How about sipping a cup of Happy Halloween blend tea (black tea, cloves, ginger root, cardamom pods, cocoa nibs, orange peel and more) from Adagio Teas on fright night?
Munching a yummy piece of pumpkin bread with the tea, while hubby hands out the loot to the trick or treaters, sounds lovely too.
Every day is oatmeal day for me during the fall and winter. I happen to really like it and that’s a good thing since it is said to reduce cholesterol. My Doctor even told me that “he’d kill for a cholesterol level like mine”, so maybe it works! ☺
Apple-Cinnamon Tea Oatmeal
For one serving:
3 pinches of ground tea leaves (any kind you like)
1 tablespoon chopped almonds
1/4 cup of chopped apples
ground cinnamon
Prepare the oatmeal as per package directions. Add the dry tea and top with the almonds and apples. Dust with cinnamon.
This recipe is from the book “The Ultimate Tea Diet” by Mark Ukra. You can check it out here.
Finally, there is a word to describe the growing problem of people paying more attention to their cell phone than to other people.
Obviously, many people find phubbing to be very annoying. Now a small group (meeting at the Sydney University in Australia) have coined this new word and it has made its way into legitimacy by being added to the Macquarie dictionary and into common usage.
My experience with phubbing is mostly through family members, but I would now politely ask a friend or acquaintance to stop phubbing me if the need arose. What about you - how do you deal with this 21st century phenomenon?
There is even a stop phubbing campaign that has gained a lot of media attention.
Let’s hope that phubbing has not crept into and spoiled your enjoyment of afternoon tea time.
Recently, I received some tea samples from Tea Horse in the UK. My selection included Darjeeling 1st Flush Margaret’s Hope, Sencha Fukujyu and G & T Blend.
Since I’m a lifetime black tea lover, I tried the Darjeeling first. I eased up on the water temp (suggested 95 degrees C) and steeped for three minutes. I’m used to drinking my black tea with milk and find that without it my throat is irritated). Since the label said “ideal to enjoy without milk” I gave it a try. What a pleasant surprise. The tea was smooth and delicious without milk. This Darjeeling is a very enjoyable cup of tea.
Since I recently purchased a hot or cold tea jug, I decided to put it to use by making iced Sencha Fukujyu (Japan’s most popular steamed green tea). Following the label directions I let boiled water cool for five minutes and then brewed the tea for one minute. I added a little honey and then poured the tea into my ice filled jug. It was not overly grassy and certainly not bitter. The flavor was lovely, even with such a short steep. I steeped the leaves for a second pot with equally tasty results.
The third tea, G & T Blend (shown above) is quite different to anything I’ve tried. It is made with Sencha, but also includes juniper berries, coriander seed, cardamom, angelica root and lemon peel for a gin inspired flavor. I’m not finished tasting this one yet and I think I need to crush the berries more next time before infusing the tea.
You can visit their tea shop to find taster boxes, accessories and more and they also have a blog.
It really was “One Happy Island”. We just returned from the island of Aruba. What a great place! Beautiful people, beaches, fun snorkeling and sunset cruise excursions and a bunch of excellent restaurants.
We stayed at La Cabana Beach and Racquet Club and found this resort to be perfect for us. It was right across the road from gorgeous Eagle Beach. We had a splendid view of the resort and beach from our balcony and the unit was equipped with a kitchen (very handy).
This small Caribbean island looks tropical, but has large dessert like areas, although the resorts all boast lots of palm trees, grass and flowering shrubs.
We had a blast on the Jolly Pirates morning snorkel tour and would definitely do that again next time and there will be a “next time” soon, I hope. I even took a turn on the Pirate rope swing – twice.
One of our favorite snorkeling spots was off the west coast at Arashi Beach with shallow water, excellent visibility and lots of colorful fish. Baby Beach on the southeast coast was also fun and you might even catch a lobster for dinner there.
These little black and yellow striped fish were my favorite. They would come within inches of your snorkel mask almost posing for you. There were also schools of little silver fish that would actually nibble your fingers and toes if you stayed still.
We had several memorable meals, including a romantic anniversary dinner at Passions on the Beach. (I want one of their color changing cone lights that they used on the tables.) ☺ One of my favorite lunches was at Zee Rover in Savaneta, a place we found after talking to some of the locals. It is a combination fish market and casual pier restaurant. You tell the server how much you want of the fish of the day or shrimp, etc. and she weighs it, puts it in a basket and sends it off to the cook. We were fortunate to have Mahi Mahi as the catch of the day. First time I’ve ever had whole cooked shrimp too (snapping the heads off was a little disconcerting, but well worth the effort). ☺
A lot of places served mashed sweet potatoes with the entrees – very good and we liked the chimichurri sauce that was served with the steak.
After visiting Aruba, it’s not hard to see why so many people visit year after year. One couple we talked to at the resort pool said it was their l5th year of visiting the island.
We had a wonderful sunset display each evening around 7:15.
This was one of our best vacations ever. I love Aruba.
I’ve always liked the Old Country Roses china pattern and now I’ve found a new favorite roses pattern that I like even better. Have you seen the new Royal Albert New Country Roses Cheeky Pink? It is a little less formal looking and very cheerful.
It is such a pretty pattern with that delightful pink color and the polka dot background.
The cup and saucer has a lovely shape and a feminine scalloped edge. I noticed that there is a set of ornaments in this pattern on their website. These will be going on my wish list to decorate my Christmas “Tea Tree” this year.
Hope everyone is enjoying a little relaxation today. Sitting down with a nice cup of tea and a good book, or maybe treating yourself to a massage or pedicure, or a walk in the park. Whatever helps you to relax and de-stress. A piece of cheesecake to go with that tea wouldn’t hurt either. ☺
As for me, I’m enjoying(?) a little forced relaxation. I don’t recommend a fractured rib as a means of slowing down to a gentler pace. Boy, it sure makes you feel old when you start doing crazy things like falling in the shower.
