The most amazing teacup card ever. Seriously.

I am always grateful whenever anyone takes the time to send me a birthday card, especially since I am not the best about sending them myself! And when I received a birthday card in the mail from tea friend Mary Jane last week, I certainly had no idea of the cleverness contained within that envelope. It was something called a "Swing Card" from the Santoro Company in the UK!

And when I read her thoughtful greeting on the back and folded the card into position, these lovely teacups started sweetly swinging!

I can't even begin to imagine the paper engineering that it took to a) make such a card possible and b) make it so foolproof that the recipients couldn't manage to bungle it when setting up the card.

They even designed the perfect background images …

And the clever teaspoon "suspension" for the teacups …

And I wondered if it wasn't easier to make a teacup than to make a teacup card! Bravo, Santoro (a link to their Swing Cards is here), and thank you again, Mary Jane!

Finding new bottled teas at Whole Foods

While in Whole Foods last week, I had to check out the latest bottled teas to see if there were any new offerings. Indeed there were, and I came home with two: from Cascara Tea and Charleston Tea Plantation. The cool-looking design on the Cascara Tea bottle immediately caught my eye, and then I was even more curious when I saw the words "from dried coffee cherries."

"This is Cascara, a clean and fruity tea brewed from dried coffee cherries, sourced directly from the award-winning coffee farms of Aida Batlle in El Salvador." This tea is said to be an herbal tea made from the dried cherries of the coffee plant, and it has only 10 calories per bottle and no sugars, so that's a plus. Now I know that true tea comes from the camellia sinensis plant, but I was intrigued by the idea of a tea coming from coffee. So what did it taste like? Sadly, it tasted like black tea that is oversteeped and unsweetened with a tart, bitter finish. Not a fan.

Happily, the next day I opened this absolutely delicious 16-ounce bottle of Charleston Tea Plantation's Green Tea with Mango. Mmm, mmm, mmm. It's just 70 calories per 8-ounce serving, and I felt like I was sipping pure mango. A lot of mango-flavored drinks taste like peaches, which I also love, but this one was definitely the real deal with the mango flavor. Ah. I’ll definitely be buying more of this tea when I see it in the store again!

A decorative discovery on Derby Day

Saturday evening marked my second year to attend the Hats and Hooves Derby Affair fundraiser for our local Communities In Schools program, a dropout prevention program that has been highly successful at keeping students in school and graduating on time. CIS holds just one major fundraiser each year, and Hats and Hooves is it. I know some people are most excited about watching the actual race on big-screen TVs, but I go to see all the pretty hats and decor, and the food is always delicious. In the small photo at upper right, you can see the "tea station," which I visited frequently to mix my own Arnold Palmers using the lemonade and sweet tea!

This year, my friend Susan, who loves to entertain, was there as well, and we happened to enter the room at the local museum where Hats and Hooves is held as the dessert table was being set up. Susan noticed that the display stand was actually two three-tiered servers with glass shelves placed across them, and I immediately said, "I'm getting pictures of this for my blog." If you look at the second photo above, you'll see the stands are just those simple stands like many of us already own. So if you've got two of these and can get three glass shelves cut to fit, you're good to go with a great new way to create additional serving space!

This is a photo of Susan and me from the evening. It was so fun to have my friend there!

And this is a photo of my husband, Alex, and me. He got lots of nice compliments on his new pink jacket. He says it is "shrimp" colored, but everyone else says "pink." 

And here are some of my other friends in their hats and fascinators, including, clockwise from left, the lady who made the evening possible, our CIS Executive Director (and my friend) Gina, as well as friends Carrie, Lynn, Candace, and Angela. Did you do anything special on Derby Day this year?

My Country, 'Tis of Tea — Louisiana

Louisiana is a state I love for many reasons, just two of which are that my husband was born there and I spent part of my honeymoon there! So are there any important tea-ish facts to know about Louisiana? Of course there are!

• Years ago, a friend gave me this vintage, unopened tin of Luzianne Tea for Christmas. I haven't thought of good old Luzianne in a while, and I must confess to feeling a bit dimwitted when I Googled "Louisiana tea" and noticed that images of Luzianne tea products kept popping up. "Why is all this Luzianne stuff showing when I'm searching for … oh … Louisiana." Duh. According to Luzianne.com, "Luzianne began life in 1902, when William B. Reily, who owned a wholesale grocery business, moved from Monroe, Louisiana to New Orleans. In New Orleans, he changed his emphasis to coffee and tea. By 1932, the Luzianne brand was established throughout the Southeast, as was its reputation for selling the region’s finest coffee and tea. Today, Luzianne is still revered as the gold standard of Southern refreshment." So Luzianne has headquarters in New Orleans, and if you visit the Luzianne website, it includes Hurricane Preparedness Information for its employees, quite appropriate, as we all know. So now I'll always think Luzianne = Luzianna.

• Lots of great books and movies have been set in New Orleans, and as a result of reading and viewing them, I often associate the city with its voodoo culture, which is said to be based on African folk traditions. Frankly, that stuff creeps me out, but I was intrigued when I found a photo of this "Bottom of the Cup Tea Room" on the New York Public Library's Digital Collections site. Does it surprise you that a storefront was advertising "Psychic Readings" in 1941 when the photo was taken? I guess it did me. But hey, even the psychics were encouraging everyone to join the American Legion, so there's that! The only other things I know about this photo are that it was sponsored by the Farm Security Administration and that it was photographed by Marion Post Wolcott.

• This screen grab is from the New Orleans Advocate, which last June published this article about the tea-growing efforts of Dr. Bill Luer of New Orleans. I was especially interested to learn he grows tea plants in pots and uses wine corks for better absorption. I also have made a note of the different varieties Dr. Luer is growing, and I'd particularly love to have a Louisiana tea plant for my own garden!

Teacup fairy gardens

Have you gotten into the whole fairy garden craze? I've dabbled a time or two but never done anything serious, but then one evening I saw an image on Pinterest that inspired me to create a Teacup Fairy Garden board, and ever since, I've been thinking of creating a fairy garden in one of my own oversized teacups or planters. A few days later, I happened to pick up this issue of Vintage Gardens magazine at Kroger.

And what did I find inside but this feature on "Furniture for Fairies," and it includes directions for how to craft a teapot for the fairies!

It's even got directions for making the fairy's teacup. So if you're into fairy gardens as well, I thought you might want to pick up a copy of this magazine!

My May teatime column in The Coweta Shopper

For those who don't live locally but would like to read it, here is a link to my new column in The Coweta Shopper, and it's my 500-word attempt to answer a simple question I get asked a lot — and I'll bet many of you do as well!

Happy Birthday to … me!

I know you're all too polite to ask, so I'll just go ahead and tell you: I'm 52 today! This birthday is going to be a bit different because it also happens to be the day of our Chamber's 31st Annual Golf Classic, and since I do some PR for them (and, to be honest, since it's a lot of fun!), I'll be on the golf course most of the day today. Happily, my birthday celebrations started early this week thanks to surprise gifts from several tea-loving friends, including my pen pal, Sandy. Isn't this stitched and hand-embroidered piece lovely? I was so thrilled when I opened my package from her and saw it!

And since I love-love-love handmade things, I was also pleased to find a hand-crocheted dishcloth and sewn and knitted tea bag cozies, as well as decorative flowers I can use for projects of my own!

The package seemed endless, as I also unwrapped a beautiful new bib-style apron with a garden theme, as well as some garden goodies for decorating. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm going to do with these, and it has to do with tea, so stay tuned!

And finally, Sandy remembered my dream of having a cottage at the beach and sent these lovely supplies to help me prepare. Don't you just love receiving such thoughtful gifts from tea-loving friends? I am so blessed to have Sandy as one of mine!

A fun freebie from Celestial Seasonings

After hearing from several sources that Walmart was selling Celestial Seasonings tea with free Celestial Seasonings lip balms inside, I had to make a stop and see if one of the local Walmart stores had them, and the answer was yes! (I was in Bremen, FYI, and not Newnan.) 

When I opened the box of tea, all I could see was the usual paper-wrapped stack of tea bags. "Hey, where's the lip balm?" I thought.

And as the little tea particles on the lip balm attest, it was right there in with the tea bags! That was a bit of a surprise. I'm happy to report that the Raspberry Zinger lip balm tastes just as good as the Raspberry Zinger tea, which I am drinking iced these days. I also got a box of the Peppermint flavor with a Peppermint lip balm inside. I've seen reports that other varieties of this tea have lip balms inside as well, so if you're near a Walmart, you may want to stop by. I think these $2.22 boxes of tea were my favorite finds of the week!

Cranberry-Pecan Tea Bread #2

Late Saturday afternoon, it dawned on me that I was supposed to bake something for my Sunday School class breakfast the next day. I quickly remembered that I'd been wanting to try a variation on the Cranberry Bread recipe I make at Christmas. That one uses fresh cranberries, which I don't usually have on hand in the spring. It also called for shortening, which I didn't have, and orange zest, and I didn't have an orange either. So I experimented with what I had on hand, and I'm happy to report I was quite pleased with what I'm now calling Cranberry-Pecan Tea Bread #2, the tea bread I will make when fresh cranberries aren't readily available.

Cranberry-Pecan Tea Bread #2

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons orange flavoring
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
1 egg, well beaten
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup dried cranberries

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In separate large bowl, combine orange flavoring, butter, boiling water, and egg and mix well, making sure butter melts completely in the boiling water. Add dry ingredients to the liquid ones and blend just until combined. Add pecans and cranberries and mix well. Pour into 9 x 5 x 3-inch pan prepared with cooking spray (or use a parchment liner). Allow batter to stand for 20 minutes before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. 

(The link to the original recipe is here if anyone would like it.)

The winner of the tea towel is …

Shari H. of Columbus, Ga.! If you'll send me your snail mail address via the email button at right, I'll get this headed your way. Congrats!

My Country, 'Tis of Tea — Kentucky

Kentucky is a state I've learned a lot more about in recent years thanks to my dear tea friend Linda of the Friendship Tea blog. In fact, I had a hard time narrowing down the tea things I wanted to share about Kentucky, but I did finally settle on what I (currently) consider the three most important things about Kentucky and the tea world.

• You cannot mention Kentucky without conjuring images of bluegrass country and magnificent racehorses, so I think it's only appropriate to mention that the Kentucky Derby is one of the grandest social occasions of the year in this country, for events that certainly include teatime. I love to see the national news coverage on Derby Day since it focuses on the beautiful hats, the excitement of the races, and the grandeur of Churchill Downs. Increasingly, Derby Day tea parties are becoming a "thing," and I am fortunate that I got to attend a Kentucky Derby-inspired tea at Boone Tavern Hotel in Berea, Kentucky a few years ago. (Photos are here.) If you're planning a Kentucky Derby tea party, there are lots of great ideas on the internet. Go here to see a slew of them on Pinterest, and if you don't have the time or inclination, fine, but DO NOT MISS THIS GREAT IDEA for a silverware/plasticware presentation on Derby Day. It's so charming! The photo above, courtesy of the Library of Congress, shows the finish of the one-mile race on Derby Day 1901.

• Some years ago, an older lady in my town learned of my passion for teatime, and this native of Louisville (pronounced Loo-a-vull, not Looey-ville) asked if I'd ever heard of Benedictine tea sandwiches. I had not. Miss Jennie Benedict was a famous caterer in the Louisville area who created this tea sandwich recipe, and lo and behold, I learned that her Benedictine sandwich is quite famous and very much associated with Kentucky. In fact, I'd say that holding a Kentucky tea party and not offering either a chocolate "Derby Day" pie or a Benedictine tea sandwich would be akin to holding a Georgia tea party and not offering something made with peaches. Wrong, in other words. Here's a recipe I once shared for Benedictine sandwiches. And here's a recipe by the expert on all things Kentucky, my friend Linda. And here's Paula Deen's recipe. And here's Saveur magazine's. If you get the impression Benedictine sandwiches are a big deal, you would be right.

• There are superstars of the tea world just as there are in any field, and one I think must always be acknowledged in any serious discussion of tea in America today is Kentuckian Bruce Richardson of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas. Bruce and his wife, Shelley, once ran the Elmwood Inn B&B in Perryville, Kentucky, and they were among the first to offer not only afternoon teas but also tea education classes that launched many a career. He's now a world-renowned expert on tea, and having had the pleasure of briefly meeting him on several occasions, I can say that he is also a charming and unassuming man, quite down-to-earth and plainly eager to share his passion for tea. I consider him our national ambassador for tea, and those of us who enjoy high-quality teas today can thank Mr. Richardson for helping educate our country about tea through such publications as his books, his articles in Tea Time magazine, and his blog. (I happen to be a bit proud that he's from the South, but that's to be expected, right?) Oh, and I almost forgot to mention how delicious Elmwood Inn's teas are! I've enjoyed quite a few of them, several courtesy of my Kentucky friend Linda, and you can check out the offerings here.

Cutest teacup cards ever!

I got in late Wednesday night from a local Candidate Forum and discovered a package had been delivered by the postman. Inside, all beautifully packaged together, were these handmade cards, an early birthday gift from my friend Kathy! My birthday is in May, and Kathy was thrilled her gift arrived early, but as I told her, I'm grateful for a gift whenever it arrives, and aren't these cards gorgeous!

I love a handmade gift so much because of the love and time that goes into it. With these cards, I loved seeing all the little touches Kathy included, like the string attaching the tea bag tag and the pearl embellishment.

While I like the all-aqua cards, I also liked the colorful card here. Isn't it the cutest?  (Kathy is a Stampin' Up demonstrator, and I looked online and confirmed that the charming papers and stamp design are indeed from Stampin' Up, from a paper line called "Have a Cuppa" and a stamp set called "A Nice Cuppa.")

But I think my favorite card may well be this one all in shades of aqua. From the pretty lace paper doily to the stamped design and the pearls, I love the soft, elegant look of this card. All six cards are different, and now I'm just trying to tell myself I really *must* send them to friends and not hoard them for myself!

From GPB: "Chinese Tea — Elixir of the Orient"

Thanks to my friend Joy, I learned about a program on tea that would be airing on Georgia Public Broadcasting. I wasn’t able to watch it when it first aired Tuesday night, but I was able to watch it yesterday online, and I definitely need to watch it again, as there is so much I want to write down, research, and explore further!

A few highlights:

— Have you ever heard the phrase “Water is the mother of tea”? I had not, but apparently it’s a saying well known in China.

— Some 18 provinces in China produce tea.

— China produces more than one-third of the world’s tea.

— Green tea makes up 70 percent of the tea production in China.

I also enjoyed seeing the beautiful aerial photography of the tea fields and the lovely images of the tea and teawares, and I was fascinated to hear from some of those in the College of Tea Culture (!) at Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University. I've long been intrigued by news of the cancer-fighting properties of green tea, so I was happy to see that discussed and would definitely like to learn more about green tea and cancer. I was also pleasantly surprised to see the Charleston Tea Plantation here in the US briefly featured.

I don’t know how long this video will be available for viewing online, but here’s the link in case you’d like to watch it now!

Finding tea in the Bible!

As soon as I learned of journaling Bibles last year, I wanted one. My only dilemma was that my favorite Bible version was the King James, and I could find these Bibles only in the NIV and other translations. I like many of these translations, and when I'm doing in-depth study, I like to read a verse in every translation I can get my hands on, but for daily reading, I'm most comfortable with the version I grew up with, the King James. So when I found "My Creative Bible" in the KJV and it was both a journaling AND a coloring Bible…

…and I saw that it had a design with both roses and handwriting on the cover, I had to have it. (Thank you to my husband for the generous Amazon gift card at Christmas, which I managed to use well into the new year.)

And guess what's one of the first things I colored in my new Bible? For years I have plundered the pages of scripture looking for a verse on tea, but I just couldn't find one. So when I saw this coloring page, I was quite pleased!

Most of the coloring images are along the side of a page, but on Easter I colored this full-page one. (Be nice. I haven't practiced coloring in years.)

And I still haven't colored this one yet, but this image of David dancing cracks me up. I think David looks more like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever here!

These blank lines for the journaling, however, are the primary reason I wanted this Bible. For years, I've been writing down in various notebooks some of the great phrases I discover right in the middle of Bible verses. I'm forever saving titles for future books and articles. The other day in  Sunday School, our teacher was reading along in Isaiah 28 (verse 21), and I latched onto the phrase "his strange work." Wouldn't that be a great title for something, His Strange Work? Many years ago, I became smitten with the phrase "harps upon the willows" in Psalm 137:2. Surely that should be the title of something. An article or a book on grief, maybe? Or a mystery about a character who overcomes grief?

And discovering that illustration with the teacup made me realize that there are no doubt plenty of verses about eating and drinking that can be applied to teatime. Now, I've got a place to record these thoughts (however oddball they may be) and be as creative as I want. My favorite verses in the Bible are Proverbs 3:5 and 6 — "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." I can't help believing this even applies to the "teatime paths" where I have met so many wonderful new friends! Have you come across any "teatime" verses in the Bible? If you have, please feel free to share them anytime. And if you happen to have a favorite verse, feel free to share that too—y'all know I need all the help I can get!

Adding a touch of elegance to a teacup and saucer

I'm not above copying a good idea, so when I saw a photo of a pretty paper lace doily placed beneath a teacup the other day, I decided I rather liked the idea!

As luck would have it, I had just received some beautiful linen coasters edged in tatted lace. They were a surprise gift from my tea friend Nancy in Puerto Rico.

And I must say I love the elegant touch it gives to add one of these to the teacup and saucer. There were six of the lace coasters in the set, and now I'm fairly sure I know what I'm going to do with them!