next year's Snowfest. So stay tuned and we will see what gets sculpted between now and then.

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