May 21, 2007

• On Mother's Day, Teapots and Tea   I never posted about Mother's Day, so belatedly...    We weren't supposed to even be in Maryland on Mother's Day. We were supposed to be in Nantucket, and again to revisit my slight disgust at the situation, we weren't, due to my van having a ginourmous repair bill.   Ok byatching about that over.   So here I am on Mother's Day: no cards, no gifts * I planned to pick up some stuff in Nantucket for my mom, Michael's mom Jean and my sister-in-law Debbie.   Of course I realized this sad state of affairs on Sunday at about 12:30 a.m. **yes I was up that late...night owl here**.   Yargh...what can I make quickly that won't look cheesy, will be appreciated and not LOOK like I made it quickly.   sidebar: Debbie if you are reading this stop laughing ! Myeh  :^p    AH BRAIN BLAST! **a la Jimmy Neutron** I had picked up fixins for making sterling silver jewelry for  Valentine's Day gifts. A migraine killed my plans to make stuff up for the three gals mentioned above. This  is perfect! AND I could put them together after church. Time crunches really blow chunks.    Ok I am revealing I attended high school in the 80s with that turn of phrase.    Moving right along.    In my snuffling about Michael's and Joann's ETC. I acquired charm photo frames, hearts, sterling silver chain and beads, among other do-dads. My plans were to make a bracelet for my MIL, a pin for my SIL, and a necklace for my mom. Yeah. I can do this.    So I did. But I forgot to take pics because I was in such a hurry to get the jewelry done in time for supper at my MIL's house. :^p And get a nap in if possible.    I don't think I got the nap if I recall.    My mom gave me her necklace back to use it for sizing for the photos **and to add the photo to her necklace**. The time I allowed myself *aw hell, its more like there WAS no time!* meant I didn't have time to finagle the sizing and quality to print out the pics to insert into the little frames.  I did print the pics once and BOY did they look like crap. Ok...so there is something that I need to do with the sizing for the tiny size, DPI, resolution...blah blah blah. I am going to research it today and figure out what I was doing wrong.   Here is a pic of my mom's necklace. It is the plainest of the three items I made. On Deb's pin I put beads and hearts along with the little photo frame charm and on Jean's bracelet I did the same. On my mom's necklace I had just added the hearts and frame charm. Since I have it back I can add some beads to it and decorate it up. I didn't have time to figure out what to do on the necklace...but now I have the time so I will see what I can come up with.   No, my family does not include people of color *unless you include our Native American blood. That  is the image that came in the charm package. I saved it to use for sizing. :^D    So that took care of the other ladies in our family.    Michael and Brenna **as well as many others** know my fondness for teapots and tea. Generally on holidays and other special occasions someone will pick up a teapot or something "tea" oriented for me.   I am starting to run out of places for them.   Don't care. I still like them. :^D   Target has some really cool looking teapots **along with their other cool home and decor items**. They are quickly matching Pier One for the YUMMY factor their home stuff has.   Teapot and four cups from Target. Now I just need a tray for serving.     So that was Mother's Day in the Jones household.   Now let's talk about tea.   Tea. So MANY kinds. So much yumminess.   I have become a tea snob. Lipton tea bags? Gak. No thank you. Now, Lipton has some TERRIFIC loose teas but the teabags that seem to be synonymous with a cup of tea in the US? Gak x2. I cannot stand that taste of the regular old Lipton tea bags. I love Lipton's loose tea that is called Lipton's Yellow Label Tea. I get mine from Indian grocery stores, and occasionally one of the local grocers will carry it.   There are five main kinds of tea: herbal, white, green, oolong, and black.    Starting with herbal "teas" herbal infusions are technically a tisane, **also spelled ptisan** or infusion, and not "tea" in the strictest sense of the word. Derived from fresh or dried flowers, leaves, seeds or roots, usually by pouring boiling water over the plant parts and letting them steep for a few minutes. They are often used in medicinal preparations and as part of whole food diets or natural healing. Herbal tisances make splendid beverages by themselves or mixed with camellia type teas and are as many and varied as plants themselves are.   White teas are young leaves (new growth buds) that have undergone no oxidation; the buds may be shielded from sunlight to prevent formation of chlorophyll. They have a mild flavor not unlike green teas *IMO*.   Green teas are leaves in which the oxidation process is stopped after a minimal amount of oxidation by application of heat, either with steam, or by dry cooking in hot pans, the traditional Chinese method.     In oolong teas oxidation is stopped somewhere between the standards for green tea and black tea.    With black teas, the tea leaves are allowed to completely oxidize. The Chinese call it Red Tea because of the color of the water after steeping tea leaves. This is my personal favorite. The various flavors of black tea are created by the blends that are combined or by the addition of essences, oils, leaves, buds, etc. to help create distinctive scents and flavors.    Black tea is by far the most popular and widely consumed tea in the United States.   My favorite tea I have ever found is made from Lloyd's of London. I purchased some from a local store that carried it for a short time, and now I can't FIND it anywhere.  If you have seen tea from Lloyd's of London PLEASE let me know.   I love Ceylon tea, Irish Breakfast Tea, English Breakfast tea. Each tea has its own depth, it's own nuances, its own subtle flavors. The best teas are ones that you can savor and enjoy. I have found some local places that sell incredible loose teas and I love to get small samplings of various ones to try. This morning I stopped in Shamrock's in Bel Air and bought 1/8 lb each of two different teas to try: Chanticleer and a Ceylon Orange Pekoe. **side bar: I just made a cup of the Chanticleer. It is REALLY good! Its a black tea with a floral overtone. Looking on Baltimore Coffee's site, the original source of the tea, the tea is spiked with sunflower petals. VERY tasty!**   So you want to try a tea without making a whole pot? Or you just want to make one cup from loose tea? No problem! There are handy-dandy tea bags to spoon loose tea into that work wonderfully! The brand I purchase is called T-sac. I have seen them at various kitchen or culinary stores, and places that sell loose tea or herbs also carry them.  I 2 boxes at a time and keep them on hand.  No  need to tie, iron or otherwise finagle the bags, you simply scoop a spoonful of your tea or herb *also good for cooking with herbs in them, by the by* into the t-sac and let the bag flop over the top of your cup or pot. Best thing I have found in years for making cups of loose tea. I will use several of these with a tea pot. No twigs or leaves in the pot or cup. The bag can simply be lifted out of your fresh brew and placed it in your trash, or better yet, recycle bin. sidebar: tea and coffee leavings are spectacular in the garden! Much better than in the local landfill.   The best "regular" black tea bags I have found, hands down, are Red Rose Teabags.  They are made from an excellent grade of tea, not the "bottom of the barrel" tea leaves that comprise many bagged teas. Seriously...try the regular Red Rose Tea. You will be really surprised at the taste. If you are a Lipton drinker, you may wind up relegating those bags to the back of the cabinet to use up for iced tea or for a guest who requests Lipton Tea bags.   To make the perfect cup of tea, boil your tea to a rapid boil. The best water to use is, of course, filtered water sans chlorine or bottled water. Fill your cup or pot up with the boiling water, and let this stand for a moment to warm the container thoroughly. Discard this water. Place your bagged loose tea or favorite tea bag in the cup and pour the boiling water over. Set your timer for a minimum of 3 minutes, up to a maximum of 5-6, depending on how strong  you like your tea, and the type of tea you are brewing. Herbal, green or white teas keep at 3-4 minutes or they will get bitter and unpalatable. Decaffeinated teas require more tea per cup to get a decent strength. Remove your bag or loose tea without squeezing. Squeezing draw out the bitter tannins. Drink as is or add your favorite sweetener and/or creamer.   So jump on the tea bandwagon. Its yummy. Green tea is great for you, as are many herbal teas. Summer it coming! Try some tasty herbal teas...Celestial Seasonings has some great ones. Try Raspberry Zinger, Orange Zinger, Red Zinger, over ice. Add some ginger ale and grape juice to an herbal tea to make an awesome cooler during the hottest and driest days of the summer.  Remember when making iced teas to make them 2-3 times as strong as for hot. The tea will considerably weaken when poured over ice.  Let me know what your favorite tea is.  Don't care for tea? Step out and try something different! You may just surprise yourself and find a new beverage to satisfy your thirst each day.                                                                                                                       ~Kathie

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