The World in Your Teacup book

One of the new tea books that I’ve been enjoying lately is The World in Your Teacup by Lisa Boalt Richardson. 

Her first book Tea With A Twist was a wonderful volume on entertaining and cooking with tea.  It was divided into chapters that each featured a different theme tea party.

Ms. Richardson has a blog Lisa Knows Tea with lots of interesting content on her tea travels to Taiwan and more.

In her latest book each chapter represents a different country with their tea traditions, recipes, etc.  There are boxes highlighting cultural tips throughout the book.  One interesting fact was the explanation of “finger kowtow” in China.  This is where a guest will show gratitude to the server by tapping two or three fingers on the table three times.

The photographs are terrific as you can see by this example from the chapter on Russia.  There are delicious recipes to try such as Basil Burgers with Goat Cheese in the USA chapter.

This book is a welcome addition to my ever expanding tea library.

Happy New Year

Sending wishes for a peaceful and Happy New Year.

May you find joy in the simple pleasures of life all through 2011.

Spode Christmas Tree Tea For One

I’ve always liked the Spode Christmas Tree china pattern.  It is one of the most popular Christmas dinnerware and serving ware collections in the world. 

This pattern has an interesting history.  It was originally designed by Harold Holdway a designer for Spode in England.  He had never seen a Christmas tree and his design had presents hanging from the tree branches and a Santa at the top, instead of the usual star.  He amended the design, but the Santa remained at the top.

The first piece to be manufactured was a plate with the wording “Wishing You A Merry Christmas 1938”.

My Christmas gifts this year included quite a lot of tea.

PG Tips, Yorkshire Gold and Dragon Eye Oolong are old favorites.  The Gingerbread Tea and the ornament filled with Chai are new to me.

I’ll probably continue to use my Sadler Christmas Poinsettia teapot and Spode Christmas Tree tea for one till the New Year.  The holidays go by so quickly, don’t they?

Be sure to visit Terri and Martha for Tea Cup Tuesday.  They have some gorgeous teacups to show you and links to other bloggers who also share their teaware treasures.

‘Twas the Night before Christmas

The Christmas tree, or Tannenbaum became popular in America in the 1800’s.  One of the largest and most famous is the one in Rockefeller Center in New York – you can see it here.

Our Christmas tree is not decorated with candles, berries, gingerbread and fruit, as they were in England many years ago.  It does have clear lights and a variety of glass and china ornaments.

You’ve already seen my little dining room tea tree.  There are a few tea theme ornaments that are just too large for that tree so they hang on the main tree.

Now, I think I’ll sit down and enjoy a cup of tea before continuing with my cooking and baking.

Hope you all have a blessed Christmas.  I wish you peace and joy.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans.  Yesterday, I was running around shopping, wrapping, cleaning and thinking about how to prioritize the chores.  Then bam,  a gift of sixteen pretty cucumbers and no room in the fridge.

 So now I spend a few hours preparing a batch of cucumber relish.

Well, I can’t complain too much, since now I have a delicious condiment to serve with the holiday ham, etc.  Let me know if you would like the recipe for Million Dollar Relish.

My kids will be happy to take some home and I think my next door neighbor would enjoy a jar.

I did manage to finish the shaggy raggy quilt for my little granddaughter.

Better run now and get back to my Christmas preparations.  Hope yours are going well.

Tea for Santa

Instead of milk and cookies, how about a nice cup of holiday blend tea.  I’ve really been enjoying Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice tea.  It has an aromatic, spicy fragrance and it is quite sweet and delicious with a splash of milk.

How are your Christmas preparations coming along?  Like many of you, I’m struggling with too much to do in too little time.  This makes taking a break for a nice cup of holiday tea even more comforting, doesn’t it?

Christmas Cards

The first Christmas card is believed to have been designed in England in the early 1840s.  Within a couple of decades the Christmas card was fairly common.  I enjoy sending and receiving cards, which usually start to arrive from distant relatives in late November.

How do you like to display your cards?  Sometimes I tape Christmas cards around a doorway so they can be admired each time I walk into the room.

It’s fun to open Christmas cards as a family and take turns reading the messages aloud.

Write your cards with a festive red or green pen.

Use special holiday postage stamps on your envelopes.

It’s fun to save the cards each year and reinvent them into lovely craft items.  Several people that receive hubby’s cross-stitch cards have told me that they display them year after year.  Maybe one year I’ll have time to make handmade paper art cards, but I’ll always try to make time to send cards each Christmas.