Tea and Hoppers

I had never heard of hoppers until seeing the entry yesterday in my tea calendar.  I have always enjoyed cookbooks and magazines  that feature foods from around the world, but this dish was totally new to me.  Having lunch with tea and hoppers is an institution in Sri Lanka. 

They are made of rice flour, coconut milk, sugar, salt and yeast and are served with curry or a spicy sauce.  They are like a crepe bowl, with an egg cooked on top.

Sri Lanka is one of the largest tea producers in the world and the people there drink a lot of tea.  That wasn’t always the case and before the 1860’s their main crop was coffee.  Then the coffee rust fungus killed off most of the coffee plants and a lot of the estates took to growing tea to avoid financial ruin. 

A lot of people consider high grown Sri Lanka tea as the “champagne” of Ceylon teas.  Products containing 100 percent Ceylon tea will have a special Lion logo on the package.

I’ve probably drank many teas that are a blend containing Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka.  I have read that all Sri Lanka’s black teas taste best with a little milk, which is how I enjoy my black tea.

As for the hoppers, I’d like to try some for lunch one day with a nice cuppa.     

 

Christmas crafting

It seems like the older you get the faster the year flies by.  When I was a kid my Dad was always telling me “don’t wish your life away”.  You know how that goes – I wish it was summer holidays, or my birthday or Christmas.  Now I wish things would slow down instead.

Christmas in July for crafters makes sense now.  I’ve left it too late again and now I’m scrambling to finish gift bags, etc.

 At least the little gift tote bags can be whipped up in a hurry.  They are much quicker than the snowmen.  How about you – have you finished your Christmas crafting?

 Now for something not craft related – a new tea that I tried on the long drive to St. Augustine.

 Rooibos tea is not a favorite of mine, but I like pomegranate and passion fruit, so I thought this was worth a try.  I was pleasantly surprised by the unique refreshing flavor.  It’s nice that it doesn’t contain caffeine either and at 50 calories not too much of an indulgence. 

No Golf at World Golf Village

We arrived home last evening after an 8 1/2 hr drive home from St. Augustine, FL.  The extra time in the car was well worth it to avoid the horrendous truck traffic and insane drivers who traverse hwy 75.  For much of the trip we had the road all to ourselves.  The only drawback was the total absence of good restaurants and gas station restrooms.  You definitely want to avoid that extra cup of tea before getting in the car and maybe pack yourself a picnic lunch.

We stayed at the Grande Villas at World Golf Village.  Our one bedroom villa had all the amenities and a lovely view from our second floor balcony.  The kitchens are well equipped, which was handy since we cooked all our meals, including a nice turkey dinner on Thursday. 

Our building was right next to the entrance to the Village.  I always enjoy the Walk of Champions, a circular brick paved walkway with the names and signatures of Hall of Fame members written in the stones.

It surrounds a small lake stocked with large fish that we enjoyed feeding.  We had perfect walking weather, cool enough for a light jacket.  Not great swimming weather, although the gorgeous pool was heated.  My grandson did brave the cool air a couple of times to go for a swim.

It is rather hard to see, but this shows a picture of Bob Hope who is featured in a special exhibit called “Bob Hope:  Shanks for the Memory”.   I just love that title.  There are more than 400 items, 300 vintage images and two hours of video that chronicle his life and love of golf.

When I said no golf at the Village, I was referring to the fact that the only golf any of us play is the miniature kind.  Here is my younger daughter taking her shot, hampered by mom’s shadow – she still managed a couple of hole in ones.  For real golfers there are lessons at the PGA Tour Golf Academy at the Village and a Challenge Hole and Fame Putting Course at the World Golf Hall of Fame. 

Just 15 miles south of our resort was St. Augustine, founded in 1565 by Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles.  My hubby and grandson enjoyed visiting Castillo de San Marcos which is constructed of coquina (a shell-rock formation).  There are lots of museums, historical buildings, shopping, a winery, helicopter tours, trolley tours, interesting eateries, parks, etc. for those who like a busy vacation.

 There was a  loose tea and spice shop in the Old Town (Spice & Tea Exchange), as well as a Parisian style restaurant called Bistro de Leon that served tea and pastries in the afternoon.

So, if you are ever heading down the Atlantic coast of FL, it’s fun to plan a stop at the oldest continuously settled city in the nation.  St. Augustine will celebrate its 450th anniversary in 2015, a good year to plan a visit.       

 

Martha Stewart Estate Tea Sampler

On a recent trip to BJ’s I came across this boxed tea gift set by Martha Stewart.

 The box contains three tins of loose tea – Estate Earl Grey, Estate Green and Golden Assam Rare Exquisite Black.   There is also a tea book called Tea 101 and a tea infuser.

 Since my daughter bought this as a Christmas gift and whisked it away to be wrapped up, I will have to wait till later to review the tea and book.

I’m off tomorrow to celebrate Thanksgiving in St. Augustine, FL and won’t be around to read your posts or to post on my blog for at least a week.  I’ll miss you all.

Tea Bag Holders

Since I had to make a trip to one of my local quilt shops this morning, I thought I’d stop in at the Goodwill thrift store nearby.  I found several books I liked for $1.50-$2.50 each.  One is a clip art book with CD.  My tea find was this black metal holder with four cute tea bag holders.

 The stand has a little teapot shape at the top.

I like the cheerful look of these tea bag holders.

I could only find one set like this online and there was no information included.

There was a small chip on one holder, but hey, for $4.54 for the set I can live with it.  If anyone knows what company the CB stands for, please let me know. 

Tea Sandwiches

Tea sandwiches tend to be pretty to start with, since they are usually cut in smaller dainty shapes and have the crusts removed.

 

You can give them an added touch of elegance by buttering the edges and dipping them into chopped dill, chives, parsley, or lavender.  If the filling is sweet, such as cream cheese with fruit, try dipping the edges in finely chopped nuts.

One of my favorite tea sandwiches is basil poached pear with gorgonzola on pumpernickel bread.  This is on the menu at the Grand Floridian, but I don’t have the recipe.  Here is a similar one from Recipe Zaar.  I also like the more traditional sandwiches such as cucumber, egg salad or smoked salmon.

I prefer to make salmon spread, instead of smoked salmon sandwiches.  It’s an easy and delicious recipe.  I have made this for several functions and a lot of people say they have never tried it and are only familiar with tuna salad.  If you haven’t tried this sandwich filling – here is the recipe.

1  (15 ½ oz) can red salmon (you can use pink, but the filling will not look as pretty) 
½ cup finely chopped celery
¼ cup finely chopped onion
¼ cup finely chopped parsley
1  tbsp fresh lemon juice
½ cup mayonnaise  (I use Miracle Whip light)
salt and pepper to taste.

Remove bones  from salmon if desired, and mash salmon with a fork.  Add celery, onion, parsley and lemon juice.  Mix well and fold in the mayonnaise.  Season with salt and pepper.   Makes 2 cups.  I like to use a layer  of wheat and a layer of white bread in each sandwich. 

If you would like a really good recipe book, try Tastefully Small:  Finger Sandwiches  by Kim Hendrickson.  It includes sandwiches that are cut with a knife,  or rolled, pressed, cutout, open faced, stacked, kid friendly and more.  There are many unusual fillings and presentation ideas.

So, what’s your favorite tea sandwich? 

 

 

Holiday Hearts & Homes

The Holiday Hearts and Homes event this past Saturday was such a fun event and a successful fundraiser for the Lottie Moon Christmas offering.  Our speaker, Mr. Lane Owings, gave a very interesting talk on his volunteer mission work in Cuba.

We enjoyed breakfast and lunch with a choice of three craft workshops in between.  There were nine workshops to choose from, including quilting, snowman candle holder, pinecone and ribbon garland, Christmas card holder tree and more.  My workshop was card making – a Christmas card and a gift card (or teabag) holder.

After our crafting sessions, we gathered for lunch.  Several ladies volunteered to decorate a table.  There were many lovely Christmas centerpieces.  In all the hustle and bustle, I didn’t manage to take many photos.

My table had a Scottie dog theme in red, green and gold.  The angle in this shot is not great, but you can see the plates on gold chargers, one of the two Scotties, the green teapots and the white pillar candles on black metal stands.  The cloth was a sparkly gold lame type fabric – much prettier than it looks here.  The black favor bags contained a box of tea, Mary Englebreit teapot magnet and chocolate truffles.  There were Christmas crackers at each place – not the kind you eat, but the kind you pop – filled with a paper hat, riddle and toy.

I found the Scottie dog figurines at the new Hobby Lobby that just opened in my neighborhood. 

They were cute little fellas with their festive bow collars.

There were quite a few lovely floral centerpieces.  I really like the amaryllis flowers in this one. 

This one with plaid ribbon and sugared and gilded fruit was very pretty.

  This traditional arrangement with poinsettias and red candles is lovely.

This table featured a china nativity set displayed on a cloud of lace.There was a group of cheerful snowmen.

The jolly old elf himself was there too.  Isn’t this an adorable cookie jar?

Each lady went home with three handcrafted items, a door prize, a little book of poems, recipes, etc. and the joy of helping missionaries to reach others with the true message of Christmas, the birth of Jesus and His ultimate gift.