Teatime Tale #29 — Power to the Pot

Power to the Pot

            Come here. Lean a little closer. Shhh. I have a secret. Don’t tell everyone, but … it’s kind of fun being a teapot!

            Several years ago, some lady came out with a book called If Teacups Could Talk. I thought to myself, “What do you mean if?” Everyone knows teacups can talk, but meaning no offense, who cares if teacups can talk? Bunch of amateurs. Now teapots, we are the ones who have something to say.

            Teacups are like commoners, but a teapot is like the Queen. Think about it. You go to a tea party and everybody gets a teacup, but there’s usually only one teapot on the table. And oh, the stories I can tell!

            I have the best day job in the world. All I have to do is sit there and look pretty until I’m called up for “work,” and then I’m usually sitting smack-dab in the middle of a tea party, which is always fun. Why?

            First, my owner, Leslie, warms me up before she uses me. She rinses me out with a bit of warm water, and it’s like I’ve gone for a brief swim at some nice Caribbean beach. Makes me feel all ticklish inside just to think about it.

            Then, Leslie fills me with warm water to get me ready to serve. I always like that part best because it feels like I’m taking a nice, relaxing bath. If only I could get her to add a few bath salts, but I understand why she doesn’t.

            Last, she pours in the boiling water and adds the tea bags. Now not everyone is cut out to handle boiling water, but I am. I really strut my stuff then, letting those tea bags know who’s boss while they toss around inside me.

            “Hey, Earl Grey? What do you think you’re doing? Untangle yourself and get back on your side. She’ll want you out of here in about four minutes!”

            Misbehaving tea bags are another story, and I don’t have time to get into that today.

            Once the tea bags are out, Leslie makes sure I don’t have any drips — kind of like a lady checking for lipstick smears — and takes me to the table. The things I have seen and heard at the tea table … You’d be surprised. Really, you would.

            Sometimes, it’s all sweetness and light. Maybe it’s a bunch of middle-aged friends getting together to reminisce about their high school days, back before they met Miss Clairol and had to sign up for Zumba classes, if you get my drift.

            Other times, a young bride or mother-to-be is the guest at tea, and I really, really enjoy those parties.

            You hear the best gossip, though, at the ordinary tea parties where it’s just a few close friends getting together for a gabfest.

            You want to know what I heard not long ago? You won’t believe this.

            Leslie was hosting a tea party for three of her girlfriends, and her friend Sharon was there. The other two friends were Diane and Grace, as I recall.

            Now I love my owner, but Lord help her, Leslie often speaks before she thinks. So Sharon was sharing a sweet memory and casually mentioned an old friend named Julie. Leslie pipes up with, “Julie? Julie? I don’t remember you having any friend named Julie.”

            I was watching all this play out from right there in the middle of the dining room table, keep in mind.

            And then Leslie says, “Oh, wait a minute! Julie! Wasn’t she the one whose body they found in a trunk at the airport? The smell got so bad that someone complained, and that’s how police found her body?”

            You could almost hear the air whooshing out of the room.

            “Yes,” Sharon had replied, looking a little amused and yet sad all at the same time. “She's the one.”

            I remember wishing I could speak aloud at the tea so I could say, “Exactly how many dead-body-found-at-the-airport friends do you think Sharon has, Leslie?”

            Fortunately, my owner realized her faux pas and soon got the conversation back on track.

            I never get an invitation in the mail as the other guests do, yet I must say I enjoy attending tea parties. You never know what you’ll overhear, and as a writer, I’m always looking for a good story idea.

            (What? You didn’t think teapots had hobbies just like anyone else?)

            And although my job is simply to hold the tea, I have to tell you that I don’t mind admitting I sip a little of the brew myself once the others are served. Oolongs are my favorite, but at tea parties, I inevitably get asked to hold some fruity tea like strawberry or peach. Mango is my favorite of the fruit teas, in case any of you are wondering what I'd like for Christmas.

            When the tea party is over, I enjoy watching Leslie clean up and put everything back in order.

            I’ve heard some “experts” say not to use dishwashing detergent in a teapot, but I personally think that’s a bunch of bunk. In America, you just don’t feel clean unless you’ve had a bath or a shower, and since I’m serving food, for Heaven’s sake, I think it’s more than fine when Leslie swirls a few of her Dawn soapsuds around inside me. Mmm. I’m getting that ticklish feeling again just thinking about it.

            So remember: teacups may be more well-known for their speaking abilities, but I say, power to the pot. (“The” pot, not “pot,” of course. Teapots have standards just like anyone else.)

            And the next time you go to a tea party, you might want to be a little more careful with your conversation. You never know who might be listening!

The winner of the teatime oven mitt is …

Babe O'Mara! If you'll send me your snail mail address via the e-mail button at right, I'll get this little goody headed your way. Congrats, and thanks to all who entered!

The Round House, tea, and ice cream — circa 1906

I heard the cutest story from an old high school friend this week. She was on vacation with her six-year-old grandson when they got on a roller coaster at an amusement park. After they went down the first big hill, her grandson cried out, "This is not how I planned it!" As we say down South, that'll preach!

So this is "not how I planned" to show you this photo. I wanted to use my beloved Waterlogue app on my iPad to turn this photo into some dreamy artwork for a Saturday Teatime Tale, but alas, this is just too detailed a photo for my purposes and never looked good when I ran it through the app.

Even so, I think the photo is too pretty to leave without mentioning that I discovered it on that Library of Congress website I'm so wild about. (When's the last time you read the words "Congress" and "wild about" in the same sentence? Ahem.) At any rate, here's the page from the website, where I learned the 1906 photo is from Put-in-Bay, Ohio. The banner across the street advertises Round House, Tea, and Ice Cream. If you enlarge it from the LOC website, that poster at far right, the one leaning against a column, says, "Tea, Coffee, and All Kinds of Bottled Goods Delivered in the Park." At least I'm guessing the letter behind that gentleman is a "P." And look at those ladies in their elegant finery strolling down the street. Wouldn't they have made a great short story? The Round House was actually the Columbia Restaurant when it opened in 1873, was at some point a tea house, and is operated as a bar today. I sure wish the photo would have been usable as an illustration for a short story, but as the little boy on the roller coaster discovered, life doesn't always turn out how we plan it!

"Minions" — A review for tea lovers!

Last week, Alex and I got to enjoy a fun visit with the Georgia grandkids, Bella and Owen, and after lunch in downtown Newnan, we took them to see the new "Minions" movie. Now I didn't know much about Minions, and still don't, except that A) they are odd-looking little yellow creatures and B) Bella and Owen like them. Item B was all I needed to go see the movie, but I was delighted to learn that one of the main characters was voiced by Sandra Bullock and that the Minions got to take a trip to England as part of the plot!

The gist of the story is this: The Minions hook up with bad gal Scarlet Overkill, voiced by Bullock, who covets the Queen's crown. She's always wanted it, and she intends for the Minions to help her get it. As you might expect from anything featuring England, there are lots of fun shots of Buckingham Palace and other popular sites, and I was amused at how many scenes ended up having a teapot or teacup in them. There's even a brief glimpse into a tea room that made me wish I were a Minion! So if any of you have Minions-loving grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or other little ones in your life, join them when they go see "Minions."

You can click here if you'd like to see the movie trailer for "Minions," and click here if you'd like to see a fun "Minions" teapot! Have any of you seen this movie? If so, did you catch all the glimpses of tea?

Announcing "Teatime with Angela," my Coweta Shopper tea column!

Today is an exciting day for me because I'm now officially a tea columnist! Not long ago, I ran into Joe Williams, publisher of The Coweta Shopper, at a Chamber event. He asked if I would consider writing for his publication, which is a free advertising publication that also includes some feature articles, and he said he particularly wanted something that would appeal to women readers. He asked if I'd come talk to him, we set up a meeting, and soon the idea for "Teatime with Angela" became a reality. The first issue will be landing in Coweta County mailboxes today, and I'm so pleased  someone has actually hired me to "talk tea" and hopefully meet even more tea lovers—because The Coweta Shopper gets mailed to 48,000 homes each month!

For my first topic, I chose to discuss iced tea since that seemed especially fitting for Georgia in the summertime. (Some of you may even recognize the vintage iced tea pitcher and glasses that appear in the teaser photo on the front page and with the column itself.) I don't think I'll have any problem coming up with 12 topics a year, and my biggest challenge will be condensing all I have to say about tea into a single column per month!

Since The Coweta Shopper has an e-edition posted online, that means you don't have to live here to read the column. Just go here to read the column online. And please keep your fingers crossed for me, because I definitely want to live up to the expectations of Coweta County's tea fans!

Watermelon Lime Zinger Herbal Tea from Celestial Seasonings

I don't always think to look at the boxes of tea at the grocery store, but last week I happened across this new Watermelon Lime Zinger Herbal Tea from Celestial Seasonings and had to give it a try!

I *like* limes but *love* watermelons, so I went right home, plopped some tea bags in some water, and let them cold-brew in the fridge. A few hours later, I had a deliciously fruity herbal tea to drink! This caffeine-free herbal tea contains hibiscus, rosehips, orange peel, natural watermelon and lime flavors, other natural flavors and blackberry leaves.

And much as I enjoyed it iced, this tea was just as delicious served hot, especially for a watermelon lover like myself! Have you tried this new herbal tea yet?

July Giveaway: A teatime oven mitt!

I didn't technically *need* a new teatime oven mitt when I saw this one at Marshalls over the weekend, but I could not in good conscience leave this behind because, well, one of YOU might need it! So I decided this would make a fun giveaway for July!

I love everything about this mitt, from the sunny color scheme to the cute teapots and teacups …

… and even the sweet little ruffle at the top. Do you need (or simply *want*) this oven mitt? Just leave an "Enter me" comment by this Friday, July 17, 2015 at 7 a.m. EST and you'll be entered to win. This giveaway is open to everyone, no matter where in the world you may live, so everyone please feel free to enter. Good luck!

Teatime Tale #28 - Just Because

Just Because

            “Ellen Wilson, Occupant.” “Ellen Wilson, Homeowner.” “Ellen Wilson, Gardener.”

            Ellen wondered how the direct mail companies decided how to address the junk mail they sent her way. That morning, following a recent trip to the Container Store, she was enjoying a much-anticipated day of cleaning and purging. She was tossing old bills, magazine offers, and pretty much any piece of paper that wasn’t absolutely necessary to running the household.

            Why didn’t the mail ever bring a nice surprise sometime? For that matter, why don’t I send a nice surprise sometime?

            Ellen wasn’t quite sure where the thought came from. She’d planned to spend the morning cleaning her home office and tidying up, yet she had a sudden but very strong impression to stop what she was doing and send a gift to her friend Lisa. She knew just the thing to send. Ellen had been downsizing her china collection, and she had a teacup with pink roses on it that Lisa loved.

            In the middle of her morning’s busyness, Ellen stopped what she was doing, packaged up the teacup for her friend, and included a note that read simply “Just Because.” The two had long had a habit of doing things for each other for no reason or any reason, and their “Just Because” gifts were one way the two friends had managed to stay in touch.

            Ellen wasn’t quite sure why she felt such a strong urge to send Lisa something that morning, but she did.  She drove to the post office, sent the package on its way, and returned home to continue climbing Mount Junk Mail.

            Three days later …

            Lisa Andrews was having a bad day. First, her blow dryer died while she was getting ready for work. It gave a rumbling sound followed by the distinct smell of electrical unhappiness, and Lisa’s hair was only halfway dried. She combed the damp hair back and pinned it in place, artfully applying gel and hair spray to try to make herself look more presentable.

            The marketing company where she worked had a leadership team meeting that morning, and Lisa—rumored to be up for a promotion—was hoping to make a good impression on the company vice president who would be visiting. The “bad hair” impression was not the one she wanted to make.

            She was confident in her skill as a marketer, and Lisa knew deep inside that she was worth so much more than how she looked on any given day, but still … the woman in her wanted to look nice at the meeting. She was headed out the door when she remembered to wear her lucky heart necklace, the one she’d often worn on important days and to important events. When she got to her car, she discovered the clasp had broken and the necklace had dropped into her bra. Lovely.

            On the way to work, Lisa told herself that just because her hair and jewelry were having a bad day didn’t mean that she had to. She hit the interstate for the twenty-five-minute drive to the office and determined to give her best at the meeting.

            About a mile up the interstate, she hit the brakes when she saw a sea of red taillights before her. Roadwork? Thank goodness she always left a half hour early. She’d forgotten they were repaving that section of interstate, and a sign told her to expect delays. After five minutes of waiting, she started to get nervous. After ten minutes, she called the office and told the receptionist she might be late. When she was still sitting in traffic fifteen minutes later, she let go of any hopes of having a good day after all. It wasn’t going to happen.

            When Lisa finally got to the office forty-seven minutes late for her meeting, she learned the vice president had left after just twenty minutes, so she wouldn’t get to see him after all. Maybe it was just as well.

            Her day didn’t get any better.  At lunchtime, she stopped by a drive-through intending to grab something she could eat back at the office. When she opened what was supposed to be her chicken sandwich, she saw they’d given her fish instead. She was allergic to fish.

            Around five, Lisa’s husband called to report he had a dead battery and wouldn’t be home in time to make their reservation at that new restaurant after all. In no hurry, Lisa took a back road home only to find an accident had brought traffic to a standstill. She sat in traffic for the second time that day.

            When she finally got home, Lisa couldn’t wait to shed her suit and heels and have a cup of tea and maybe watch a movie.

            To her surprise, a package sat by the front door. It was from her friend Ellen, who lived a couple of hours away. The two had met when they worked for the same company right out of school, and they’d been friends ever since. Ellen had a home-based business processing insurance claims, and she loved it.

            Lisa took the package inside and carefully opened it. Hiding in the bubble wrap was a beautiful pink teacup with roses on it. It was one of the prettiest ones she’d ever seen—and she knew that because she had admired it at Ellen’s house for years. Ellen had joked that one day, she’d tire of it and send it Lisa’s way.

            How interesting that it arrived today. Her friend must have had a feeling Lisa would need a little pick-me-up, and that beautiful teacup certainly did the trick.

            After changing into jeans and a comfy T-shirt, Lisa went to the kitchen and prepared her favorite tea, a new Keemun from Harney and Sons. The first sip relaxed her instantly.

            She fingered the pretty teacup and admired its cheerful pink flowers. Yes, it had been a bad day, but she certainly didn't have a bad life. Not at all.

Curious about George …

Do you ever think about the fact that Americans have been drinking tea for a long, long time? I remember learning a few years ago that the father of our country was a tea drinker, and for some reason that surprised me. (I believe I first read that here, in a book about a great English family of tea drinkers.)

This week, I was doing a little research on Washington and came upon even more information on our president's tea-drinking habits courtesy of the Mount Vernon website. I learned:

• Washington's first recorded order of tea was in 1757.

• According to the website, "The Washingtons used several varieties of tea throughout their time at Mount Vernon, including: Bohea, Congo, Green, Gunpowder, Hyson, and Imperial. Among the specialized objects purchased to serve tea in the Washington household imported from England, France, and China, were: tea boards, tea caddies, tea chests, tea china, tea cups, a pewter tea equipage, a copper tea kettle with chafing dish, a tea kitchen, tea pots, tea sets, silver tea spoons, tea tables, and a silver-plated tea urn." (They sure sound like tea lovers to me!)

• The slaves at Mount Vernon also had teawares, though it's noted that these may have been all-purpose drinking vessels, and one visitor to an outlying farm at Mount Vernon found in the slave quarters "some cups and a teapot."

• According to a granddaughter of Martha Washington, the president's "habitual meal" consisted of "three small mush cakes (Indian meal) swimming in butter and honey" and "three cups of tea without cream."

If you love this sort of tea history as much as I do, be sure to check out the Mount Vernon website for yourself!

Lipton Tea & Honey with Strawberry Guava flavor

It's been so hot this week, I have been going through the iced tea around here. Already this week, my fridge has been home to multiple pitchers of both plain, unsweetened black tea and a nice herbal peppermint tea. When I was at the grocery store, it occurred to me that I hadn't looked for any new flavors of iced tea mixes lately, so I was happy to come across this new one.

It's the Lipton Tea & Honey Liquid Iced Black Tea Mix in the Strawberry Guava flavor. What really appeals to me about these little squirt bottles is that I don't have to commit to making an entire pitcher of iced tea (that peppermint got old pretty fast) and can have a single glass whenever I like.

At just 10 calories a serving, this tea is a guilt-free treat, and I truly tasted the strawberry in this Strawberry Guava flavor. Are you drinking more iced tea this summer? Got any recommendations?

Wild Bill's World Famous Yellow Root Tea

One of these days, those of you who like to read this blog early in the a.m. are going to wake up and find there's nothing new from me that day. Why? Because I croaked overnight after drinking some bizarre potion just because it had "tea" slapped on the jar. This jar listed its ingredients as water, yellow root, and citric acid.

This latest discovery comes courtesy of the Smart Shop Antique Mall in Rome, Ga. The huge and wonderful (and ancient) Smart Shop Antique Mall used to be located on North Broad Street in Rome, and I knew it had been a while since I visited, but I was stunned on Saturday when I asked someone in Rome which road the antique mall was on (I couldn't remember) and she told me it had been torn down! I had a hard time believing that, and besides, they couldn't have torn it down. I had so many happy memories of shopping there with my mom, and I have so many great teawares that came from this mall. (Like this and this and this.) But indeed, I drove over to the old spot and, as Joni Mitchell used to sing, "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot." So, there was that. I heard that there was a new place I should check out on Shorter Avenue, however, and it turns out, it's just a new location for this old antique mall.

And that's where I spotted my jar of Wild Bill's World Famous Yellow Root Tea. Have you ever heard of Yellow Root Tea? I had not, but it's more commonly known as goldenseal and is said to be a folk remedy good for, among other things, digestive disorders, eye infections, skin issues, urinary tract infections, and more. I don't actually have any ailments at the moment (knock on wood), but I love folk remedies and, with a little self-education, could perhaps give up doctors and drugs entirely in favor of using herbs and natural remedies. (Actually, based on the letter I got from my health insurance provider this week telling me that their company will no longer sell health insurance in Georgia next year, that may be a distinct possibility … but that's another story, isn't it?) Anyway, the sales clerk at the antique mall told me her sister drinks Yellow Root Tea each day, and she recommends drinking it cold, so I did. For some reason, I expected it to taste dreadful, but it did not. Perhaps because of the citric acid, it simply tastes like the sourish dregs of Alka Seltzer. I've been drinking a few ounces every day, but so far I don't know if I'm benefiting from the Yellow Root Tea or not. I'm just happy I survived drinking something that my husband said looks like either moonshine or, well, something that's not tea!

Global Beauty Care Makeup Cleansing Wipes with Green Tea Extract

Back in May, I came across some makeup remover wipes with green tea extract at T.J. Maxx, and I loved them. The only problem was, I haven't seen those particular wipes anywhere else, and it's usually not worth the money to order a single product like that online. I was quite happy, then, to come across another brand of wipes with green tea in them at Tuesday Morning over the weekend. These are the Global Beauty Care brand of wipes, and they were $3.99 for a package of 60.

I again found that Green Tea Extract was indeed an ingredient.

I've gotten better about checking since I've bought a number of products that include "green tea" in the name but not in the ingredients list.

Once again, I was very pleased with the thorough cleansing job of these makeup cleansing wipes. Also, these are larger, 8 x 6-3/4 inch wipes, and I like the pop-up dispenser as well. Have any of you tried these cosmetic cleansing wipes? If so, which brand(s) do you recommend?

A cameo appearance at Goodwill

On Saturday, my Aunt Jane and I went to Rome to visit some thrift stores and antique malls, and once again, the Rome Goodwill store brought me a whole lot of happy for the bargain price of $3.50 (including tax).

This small aqua blue ruffled bowl was just 77 cents. It looks and feels like vintage Pyrex to me, and it's not marked, but that's fine since I bought it for the color, not necessarily as an investment.

This china Christmas tree plate was 99 cents, and I'm always happy to find Christmas china pieces at any time of year. Some I keep, and some I give away, depending on how desperate I am around Dec. 20th or so each year when the baking marathon is under way.

As a longtime lover of cameos, though, I was most happy to find these two cameo design dinner plates and saucer for $1.51.

Curiously, one plate is marked and one isn't. The one that was marked has this Atlas China Co. backstamp, and I learned this pattern was made by Atlas China of Niles, Ohio from 1922-25, making this one of the older plates I own.

Isn't that a lovely image to find on a plate? I'm redecorating a bedroom, and I'm thinking of using one of these plates as a "jewelry tray" that's devoted to cameos. I even love the crackling. Are any of you fans of cameos? If so, have you ever seen them on plates before?

Teatime Tale #27 - Tomato Sandwich Freedom Day

Tomato Sandwich Freedom Day

            “Hurry up, Joe, and pass the mayonnaise.”

            “Don’t get your boxers in a bundle, Art,” I say. “I’m gonna enjoy these tomato sandwiches, and I don’t mean to be rushed.”

            Art’s wife, Patricia, and my wife, Barb, are best friends, and the four of us have been going to the Gulf Coast together for years. We probably ought to have our heads examined for always going the week before the Fourth of July. It’s crowded, it’s hot, it’s expensive—and we couldn’t stop now if we tried.

            Today’s the day Patricia and Barb have gone to the outlet mall an hour away, or as Art and I like to think of it, Tomato Sandwich Freedom Day.

            Art and I love good old-fashioned tomato sandwiches, but unfortunately, we are both married to health fanatics. Barb would bring anthrax into our house before she’d permit a loaf of white bread to enter. So most of the year, I eat that wretched brown stuff she buys in the organic section at the grocery store. My cholesterol’s down, and the doctor’s happy I’ve lost ten pounds, but he’d lose weight, too, if his wife made him eat bread with sand and dirt in it.

            Patricia’s even worse. That woman can tell you the calorie, sodium, and carb count of every bite of food she puts in her mouth, and she rides Art’s case all the time. Art’s about twenty pounds overweight thanks to those all-you-can-eat buffet lunches he has about three or four times a week, but if I had to live like that, I’d probably be a regular at Golden Corral, too.

            Today, however, Art and I are two free men, and we’ve just gotten back from Winn-Dixie where we stocked up on provisions before the gals return.

            We do this every year at the beach, and the grocery list is always the same—the biggest loaf of Sunbeam white bread we can find, a big jar of Duke’s mayonnaise, store brand salt and pepper, and tomatoes from the closest vegetable stand.

            This year, I’ve added to the feast by making something that would drive Patricia nuts if she were here—a gallon of sweet tea made with two whole cups of white sugar.

            The condo has a kitchenette, and when we were at the grocery store, I recalled seeing a stack of saucepans under one of the cabinets. I boiled water in the pan, added Lipton tea bags like we had when I was a kid, and then I let that beautiful white sugar melt right down in it all. I poured it straight into a big old Mason jar, added a bunch of those little half-moons of ice, and took a swig. Ah.

            “You got tomato seeds dribbling down your shirt, pal,” I told Art.

            “Don’t care,” he said, taking another bite. “I’ll change before Patricia gets back.”

            “Hmph,” I said, enjoying another bite of my sandwich, the soft and gooey white bread sticking to the roof of my mouth. Man, the tomatoes are good this year.

            Barb and Patricia buy these little bitty organic tomatoes the size of a quarter and talk about how tasty they are, but they can’t compete with these juicy Big Boys. I slice mine a little thinner than Art does, but shoot, I don’t care how he slices his tomatoes as long as he leaves mine alone.

            Art doesn’t get to eat Duke’s the rest of the year, but I do. That man is so henpecked, it’s pitiful. I promised Barb I’d try to eat healthy, but I refuse to eat fake mayonnaise. Life’s too short, and like my mama always said, none of us came to stay. What’s the point in adding another decade or two to life if you’ve got to spend it eating sorry mayonnaise?

            Art and Patricia eat some kind of “heart healthy” mayonnaise that triggers my gag reflex just to think about it.

            I polish off my first sandwich and get going on the second. I know I’m probably good for a third. Besides, Art and I’ll be on a fishing boat soon, and we’ll sweat off a few calories.

            Tonight, we’re going to some fancy new seafood restaurant the girls heard about. Barb and Patricia will probably order broiled shrimp and chef salads, but if Art and I want surf and turf, or baked potatoes with every single topping on the menu, that’s what we’ll get.

            How’d we get our wives to go along with that? Easy.

            One year, Barb and Patricia wanted to go to the outlet mall. They’d been nagging us about our diets all the way down to the beach and said they were afraid to leave us alone at the condo, so they suggested Art and I join them for a little shopping. I said I thought that was a great idea.

            “Have you lost your mind, Joe?” Art had muttered under his breath.

            “Trust me,” I’d told him.

            That day, we stuck to our wives like chewing gum to the bottom of a shoe. Every time one of ’em picked up something, we commented on it. Every time they found a “bargain,” Art or I mentioned how expensive this vacation was and how we needed to watch the household budget. When Barb looked at a new set of cookware, I just smiled and said I thought our old cookware was just fine.

            Interestingly enough, Art and I never got invited back shopping with them again, and they never said another word about our vacation eating habits.

            “You gonna share that can of Pringles or do I need to head back to Winn-Dixie and buy some more?” I ask Art.

            “Here you go. Knock yourself out. And Joe, that was a great idea about the sweet tea. Man, this reminds me of eating tomato sandwiches at my grandmother’s house when I was a boy.”

            “I know what you mean,” I say. “Pour me another glass of that tea, will ya?”

            Mmm, mmm, mmm.

            

A most writerly teacup

A month or two ago, back when I was spotting chintz teacups in every T.J. Maxx or Marshalls I visited, I came across another teacup and saucer design I absolutely adored, but every set I saw was seriously flawed. Stray gold paint was smeared down a handle. A saucer was cracked. The teacup was chipped. To quote the late, great Gilda Radner, "It's always something."

But this week, having long forgotten about my quest for an unsullied version of this teacup and saucer, I stopped by T.J. Maxx and there it was, its handle unblemished. I checked the pretty aqua blue saucer, and it was whole. I ran my finger around the top and bottom of the rose-adorned teacup (with vintage postmarks!), and it was perfect.

I happened to be celebrating the acquisition of a new client for my writing business that day, so it seemed particularly fitting that I should find a new teacup with writing on it.

If you happen to like this Stechcol teacup design as well, I've seen it in pink, too, but I was holding out for the aqua blue version—and now I'm so glad I did!

"Tea time in the air"

If you ever have the time or inclination to browse, the Library of Congress website is a fun place to look through old images. This one is titled "Tea time in the air." According to the information with the photo, Miss Wanda Wood, hostess for Eastern Air Transport, is serving tea for two to Misses Charlotte Childress and Elizabeth Hume aboard one of the line's passenger planes. "The company provides bridge, tea and cigarettes," according to the photo ID,  with hostesses arranging the bridge games and serving the tea. The photo is dated January 10, and the year is listed as both 1930 and 1931, so choose your favorite, I suppose.

Now while I'd love the tea and wouldn't mind learning to play bridge, I must say I'm pleased that airline hostesses don't provide cigarettes on planes anymore.

And on a fun note, check out the expression of the lady at left. What is she thinking? "Man, I'll be glad when this flight is over." "I wish there were something besides tea in that cup." Or perhaps, "If only I didn't have to change planes in Atlanta…"

Feel free to add any thoughts of your own!

Sampling some rare teas from Palais Des Thés

One of the fun things about sampling new teas is guessing what the tea is going to look like. I'll bet some of you can simply look at these two teas and tell what type they are. Can you? I might not have necessarily gotten the one on the right correct, but I'm fairly certain I could've guessed what the one on the left is.

These two teas are samples I recently received from Palais Des Thés of their Grand Cru teas, which are rare teas harvested in small batches.

This Long Jing is a green tea from China, and I can usually remember that the name is "Long" something because of the long, flat leaves which look like dried blades of grass. You may also know this tea by its popular name of "Dragon Well," which is what "Long Jing" means in Chinese. The dry tea leaves had a grassy scent, but steeped, they smelled of roasted vegetables such as artichokes or asparagus. This tea had a deliciously rich mouth feel, almost like a very light broth. Lovely, and a nice change from the iced stuff I've been drinking.

This Tawaramine Shincha (a type of Japanese Sencha) also had a vegetal scent, in both dry leaf and the steeped tea versions, and when I sipped the tea, I again detected vegetal notes, yet this tea had much more of a brisk taste than the Long Jing. I detected a slight bit of astringency, but when I re-steeped the leaves, I got a perfect cup of Sencha that had a wonderful mouth feel and was quite satisfying. I'm grateful Palais Des Thés offered to send the samples, because with my overflowing tea pantry, these are some pricy teas I doubt I would have felt the need to splurge for. (The Long Jing is $22.50 for a 3.5-ounce pouch, and the Shincha is $115 for 3.5 ounces!) So if you're in the market for a delicious splurge, mild or wild, check out more of the Grand Cru Teas here!