My Country, 'Tis of Tea — Nebraska

So are there any fun tea tidbits to know about the 37th state to be admitted to the Union?

Of course there are!

• An 1888 photo I found on the Library of Congress website made me smile. When researching each state, I always type in the name of the state and the word tea ("Nebraska tea," in other words), and this is the only photo that popped up in the digital photo archives at loc.gov. The summary for the photo read, "The little girl to the right holds a doll and is displaying her toy tea service." That appears to be true, but wow, what a glum bunch of folks! The photo is said to have been taken in either "east Custer County or East Rosevale, Garfield County, Nebraska." If you could write a caption for this photo, what would it say? I think mine would be something like, "Great. Another day of the Pony Express showing up with no package of lemon curd." Your turn.

• My interest in old department store tearooms continues, and another of the ones I've read about was the tearoom of the old Miller and Paine Department Store in Lincoln, Nebraska. The store was founded in 1880 and acquired by Dillard's in 1988. The dish above is one I found online several years ago, marked, "Made expressly for Miller & Paine, Inc., Lincoln, Nebr." The 5 x 7-inch oval dish looks like just the sort of thing I imagine might have brought out a cinnamon roll or two to the ladies who lunched there. Miller and Paine was known for its cinnamon rolls, and in fact, a restaurant called Runza purchased the rights to the recipe and sells them today! So I don't have the recipe (and oh, I would dearly love to have it), but at least you can go here to see what the cinnamon rolls look like — or to order some!

• Regional teas and tisanes are always a great source of interest, and this week I learned that in Nebraska, there is something called PurpleBerry tea that is a blend of white, green, and black loose leaf teas made with aronia berries, which are said to be packed with nutrients and antioxidants. You can check out the PurpleBerry Facebook page here to learn more. A fun find!