Getting ready for Valentine's Week!

In preparation for Valentine's Week, which kicks off here tomorrow with seven days of giveaways, I thought I'd share a few of the pink and heart-themed goodies I've displayed on my tea trolley for the month. I was delighted to realize that family and friends gave me almost everything in this display, from the teapots and beautiful handcrafted cards to the teacups and even a teacup stand. (A friend who is downsizing had that in her car at Christmas and said she wondered if I wanted it or if she should just throw it out. I'm trying to downsize a little too, but let's not be ridiculous about it!) At any rate, please be sure to check back in the coming days as I share vintage tea-themed valentines as well as some goodies I'm so excited about giving away this year. The fun begins tomorrow!

 

"Kitchen Sink" Chocolate Chip Pan Cookies

Have you ever made chocolate chip cookies where you tossed in everything but the kitchen sink, as the saying goes? I experimented with a mash-up of several recipes this weekend, and the result was so good ("Perfect!" in the estimation of Mr. Tea With Friends) that I was asked to hurry up and write down exactly how I made these so that I can (perhaps) duplicate this success again! This recipe was actually prompted by two things. One, I had a lot of partial bags of baking chips left over from Christmas baking and …

Two, I had a pretty new cookie sheet I wanted to break in! This was a $5.99 find at T.J. Maxx the other day, and because of the pretty mint green color, I decided this pan might find its way into one of my future columns for The Coweta Shopper. (Which technically makes this a business expense. Ahem.)

So I decided to try to bake chocolate chip pan cookies, which I don't believe I've ever actually made before. They were quick and easy because I didn't have to take pans out of the oven every 10 minutes, and they were absolutely delicious!

I definitely suggest trying one (or two) of these cookies while they're hot from the oven. Oh. My. Goodness! If you'd like to try these for yourself, here's my recipe. I had my cookies with a nice strong cup of hazelnut tea, and it was a perfect afternoon tea treat!

"Kitchen Sink" Chocolate Chip Pan Cookies

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter, softened
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1-1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3/4 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 cups chocolate chips or other flavored chips (I used a combination of semisweet, milk chocolate, white chocolate, and caramel chips)
1/2 cup pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 10 x 15-inch cookie sheet with aluminum foil, or prepare with cooking spray. In large bowl, cream butter using an electric mixer. Add eggs and combine using high speed of mixer. Add sugars and vanilla and combine. Next, use a spatula or large spoon to add the flour, soda, and salt, and combine well. Then fold in chocolate chips and pecans. Spread mixture evenly in prepared pan and bake for 23-25 minutes, just until edges are beginning to brown. Let cool for a few minutes (if you can wait that long!) and cut into cookie squares of desired size. Enjoy!

Some Varsi-tea from the Varsity

The Varsity is an Atlanta institution. Founded in 1928, it's said to be the world's largest drive-in restaurant, although I've always dined in when I have visited. The Varsity is part of the city's culture, the kind of place where sports fans love to go on game day, but celebrities and politicians know to go there as well. The Varsity is known for its cries of "What'll ya have? What'll ya have?" at the order counter. The other night, Alex and I were headed back from Atlanta when we decided to stop by for an early dinner.

In warmer weather, I get the Frosted Orange, a creamy orange milkshake, but on this visit, I was surprised to find a new Peach Iced Tea on the menu.

A chili dog, onion rings, and a drink is my go-to meal here. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever ordered anything else, and when I see someone at the Varsity who is ordering something like a chicken salad sandwich or, heaven forbid, a salad, all I can think is, "Amateur." Their chili is perfection, and the onion rings are lightly breaded and crispy, the kind where you get more onion than breading. In my none-too-humble opinion, there's not much reason to order the abominations known as onion rings anywhere else. And I have to report that the new Peach Iced Tea is quite sweet but quite good, a very nice accompaniment to a classic meal.

And we got fried pies to take home for dessert—the peach pie for me, the apple for Alex. So, friends, who all has eaten at the Varsity? If you're from Georgia, I assume you have, but I'm curious whether non-Georgians know about the Varsity as well!

New stickers for tea lovers

Back before Christmas, I was window shopping (browser shopping?) for tea books on Amazon when I noticed a new postcard-sized booklet of tea stickers was coming out. I pre-ordered it, and when it arrived the other day, I wished I had ordered a few more copies of "I Love Tea! Stickers" by Teresa Goodridge.

From Dover Publications, of which I have been a fan for many years, these stickers are perfect for when you stuff a card with a tea bag or some other lumpy gift and need a little extra oomph securing the envelope's seal on the back. These would be great for dressing up a package as well!

There's such a fun variety of stickers in this little booklet, and I think this was an absolutely brilliant idea for a new sticker booklet. It's just $1.99, so next time you place an Amazon order, you might want to add one of these to your electronic cart!

Two-thirds of a new tea set

On Saturday, I visited one of the big T.J. Maxx/HomeGoods stores, the one in Smyrna, and I was delighted at all the new teawares I found in colorful spring pastels. There are some really pretty new teacups, and I almost came home with one of them, but instead, I bought a new Gracie's teapot ($12.99) and creamer ($4.99). I had $10 on a gift certificate left to use, so my "set" was really more like $7.98. Not bad!

I'm still in my "blue phase," I suppose, because these lovely shades of blue are so appealing to me. And for some reason, I found this simple banded design quite charming. I think it could be dressed up or down very easily, and it reminds me of china from the sixties!

Here's a close-up of the detailing. Curiously, another blue-toned design I saw had only a teapot and creamer available as well. Do you suppose someone in Smyrna is collecting sugar bowls and going around and scooping them all up? Whatever the case, I'll be going by at least three (possibly four) T.J. Maxx stores this week, so I'm hoping to find the matching sugar bowl—just in time for a little springtime decorating!

"Darjeeling: A History of the World's Greatest Tea" by Jeff Koehler

Darjeeling tea remains a favorite of many tea lovers, and I was eager to learn more about it by reading this month's selection in the Tea Lovers' Book Club, Darjeeling: A History of the World's Greatest Tea by Jeff Koehler.

Summary: Koehler has written a wide-ranging history book about Darjeeling, approaching this tea from every angle imaginable, from its "romantic" (his word) beginning to today's very real challenges of continuing to grow Darjeeling tea in a world in which both the plants and the people who tend them are rapidly changing.

My thoughts: I'm glad I got this book because I can tell it's going to be a good resource (it has a nice index too), but I'm not sure it works as a "book club" selection—even for one consisting of tea enthusiasts. When the narrative began to get a bit dry with a lot of facts and figures, I found myself skipping ahead to some of the parts that mentioned people again. Always, it is the stories of the people of tea I like best. Some of the more interesting takeaways from the book: 

• Only 87 tea estates are in Darjeeling, about 48,000 acres, which is the size of Queen Elizabeth II's Balmoral Estate. When you look at it that way, it sure seems like a small amount of tea!

• The name Darjeeling itself  "comes from Dorji Ling, where the thunderbolt of the Hindu deity Lord Indra—King of the Heavens, God of War, God of Rain and Storms—fell."

• A Scottish civil servant in the Indian Medical Service, Dr. Archibald Campbell, was the first to grow tea in Darjeeling. (In 1841.)

• The pluckers, always women, take only the first two leaves and a bud, and it takes 10,000 (!) of these to make one pound of Darjeeling tea.

• Mark Twain once gave a lecture in Darjeeling and stayed in the Darjeeling Planters' Club.

The gist of it: I ended this book marveling that we ever came to know Darjeeling tea at all and wondering how much longer it will be around. The author says that the bushes are dying and being replaced at a rate of only 2 percent a year. He also says that Darjeeling tea faces challenges in the areas of labor, climate, and political instability.

For discussion:

I'd like to hear what others thought about the book. And did it make you want to run buy some Darjeeling tea before we run out of it? 

Our next book: I'm ready for some fiction again, so I'm suggesting something quite different for next time, a book that doesn't even come out till Jan. 30, but I'm eager to read it. It's The Taster by V. S. Alexander, about a young German woman whose job involved tasting Hitler's meals, and early reviews indicate there's some storyline involving a plot to poison his tea. 

DAVIDsTEA: My reviews!

In December, I had a giveaway for one of these tea samplers from DAVIDsTEA, and I just finished sampling my own sampler and wanted to mention what a great experience I had with this company! First, their customer service was excellent (a rarity these days!), and second, all the teas were absolutely delicious. The five I tried were Candy Cane Crush, a minty black tea with candy cane bits and snowflake-shaped sprinkles; Let It Snow, the wonderful pineapple, white chocolate, and spice tea I enjoyed during last week's snow; Alpine Punch, a coconut-flavored rooibos blend; White Cranberry Bark, a fabulous cranberry blend (my favorite!); and Sleigh Ride, a sweet dessert-like tea that reminded me of those cinnamon roll–flavored blends I've tried. These teas were some of the best flavored blends I've had in ages, and their packaging is so elegant, it made it a double delight to experience them.

I also tried the Mango Madness tea-infused lip butter, and with the cold weather around here last week, I was reaching for it often!

This is one of the silkiest lip balms I've ever tried, with no waxy buildup or chemical aftertaste, and I wish I'd ordered another couple of these. I'll know to do so on my next order. DAVIDsTEA is a Canadian company, and they often have great sales—and very reasonable shipping to the US—so if you haven't given them a try, I suggest you do so soon if, like me, you don't happen to have one of their few US stores in your area. Click here now to check them out, and you can also sign up for their mailing list for a chance to win a $100 gift card!

A new tea sampler from Latvia

I think I need to get a world map so that I can start putting push pins in all the places around the world that have produced tea I've tried. If I had such a map, this week I could add a pin for Latvia! (Click here if your world geography is as rusty as mine and you want to see where Latvia is.)

At Christmas, my friend Nancy surprised me with this wonderful sampler from Lauku Tea. Nancy is a local gift shop owner, and my theory is that this is why she has access to so many neat items, like tea gift sets, that I've never even heard of before! A visit to their website instantly had me enthralled with Lauku Tea and their Ozolini Farm, where "every petal, leaf, berry, and herb is planted, harvested, and packaged by hand." (And it's beautiful too. Get a glimpse here!) The "Latvian Sun" sampler I received contained Brigita's Organic Daylight Blend, Anna's Organic Afternoon Blend, and Evita's Organic Twilight Blend.

Nancy also gave me a ladybug tea towel from Lauku Tea, and since ladybugs are said to bring good luck, I was especially happy to have it!

The sampler itself included an applewood teaspoon carved from the wood of the apples trees that provide leaves and fruit for Lauku's tea blends. How neat is that?

The dried leaves are huge and fresh smelling, and the first tea I tried was Brigita's Organic Daylight Blend, which contains fermented organic apple leaves, organic black currant leaves, dried organic apples, organic meadow clover flowers, organic lemon balm, and organic mountain ash berries.

I steeped the tea for about four minutes, and I was so intrigued by the invigorating, complex flavors of this herbal tea. It had a light natural sweetness, but not like a dessert tea, and I detected a bit of a smoky note, but it was quite a pleasant one. I thoroughly enjoyed my introduction to Lauku Tea and look forward to trying the other blends. And I was also delighted to learn that even though the company is in Latvia, shipping to the US for any order is free! Click here to learn more.

A second snow in Georgia!

On Tuesday, it was predicted that we might get "a light dusting" of snow, so I was quite happy when the snow started falling that night. We woke up to about four inches of snow, which pretty much brings everything to a halt here in Newnan. It was lovely!

The cold, however, I could live without. Georgia natives are not accustomed to freezing temps with a wind chill factor that makes it seem like zero degrees. My northern friends think we are wimps, and they are right, but we do not like to be that cold! So naturally, I've sipped more than my fair share of hot tea this week, including a green tea blend from DavidsTea called …

Let it snow! I didn't realize that when I reached for this particular tea sachet, but my goodness, how appropriate.

It's a delightfully sweet blend of candied pineapple, green tea, black currants, apple, cinnamon, white chocolate, and more. Yum!

And so I'll happily say, for the second time this winter, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"

A new turquoise teapot I love!

When my friend Amanda came to Christmas tea at my house, she surprised me with a gift of a pretty turquoise blue teapot and tea bag rest. I just now got around to trying out the set, and I love it! I believe she said she found it at Ross. It's marked BIA Cordon Bleu, which I had not heard of before.

I don't believe I've ever had a teapot with a matching tea bag rest before, so I thought it was such a nice touch to find these two pieces that match!

And I'm happy to report that the strainer of this infuser basket is so fine, I could even use this teapot with rooibos tea and it strained the tea perfectly. One thing I've noticed is that when I have pretty new teaware, it makes me drink even more tea. Do you find yourself drinking more tea when you get a new teapot or teacup?

A family reunion tea at Callaway Gardens

For several years now, Alex and his cousins (and spouses!) have been meeting at Callaway Gardens for a reunion. This year we stayed at the Lodge and Spa, which was a wonderful way to spend a chilly January weekend!

I stepped out onto our balcony just long enough to snap a photo, and that was plenty of time in the cold weather for me!

Even in January, there is lots of beauty at Callaway Gardens!

And one of the most fun things about this year's reunion at Callaway was that I was among the family members who had agreed we wanted to provide a *tea* for everyone upon arrival. Two of the cousins rented one of the cottages so that we could all congregate in a homelike atmosphere when we weren't in our individual rooms. One cousin brought all the china and treats for the children, another made some treasured family pound cake recipes and decorated with her prize-winning camellias, and I brought the teas (a caramel rooibos, an Earl Grey, and a plain black tea) and finger sandwiches. It worked out beautifully, and we've already decided to do this again next year!

Aren't these ruffled camellias gorgeous?

Here's my sister-in-law, Marilyn, and her grandson, Angus, who is eagerly awaiting the arrival of his young cousins.

This is the McRae family plaid (and the sterling flatware that one cousin brought for the tea, a nice touch!).

This pound cake was delicious, and it was served with a lemon curd sauce that was just amazing. I got the recipe and plan to try it myself!

I realized I had made too many sandwiches and ended up squeezing them onto the servers, but everyone seemed to enjoy the chicken salad mini croissants, cucumber cream sandwiches on teapot-shaped bread, and pimiento cheese ribbon sandwiches. I was happy to see even the men eating these with gusto!

Oh, and I also decided to make my friend Sandy's brown sugar shortbread, which was a big hit. Everywhere I take it, people rave over this! (Recipe here.)

 

And the rest of the pictures of the grown-ups are on other people's cameras or iPhones, but I was happy I managed to capture one of young cousins Sophie, at back, and KK and Angus. All three of them drank tea, and it turns out that Sophie and KK are big tea lovers all the time. In fact, I'm told that KK, who I believe is four, is like "a little old lady" who wakes up each morning and pads around in her old bathrobe and bunny slippers, holding out her teacup as she awaits her morning tea. And at gatherings with other kids, while they're getting soft drinks, she's off by herself and preparing her own cup of tea. Don't you love that! It was such a great weekend, and if we didn't all live so far apart—Texas, Alabama, Georgia, and Connecticut—I'm sure we'd do it much more often!